OVERHANG

This has been a week of decisions and indecisions. We decided to let logistics decide whether or not to go to Latvia. We ideally want to have a full band go and record everything live--that's what Janis does best--but we thought there'd be no way this could come together. We talked it over with Jeff and he agreed this would be the best time to do it if we could so...he's in. Then, on a hunch, Joel called Dan Snook, our former bassist to see if he might be willing to fill in for the recording. And he is excited about the idea and will have two weeks at the end of July. Ok, so it's possible. But then Janis expressed reservations about doing it because his recording room isn't fully set up to have the ideal live recording situation. He's renting a basement space in a hotel and the workers at the hotel promised to help him but summer is their busy season and they probably can't be counted on. O.k., maybe it's a no go, then. But today we get a call from a photographer friend who really likes our music and he expresses interest in going to Latvia with us to take pictures during our little adventure. Not only that, but when he hears of our dilemma, he offers to help pay for workers to help Janis finish the studio in time for us to go there. So maybe it's on again.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night Joel and Grant visited a sound engineer who worked with R. Kelly for the last eight years. He gave some helpful advice about our albums-in-the-making and showed interest in working with us. He is definitely another option. We now have 5 or 6 good options to choose from to finish both "Another Hole..." and "All Together Now". Mitch Dane--the Jars of Clay producer, Vance Powell--a Nashville engineer who worked on Secret Machines, Tom Petty and others, Nate Bierdeman--a promising Berklee student, Andy--R. Kelly, Britney Spears etc. and Janis Kalnins. Yes, Janis is still on the list. In fact he has rapidly jumped to the top due to some recent financial developments which might make Janis the only remaining option.

Just a few days ago, Joel found out that the money we were planning would go toward finishing "Another Hole..." this summer will not come through, so if we want to go all out for that album (and recent rehearsals with Jeff have shown that we definitely should attempt to record it live), our best bet is to work with Janis with all the equipment we bought for him. Which is why Grant was up early this morning looking at maps of Riga, Latvia on-line. The timing seems to suggest that this is the way to finish the album. Grant will be finished teaching in a week, Joel's living situation is up in the air again, Jeff might have some freedom this summer to get away from work and Janis needs a band to work with this summer.

Granted, It's kind of an all or none scenario. If we don't go through with this, then everything we've been doing the last several years, in a way, will have been wasted. We have all this equipment in Latvia purchased so we could finish "Another Hole..." and it's just sitting there waiting for us to use it or sell it. So why not use it and then sell it? Makes sense. At least when we get back we will have a finished album (minus the artwork) to sell when we play live. Oh yeah, playing live is now an option. Last Sunday, the three OVERHANG members played a few songs at church. This was a momentous occasion for us. It means Joel's wrist problems are getting better so we are sounding more and more like the 4-piece OVERHANG of old. Joel, Grant and Jeff are excited about the opportunity to play at the "Practicing Resurrection" conference in August so our friends can hear what we've been up to. Hopefully, our performance will be evidence of the resurrection we're experiencing daily in our own lives.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)