Capturing the moment

In the midst of uncertainty, transition and heartbreak I chose to record an album. The writing and recording of these songs was my self-prescribed therapy.

I surrounded myself with brilliant musicians that know how to listen deeply and respond to each other. They learned my songs in one rehearsal and the next time we saw each other, we recorded them.

We gave each song 2 hours of our time in the studio – we had to if we were going to get through 7 songs in 2 days and film a live video. We made decisions on the spot based on feel. We took chances. We said yes to crazy ideas.

We recorded each song live in one room.

We’d give ourselves three takes, five tops if we were working something out. We picked the best one sometimes without even listening back. And that became the bones of the songs you hear today.

We didn’t play to a metronome. We didn’t go back and fix the mistakes.

We captured the most authentic moment and we kept moving.

That was heartbreak for me.

There were weeks where I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I lied awake replaying conversations, trying to figure out where I went wrong.

But in the end, the only truth I could land on was that I needed to move forward. I needed to take my life back. It wasn’t going to look like I Imagined. And yes, I would have to live with my mistakes. 

I hear that deeper story in each of these songs. That brutally honest moment of reflection and the will power to move forward in spite of the hurt.

Today, I’m sharing with you the bones of my song The Backslide.

We recorded The Backslide at Archival in downtown Los Angeles on February 27, 2024 at 1:36 PM. Back then it was still called Olympic LA and it’s where I held my album release party back for LOVE COMES/ back in October.

I played a floor tom while singing. Hudson (Willowspeak) on slide guitar, Adrian on acoustic, and Josh on keys (please do click the links and check out all three of these amazing artists). We rehearsed the four part harmonies moments before rolling the tape.

I took this song home knowing that I wanted it to be epic. I made a friend that summer at a house party in Brooklyn and asked her if she would add some pedal steel. I went over to Danni‘s house in Bushwick one summer afternoon and had her lay down some lush accompaniment.

Still the song wasn’t capturing the depth I knew it was capable of. So I took it to Nashville.

It needed drums, which I recorded in my friend Kai Welch‘s studio, Peachtree. As we dug deeper we realized it was missing some depth (the problem with rushing through a recording session). So we re-tracked acoustic guitar, added shaker, event sent the mix to Colorado where my twin sister Madeleine recorded upright bass. All to feel because there was no metronome.

It came a long way from the version you hear in this live recording, but there’s something that remains. It’s steadfast, honest and you can hear the determination beneath it all.

The Bsckslide is an anthem for myself and I hope it becomes that for you too.

with love,