New projects are happening all the time. In my capacity as a Stage Manager and Audio Engineer for Portland’s NoFest and PDX Pop Now! music and art festivals over the past couple of years, I’ve documented dozens of groups, in the hopes that we’ll be able to release some sort of compilation(s) in the not-too-distant future. In 2011, I also recorded a month-long residency at The Laurelthirst Public House by Michael Hurley and The Croakers, following some discussions about a similar type of live release. Conversely, Michael Hurley recruited me as an engineer to record a couple of other local artists, Alexa Wiley, and Trevor Guiliani, who performed their original compositions in my SE home, for a planned release to help raise awareness about The Monsanto Corporation.
Other odds + sods which may still be floating around in the ether somewhere:
• a 4-track album recorded live at Dusty’s in Minneapolis featuring The Tinkers, from a benefit / memorial performance for Liz Klaers
• a live benefit fundraiser compilation recorded at The Uptown Bar + Grill in Minneapolis, for the victims of Hurricane Katrina; featuring live performances by the Black Thorns, The Bullets, Countach, Red Desert
• backing tracks for a stage production of August Wilson’s play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; performed at the Portland Playhouse; in conjunction with jazz prodigy David Ornette Cherry; 2011
• a live concert recording for Portland (OR) doom/metal group Witch Mountain at The Aladdin Theatre; which helped the band secure a label deal with Profound Lore Records; 2013
• a second live concert recording for Witch Mountain at Ash St. Saloon; for a tentative live album; 2013
Somewhere in the middle of all this ruckus, there were other projects which were shelved for various reasons, and perhaps a few more out there that I don’t know about. Part of a live performance I recorded in Tampa by Howard Stelzer [Intransitive label], ended up re-worked on one of his early cassette releases in 1994 – The Audience, released under the moniker Your Mother. Yo La Tengo had talked about using a track from a show of theirs I recorded in Mpls in 1995, but as far as I know, nothing came of that plan. Lou Barlow gave me permission to release a Sebadoh show I recorded in 1991, but at the time, there was a lot I hadn’t worked out yet about how to release and distribute albums on a larger scale than what I had done in the past with my own local releases. In 1992, I had begun drafting my own label series of compilation EPs, which would feature bands as varied as Amanda By Night, The Surahoolies, Exploding Head Trick, Lemon Grass, among others. For one reason or another, those plans were interrupted, and by the time things were back on track, it seemed all of the bands no longer existed. That’s life in the fast lane, I guess.
In addition to all of the officially released or planned projects, a number of artists opted to use some of the recordings I made, simply to promote themselves via the internet. Sites including MySpace, virb, and vimeo, as well as various band sites, have featured tracks I’ve recorded, including Kyle Williams; Retake Productions; Tom Kha and the Rainbow Jive Hammer. I’m afraid it’s almost pointless to post links to many of these, as nothing seems to stay the same for very long in cyberspace. As of 2012, there are still tracks I recorded by Minneapolis groups Delta Lyrae [“Spacewalk” and “Fall”], and Timbuktu on MySpace.
The Live Music Archive is a site which retains a more permanent presence, and some of my recordings can be found there as well – including Low, Ween, Built To Spill, Albino, Little Feat, Mike Watt, and more are being added as time allows:
Sonic Archives / LMA uploads
I’ve also got at least one on the e-tree site:
Matisyahu with Wookiefoot 2004 October 31 Mpls MN Cabooze
