We had our 5th Session @ Stonehouse Music a few days ago. We finishished up the lead and backing vocal tracks and added a few more tracks of percussion.  We are tying up the loose ends now and putting the icing on the cake at this point.  On April 10th we will have a short, couple hour session of guest musicians including horns, fiddle and cello.  We will finish the tracking on April 11th.  We will be bringing some friends in to the studio for some "clap and stomp" percussion which should be a good time.  We can not wait to hear this in completion after the mixing and mastering take place.  We can't wait for everyone to hear it!!
Logan
 

We are getting ready for our next session at Stone House Recording on March 29th.  Our focus is finishing up the lead vocal tracks and lay down the backing vocals.  We have taken 2 weeks off from the studio to regroup and re-listen.  Taking a week off from the music itself really helped gather our thoughts and hear the songs again for the first time.  We have written out the backing vocals both in harmony parts and 2nd/3rd voices.  Along with the vocals we have worked hard at placement of percussion/claps/stomps/honks and squeaks.  This will be helped out on the recording by various guest musicians including Daphne Shears on the cello, Mike Reid on horns and Kate Mienel Kirchner on fiddle. 
The end is in our sights and is really starting to come together.  What we heard in our heads as we wrote the songs is coming to fruition in the studio and blossoming into more than we had expected.
Artwork has been looked over hashed out and viewed over and over and over and over and.........
Our friend Ed, who is doing the artwork, is an incredible artist and has been so very patient with us as we look over his proofs of the songs visual story.
We have also started putting some dates together for our summer season including CD release and kickstarter parties.
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Jon

Last night we spent 5 very productive hours at Stone House. Logan and I  had a couple rhythm tracks to finish up and then Logan laid down some great banjo tracks for Paul Bunyan and Casey Jones.  Then he finished off the night with mandolin on John Henry.  Now that the songs have multiple layers of instruments, they are really starting to come together.  Lead guitar and vocal tracks next week.
Levi

This past Saturday we had our second session at Stone House Recording.  The focus of the session was acoustic guitar and upright bass.  The day went extremely well and it was a really productive session.  Jon did a bang-up job on his bass.  He was in the zone and laying down some really solid upright tracks.  It's amazing to hear the songs coming together as we add more layers.  The core of all the songs are now recorded and our next session (February 23rd) we will be recording lead guitar, banjo, and maybe mandolin. We couldn't be happier to be recording at Stonehouse. The sound engineer, Peter Fox, has been great to work with and he is very in tune with what we are going for on this project.
Logan

Yesterday, we spent 10 hours in the studio at Stone House. What a day! While it was exhausting, it was also an incredibly fun day. It took about 3 hours to mic up Jared's drum kit and the rest of the day was spent laying down scratch tracks and final drum tracks. It was a lot of pressure on Jared, but he answered the call by delivering some amazing takes. Song after song, he came through. I really can't say enough about it. He shined. We head back there on February 11 to continue what we started. I think it will be a long two weeks. I for one, can't wait.
Levi

With just a week to go until we have our first studio session, we are all getting anxious. There is a mix of nervousness and excitement that we all feel right now. We continue to make good progress every week. Practices are intense and I don't think we have ever worked harder. We will get together for one more practice (next Thursday) before we head off to Stone House to put this nervous energy to work.
Levi

After much deliberation, several visits, numerous interviews, and countless hours of discussion we made a decision on our studio for our Amercian Folklore album.  We will be heading to Stone House Recording Studios in Grand Rapids on January 28th! We all went in, took a tour, and sat down with Peter Fox, the sound engineer last Thursday.  Peter is a very talented sound engineer, has a similar view on music, and is very in tune with what we are looking for for our album.  The studio is located in an old house built in the mid 1800's, which is now converted into a state of the art recording mecca.  After the visit and discussion with Peter, our decision was very easy.  We can't wait to get started!!

We have successfully reached on goal for our kickstarter! We are humbled by the  generosity of everyone who donated. We are really looking forward to playing a few backyard parties, learning a new cover tune, and writing up a few "custom" songs. The kickstarter success gives us the opportunity to focus in on the music and record this album with a professional sound engineer as it should be recorded.
Now that the holidays are past, the next few weeks will be really preparing us for our recording sessions. Jon and I took a few hours last week to dig deeper into some song arrangements and play around with some extra percussion, backing vocals, and extra instruments. It's exciting to hear some of the songs "fleshed" out a bit. 
Logan