CD Release Party Week

Art by Joe Somers

It’s the Tuesday of CD Release Party Week and it’s an exciting time in Poochamungas HQ.  I wanted to take this day to remember those that have helped the Poochamungas musically on the journey.  I’d like to start with Shawn Clarke who was the original lead singer. He has recently joined the ranks of fatherhood. Congratulations!  Thanks for helping get the Poochamungas party started.  Karen Kestin who was sang with us awhile before she moved away and became a mom.  Jerry Paulson who played slide and banjo on the first CD and was an original member and transcribed many of the tunes into read-ability for the rest of the band. Andy Shoemaker who recorded the first CD and a few other songs along the way.  Frank Rose for his brilliant saxophone work on the first CD as well as this one and his general knowledge of sound for live gigs.  I think his playing on Refrigerator Box is brilliant.  Nancy Rose for her wonderful vocals and amazing artwork.  She’s great on Valentines Day.  To John Abbey for making us sound so doggone good whether recording or playing on a track.  Don for being the reliable Cool Cat he is in a band full of dogs and holding up the bottom. The Izzo Family for providing not one drummer but two.  Original Pooch Joe Izzo and now regular Drummer, Joe’s dad Frank. Thanks for keeping the beat.   Alton Smith who so brilliantly produced the new CD.  He hears the things in the studio that make the songs whole.  Pete Cunningham for helping me start this whole mess to begin with.  Your guitar playing has been essential to the sound we call Poochamungas.  The CD release Party is this Sunday, September 29th at 2pm.  Schubas is hosting and Koo Koo Kanga Roo gets the party started at 2pm!  Stop on by…

The CD is here! Dont forget St. Helens Carnival this Sunday!!!

Their New Favorite CD

IT”S HERE. Our new CD has made it’s way to Chicago and is now in my possession.  It was available for pickup on Wednesday as the family was on a Sheboygan vacation and unable to go get it until today.  So I was quite excited to go and pick up the long awaited sequel (around here it is) to Mud, Mommies and Mayhem.  A lot of hard work went into making this fine CD and more is yet to come as we try to spread the word of the Poochamungas.   The release date is set for October 15 and The CD release Party is going to be at Schubas on Sunday,  September 29th at 2pm.  We also may have a very cool announcement on Monday about a possible live TV appearance so stay tuned!

Dont’t forget this Sunday, August 25th at 2pm we are all set to rock the stage at the St. Helens Carnival.  Big rides, great food and superb music all day including us Poochamungas.  Last year the rains came and chased us away so this year we’re looking for blue skies and sunshine!  Come on out.  It’s gonna be Epic!

Progress on the New CD

Art by Joe Somers

The CD is shipping from the replicator today back here to Chicago!  And we have booked a CD release party at Schubas on September 29, 2013.  This is a long time coming.  Nearly 2 years worth of time and energy.  Can’t wait for everyone to get the physical copy in hand!

Songs on the new CD – My Favorite Summer Day (Block Party)

The Chillin and Grillin for a Cure Block Party!.

I have been writing about songs I wish I had written so this time I am going to discuss some of the songs I have written and how they came to be.  The title track My Favorite Summer Day (Block Party) was a song that really took a journey for me.  Block parties are such a city specific event.  For kids it’s like Christmas in July.  We never had a block party on my street growing up but we would visit a few that friends held every year.  I think the reason we never had one on my street is there were a lot of older people on our street.  Block parties are for kids and thus if you have no kids why would you want to do all that work… But I digress.  This song started as a simple E chord, A chord strum.  Lyrically it was triggered by my own kids running around our yearly block party.  Remembering how I loved block parties and now seeing my own kids run around like I once did.  So I wrote it in first person as a story of then and now.  Then I worked out the bridge, finale  and sent it to the band so they could listen and bring their own ideas along with mine to the studio.  The other thing is the we record pretty much all our songs live with a full band.  It brings a lot of energy and spontaneity to the music. It’s what works for us.  Stevie Ray Vaughn used to do that and the Motown – Wall of Sound was all about that as well.  Some bands lay down bass and rhythm track and then layer in guitars etc.  But not us.  Piano, guitar, bass and drums all at the same time.  We do record the vocals later using a scratch track during recording and we do overdub when needed.  From the moment Alton hit the keys to open the song I was astounded.  The  piano really changed the dynamic and filled the room.  The guitar solo after instrumental middle was organic.  Instead of singing I left it open and Pete at his best just feeling the music just filled it in perfectly.    Alton’s idea was then to build it up, take it down and then build to a furious finish. Especially with the drummer.  When you listen notice how the drum part builds.   I think the song turned out pretty well with John Abbey doing a great job on the recording and mix.  But don’t take my word for it.  Have a listen using the link below and let us know what you think!http://www.poochamungas.com/#!music/c1yi7

CD and gigs and a website!

Photo by David Kindler

Things have been quiet around here because we are working on releasing the new CD!  Arts nearly finished so time to press some copies and let everyone know that Block Party! will be here by the end of August.  We’ve been taking pictures and rehearsing and talking with our publicist extraordinaire Elizabeth Waldman Frazier and getting ready. We play at Jeff Fest on July 28th at 12:30pm and did I mention we now have our very own website… Yes we do!  www.poochamungas.com is where you will find us.  So I will be back to posting weekly and letting you know how things are going. Go check the website and let us know what you think!

No More Tracking… sniff.

 

No more NEVE or Kingsize Studios for awhile.

We did it.  We finished tracking the Block Party CD.  I didn’t think it was gonna happen.  Especially after the way we started.  It was as if nothing was going right.  We had an 11am start.  First we had problems getting the MIDI keyboard to work.  We solved that, decided not to got that route and the board power source for the main board started smoking a little.  So John Abbey(our fantastic sound guy) shuts it down, makes a call and we move to the other control room.  We get vocals done on a track in there but have to be out by 1pm because Johns partner needs the room.  So we finish one song, we’re two hours in and moving back to the original studio.  Johns  partner arrives, checks out the board we started on, declares it safe and after some setup we are off and running!  We got the vocals, the sax, more vocals, the acoustic guitar and done.  Frank Rose our sax player layed down some cool stuff, Alton and I sang on some tunes, John recorded it all and we are DONE TRACKING!  I feel relief and sadness.  But I think Poochamungas fans and any music fan is gonna like what we’ve been doing.  Now it lays in the hands of John Abbey who’s going to  mix it. Then Alton and I will give it a listen and go from there.  The four songs he’s finished so far sound great and I look forward to hearing the final 8.  The goal is Kindiefest and I think we’re doing pretty good.