'The Downturn' backstory:

Here we try to convey one very beleaguered fellow's tongue-in-cheek commentary on his slide into financial ruin. A snapshot of his topsy turvy perspective as he witnesses the economic havoc all around him, and wistfully recollects better times. Do you know this person? The groove has a shuffle blues rock feel in A minor, but winds up skirting some Marley territory; a first for me. The inspiration for the character's rant came easy as it was hard financial times for many here in paradise too. Patterning Bob Dylan's tendency to have a good number of verses - especially in his early years - I let the same unconcern fly here, and left no space or place for a solo for a change. I had originally written 13 verses and wound up trimming it down to 9! Here's one from the cutting room floor:

Ain't been eatin' regular lookin' all skin and bones
There goes my big chance with January Jones
Gives new meaning to tightening ones belt
Signifies the worst hand I've been dealt
Some say its over but i've yet to confirm
Life beyond the downturn

'The Downturn' was the first song completed, mixed and released from the 'Deep Water' CD. It saw the light of day as a download-only single in August of 2010. Being worried that the economic upheaval would swirl back down to some semblance of normalcy before I could get the whole album finished and released I thought I'd better get this song out there before it became totally irrelevant. Turns out I needn't have worried. The version we offer here is the more recent Shipley & Wohlgemuth mix 2.

The recording:

After choosing a nice loping tempo, I found and recorded some good feeling stereo drum loops. These loops are the first layer upon which all the following instruments will be stacked, so they have to be right. They even ice you different fills to choose from, so you can get a pretty good sense of what the real drums at the end might do. Next up was recording my electric guitar parts using the headless Steinberger Trans-Trem I've had for over twenty-five years. Besides plugging it into my Carr Rambler tube amp set with some sweet tremolo and mic'ing the amp with a Sanken CU-44X into a Neve mic pre, I used the Neumann U87 as a room mic and placed it eight or so feet back. Creating and recording a second rhythm guitar part I panned each of them hard left and right.

Next, I took a twenty-five minute drive east and brought the tracks to my buddy Michael Ruff, for his valued input and knack of always choosing the right keyboard and sound for a song. It didn't hurt that Mike also plays as if his life depended on it on each and every pass. That said, he busted out his clavinet and laid down a nice skanky groove, following that with his Hammond organ and we were right where we wanted to be, groove-ridden but simple and sparse so the focus is on the story.

For the bass track I called on 'The Island' and 'Coconut Culture' CD alumni Cliff Hugo, now living in northern California. He had a protools rig and was jazzed to play on another AT track, especially one his buddy Rick Shlosser was going to be playing on. I was stoked to have him and his phat sounding steady rockin' bass back on yet another album. Cliff laid down his parts in the comfort of his home in the woods and returned the files over the internet with two takes, each one with a different bass to choose from. I went with the Lakeland.

When it came to choose a drummer for 'The Downturn' I reached out to Rick Shlosser for the job. Though he was living in Mexico not far from the Texas border he could either record down there or track it when he was recording up in LA. After not having much luck with the south of the border studio, we agreed to have him record the song in LA at Juice Newton's studio with John Prpich at the helm. Rick displayed another massive groove-worthy performance here and gave the tune just what it needed; no more, no less, just right on the money. No wonder people as diverse as Van Morrison, James Taylor, Dusty Springfield, Lee Ritenour and Little Feat have availed him of his services.