We recorded five of the songs for our new record before the end of 1997. Most had been performed at various venues during the year, so they were fairly well worked out. These would be the recordings that would secure us our contract, we hoped, but we needed to make them solid enough to release should we choose to release them on Red Hen Records, our own label.

March 30, 1997:

"Avalanche" was the first song we recorded with Jim Scott at the helm yet again, producing up a storm. We used Robbie Harrington on bass and David Raven on drums - with a guest appearance by RCA recording artist Dillon O'Brian on organ. Robbie had been touring with us since mid-'95, but had yet to record with us. David played on Broken Moon and Walking On A Wire II, and on LA shows since 1996. We cut "Avalanche" in one long day at Sound City in Van Nuys -- the same room used by Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We started at 10:00 AM finally got to Eric's vocals at around 9:00 PM and Dan's at 11:00 PM. That lone track was all we had for several months, as we toured and wrote throughout spring and summer.

When we had written more material strong enough to record, we entered Master Control Studios in Burbank with ourselves producing. Robbie and David were again on bass and drums, and Jeff Robinson engineered, intending to record three songs in four days. Before laying down the first keeper, however, we cut a rehearsal of a still-wet song called "When The Lights Go Down". It was fun and loose, overly long and not intended for public consumption. Then we actually got down to business.

September 8, 1997:

The first day we cut basic tracks on "Do With Me What You Will", "Long Way" and "Stranger Than Dreams". In tracking, Bass and drums are the main focus, with our guitars and vocals only included as a guide -- the "real" guitars and vocals would be added later. Although live arrangements had been worked out on the road, it is not uncommon for the arrangements to be modified in the studio. "Stranger Than Dreams" had always been performed without drums, and we had felt the song would only require light percussion. But the character of the piece was greatly enhanced by using full drums. The band jelled after several run-throughs each, and all three tracks were tight and on tape by the time we quit that evening.

September 9, 1997:

We re-recorded guitars on "Do With Me What You Will" and "Long Way". On the former, Dan laid down two tracks of basic acoustic rhythm track and Eric added layered electrics -- one track of melodic guitar and a second of rhythm guitar heavily laced with feedback. That's a first for us. Later, Robbie would need to modify his bass part on "Long Way" to give it more definition from section to section. Dan recorded his acoustic guitar part for "Long Way", which took some time, and added his vocal. Eric then recorded his guitar parts and put his vocal on tape.

September 10, 1997:

We added guitars to "Stranger Than Dreams". Dan used his 1930's Maybell guitar (a plywood relic that somehow sounds wonderful on tape and was used for the acoustic part on "Just To See You") for a gentle fingerpicked foundation. Eric added acoustic guitar leads, doubled for support. After some thought, Dan added a jangly electric guitar part, the first time he has played electric on any of the records. Our old friend Phil Parlapiano (who played mandolin and accordion on the albums Broken Moon and Walking On A Wire II) dropped in to play organ on all three songs, plus a fine mandolin track on "Stranger Than Dreams". Vocals were added as the day came to a close.

September 11, 1997:

This was a rethink-and-repair day, where parts that were not holding up overnight were corrected, replaced or dumped altogether. Jeff executed a fine "rough" mix of the three songs and we were done.

Copies were made and sent to various record companies for consideration and a few close friends at radio for feedback. We went on tour in October, during which time we finished "When The Lights Go Down" and gave it a dry run November 2 in Minneapolis, albeit in a significantly different form. A modified version was performed December 14 at the home of Russ Paris in Thousand Oaks, CA, during one of our occasional "house concerts".

December 23, 1997:

After a few more modifications, we entered Master Control to edit the rehearsal track we had cut in September. The intro was pared down, the first chorus cut in half, the second B-section eliminated entirely and the ending cut down to create the finished basic track. Robbie recut his bass, Dan and Eric recorded their acoustic and electric guitar parts, Phil came in to play organ and vocals were recorded (with modified lyrics written on-the-spot) before the session ended at midnight.

Now we could send out modified tapes, begin negotiations with companies and prepare for the serious stuff -- completing the seven remaining songs and recording them. These new steps would make 1998 a busy new year. Incase you didn't know, WE GOT SIGNED!