Who's Rustling in My Woods? - New Track

I've been promising for weeks that I would release some tracks recorded with my new and improved recording setup, and though it took me far longer than I'd anticipated, I am pleased to announce I wasn't lying and the first track has finally arrived.

I've upgraded from my old studio-in-a-box hardware contraption to proper monitors, a better microphone, full-featured recording software, and acoustically treated my little room as much as possible. Although there's still plenty to learn, I think the results in terms of sound quality are a major improvement on anything that's come before. For my first release I've chosen the closest thing I've got to crowd-pleaser, "Who's Rustlin' in My Woods?" If you've ever helped out on the chorus live, I hope you like the way I've fleshed it out for the album.

One of the hang-ups that delayed new recordings was that while I sweat over technical details, the tracks became creatively inert. For this track I came up with an ingenious solution to counteract the problem - the mandolin that provides the hook is very, very broken. Until a few days ago, I had never even tried to strum it - it is ancient and belonged to grandmother, passed to me by my aunt as an heirloom. I never heard my grandmother play it, and I never took it out of the closet much myself. As you may or may not be able to tell from the photo, the bridge is half gone, the strings are rusty, the soundboard is warped, and some of the pegs are missing. There is also a massive crack that runs all the way up the back.

It sounds sublime. I love playing broken and homemade instruments, they come with fewer expectations. My grandmother's mandolin is too mangy to perform Bill Monroe-inspired licks, so I can't be disappointed by what I'm capable of making it do. I think it clinched "Who's Rustling?" This one's a backporch pseudobilly hoedown, and I've even thrown in a little something extra at the very end, because you've been so patient. Here goes, hope you dig it...



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