The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

I’m really terrible with cash, because it just burns a hole in my pocket. If I didn’t have any, I wouldn’t spend any, but I looked in my wallet, and all my cash was gone and I realized I bought a Venus Hum T-shirt ($10) a painting by Shearer of 2 rabbits ($29) 4 Jagermeisters ($24) and a taxi home ($10) and that was pretty much all she wrote. David Mead picked me up and we went to El Mariachi and watched the Titans, and it was a great game. It’s fun to watch the Titans again. Vince Young has really energized the team. He’s like a young Steve McNair. I can’t believe everybody wanted to fire Jeff Fisher. That’s crazy. I’m glad what’s his name that kicks people in the face wasn’t there. I hate him. Went home about 4 and went to Angelo’s and got the tracks for the Webb Sisters and talked to him for a while. Went home and Leslie and I went to see Thomas Dolby and BT at the Mercy lounge, and it was cool, but I was tired of standing up after 2 hours and I had to leave. BT was neat, he had some cool movies but all the tall people were crowded up to the front, so I couldn’t see. I wanted to try to say hi to Thomas, but it didn’t look possible. He sounded good, but the vocals were too loud or the music wasn’t loud enough or something. I saw Millard and Sarah and he didn’t say much. She goes to MTSU and studies music business. Went to Burger King ($6) and went home.

I got to the studio early, but nobody was there, so I went to the music store and checked out stratocasters. I think I want to get a japanese strat. I really like my japanese tele. I stumbled on something really cool and got myself an Early Christmas Present. I was playing around with it and it sounds really good, actually. I think I want to do a record on this thing. Went to the Turnip Truck and got some sandwiches and went back to the studio and Greta left, and we did some guitar overdubs, and I played the lap steel. Then I went home briefly and went to the Mercy Lounge for the bees soundcheck. Then Annette from Venus Hum and I went over our X- Mas duet. Then I just hung out there and messed with my micro-studio until time to play, and Melissa Mathes came and brought me some food and she sang with the Bees, but i’m not sure her mic was on. The gig went well, I thought, and Steve Fishell from Vanguard records was there, and he came backstage after the gig, and we talked for a while. He said the climate of the music biz is really weird right now. He said he didn’t really know why, but that he was a big bees fan, which was nice. Then David Mead and I went to PM for a couple drinks and I had Jagermeister and I like that stuff. Took a cab home.

Went to Athens for breakfast with Grimey and we saw Kathy Whitley and some other folks who have a breakfast club at Athens. “I’m off to ruin somebody’s day.” said Kathy and she’s funny. Had eggs and bacon and coffee ($10) and it was fun talking to Grimes. Went to the studio and Jared Reynolds and Lindsay Jamieson were the rhythm section, and it’s fun to play with these guys who play together all the time. They just lock in so well together. We recorded 3 songs and they came out really well, I think. Went home kind of early and Randall called me and thanked me, which was sweet. No other producer has ever done that. Went to the Bees rehearsal, and it went well, I thought. We learned “Christmas Time Is Here” by Vince Guaraldi and that’s an awesome song.

Worked on Greta’s album again and it sounds really good. Jim Bogios is a badass. He’s quite funny, too. Everybody seems to want to try to make Millard laugh, which is kind of hard to do, and I got him by doing an Adam Duritz impesonation (“Yeaaaaaaaaaah!”) at the end of one of the songs and he laughed. Another productive day and I really enjoy playing the telecaster and the epiphone. I am going to call Leslie on Monday at Gibson and see if she can hook me up with a “Birdland” for this upcoming Josh Rouse tour with John Mayer. Went to dinner at the Alley Cat and had a few too many cocktails and had to wait around for quite a while and sober up. Got home about 3 and went to bed. Tired.

Got up early and showered and got dressed and took Posh over to Hopkins and went to east Nashville. I went to the Bongo Java and got a large tea and a bearclaw ($6) and went to Eric Fritsch’s studio. I was the only one there until about noon when Jim Bogios and Millard Powers and Randall Jermeal and Greta Gaines arrived. The drums and bass sounded good immediately and Eric had me playing through this great old Silvertone amplifier. We were working fast and having fun, and Greta had to keep checking on her new baby, Ryder. We worked until about 5 or so, then called it a day. Millard didn’t really say much, and that’s just the way he is, but he seemed particularly quiet. A productive day, though, and I think Greta is happy. Went to the Family Wash for “Hags-a-Nova”, which was one of the coolest things i’ve been involved with for a long time. Charlotte Avant was there, and David and Natalie Cox Mead and I finished Natalie’s vegetarian Shepard’s Pie and I like it better than the meat one. Lancio was there and he’s hilarious. I was talking to Jen Gunderman and I told her she was the MVP of the night, because she really was amazing. First she did the entire Charlie Brown Christmas as a warm up, then all the Bossa Nova stuff. The best person, I thought, was Dan Tyler, singing “I Concentrate on You”, which is about as hip as any song could be. Brad Jones sang very well, also. He has a nice singing voice. The volume was very nice in there, it was like listening to a turntable and it’s cozy in there. Emily West and Kate York showed up after it was over, and they’re so funny. Julianna Raye was there too, and I introduced her to Lancio. A fun night indeed. Leslie came and she looked beautiful in a white waistcoat and she’s rubbing it in that we’ve broken up, and she’s really looking fantastic. Good for her.

Greta got in and she called and said did I want to come over to the Union Station hotel early so I did and it’s really nice in there. Parking was $8. The rooms were very modern and cool but they need to cozy up the lobby a little bit. It seemed a little like what’s his name’s Shangri La in “Rosebud”- Kind of cold. But we hung out and Anna Fernandez came up with Melody Molloy (who I haven’t seen since high school) and she owns that clothing store called Bloke on 12th Ave and I was embarrassed because it’s right by my house and I haven’t been in. Greta ordered a bottle of wine and a hamburger from room service and she played me some songs for the record. She’s got plenty of songs, so this should be fun. Went to the Basement to see “Go Jane Go” because I missed them last night and they were good. I saw Kieran Kane and I guess his son Lucas plays drums in the band. He said he doesn’t like to go to the movies because his hearing is too sensitive and movies are so loud these days. Hung out for a while and went home.

Went to the bank and made a deposit and my bank balance is all messed up. I don’t know if i’m rich or poor. I’m like a thousand dollars off of what I thought it was. Oh well. Went to 8 off 8th to see “Go Jane Go” but I didn’t see them and I didn’t see anyone that I knew so I went home.

I had the house to myself and I wanted to get some work done, and I did work for a while, but then I got tired, so I went to International Market for some soup. Then David and Natalie Mead were there, and I asked David if he wanted to go see the new Bond movie, and he said he did, so we went and picked up Posh, watched the last few incredible minutes of the Titans, dropped Posh at my mom’s, and went to the movies. I didn’t really want any of the candy they had, but I wanted something, so I got Reeses peanut butter cups. The movie was great, I thought. I like the new James Bond; Daniel Craig, I think? Took David Home and went to dinner with Julianna Raye at Bosco’s, and she told me that Jeff Lynne produced her first album, which was impressive. Then she played me some new demos from her ipod, and she’s quite good. I had a pizza and some salad. We talked for quite a while, and she’s very interesting, and she meditates a lot, and we talked about that. Then it was time to go, and I went home and snuggled with Posh on the bed, and watched some “Cops: NOPD; Mardi Gras” and it was all these people behaving badly at Mardi Gras. It was very entertaining, but the cross-section of a Mardi Gras enthusiast isn’t the prettiest picture of humanity. Read 5 pages of Murakami and went to bed.

2nd day of Tommy’s sessions and he seems pretty happy with everything, which is good. We cut 9 songs in all and they are all different, but of the same sessions. We had delicious Sushi for lunch, which Tommy was a saint to provide. I got sleepy after lunch, though. Made it through, and went to F. Scott’s with my mom for a while, and it got pretty crowded so I took her home and went to the Mercy Lounge for a minute to meet David Mead, and we watched a little of Todd Snider, and he was good. He had the bass player from Old Crow Medicine Show with him, who was awesome! Todd is funny. Left there and went home.

This was the first day of Tommy’s sessions, and the band is really great. It’s Jody Nardone on the piano, Jerry Navarro on Bass and Marcus Finney on the drums. These guys are really good. The Jerry guy I thought I recognized, and I was right, he was the guy who I saw playing with John Nicholson who smashed his bass. So good, but why does he do that? Anyhow, lovely day, Tommy brought in some good songs, and the sessions went well. Later, Tommy texted me that he really like something I did on the guitar, so that was nice, but I feel like I need another amp, and a Strat.