Click the above image for a FREE MP3 download of this concert recording.

This recording was made possible only through the generous support of four people: Chris Hubbs, Jeff Holland, Wally Walker, and Anita Jubb. Sandra tweeted about this show Monday the 2nd, and I tweeted that I’d go if people banded together and bought me gas for the trip up and back. I called this $50, which is a little less than it generally takes to fill my tank. I use about 2/3 of the tank in the round trip, so I let the rest go to the caffeine necessary to make the trip happen. Again, thanks, y’all. I may crowd source my travel funds again in the future.

This was a fun show. Everyone was witty, but only three of them had mics. [I saw you being funny, Eckberg.] Good setlist, great people, and a great new look for 3rd & Lindsley. It’s gone from a place that I’d only visit if my friends were playing there to a place that I might go just for random shows if I lived in Nashville.

Here’s the pertinent information:

Click for full-size image at geoF:stop store.

Click for full-size image at geoF:stop store.

Click for full-size image at geoF:stop store.

Click for full-size image at geoF:stop store.

I have uploaded this recording to the Live Music Archive if you want the highest-quality recording available. I have also added metadata about the show to musicbrainz.org if you’re into that sort of thing, which I certainly am. I have the original files, both AUD and SBD, available as a FLAC upon request.

The best of my photos for this show are for sale at store.geofstop.com. I make my recordings available for free, and I make money to buy better lenses and microphones with the proceeds from selling prints and standouts. If you appreciate my work, please consider purchasing a print or leaving me a tip in the tip jar.

Before you spend any money with me, you best spend it on Sandra McCracken records, which are available for purchase at sandramccracken.com.

Once again, thanks for listening, and thanks to Anita, Wally, Jeff, and Chris for making it possible. I’m sorry that it took me this long to get things out. For those who are curious, I did record the opener, and as soon as I get the setlist from Melanie, I’ll put that one out as well.

Click this image for a free download of this concert recording.

Hey, everybody! After a very, very long layoff, I’m back to recording and releasing shows. I’m going to open up things with a recording of Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken from their August 2011 house show tour. These shows were all-acoustic, so I recorded the show with two mic sets: one at their feet, and one at the rear of the room. I’m not perfectly happy with the show, but that’s mainly because there were a lot of noise patterns that I couldn’t reduce out of the recording without distorting the sound. Despite that, I think the recording has a good sound, and I would rate it a B+.

As I always do, I’ve released this show at archive.org and gotten the metadata loaded at MusicBrainz. I’ve also decided to put this recording out via MP3 ZIP file myself. It’s a little hard to know where to go and what to do with the Live Music Archive, so I’m making this very simple for you: the ZIP has 28 MP3s and the cover art. Import into your favorite music-playing program and enjoy.

I’ve included my five best photos from the show below. You can order a print or a standout from my store if you click on the image. I provide my concert recordings for free in the spirit of concert tapers everywhere, so I choose to support my taping endeavors with photo sales. As more people support my small business, I can afford to go to more shows farther from my North Alabama home so I can tape them for you. Thank you for your patronage.

Click image to see larger size and purchase a print.

Click image to see larger size and purchase a print.

Click image to see larger size and purchase a print.

Click image to see larger size and purchase a print.

Click image to see larger size and purchase a print.

2010-07-17: Birmingham, AL, USA

I cannot promise that I will write detailed notes about shows like this every time out, but I feel like doing it this time around. This show was hosted by Casey Patton, for which I am quite thankful. Don did a run of shows in mid-July 2010 as he worked out some songs for a series of EPs he’s working to release in the next few months. He discusses that in detail during the show.

As I give this show a listen, I’d like to note a few things:

1. I’m an idiot, because I had a stereo recording rig and didn’t hook up both mics. As such, this is a mono recording. The lesson, as always, is that I’m an idiot.
2. Even though I was using cardioids, you can still hear my camera shutter. That frustrates me. I was hoping that being directly under the cardioids would help with that. Alas. I wasn’t the only photographer at the show, but I am definitely the one you hear the most.
3. You’ll see a killer mic in front of Don if you look at my photos from this show. He recorded all these shows to his laptop, so it’s possible that his recordings will show up online, too. We can be hopeful. Of course, Don mentioned that he also had hundreds of old Waterdeep bootlegs on MiniDisc that he needed to transfer to the Internet at some point. I know how that goes.

You can stream the show if you like using the Flash widget below [sorry, I hate Flash more than you do].

Specific notes follow, on a track-by-track basis:

1. The “you’re wearing pants” line comes from the fact that Don was wearing shorts before the show and mentioned to us that he was normally wearing pants at these shows. I was surprised that he changed.
2. “Everyone’s Beautiful” is one of my favorite Waterdeep songs, just like Everyone’s Beautiful is my [current] favorite Waterdeep record. It was hard not to sing BGV’s.
3. “Happen Every Time” is always just weirdly named to me. Hearing it acoustically was a bit strange, too.
4. “And” is growing on me. Yes, I’ve had Sink or Swim for years. Different songs hit me at different times in my life, as I’m sure is true for many folks. Like Don, “I am haunted by my love for comparison.”
5. An Unfinished Tale will be the name of the EP, based on the African proverb, “If the story doesn’t end well, it must not be the end of the story.” He’s going to name the EPs after quarks. When he says, “You might know this better than I do,” he’s referring to me. Just because I have an aerospace engineering degree …
6. I was amused that Don vamped the chorus of a new song because he’d messed up a line. Don, we don’t know your new song. The “Class 5 hurricane” line in the chorus refers to Hurricane Katrina.
7. Center for Action and Contemplation is what Don’s referring to here.
8. “Haven’t You Always” translates better to an acoustic, Don-only treatment than I thought it would. It’s also one of my favorites off of In the Middle of It.
9. I loved the Stockholm syndrome joke he told about it not being the Derek Webb record.
10. I find it difficult to truly be enraptured by a quiet, acoustic song. This could just be me. I do love the melody, and I am curious to see how the larger treatment of it goes. I gave this a 4 of 5, though.
11. Skullduggery, indeed. I have this same problem with words, although I did use agnostic in a non-religious discussion once and was chastised by both Amy and Stephen for doing so, but ended up being right. Huzzah. [Did I challenge them on it at the time? No. Did I look it up later on the Internet when I got home? Hell yes I did.]
12. I was quite moved by the poem, not because I’ve lost my own father, but because I’ve seen my family go through similar situations.
13. I have some of those kinds of recordings, too. My grandfather had a recording of the 1974 Guin tornado that we heard as kids. 300+mph winds are impressive.
14. “Captain Purdue” was enough to convince me to buy the Khrusty Brothers record the next night.
15. I had never heard of the Public Theater.
16. Doing the call-and-response thing was kinda fun.
17. If “Captain Purdue” hadn’t convinced me, “Sympathy for Jesus” would have.
18. The story about Don’s getup is really, really hilarious, but … also fitting. Don is delightfully weird, you know? Here’s Jacob’s Well in Kansas City if you want to know more. Also, I loved that Don brought up the concept of liturgy in how, after repetition, things really do hit you. That is totally my experience as well.
19. I identify with “No Reason to Leave”. I’ve moved too much in my life, and right now, I really don’t relish the thought of leaving my local friends. I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon, but I would have some huge hurdles to overcome to leave.
20. I really didn’t know the story here, and it was fun to hear the backstory. Fun, well, in a Schadenfreude kind of way. 29 letters in 26 days? Man, I’m not sure I’d even go that far. Also, he mentions “Skin” off of Vigilantes of Love’s Blister Soul.
21. I now appreciate “Down at the Riverside” much more.
22. Getting the group to do these readings was interesting, but we took to it.
23. We read I Samuel 31 through II Samuel 1:15. He chose the NIV. Simmer down, ESV fiends. [And hey, I'm in your number---not for the theopolitical reasons you are, but because I find that it reads pretty true.]
24. I really dug “How the Mighty Have Fallen”.
25. I wonder how much Don will use the feedback. Amazingly, I didn’t peep anyone else’s sheets to see how they liked stuff. But mine was marked in Sharpie and easy to pick out.
26. I like “Fight Our Way Through” mainly because it explores Don’s lower register. I always appreciate male vocalists doing that.
27. “Sweet River Roll” is absolutely one of my favorite Waterdeep songs, and I loved that folks felt comfortable enough to sing some BGV’s. Or was that just me?
28. Going back home is something I get. Going back to Ohio is like that for me.
29. As I reflected on “What I Would Like to Imagine” as I drove home that night, I had my first true, real visualization of what Heaven might really be like. Don’t you think that we’ll all see those we love as we remember them? Children will see their parents at their best time, and parents will see their children at varying stages of life. I will see Mom before she had her stroke. I will get to introduce people I love, who’ve only ever known Mom since then, to the free, easy-talking woman I knew as a child. Mom will get to introduce me to her father, but in a cancer-free state. He died when I was almost 12, and for those dozen years, he was always in treatment and usually in pain. As I wrote this, I came to the realization that he died 20 years ago tonight. Oh, to be made whole again. That is the power of the promise of Heaven.
30. “Good Good End” is the perfect song to follow that.
31. I hope you enjoyed listening to this show as much as we all did.
32. Our singing was okay.

I’ve got a recording of the next night, too, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. Maybe tomorrow.

I’ll have the recording up soon, hopefully later today. I’m going to the Chattanooga show tonight. I seriously had that much fun, y’all.

Recorder

I’m a big fan of M-Audio‘s MicroTrack recorders. Why?

1. They’re compact and lightweight. It’s about the size and heft of a deck of cards.
2. Inputs include a 1/8″ stereo mini jack and two 1/4″ jacks. This gives you plenty of options for microphones: the included stereo omni, a pair of binaural mics you use to do a true stealth bootleg, or 1/4″ to XLR for using professional microphones.
3. Records to Compact Flash. I use Canon cameras, so I had a bunch of CF cards hanging around when I got started with the MicroTracks. I find CF to be reliable. Also, you can use 1st and 2nd generation cards, which are dirt cheap.

Your mileage may vary, but I own both the original 24/96 and the current II version, and both are great.

Except … both provide 48V phantom power on-board, but my experience is that this just doesn’t work very well. And, if you think about it, you’re asking a lot of this little recorder with its on-board battery: recording CD-quality [or DVD-quality, if you want] audio and providing phantom power? Nah. Let’s go with …

Battery Box

I own two Applied Research & Technologies’ ARTcessories Phantom II battery boxes. I found that, when I was using the MicroTrack’s on-board phantom power, even when plugged into AC power, it just wasn’t enough. There would be line noise because the power supply wasn’t consistent. It was decidedly suboptimal. I’d had one of these boxes that I used a few times, and when my friend Chris helped me diagnose the problems I was having over Twitter, I put it into action. I then slapped myself for stupidity.

The price on the Phantom II is certainly right: $50 for the base unit, with the optional AC adapter being in the range of $10. [I recommend the AC adapter because you never know when the 9V batteries inside the unit are going to crap out on you.]

Cabling

I don’t have any strong opinions on cabling for when I’m using XLR-based microphones. I know that cabling/wiring can be a complete ripoff. I suggest trying cables out and seeing if you like them. Talk to people you know who use XLR cables on a regular basis and see if they have a favorite brand.

But for Pete’s sake, test the cables, before every show. Just because they worked last time doesn’t mean that they will this time.

One recommendation I do have with the MicroTrack-to-XLR cabling is Sound Professionals‘ MicroTrack specific 1/4″-to-XLR bundle, pictured above. I’ve found these to be very reliable; previously I’d used some crappy adapters from … :sigh: … Radio Shack. These are way better, plus they’re pretty rugged. Again, I own two of these, and they’re worth it. You can plug the male XLR end directly into the Phantom II and have the battery box and MicroTrack within a foot of each other, which makes for a fairly compact setup that you can gaffe tape into place at the venue.

Gaffe Tape

I’ll tell you what I did: I went to FindTape.com and ordered their sampler pack of gaffe tape. I haven’t used it all yet [and have had this over a year], but they come with convenient labels on the inside of the roll so you can see which ones you really like to use. I’ve had professional sound guys ask me where I found the tape for that cheap, actually. Tape from a retail store has a huge, huge markup.

And you want to have gaffe tape, because you never, ever know where you’re going to be locating your rig until you get there. You may need to tape it down on a slanted surface! [I have to do this all the time at 12th & Porter, for example.] Having your own tape will make the sound guys happy.

Microphones

Okay, I’m cheap. I don’t have the money to blow on crazy Neumann or Schoeps mics. [If I did, I'd be using a Sound Devices 722 instead of a MicroTrack.] I use Audio Technica AT2021s, which are nice, reliable, inexpensive cardioid microphones. I buy them from Sound Professionals, where I usually get them for $70ea. [Sometimes, they run crazy sales where they're like $30. I jump on those sales, just because I like these mics enough. I now own four. Just writing about it makes me want to buy a spare pair.]

I own some other microphones that I haven’t really run in the field, purely because I’m lazy. I get solid perfomance out of the 2021s. One thing I really like about them is that their response range starts at 30Hz, so if you’re at a very bass-heavy show, your recording won’t be overwhelmed by that.

The Total Cost

You can find MicroTrack II’s online for $160. The ARTcessories Phantom II is, as I said, $60 for the box and adapter. Figure you spend $25 on cables and $30 on that SP adapter for the MicroTrack. Add $140 for the AT2021s, maybe $50 for a nice boom mic stand and mic bar to mount them on [both available at soundprofessionals.com, who I've found very helpful when ordering equipment---Chris Carfagno is great!], and you’re looking at $465 for a nice, solid, compact rig that will give you solid performance. If this is too much for you, start with the MicroTrack and its included omni mic: for acoustic recording and small venues, it can be enough. High SPL environments overwhelm it, though, so you’ll want to watch it for louder shows. Also, the omnis are bass-heavy, so you can get some distortion in the recording.

Why two rigs?

1. It never, ever hurts to have a backup.
2. I use the old 24/96, 1/4″ to XLR adapter, and XLR cables to get soundboard patches.

I have found that most sound boards have XLR outputs you can tie into. Bands, if they’re great about taping, will usually push for you to get a patch. Some sound guys are curmudgeonly about it, but if the band pushes them to do it, they usually will. Be cool about it. You’re asking a favor from the sound guy and taking time away from his sound check.

Having a SBD/AUD matrix gives you the best of both worlds: the SBD patch will give you a solid body for the recording, but the AUD will give you a sense of the room and will take away from the SBD being flat-sounding. You want some crowd noise, of course … this is live music.

This is what I use these days. I’m sure I’ll graduate to better and better equipment as time goes by. I’ll update this as I do …

Artist: Waterdeep
Venue: Harvest Hands
Location: Nashville, TN, USA
Date: 25 Feb 2010

1. introduction
2. In the Middle of It
3. Easy Baby
4. [stage banter]
5. Couple Cheap Rings (false start)
6. Couple Cheap Rings (feat. Billy Brimblecom, Jr. and Greg LaFollette)
7. [stage banter]
8. Haven’t You Always (feat. Billy Brimblecom, Jr. and Greg LaFollette)
9. [stage banter]
10. Falling (feat. Billy Brimblecom, Jr. and Greg LaFollette)
11. [stage banter]
12. Life of the Party (feat. Billy Brimblecom, Jr. and Greg LaFollette)
13. [stage banter]
14. Go Find John
15. [stage banter]
16. Confessions of a Broken Down Man
17. [stage banter]
18. Wicked Web (feat. Billy Brimblecom, Jr. and Greg LaFollette)
19. [stage banter]
20. Gimme My Walkman (feat. Billy Brimblecom, Jr. and Greg LaFollette)
21. [stage banter]
22. He Will Come
23. [stage banter]
24. Both of Us’ll Feel the Blast (feat. Billy Brimblecom, Jr. and Greg LaFollette)
25. [stage banter]
26. Hush
27. [stage banter]
28. On a Night That Felt Outdated
29. [stage banter]
30. Easy Does It
31. [stage banter]
32. Heart Attack Time Machine
33. [stage banter]
34. Tools in the Garage
35. [stage banter]
36. At Least I Got a Car
37. [stage banter]
38. I Know the Plans (feat. Billy Brimblecom, Jr. and Greg LaFollette)
39. [stage banter]
40. 18 Bullet Holes
41. You Have Redeemed My Soul
42. [encore break]
43. Good, Good End
44. [outro]

Lineup:
Don Chaffer: guitars, vocals
Lori Chaffer: guitars, vocals

Source:
AUD -> AT2021s [polar X-Y, DFC about three feet from Don and Lori] -> ARTcessories Phantom Pro -> MicroTrack II [16-bit, 44.1 kHz] -> WAV

Transfer:
WAV > Audacity v1.3.3b. Compression of the audience reactions, then an overall amplification.

Tracking:
Audacity v.1.3.3b – split into tracks and exported to AIFF.

Encoding:
AIFFs -> xACT v1.64 -> FLAC [Level 8]

Distribution:
On the Archive.org Live Music Archive for Waterdeep under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Distribution 2010 by geoF:stop media, LLC.

Taper:
Geof F. Morris

For more information, visit geoFstop.com. To buy Waterdeep records, which you totally should, visit Waterdeep.com.

So, as a part of a greater plan that I might get into at some point, I’m making my concert documentation [photography and audience recording] business, geoF:stop media, into an LLC. It’s time to stop playing around. [I'm talking to you, 2009.]

I’ll have both prints and standouts available for sale; images are below. I’ve printed these previously, and I know that they look fantastic. Chris Hubbs, Mike Terry, and Josh Stockment have all seen them, too, and will attest to their awesomeness.

Because I have nothing to sell without the fine talents of Mr. Andrew Osenga in playing the concert where I took this shot, I am splitting the profits with him. More on that in a sec.

8″x12″ print:

Signed or Unsigned?

Unsigned $30.00 Signed $45.00

11″x14″ standout:

Signed or Unsigned?

Unsigned $100.00 Signed $150.00

All prints and standouts are from Mpix. If you’re asking, “What the heck is a standout?”, I asked the same thing when I first came across the product. It’s a print mounted on 1.5″ thick Gatorfoam, edged nicely and pre-drilled on the back with holes for hanging. You can use nails or pushpins to hang these; I have done both to good effect. In fact, I have a nice little gallery of some of my favorite shots on the walls in the stairwell of my townhouse.

These are a limited run: I’ll do just 50 prints and up to 10 standouts. That’s it. Andy and I will split the profits from unsigned items 50/50; if he signs, he gets 60% and I get 40%. [It's only fair.] I will sign and number all the prints and standouts, plus keep records for authenticity. You know, for when Andy signs that multimillion record deal and you want to list this on eBay.

Now, I know that these aren’t cheap. I was originally only going to offer the standouts, and then I decided that I just couldn’t envision enough people wanting to drop $150 on a signed copy. But I figure that there are some of you that love Andrew enough to do that. [And then there's my mom. You should buy one, Mom.]

I’ve done the math, and after I pay for shipping and sales taxes, I’ll make about $800 if I sell all the units, as will Andy. We’ll make more if you want them signed, of course; if everyone buys theirs signed, it’s something like $1700 for Andy and $950 for me. I plan on using this to pay the filing fees to get my LLC, with whatever’s left over getting reinvested into the business—probably mics, maybe a wide-angle lens. I’ll do these sales periodically, with different artists each time, to fund gear to document shows. Andy will probably use his to buy gear for the studio or, you know, feed his kids.

As y’all probably know, I give my recordings and my photos away for free under a Creative Commons license, so this is your way to say thanks for spending the time recording concerts for posterity. I get the money to bootstrap my company, and you get a fun piece of memorabilia that looks great.

Artist: Waterdeep
Venue: The Rutledge
Location: Nashville, TN, USA
Date: 25 Feb 2010

1. introduction [1:16]
2. Couple Cheap Rings [3:05]
3. Haven’t You Always [4:19]
4. stage banter [5:08]
5. Everyone’s Beautiful [5:14]
6. Life of the Party [4:03]
7. I Know the Plans [5:11]
8. Gospel Train [5:29]
9. stage banter [1:32]
10. We’re Not Gonna [3:30]
11. stage banter [1:37]
12. Both of Us’ll Feel the Blast [3:38]
13. 18 Bullet Holes [8:30]
14. stage banter [1:24]
15. Rivers Rise [4:41]
16. I’m Gonna Love You [5:41]
17. Falling [5:19]
18. stage banter [2:45]
19. Gimme My Walkman [4:04]
20. I’m Still Here [7:41]
21. stage banter [2:20]
22. Wicked Web [4:32]
23. band introductions [2:33]
24. Good Good End [2:59]
25. Sweet River Roll [5:49]
26. stage banter [1:56]
27. Everybody’s Guilty [5:02]

Lineup:
Don Chaffer: guitars, vocals
Lori Chaffer: guitars, bass guitar, keyboard, vocals
Greg LaFollette: guitars, keyboards, bgvs
Billy Brimblecom, Jr.: drum kit
Luke Sullivant: bass guitar

Source:
SBD -> MicroTrack 24/96 [16-bit, 44.1 kHz] -> WAV
AUD -> AT2021s [polar X-Y] -> ARTcessories Phantom Pro -> MicroTrack II [16-bit, 44.1 kHz] -> WAV

Transfer:
WAV + WAV matrix in Audacity v1.3.3b. No adjustment in levels.

Tracking:
Audacity v.1.3.3b – split into tracks and exported to AIFF.

Encoding:
AIFFs -> xACT v1.64 -> FLAC [Level 8]

Distribution:
On the Waterdeep repository at the Live Music Archive under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Distribution 2010 by geoF:stop media, LLC.

Taper:
Geof F. Morris

For more information, visit http://geofstop.com/. To buy Waterdeep records [which you totally should!], visit http://waterdeep.com/.

Now I must go back to working on the Waterdeep shows I recorded this weekend…