Misadventures In Song – Shawn Sage

Shawn Sage

Misadventures In Song

(Independent – 2006)

This was Shawn’s second CD and we wanted to take his recordings to the next level. The problem was that we weren’t able to afford much else than what we did on the first. Coming into this recording there were some key differences, Shawn had picked up a new Gibson acoustic and we rented a pair of Neve pre-amps for the guitar and vocals (and whatever else I could squeeze through). I ran all the snare/ kick tracks through the Neve’s after the fact. The most important change was that Shawn himself became a much stronger performer. It was easier to get the takes we needed and it was far more enjoyable tracking those parts.

1. Misadventures In Song. The drums were tracked at Marshall’s house with Mike Van Steinberg behind the kit. Initially I wasn’t happy with the tones, but by the end I enjoyed what we had, except for Kurt Cobain. Most of the overdubs were done at an office I had on Kingston Rd., it was before I was able to track drums at my own place. Tracy Jones came in for this and a bunch of other songs and made the room shake. Here we also had Lynn Kastner add some percussion – a master at small hand percussion. I added a small organ part as a final touch for a counter melody. I think I meant it to be quiter in the mix initially, but it didn’t sit right that far back.

2. Another War. This was one that needed some massaging and there are parts that I’m not satisfied with. I added tracked some electric as did Tracy, but I only felt like the tracks glued when I put down the final Hammond track.  This is yet another one where we had Andrea De Boer (Blue Venus) and Colleen Costello (Taffy) out to sing backups. Lots of giggles. That may have been from Shawn and myself.

3. Blow Out Sale. The drums were tracked with North Pole at Ryan Carley’s cabin on Guelphline. Sam Cino played on those two. This was done well before we began working on the album in a serious way. I don’t think Shawn had written everything yet. I associate this and N. Pole with his first record, but only because of the timeline. Used the Farfisa tone to garage it up. Tracy played along with a good sense of humour.

4. Stan Wadlow Park. This was an easy one. Open, nostalgic and inspirational. As any song about taking mushrooms should be. I actually remember singing back ups on this one, but it’s a blur. I don’t normally like rain stick, but Lynne made it work. I love the little Andrea/ Colleen moments in the chorus. Again the organ was glue played by a great friend, Meher Steinberg – no relation to Mike. The openness of the track made it easy to mix. It’s on songs like these that I particularly loved Mike’s parade drum kick. Tasty.

5. Permanent Bliss. A great feature of both Andrea/ Colleen’s BGs and Tracy’s detuned Hidalgo-esque blurts and the warbly aquatic textures. Meher switched over to Wurlitzer. His parts were tracked at his apartment in Parkdale. I can picture Queen Street west when I listen to his parts. Lynn pulls it together with her shaker.

6. Kurt Cobain. The toughest. We tracked the drums originally with Mike, but as we continued to track I couldn’t make his kit work. In the end we re-recorded the drums with Taylor Knox (Goldendogs) in a tiny basement. It looked like a miniature kit, but he made it feel big. We kept Mike’s lo-tom drum in the opening to give it the extra cloudiness. Love Shawn’s harmonica. By the end, the song made sense to me. Another loud session with Tracy. Oh boy.

7. Wandering Mind. I really like this song, but it’s definitely one where it was difficult to recapture the original demo. One of the only ones from this CD with a proper demo. Listening back now, I feel that we surpassed the demo, especially with Shawn’s vocal take. The only acoustic guitar track that I attempted for MIS.

8. Ruins Of Paradise. The kit here is cajon/ snare drum played by colleen costello. Throw in Shawn’s Casio keyboard line with Tracy’s spookier guitar touches and you have one of the creepiest tracks on MIS. When I hear Tracy (as I am listening to it right now to remind me) I’m brought back to our sessions of name-dropping guitar tones. It was how about if I try more of a “—-“ sound or a “—-“ kind of lick. I think we just like talking about our mutual admiration for some of the records we referenced. Probably because we’d get all misty eyed and shake our heads in nostalgic reverence.

9. Can’t Play The Blues. Blues can be tough for me. It’s a language that is so universal and simple on the surface that I find it can often feel pedestrian, maybe even lazy as far as songwriting can go. Shawn approached this with a particular lyrical hook which although not deep, helped ground it. It’s placement between Ruins and Lost makes it a breath of fresh air. I like Mike’s easy feel on this and Tracy’s acoustic work (right side).

10. Lost In The North Pole. Ok, my favourite, and that’s before Meher laid down the tasty electric organ solo. Even before he put down the wah- Wurlitzer parts. Yes, before I got to do my backing vocals – thanks for letting me, Shawn. It started even before Sam Cino played the drums in that cabin on a Fall afternoon. A great lyrical take on the Holiday Season and mental dysfunction. They go together well, no?

11. No Going Home Again. I think this one used to have more verses originally. As it is, it clocked in at 7:07, so in the end Shawn was merciful. I always imagine Shawn as the character in the lyrics. A lovely story arc, taking it’s time. Dean Cavill’s lap-steel parts were brought in on disc.

12. Place Called Heaven. We demoed this one at my first office space. Oh, boy. I’m glad we got to do this bouncy version. Andrea and colleen play the parts of the angels on the chorus. Tracy was a good sport in pulling out the twang (kinda like “—-“). Since then Tracy began to play this live at a slower, dirge-like pace (more along the lines of “——-“).

13. Piano Ballad. Recorded live at Café Au Lait on their apartment-sized upright piano, Shawn gave the 4 patrons there a few lively takes. The glasses are clinking in the background,  is that a game of pool I hear?

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