The first free MP3 download I'll post in 2011 is "Local Road," one of my earliest songs. This particular recording was freshly remixed last month, which marks the 20th year of this song's evolution! Sheesh, when I write that, I realize how long I've been a songwriter (or else, how young I was when I started). Here's the history of the song:
Back in the Fall of 1991 I was a student (for only one semester!) at Luther College in Decorah, IA. My then-girlfriend Dawn was a senior at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, about 5 hours away. She had no car, so for us to see each other on weekends I would drive Southeast across Iowa to meet her in Rock Island. Over the few months I drove that route so many times I had memorized and ritualized the trip.
Back in the Fall of 1991 I was a student (for only one semester!) at Luther College in Decorah, IA. My then-girlfriend Dawn was a senior at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, about 5 hours away. She had no car, so for us to see each other on weekends I would drive Southeast across Iowa to meet her in Rock Island. Over the few months I drove that route so many times I had memorized and ritualized the trip.
One Friday as I drove Eastbound on I-80 about 50 miles before the Iowa/Illinois border (which is the Mississippi River) I saw an exit sign marked as "Local Road" and I immediately got off the freeway on the exit ramp, parked my car on the gravel shoulder, got out my journal and wrote the lyrics of the song. At the time I was very affected by James McMurtry's debut album Too Long in the Wasteland, so as I look back I can see McMurtry's influence in the lyrics...."dirty trucks in single file," etc.
A few months later in the Winter of 1992 I had moved back to Michigan, where I recorded a cassette 4-track demo of this new song in my parents' basement. This original melody and chords for "Local Road" had a much more arena-rock feel, and it never felt right. I never found an effective way to play the song solo on acoustic guitar, so I shelved the tune and didn't revisit it until seven years later.
In 1999 I was collecting material for my upcoming 52-song double-CD Sound Theology, and I thought the ritualistic imagery in the "Local Road" lyrics could play a role in this ambitious concept album. At the time I was living in Chicago and playing with an excellent rhythm section, Benji Derrick on bass guitar and Andy Deitrich on drums. The three of us figured out a way to interpret the song, and for the first time, "Local Road" had a musical arrangement that felt good and correct.
The key to the resuscitation of the song was to slow down the groove to a mid-tempo stomp, and use heavy, crunchy electric guitar as the chordal foundation...a trick used very effectively by early-'90s-era retro bands: give a listen to The Jayhawks "Waiting For the Sun," or Matthew Sweet's "Divine Intervention." Benji, Andy, and I recorded the bass, drums, and telecaster live in the room together in the Fall of 1999...we set up in my 3rd floor rehearsal space in a huge warehouse in Maywood, IL, and recorded to a Sony mini-disc 4-track machine with Randy Kerkman engineering. A few months later in Winter of 2000 I moved my recording rig to my 4th floor condo overlooking the West side of Chicago and finished the tracking by singing, playing acoustic guitar, and playing harmonica live on the same track, over the electric guitar, bass and drums. This is the version of "Local Road" that can be heard on the Sound Theology album, released in Summer of 2000.
A few months ago in the Fall of 2010 I dug back into my old mini-disc archives and found the raw individual tracks from the "Local Road" recording session. I transferred them to ProTools on my computer and was able to analyze each instrument solo-ed for the first time in a decade. Knowing that drummer Andy Deitrich continues to be a performer (with circus-punk marching band Mucca Pazza) as well as a serious studio musician and producer in Chicago, I thought it would be fun to turn these old tracks over to him, to see if he could reinterpret them. Andy was pleased to participate, so last Fall he spent some time updating the recording of "Local Road." His biggest limitation was the fact that my vocals and acoustic guitar AND harmonica were all recorded live on the same track (old school!) so he didn't have a lot of options for remixing that part of the recording. Working within those bounds, Andy added lots of new percussion sounds, played additional bass guitar and organ, and updated the structure of the tune. Now in 2011, twenty years after the song was written, I'm happy to post Andy's remix of "Local Road." Download it at my Audio Page.
Considering what a novice I was when I wrote this song, it's still a favorite of mine, and I continue to perform it occasionally in concert. "Local Road" strikes a nerve with people in long-distance relationships who often tell me they relate to the story of geographic separation and the long road trips to reunite. Lyrics below:
A few months later in the Winter of 1992 I had moved back to Michigan, where I recorded a cassette 4-track demo of this new song in my parents' basement. This original melody and chords for "Local Road" had a much more arena-rock feel, and it never felt right. I never found an effective way to play the song solo on acoustic guitar, so I shelved the tune and didn't revisit it until seven years later.
In 1999 I was collecting material for my upcoming 52-song double-CD Sound Theology, and I thought the ritualistic imagery in the "Local Road" lyrics could play a role in this ambitious concept album. At the time I was living in Chicago and playing with an excellent rhythm section, Benji Derrick on bass guitar and Andy Deitrich on drums. The three of us figured out a way to interpret the song, and for the first time, "Local Road" had a musical arrangement that felt good and correct.
The key to the resuscitation of the song was to slow down the groove to a mid-tempo stomp, and use heavy, crunchy electric guitar as the chordal foundation...a trick used very effectively by early-'90s-era retro bands: give a listen to The Jayhawks "Waiting For the Sun," or Matthew Sweet's "Divine Intervention." Benji, Andy, and I recorded the bass, drums, and telecaster live in the room together in the Fall of 1999...we set up in my 3rd floor rehearsal space in a huge warehouse in Maywood, IL, and recorded to a Sony mini-disc 4-track machine with Randy Kerkman engineering. A few months later in Winter of 2000 I moved my recording rig to my 4th floor condo overlooking the West side of Chicago and finished the tracking by singing, playing acoustic guitar, and playing harmonica live on the same track, over the electric guitar, bass and drums. This is the version of "Local Road" that can be heard on the Sound Theology album, released in Summer of 2000.
A few months ago in the Fall of 2010 I dug back into my old mini-disc archives and found the raw individual tracks from the "Local Road" recording session. I transferred them to ProTools on my computer and was able to analyze each instrument solo-ed for the first time in a decade. Knowing that drummer Andy Deitrich continues to be a performer (with circus-punk marching band Mucca Pazza) as well as a serious studio musician and producer in Chicago, I thought it would be fun to turn these old tracks over to him, to see if he could reinterpret them. Andy was pleased to participate, so last Fall he spent some time updating the recording of "Local Road." His biggest limitation was the fact that my vocals and acoustic guitar AND harmonica were all recorded live on the same track (old school!) so he didn't have a lot of options for remixing that part of the recording. Working within those bounds, Andy added lots of new percussion sounds, played additional bass guitar and organ, and updated the structure of the tune. Now in 2011, twenty years after the song was written, I'm happy to post Andy's remix of "Local Road." Download it at my Audio Page.
Considering what a novice I was when I wrote this song, it's still a favorite of mine, and I continue to perform it occasionally in concert. "Local Road" strikes a nerve with people in long-distance relationships who often tell me they relate to the story of geographic separation and the long road trips to reunite. Lyrics below:
LOCAL ROADnever driven it myself but i've seen it many times
driving fast alone to see my girl across the borderline
up ahead i see the sign
local road exits to the side
i don't need to drive it
i just need to pass it by
local road turns off from the eastbound lane
and tells me i will soon be holding her in my arms again
all the yellow fields look the same, dirty trucks in single file
then i see the sign with basic name and it's only fifty miles
until i see her smile
local road exits to the side
i don't need to drive it
i just need to pass it by
local road turns off from the eastbound lane
and tells me i will soon be holding her in my arms again
it's good to have a landmark on your way to watch for as you go
everybody needs some ritual
this i know
i watch for local road
local road exits to the side
i don't need to drive it
i just need to pass it by
local road turns off from the eastbound lane
and tells me i will soon be holding her in my arms again
