Posts Tagged ‘The Invention Of Everything Else’
Ten Reasons I Should Have Taken Up Needlepoint Instead
The last few weeks in the studio have been sort of painful. It all came to a bit of a head last night when I found myself preparing dinner between takes and swearing under my breath — well, maybe not so much “under.” Abbi said, “I’ve never seen you so moody!” Which was a really…
Read MoreStudio Chicanery (Or, My Weekend In The Closet With Chris)
Just how long does it take to nail a guitar solo? Even if you’re only a casual Rolling Stone or Spin reader, you’ve probably read the same B.S. I have about first takes. Yunno, Slash is talking about the “Sweet Child Of Mine” solo on “Appetite For Destruction” and he’s all like, “Yeah we just…
Read MoreThe Rock & Roll Husband
I distinctly recall standing next to Abbi in Brooklyn, staring way down Flatbush Avenue towards downtown Manhattan. We were testing the waters together, trying to find a neighborhood in which to move. The process, though, was pushing some other buttons. “But it’s so far away!” I whined. Later, on the subway, I articulated what I…
Read MoreThe Astronaut’s Lament
It’s Friday night at 6:43 and I’m still at the office when it dawns on me. ‘Shit, I still have to pick up the master tapes.’ Master files, really, but what’s a little nomenclature between friends? All I want to do is go home, grab a beer and hang with the wife. But Travis Harrison…
Read MoreKilling The Blues – Video
We’re twenty minutes into the “Invention of Everything Else” recording session when we start hearing a loud, arrhythmic clicking sound in our headphones. Travis stops rolling. “Ok,” he says. “Who’s got the bum cable?” Chris and I aren’t plugged in. Tony protests. “I checked everything before we started,” he says. “Battery?” Chris and I are…
Read MoreInventing Everything Else
Nine songs in eight hours. Not bad. Whether it was nerves, or a lack of sleep (probably both), I was sick to my stomach all day. I dashed out of the office around five o’clock, and hopped the NR. Stepping out of the subway at Prince & Broadway is a little like stepping into a…
Read MoreBreathe In (Live) – Video
Like I said to Tony before the everyone showed up for rehearsal, “If you’re gonna’ be ambitious in a big way, you gotta’ be prepared to fail in a big way.” I’ll be honest. It wasn’t our best rehearsal ever. Which is only slightly alarming given that we’re recording a new album tomorrow. I don’t…
Read MoreGiving Up The Ghost (Live) – Video
There’s a lot of hope in the Music Building. The place is semi-legendary, at least to those of us who grew up watching Behind The Music. The 42,000-square-foot building located on Eighth Avenue between 38th and 39th — catty-corner from The Port Authority Bus Terminal — is eleven stories of rehearsal space: 70, 350 square…
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New Benjamin Wagner Album Due June 24 18
You knew it was coming, right? Authentic Records will release my seventh, full-length studio LP on Tuesday, June 24. The working title for the album is “The Invention of Everything Else.” Pre-production for the all-acoustic release has already begun. Tony Maceli, Chris Abad, Ryan Vaughn and I started arranging the tunes Thursday night at Ultrasound…
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