| Subject: | [RESOGUIT-L] Mike Auldridge and Emmylou Harris, Mike's response. | | Date: | Monday, March 24, 2008 15:43:37 (-0500) | | From: | Howard Parker <hlpdobro @.....com>
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| In reply to: | Message 8996 (written by Howard Parker) |
I promised I would print Mike's response verbatim....and here it is.
Maybe I should be careful with my sinuses in the future :-)
Enjoy!
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Hi Howard, I would love to respond.
I'm a little reluctant to say too much, for fear of hurting anyone's
feelings, including your's, Howard. The truth is.... those comments are
right on the money. Emmylou and I have been friends for over 30 years I
guess, and working with her off and on over the years was/is a great
gig. I hope to do some more gigs with her... I'm on a few cuts of her
new (unreleased) CD, so you never know. Right now she's out with a
steel-less electric band, so I won't be with her this summer. Working
with Lyle Lovett for several tours over a few years, was also one of the
world's greatest gigs that a dobro player could ever dream of latching
onto. These are two of the best people in the business to work for and
with.... both great singers and wonderful, generous, warm-hearted people.
The difference between them and Alison is that Alison is not only a
great singer, she's a great instrumentalist as well. She has a great
understanding of the total weaving between vocals and instruments that
is needed (in my opinion, as well as Rod Trail's and I'm sure others on
the list) to take a song beyond the "story" of the lyrics, and grab
people's attention with strong instrumental hooks, backup and breaks.
Whether this is important to the casual listener or not, I can only
guess that it isn't. I'm only talking about country and bluegrass music.
Casual listeners buy records and make Grammies happen in all styles of
music. However.... musicians, who also happen to be listeners but with
huge ears and musical knowledge, want to hear the instruments right up
there in the mix, helping to describe the emotions of the "story".
I am a team player... I don't have a huge ego that makes me feel that my
part is more important than any other parts of the musical "weave"....
but I have strong opinions about what makes a great weave, and a great,
memorable song. To me, these are always the songs where I can hear the
dobro, pedal steel, fiddle.... whatever works.... right up there in the
mix, showing the contrast between the lyrics and the sounds that convey
the emotions that the writer felt when he put the damn pen to paper and
poured his heart out. There's always a place for muted instrumentals
responces and for complete silence of course. But for the most part, if
the instrumentalist has something valid to add, for God's sake, let him
speak! Buddy Emmons once handed me his business card, with type so small
you almost needed a magnifying glass to read it. It said simply....
"turn up the #%&^*#@ steel!" This will forever be my battlecry!
Mike Auldridge
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Mike Auldridge and
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