Up here in the Spokane area, there is a day that comes in August when there is a slight breeze and a chill in the air and you know that even though the calendar says it is August and you know it should be hot, Fall has arrived. Oh sure, there will be more hot days and more sunshine but it is an unmistakable feel and at least in our household, a certain sadness that winter can’t be too far behind with all of it’s gray skies and cold temperatures. But it also signals my favorite time of year, that time between now and the first of October where the nights begin to chill down in the forties but the days are filled with warmth. It seems to have come a little later this year but it is here.

Last weekend we were succesful in getting nine tracks down for the new record. I was surprised because I was hoping for three or four but things went well on Saturday and we knocked out a few on Sunday morning. So far we have three of my original tunes, one by Andre and four covers. Starting with the covers, here they are: Snowin’ On Raton (Townes VanZant), Sing Me Back Home (Merle Haggard) and Sharecropper’s Son (Carter Stanley), Train 45 (I’ll have to figure out who wrote this) Old Uncle Bill, Do You Ever Think of Me, Longin’ In My Heart (me) I’ll See You in Heaven (Andre). I left the list at the studio but I know we got nine altogether. Like I said before, these were recorded live with all of us in the studio at the same time recording together. Real organic.

Headin’ down to Tillamook, Oregon this weekend for Moograss. I’m going to see if Dennis Berck will get up and do Calling My Children Home with us. I’ll bet if we ask him real nice he will. We played this festival a few years ago and had a good time so we’re looking forward to it.

It’s getting late so I will close now and get to bed. Sall of you down the road.

Happy Trails,
Jim

Well, tomorrow night we start that process known as recording. I look forward to it. I dread it. We will gather at Chuck Egner’s place by Leavenworth and get to working on it. We would really like to capture some of the essence of Prairie Flyer-the live energy that we get when we’re playing in front of an enthusiastic crowd. I don’t know if that’s quite possible but we’re going to try. That means we will be trying to put it down as “live” as we can make it. There will be mistakes. Do we leave them and go onto the next song or do we do it over until we get it right? Do overs like this cost money and the more you do over the more nervous you get about the next take. It will not be perfect, I can guarantee that much.
We are winding down the festival season but already gearing up for next year. We have committments for shows next year and looking forward to getting some more. If any of you would like to see us near a venue close to you, contact your local promoters and see if they would like us to do a show.
Happy Trails,
Jim