Vocals - CHECK!
Holy wowza late night envelop pushing session batman! Andrew Doney is the hidden dude in the Hidden Agenda. I'm consistently floored by his music mind, and approach to sounds, and realistic honesty to accomplish a given musical task. That guy has more understanding about the vocal instrument then anyone i know. He knows the muscles, the names of sonic elements in singing that i've never heard of. He had me make sounds i've never made, approach 'pushing air' like i've never done before. Needless to say, i'm beyond thankful, wow'ed and proud that i 'conviced him to join the band' as he puts it.
"Talking to the Trains" started it's origin years before this band existed. A direct reaction to losing my older brother, Josh, tragically and suddenly. To this day i hold dear to the lyrics and progression. As a full complete composition, i couldn't be prouder. In a previous band with Keith, "Micki and the Good Name Band," he always claimed it was confusing and inconsistent. We never tried to chart it out, just go by feel. I was coming off of a 7+ year jam band project that was all about feel. With BHA's approach, we actually put this song together in a way that made it better as a whole - and pulled at some of the 'unknown direction' that was always a potential in it. Because of the emotional history i have invested in the tune, it's so hard for me to let go, but i trust and love these people more than chords can say. It was a 3+ hour vocal session, and Andrew pulled out of me some of the best singing i've ever done. I'm giving it a few days to sink in, and come back with fresh engineer ears to dial it in. It's amazing to let something go, give it to your music family, have them play with it in the sandbox, put it back together and give it back... ...only to push you to raise the bar in your contribution to the track. I can't wait to share it with you all.
"...and when those big rocks dissolve into salt, i'll finally be content with where i'm at & what i've got." - Barrett, from 'Talking to the Trains'