(( all things audible ))

Sorry for another girl singer-songwriter post, but I can’t help myself.  She’s just so good.  And her producer and multi-instrumentalist John Leventhal, is even better.

Shawn has three albums that I really love and this isn’t necessarily my favorite, but it’s the most recent.  It’s folk-pop, but more folk than pop.  Very rootsy instrumentation (dobro, pedal steel, mandolin, banjo) and some tasty electric tones and plenty of ambience.  Leventhal (JL) played a lot of the instruments, produced, and co-wrote most of the songs and his influence is all over the record.  More on him later..

For now, you should go listen to some of these songs here and here and listen to a few live versions here and check out the track rundown (see the credits).  But before that I wanted to note a few general things about the record:

First are the amazing sounding acoustic guitar tones.  I’ve read up on John Leventhal (article 1, 2) and he tends to use an old 60’s AKG C-60 for acoustic instruments with a variety of preamps.  I haven’t heard many records that have such a great acoustic tone.  Another thing is that Leventhal tends to mix vocals really high in the mix.  You may notice that the vocals are very loud and up front compared to most pop records.  Finally, I have to mention Shawn Pelton on the drums.  I can’t think of any other drummers that play like him.  Even though he is (or was) the drummer for SNL, he knows how to create a pocket on slower folky records like this.  He’s very recognizable, but not in a boring way.

1. Fill Me Up
- this song doesn’t really have standard verses and choruses.  just more of an A and B section.
- subtle one note organ pad played by Rick DePofi.
- JL simple slide in the turnaround w/ the wurli, panned to either side
- Shawn Pelton’s loopish drumming w/ a very roomy drum sound
- walkup at 1:10
- choruses have the slide in the L channel and wurli melodies in the R
- organ picking up on the melody in the next verse
- tele licks coming in 1:56
- shift to the 7th chord at 2:32 changes it up a bit
- 7th chord outro at 3:17 with the walkdown wurli
- last line is tagged, retarted, and ended on the root chord.
- it’s got a very live feel to it

2. These Four Walls
- this one also has A and B sections, not really a clear verse/chorus.
- goes straight into singing from beat 1.
- very heavy 1-3and rhythm on the kick and bass.
- metronome, another one with a “Blackbird” feel
- the fingerpicking is killer
- pedal steel w/ delay comes in at :26.  Played by Greg Leisz.

- key change from G to A# for the B section.  More ethereal pedal steel work panned with JL’s tremolo swells on the other side.
- drums in on 2nd verse.
- on acoustic, listen for the common fingerpicking pattern with Colvin/Leventhal, sortof a 3-note, late, off-beat style.
- bridge mandolin solo by JL.  Great mic’ed tone just like the acoustics.  So tasty.
- you can hear a high-strung acoustic doubling most of the mandolin parts in the R channel.
- like the last song, tagged, retarted, and ended on the root.

3. Tuff Kid
- yet again, an A/B section song.  So far she’s sung the words of the title in the first line of the song.  Again starting from beat 1 singing.
- if you listen to this song hard enough you can sing Coldplay’s “Clocks” along with it.  They both have the same 1-5m/7-4 chord structure.
- only rhodes and b3 at the beginning.
- first verse has a cool background acoustic arpeggio part in the R channel.
- fiddle comes in for the B-section followed by a short solo, played by Antoine Silverman.
- Leventhal almost doubles the bass line on the tele but slides around a bit.
- there’s sort of a pattern like on the first song where 2 more melodic instruments are panned hard L and R.  In this case the choruses have the tele and the Fiddle doing this.
- really cool bridge:  jacked up panned lead vocals along with even more jacked up sounding BGVs, combined with cool aux percussion.
- followed by a great electric solo by JL.  straight-ahead tone with a little grit.
- cool outro with some sort of cool reberb-drenched keys and a fiddle.

4. Summer Dress
- A/B parts.  I like it, it works well.
- title of song in the first line again..
- bass line keeps things interesting along with atmospheric B3.
- really loopy lo-fi drumming, maybe with mallets or broomsticks.
- JL on tasteful dobro at 1:53.
- on the B section some electric comes in with a leslie/chorus sound.
- listen for the drum fill coming back in at 3:12, so much room sound and beautiful ghosting, along with a sliding bass drop-in.
- great instrumental A and B-section and then a fadeout.

5. Cinnamon Road
- title in the first line, A/B structure.  From now on let’s just assume this is the case.
- beautiful intro with either tremoloed organ or electric in the background followed by some subtle gurgly electric
- awesome drop-in starting at :59, with bass & drums.
- enter Patty Griffin on the 2nd verse.  Amazing..
- baritone-style playing on the tele in the L channel with tremolo throughout the song.
- banjo comes in on the B-section in the R-channel.  Panned hard with the tele.
- enter Marc Cohn at 1:51, another Leventhal produced artist.
- on the drums, Pelton tends to do shuffly feeling fills. Must be large cymbals too, they
ring out for quite a while.
- pedal Steel solo on the bridge with more banjo and piano.  Walkdown into the B-section.
- Marc Cohn is really featured here starting at 2:39.  More Patty Griffin.
- outro:  sweet heavy-tremolo guitar lick and I think i hear a bouzouki.

6. Venetian Blue
- this is my favorite on the album.  i know i overuse this word, but it oozes vibe. there’s so much space everywhere where no one’s playing.
- electric guitar, thick with a hint of delay in the L channel, wurli in the R channel.
- delicate brushes on the drums, so smooth.
- at the 1:00 mark, listen for the deep tremolo electric parts.  i also hear a little pitch vibrato.
- strings in the background.
- a lot of electric and acoustic doubling eachother – 1:25.
- more prominent wurli in the 3rd verse w/ no electric at first.
- a little xylophone here and there.
- outro:  quarter note melody line on electric doubled on the acoustic
- such a great song.

7. The Bird
- very Beatlesy, especially the fast hammeron/offs in the main riff.
- for mothers of young children, watch for the random f-bomb at :35.
- her voice can be somewhat piercing in this song sometimes.
- nice meaty guitar tone, not sure of the details but it sounds like a bridge PU.
- great B3/leslie work on the mini-bridge b/w the 3rd and 4th verses, with a very Beatles 5m-4 turnaround.
- first half of 4th verse is just drums, bass, and b3, then some very sparse electric playing.
- Ends with the repeating 5m-4 turnaround.  Listen for more Beatles at 2:51.

8. I’m Gone
- to me the music of this song very much fits the lyrics – cold, indifferent and a little sarcastic.
- to me switching from the A-sus to A to Am really creates a mysterious vamp.
- understated drumming with a 1-3and pattern.
- very dynamic b3/leslie in the chorus, using that volume pedal.
- listen for the horns in the R channel in the turnaround at 1:24.
- great acoustic solo in the turnaround as well.
- pretty short song at 2:53.

9. Let It Slide
- very bouncy moving bass line.
- bright vibes/xylophone in R channel at :26.
- cool little mandolin in R channel in the chorus
- In the L channel there’s a clavinet sounding guitar doubling the bass.  I’m not sure what this is or how he’s getting this tone.
- Teddy Thompson featured on the chorus.
- Very uncharacteristing electric tone for JL in the turnaround.  Definitely neck PU.
- Tasteful electric comes in on the 2nd verse with A/Bm-shape chord slides.
- JL is great at simple melody lines doubled and harmonized with different instruments: 2:43

10. Even Here We Are
- very choppy rhythmic strumming
- cool double slide guitar in the bridge w/ piano and ending the song
- soft tremolo guitar in the later verses

11. So Good To See You
- subtle percussion going on and the bass drops in at :19
- maintains a meloncholy feel in the verses then gets warm and homey in the chorus.
- the electric guitar riff in the chorus that reminds me of “Hurts So Good” by John Mellencamp.  Does anyone else hear that?
- in the chorus there’s also an 8th note vamp being played by some sort of keys.  Muted vibes?  this can be heard most prominently at 2:06 onward in the bridge and at the end.
- sustaining strings in the bridge add to the ambience.
- i like the BGVs in the last choruses.
- sweet little electric fill at 3:06.

12. That Don’t Worry Me Now
- along with “Venetian Blue”, this is in 6/8
- starts out with thick tremolo electrics almost in time with the tempo.
- a dark stationiary slide part with wah fades in right before the verse
- huge sounding symbols at :43.  Shawn Pelton creates such a deep pocket.
- this could be a Dave Barnes or Vince Gill song
- lots of baritone stuff going on
- pedal steel solo at 1:50
- they go into this cool C-section at 2:57 to end the song.  the outro sounds a little unplanned but it’s awesome.

13. Words
- “two, three, go” at the beginning is a little cheesy
- this is a Bee Gees cover, which is also a little cheesy
- all acoustic except for upright or acoustic bass and piano at the end.
- weak ending to a great record in my opinion.

I hope to post in the future about some of her other great records, A Few Small Repairs and A Whole New You.

John Leventhal