2005
Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA
(
Frank Wakefield, Jim Moss,
James Lewin )
People
would call this a power trio configuration. This requires you to have
a great and dynamic musician like Frank in the center, then you construct a
stripped down band where everyone plays more than
one part, in addition to the normal requirements. In our case Frank would play mandolin parts as
well as JD Crowe style banjo parts on his mandolin. The guitar would use a
lot of bass lines to make up for the missing standup bass. The
fiddle would chop to simulate the off beat chuck sound of the
banjo when not playing leads. Positioning the fiddle on the same
side of Frank, or ear, that guitar was positioned would better
sync up the guitar with the fiddle. It was important to
create a single rhythmic pulse that would support Frank's complex
timing work. We first tried this when we were in Sweden and had no
banjo or bass. We quickly found this configuration allowed the band to be very fluid.
After
Sweden there was no looking back.
(Notice
the great DAT mics)
Camera-Persons Derric Reed and Carl Chatski
|