#rawlings sessions

[damageisdone]

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The Features "Circus" Rawlings Sessions (1999) Brian Snyder had this to say on the Features message board about this recording:

"As to the Circus demo, I'm almost positive it was a Rawlings session recording, because I remember everyone being amused because Rollum absolutely insisted on beating on a cookie sheet on the recordings' percussion. They weren't really sessions per se. It was just a little thing at this guys' house with a microphone hanging from a hole in the ceiling. Above the room with the mike, the Rawlings guy had a little attic room with a soundboard. That was the entire setup. It was mostly a handful of people sitting on a couch in the next room drinking beers, while one of the Features would be in the front room laying down a track."

The other notable thing about this recording is that it was the only song from the Rawlings sessions to be released in any way. The song was given out at concerts in 2001 on a CD-R. The Mahaffey produced "33 1/3" also got this treatment at the same time. A VERSION APPEARS ON: Exhibit A, album release (2004) OTHER VERSIONS: Live @ 12th & Porter (August 24th, 2002) Live @ The Red Rose (February 28th, 2003)

[damageisdone]

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The Features "33 1/3" Rawlings Sessions (1999) Not trying to sell this song short or anything, but a song that sounds like a popped up post-punk Cure relating love of a girl to love of records was always going to be a favorite of the college indie crowd that followed the Features around. Of all the Features songs in existance, this one is the most narrative as it details a guy's record store conflicts and relationship with a girl who "loves my LPs more than she loves me." I personally enjoy how driving this song is, Rollum's drums kicking this song out of melancholy and into full on rock. Matt's voice is also perfectly suited for this song. "33 1/3" debuted here in the Rawlings Sessions in 1999. I'm not sure how much before these sessions it was played live, but I'm pretty sure (or actually just assuming) that it was never played with Jason Taylor and Don Sergio. The song seems to have been more of a regular at concerts from 1999-2001. During this time it was recorded with Matt Mahaffey for the Mahaffey Sessions and a CD-R of this song (a single, if you will) was given out at shows. The song's appearances at concerts dropped to 50% in 2002 and then down to around 16% in 2003. The song has become a rare treat since then, only being played 3 (known) times. The last time it was played was at a Wall Street show in Murfreesboro on November 12th, 2005 (the same show that saw the debut of "Concrete").

[damageisdone]

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The Features "Exorcising Demons" Rawlings Sessions (1999) The history of "Exorcising Demons" was written about on May 23rd. This is the first known "studio" recording of "Exorcising Demons" after it's debut in the fall of 1999. I say "studio" because, well, Brian Snyder described the setup of the recording sessions with Brent Rawlings like this: "They weren't really sessions per se. It was just a little thing at this guy's house with a microphone hanging from a hole in the ceiling. Above the room with the mic, the Rawlings guy had a little attic room with a soundboard. That was the entire setup. It was mostly a handful of people sitting on a couch in the next room drinking beers, while one of the Features would be in the front room laying down a track." It's interesting that such a setting produced as decent a recording as this one. What's also interesting is that "Exorcising Demons" in 1999 is identical to "Exorcising Demons" in 2009, just with an added scream at the end. I don't know if any other Features song was this fully-formed from the start. A VERSION APPEARS ON: Exhibit A, album release (2004) OTHER VERSIONS: Mahaffey Sessions (2000)