So Violet Mary's Third Journey Really Begins
Inside a small studio in Ontario County, the rock band Violet Mary has begun work on their third album. The title is unknown.
It will have 9 songs, and four of them were given their first studio workout on Saturday (though cue tracks had been recorded days earlier). The songs have been in various writing stages for about two months, before recording began on January 28th at Belly of the Whale Studios in Farmington.
The band of Mel & Mike Muscarella, Scott Cranfill, Scott Butcher and Marty Dorren convened to record rhythm tracks for "Take the Train," "You and I," "Lonely Bird" and "Stonewall."
It's hard to know what overall direction the album will take, but one clue Mike gave out lied in the songs' details. He said the songs all had to deal with travel in some way - more specifically, leaving something or somewhere. It also seemed to be another album of transition for the band, with new members stepping in for others who had since left. On the band's last release After the Plunge, Scott Butcher replaced Pete Gallagher on drums. For this release, Marty Dorren steps in for original member and chief songwriter Tyler Gagnon on bass. Mike and Mel would split lyric duties, while the band remained responsible for the music.
The band has already road-tested some of the new material during many of their live sets, including recent performances at Henrietta's Lovin' Cup and a memorable December 2011 set at Rochester's Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. "Disaster Medicine" was the first new song to gain any live performances, with "Take the Train," "Bub's Midnight Blues," "With the Sun" & "You and I" slowly gaining early and appreciative steam. Four other songs planned for the record are currently yet to be heard by a live audience - save for the audience of the band members themselves.
Throughout the night, Mike said sometimes most songs need at least five run-throughs before the band can be satisfied. Scott Butcher mentioned alongside Mike's statement that with After the Plunge, three songs were started and finished for that record with only one take needed (which ones in question, who knows). Would it be possible for the four songs of this first session to meet that same destiny?
The gospel-like "Take the Train" needed one run-through to kick off the session, with the band operating at full power in the studio. Mel even sang the chorus of Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On" during the song's conclusion - who knows if it will end up on the final version? It just might, after Mike declared later in the evening that it was a keeper (though that could always change).
"You and I" was given three recorded run-throughs at one period, with a major concern on one such run being the drums returning to the main rhythm after the first chorus was performed. There was agreement on the transition from the choral rhythm to the verse rhythm being extremely tricky - the moment deals with one of the snares potentially being hit too close, or an extra hit on the hi-hat causing the drums to momentarily lose their place. Mike admitted during a playback of the song, this moment was something he was glad to catch now - in the event of re-recording it at another time. The band would give it a 4th run-through (or in their words, a second full take) before they were satisfied with it - and that includes the drum riffs.
"Stonewall" uses words said to have been the last ones spoken by legendary Civil War general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, with the poem called "Let Us Cross Over the River." Two full takes were recorded, with some of Mel's most driven vocals to date. The arrangement for this song has an epic feel reminiscent of The Band's landmark tune "The Weight" (a song the band frequently covers during live gigs).
"Lonely Bird" was a song debated by the band in terms of how much music needed to be added. Marty and Scott Butcher felt the song was good and intimate enough without their input - and that Mel's piano & vocal (with some light acoustic work) would be just fine. The band would make two attempts on a full-band version to see if Dorren and Butcher's thoughts held water. The second take would prove to be the difference - with the exception of cleaning up the bridge, Mel (the song's lyricist) felt the song worked with the band involved. During the session, Mike suggested "Lonely Bird" could be the album's finale. If it ends up that way, it would be a radical departure for the band in terms of album closers - Marionette's "Release" and After the Plunge's "The Contented Tune" were certainly more epic in musical scope.
Since this is one of the first full sessions for the new record, the chances of any release date being confirmed are very slim - unless the band is keeping that date close to the cuff. It will likely be out later this year, though no clear timetable is set. Yet if there's one message for die-hard Violet Mary fans the band wanted to give, it was this: the process of laying the album down has commenced. The wait for its release will now be sooner than later.
Planned Songs: Take the Train, You and I, Lonely Bird, Stonewall, Disaster Medicine, Bub's Midnight Blues, With the Sun, Planning My Escape, Independence Day
CORRECTION (1/29/12, 11:39am): The article originally mentioned Pete Gallagher was not a member of the band. Mel Muscarella said on Twitter that Gallagher was a member, but albeit for a short time. This correction has been included in the review.