Glenna Bell’s Road Less Traveled leads to SugarHill Recording Studios

February 14, 2007 —Texas Americana songstress Glenna Bell just completed tracking ten songs for an upcoming album entitled “The Road Less Traveled” at SugarHill Recording Studios. The project was tracked in SugarHill’s Studio B and mixed in Studio C by Chief Engineer Andy Bradley and Senior Staff Engineer Steve Christensen.

Bell grew up influenced by hymns sung a cappella at church and by the '50s, '60s, and '70s country music that she found in her relatives’ record collections. Often compared stylistically to ‘Johnny Cash with a gothic twist’, her debut release, “Nobody’s Girl” and sophomore cd “Face This World” has received acclaim from fans and music critics alike.

In addition to a duet with Houston’s favorite male vocalist John Evans, Bell sings with Texas honky-tonk legend Johnny Bush and former Buddy Holly backing vocalist, John Pickering — the critically acclaimed but un-credited backing vocalist on many recordings by Holly and The Crickets.

Rounding out the backing musicians on the “Road Less Traveled” are Evans (guitar), Mike Ferrara II (drums) and Shawn Supra (upright bass).

John Evans who recorded Bell’s last album, returned as producer of the project. Evans is best known as the leader of the John Evans Band and winner of five consecutive Houston Press Music Awards for Best Male Vocalist is also currently nominated for Texas Music’s Musician of the Year Award in 2007. Additionally, he and Steve Christensen are nominated Producer(s) of the Year for their work on Evan’s 2006 “Ramblin’ Boy”. John Evans has also produced two albums for country rock band, F.Co.

For more information on Glenna Bell, please visit: www.glennabell.com

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Interview with producer Bill Racine

Houston’s Indie rockers Spain Colored Orange just completed tracking twelve songs for an upcoming album entitled “Sneaky Like a Villian” at SugarHill Recording Studios. I caught up with uber-producer and all around good guy, Bill Racine to ask some questions about the antic-fueled session and his 21-year recording career.

So how did you get into audio engineering?
When I was in 3rd grade, I used to spend my allowance on LPs and blank cassettes. Then, I'd record the music coming out of the speakers from various places in my room with a portable cassette recorder. From there I went on to Full Sail for audio engineering. Eventually, I got an internship at Bearsville Studios and assisted there for two years. After that, I went to work for Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Road Studios. I assisted, engineered, and produced there for two more years. Now I'm freelance.
So let’s start with the romantic part. How did you hear of/hook up with Spain Colored Orange?
It was love at first sight for me. I met Spain Colored Orange while I was on the road for last year's SXSW with the Mates of State. They played some shows together. We bonded. We decided that even though it was a long distance relationship, we could make it work.

How would you describe this project?
Ambitious, Psychedelic, Honest

As a producer, how did you make Spain Colored Orange feel at ease in the studio?
Beer.

How was your experience at SugarHill?
Sugar Hill is a great place to work. Excellent vibe… Everyone there seemed to take an active interest in the project. The staff at SugarHill went above and beyond.

Describe your working relationship with engineer Steve Christensen while recording Spain Colored Orange?
Steve really knows the rooms well, and was able to help keep things running smoothly. We worked well as a team. During overdubs, he was recording lots of vocals with Gilbert in the tape vault. After just a few days of working with him I, knew that he was up to the task.

This project seems to be a bit of a departure from the other bands you've produced in the past. Did you approach this project any differently than the others? Were you using any references?
I think that speaks more to the uniqueness of Spain Colored Orange and the other projects that I have had the pleasure of being involved in. That's the fun part of being a producer. Every project is truly unique.

What kind of drum sound were you trying to capture?
The drum sound changed from song to song. For "Better Left Alone" Gilbert used a Casio for the main drum loop. Then Steve Torrez put a mono kit in each of the speakers. For "Hide" there are several loops working together. Otherwise, I wanted the drums to feel very real and lively, with just enough bombast. Torrez is a great drummer, so that made things easier and more fun… Most of what you hear is just him.

Tell me about the tracking/overdubbing sessions.
Tracking went well. We managed to get the basics in a few days in Studio A. We tracked to 2" tape then flew it into Pro Tools. We took the hard drives to Studio B and proceeded to overdub. We had most of what we wanted from the drums and bass, so we focused on getting the trumpet, guitars, keys, percussion, strings, and even started on the children's choir. After that, we continued to overdub for a few days at Steven Burnette's apartment. We did more vocals there, some keyboards and finished up with the children's choir. The recording continued at Justin Peak's for a while, then Gilbert and I got together in NYC. We did a bit more recording, then mixed the record.

How did you deal with the time constraints and trying to keep everything on schedule? Were all the creative decisions made in preproduction or were there any improvisational moments?
As soon as we began, we were running behind. We did about as much pre-production as we could. I listened to the Sugar Hill session that they did for your web site. The band had demoed their songs on a 4 track or had recordings of rehearsals. So, I was able to familiarize myself with the music that they were about to record. Plus, I had seen them live 3 – 4 times. We also spent the night before going into the studio at their rehearsal space to make sure we were all on the same page. We just had to plug away, and follow the muse. Improvising happened more in the technique or method or execution of a part rather than "jamming".

I know that due to time constraints, you had to get creative by setting up a makeshift vocal booth in the Sugar Hill Tape Vault in order to record the vocals. How did that turn out?
Great!

Gear wise, I noticed A LOT of instruments! What was the most fun/inspiring toy to play with and why?
Not to be cheesy, but when you have lots of great gear and really creative people around, at some point, the studio becomes the coolest & most inspiring instrument. You know? The "what ifs" start happening and before you know it the guys are lunging at each other with cymbals mounted in reverse on disassembled drum hardware. (It sounds amazing on "Cheap Thrills".)

Where is this project being mixed? Will you be doing it?
I mixed it at Railroad Studios, which is my place in Brooklyn, New York. Gilbert was here for the finishing touches.

If this record had an alcohol content _ what would that be?
Since we each drank a lifetime supply… 100%

What/who (living or not) would be your dream band to produce?
The Kimonos

Any final thoughts on SugarHill?
Sugar Hill couldn't be any sweeter… or hilly..er…

For more information on Bill Racine, visit: www.breathingprotection.com/bill_racine.htm

For more information on Spain Colored Orange, visit: www.myspace.com/spaincolouredorange

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