Here we are, finally in winter in Central Oregon…a fitting time to be finishing mixing and production on Winteresque, the new full length album from Finn Miles.
Thanks to all who have been on the journey with us the last few years; 2012 is looking up for Finn Miles!
I’m teaching myself a bit of piano, and thought it would be fun to share this solo piano version of “Warm, Warm Heart” with you.
Warm, Warm Heart is a song off of the upcoming Finn Miles album “Winteresque” which will be released in late winter 2012 and available on iTunes. Stay tuned for more updates, or join us on Facebook for breaking news.
So, I thought we were ready to go to work on yet another album. That’s how things had worked between Branches and Telltale Heart, there hadn’t been much of a break. I had the songs…now hit it!
Kickstart Winteresque with us!
I even started a Kickstarter project in anticipation of starting the album. I was playing with a great six piece band, getting good gigs, doing radio interviews. Life was good.
It was good, but in some ways paper thin. The band was superb, but all part of other projects as well, and over a few months they mostly drifted into other backing bands. The Kickstarter didn’t really “kickstart.” It went splat. It turns out these crowd-sourcing tools work great if you have a crowd ready to give. I didn’t. Then…my brother got engaged. A happy event…but a death knell for Winteresque happening in 2010.
Fortunately I had plenty of shows lined up at coffee houses and small venues…and I could always go back to looping with the Boss RC-50 Loopstation. Still, I was ready to record…so I decided to take a step of audacity.
I would write and record an album of “new” material while waiting until we could work on Winteresque. Thus, the idea for the “Modern Saints EP” was born.
Read on to Part 3 or the Winteresque saga. (coming soon)
I originally planned on recording the Winteresque album over a year ago, but life got in the way.
After the release of the Telltale Heart EP (which was a fabulous success) I started writing a batch of new songs. When I write songs they usually come fast and furious, and before too long a theme emerges. This central thesis acts as a centrifugal force, pulling the album together, each song finding its own seat. This creates albums which are cohesive, but not caught up with all weight the concept album.
The central theme finally caught my eye in the corner of my writing journal; it was a simple Haiku I had previously written.
Autumn’s light will fail.
Long white sheets on a pale field.
Will we bloom again?
All of a sudden, the lens focused…Winteresque is a journey from autumn, through the dark of winter, and into the hope of spring. I started seeing elements of this journey in the other songs I’d write. Each song started informing the others on how they fit into the big idea; the puzzle pieces began falling into place. I wrote six songs and created acoustic demos to share with my brother, Scott Gratton who engineered and produced the previous Finn Miles EPs.
I felt like I was on track…but then something happened. (To be continued in Part 2)
We promised, we’re finishing the album…and here’s the evidence – a sneak peak at “There’s a Better Way (Looper)” including an actual track of vocals mixed into the song.
We’re warming up our chops this winter with a handful of unplugged shows in Central Oregon. Check out our upcoming shows. We’ll see you there!
The dust is finally settling from our move to the Central Oregon desert! This week we’ve been able to make it to a few local open mics, just to share tunes and see what’s going on in the music scene around Bend, Prineville, and Redmond, Oregon. As we get our feet back underneath us, watch for upcoming acoustic shows in November and December around Central Oregon. You’ll be sure to hear songs featured on our upcoming album “Winteresque” which is almost complete.
I think I’ve got it…I just need one more mic to finish the job!
The tracks for our upcoming FULL LENGTH are finished except for the vox, and I think I’ve been persuaded that the Shure SM7B is the mic for me. Both my brother, and Chris Cunningham have been strong proponents of the SM7B…now I just need to find a deal on ebay!
Also, if you happen to be in Central Oregon you may find us at a local open mic or cafe gig. That’s right, we’re warming up to get back on stage. Say tuned…
I just picked up an Audix i5 today, just one of the many microphones that will be used on our upcoming album “Winteresque.” The Audix i5 is a good workhorse mic, I’m looking forward to using it for variety on guitar amps and percussion. Stay tuned for more updates on our recording process; things are sounding incredible so far, we’re excited to share the music!
Last weekend we played our first house show, a smashing success! Thanks to the gracious hosts and audience the ‘vibe’ was really sweet and intimate. Despite a confounding rainstorm, we played inside rather than on the back porch, but the setting couldn’t have been better. Enjoy this clip of our lead off song “Winteresque” in the McCord’s living room – impromptu venue.
