20 songs in 22 days — what a whirlwind!

What began as a 14-track record became a 20-track record (or maybe 17-track with 3 bonus track. either way, wowza!)

🎸 Arrival in Nashville

We arrived on Wednesday, April 9th, and hit the ground running at Club Roar the following morning. Club Roar has so much soul, character, and spunk, and is practically overflowing with art & music artifacts from the 80s to now — I knew it was the perfect place to record this album. For the next 22 days, we would remain there for anywhere from six to twelve hours daily, making what I believe is the best musical work I’ve ever made, the culmination of my last 5 years of growth as a songwriter and artist.


🥁 From 14 tracks to 20: how it happened

Would you believe me if I said I was accidentally more ambitious than I intended?

Back in London, James, my producer, and I struggled to reduce the album to twelve songs, settling on fourteen songs that we couldn't live without, with six as backup bonus tracks "if we had time."

Still, my bassist, Matt Chancey, and drummer, Aksel Coe, were so talented that we finished tracking bass and drums on twenty songs in four days.

It was remarkable work by the two of them, which also set us up for a race against the clock for the next 18 days, because now, every part of our work was multiplied—instead of 14 songs to layer guitars on, we had 20... with the same number of days.

We somehow found time to play Bananagrams every afternoon to get mental space from the studio, as evidenced below.



🎨 Piano and Guitar Picassos:

For guitar and piano tracking, we employed the help of super-talented session guitar and keyboard players John McNally (guitar) and Andy Cata (piano) to bring my piano and guitar parts to life in the way Picasso might paint in a sketch. With their help, the songs slowly materialized, becoming fuller, more fabulous, and flush with life.

Mom and Dad came up from Atlanta during the piano days and got to hang out around the studio with Bodi, a fab studio dog who even stayed quiet during piano takes.


🎤 Vocal (+ Sex and the City) Marathon:

The six vocal days that followed were grueling. I pushed my voice to the limit as I tried to deliver resonant, emotional performances while singing five to ten takes of four songs a day, not to mention doubles and triples!

It was exhausting, and there were nights when my voice was in incredible pain from overuse. Mentally, it was taxing knowing I had to wake up in the morning and do it all again. Kate and Adam, two Nashville friends, were true heroes coming to support me in the studio while I sang. Plus, Emma, her cat Theo, and a Sex and the City marathon emotionally salvaged me on day four, however, and that pushed us through and to the home stretch. 


Doubles and triples: When you sing the song exactly as you sang it again, i.e., doubling the first performance, so that the producer can subtly place these layers on the left and right side of the speakers to make your voice sound fuller and more three-dimensional. 



💥 Gang Vocals & Final Touches:

After vocals were done, a huge weight fell off my shoulders. I found myself walking around the studio lighter, more capable of thinking of anything besides the next vocal take. I was practically (and literally) bouncing around, as my favorite piece of equipment in the studio was the yoga ball I would sit on during (other musicians') takes. 

Next, we brought in the fabulous Katie Lynne Sharbaugh to sing intricate, layered, and beautiful background vocals for the next four days. She brought an incredible amount of texture, balance, and depth to the album's vocal world.


Want another singer-songwriter to love? Katie Lynne Sharbaugh is a remarkable artist in her own right. You can listen to her album Upstaged! here (I'm a massive fan)! 


We also added low "male" octaves beneath each chorus, and the studio owner, Robin Eaton, agreed to come in and sing these for us as a favor!

It was incredibly kind, and despite not having sung as a session singer for years, he spent six hours lending us his talent and beautiful voice. We then got to have dinner with him and his lovely wife, Karen, who fed us the best meal we ate in Nashville and regaled us with fantastic stories and hospitality.

Finally, we brought the project home on the final day of "gang vocals," where my talented and dear friends came to sing on the record with me. This day filled my heart up to the brim: I was so moved by all the passion and energy my friends brought to these gang background vocals. 


🪷 Wrap-Up: The Calm from the Chaos

Now that the storm has calmed, I admit I'm feeling fantastic. This album is the culmination of my last 5 years of growth as a songwriter and artist, and I have never felt so calm and clear in a vision. I am certain that what we are making here is the closest I have ever come to flipping my inside onto the outside and giving it to you.

I cannot thank James Russell, my producer, enough for guiding the ship along and creating the circumstances where my chaos can become controlled, clear, and elegant. 


🤝🏼 Become a part of my album posse!

There’s still so much road left to travel as we make this album a reality & ample opportunities for you to be a part of that process. I am looking for core friends and fans to give early feedback on mixes, album artwork, the visual world, and more. I will also occassionally ask you to act as "multipliers," people who help me share early access to things & get my work out into the world! If you're a big halle payne believer... this is the PLACE TO BE !!! 


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Intimacy & Envy, Amsterdam, and Theo Van Gogh