fRiCTiON fARM... a Chronological alamanac of our news
news
Community Radio Supports Friction Farm
Following the release of “Believe”, the new CD was sent to select radio DJs in the eastern US. They have been extremely generous including Friction Farm songs on their programs. Public Radio provides an oasis in the FM desert and many of the Djs and producers program their weekly shows simply for the love of music. These folks are often great supporters of their local live music scenes – announcing local shows, doing on air interviews with touring artists... If you live in, or are passing through, any of these cities, tune in and give back a little love and support.
“Folk
Festival” - WDCB Glen Ellyn IL
“Acoustic
Eclectic” - WDIY Quakertown PA
“Traditions”
WFDU Teaneck NJ
“Folk & Acoustic” - WLRN Miami
FL
“Live with Bill Dudley” WMNF Tampa, FL
“Fox's
Minstrel Show” - WRFG Atlanta,GA
“Acoustic
Highways” - WPRK Winter Park FL
“A Variety of
Folk” - WRUR Rochester NY
“Simpatico” - WSPN
Saratoga NY
And online programs “Radioio Acoustic”,
“Jack and Jill Radio” and “Online Folk
Festival”.
September 2004 – Hurricane Relief Decathlon Raises $1300 For Storm Victims
On September 18 Friction Farm staged a Hurricane Relief Decathlon. The folk-rock duo of Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay played ten shows in one day to benefit victims of hurricanes Charley and Frances. Beginning at 9:00 am at the Lazy Loggerhead Cafe in Jupiter, the pair meandered through the county to Starbuck's in Abacoa, the Sailfish Marina on Singer Island, Park Avenue BBQ in West Palm, George's Music in the Palm Beach Mall, Borders in Boynton Beach, Starbuck's in Delray Beach, Brogue's in Lake Worth, The Sandbar Restaurant in West Palm, and finally O'Shea's in downtown West Palm Beach. By 9:00 pm Friction Farm had raised $644.14 and that money was be matched by AIG Insurance Company. Sore fingers, sore throats, and $1300 for hurricane relief. Not a bad twelve hour day.
It began as a benefit for Charley's wrath originally scheduled for Septemeber 11. “We saw the destructive swath that Charley cut across southwest and central Florida and we felt so lucky to have been spared” said Stay. “We wanted to help, but as musicians our financial resources are pretty limited.” She came with the idea of a decathlon because “just doing a benefit show seemed so small.” The pair contacted local business spanning the county who might be willing to let them perform. “Every location was enthusiastic, saying yes before we were even done asking. They generously offered their space, support, food and equipment.” recalled Quinn.
But Hurricane Frances through a wrench in the plans. A week before the event, the duo was evacuated from their Juno Beach home. Upon their return they viewed the local devastation and again felt a wave of relief to find their place still standing, leaking, but standing. They vowed to continue with the Decathlon, though the original date was a little too soon. “We rescheduled for the following week and we really had no choice since we were going on tour on the 19th,” says Quinn, “Some of the locations weren't even open yet when we called to reschedule, but they were all in anyway”.
The duo was joined by friend Andrea Van on violin and cello for a few of the stops. Her husband Karel volunteered to act as driver for the day. Fans and strangers were generous with their donations and cheered them on through the day. “So many people were effected by these storms and if you don't have a lot of money to offer its difficult to feel like you can help... where do you go to contribute a dollar?,” Stay reflected, ”Some folks were extremely generous and we thank them. But I'm also happy we gave people a place to contribute a few dollars. Their dollars were doubled by AIG and the total will really make a difference”.
August 2004 - “Believe” at Barnes and Noble
Friction Farm's new CD “Believe” is now available at Barnes & Noble at Wellington Green on Forest Hill Boulevard. The store has an impressive selection of local music thanks to the efforts of Mike in their music department. If you live in the area, we hope you will support one of the few stores that supports local music.
July 2004 – The New CD Is Here!
Chas
Ron
Pat
no pix of Carlos, Pete or Tracy :-(
You
know the official story, here's the behind-the-scenes stuff.
We
began recording at Echo Beach Studios where we'd done our
previous Cds. Its a place where we feel quite comfortable. But we
wanted to shake things up a bit so we decided to simultaneously
record some tracks at Acoustic Music Productions. The two studios
couldn't be more different, or more alike.
Chas and Ron did
all the hard work, we just showed up and played our songs. Oh
yeah, the guests did a lot of work as well. First up was Pat
Boggs from Boxelder who adds drums to five songs. Given our style
of music, we expected him to bring a little trap kit. He showed
up with a big drum set. We were a little worried. If you listen
to the final results, you'll discover, as we did, that its the
playing that matters. And Pat's got that covered.
We didn't
know Jerry Tillman but Chas recommended him. We played him the
songs and he played along. Once. Twice. Three times through each
song and he was done. His dobro really adds a lot to both songs
and we can't imagine 'Washing Machine' without him. He's a nice
guy too – we went out for thai food after the session, had
great soup (tom kar kai?), then headed out to hear some live
music and drink a few beers.
And speaking of nice guys, Pete
Levine appears on one song. But, we didn't work with him. We
really wanted Pete to be on this project and he agreed although
he's very busy. We picked the song and he added an organ part on
his own. We didn't hear the track until a few days later but
already knew it would be perfect.
At Acoustic Music
Productions we had more guests starting with Rod MacDonald. He's
a pro so we had no worries. He arrived with two different
harmonica parts for us to choose from. We decided on more Rod
rather than less Rod, always a wise choice.
We'd never met
Carlos Mota. He was recommended by Billy at the Amp Shop. Carlos
brought a plethora of percussive devices, many oddly shaped
drums, cymbals, blocks, things that looked like hardware, thing
that looked like they were once living. He used them
all.
Finally, our friend Tracy Feldman was in town from North
Carolina. Ron generously gave up his day off so we could record
with him. Some of you have seen Tracy perform with us so you
already know how much he adds to our music. The rest of you are
in for a nice surprise. We celebrated that recording session with
sugary cuban desserts and tiny cups of coffee.
Mastering was
the final process. Mastering is like sprinkling magic mojo on the
recording. Its more technical than that but its a close
description. We turned to Michael Fuller at FullerSound. He has a
zillion gold and platinum records on his walls and he gave us the
same magic.
We hope you all enjoy the new CD as much as we
enjoyed making it. Let us know what you think or post your
opinions at CDBaby.com
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