Icelandic indie pop group Kaleo, has been in and out of Undertow several times over the last couple of months with my good friend Nate “Pittsburgh” Dickinson. If you haven’t heard these guys as of yet, you will very soon. They have a song (Way Down We Go) on the upcoming HBO series, Vinyl that I’m really interested in, and a new record coming soon. Check out their tour dates and catch them in a city near you.
It’s been a good week so far. Two of my favorite bands (and some of my closest friends anywhere) have music hitting right now. Monday saw The Cadillac Three’s new single “White Lightning” debut to country radio as one of the top 3 most added songs in the country. A timeless song and fan favorite that is sure to resonate with new and old listeners alike.
Tuesday saw the release of Five Knives‘ debut record, “Savages” on Redbull Records. Nearly 2 years in the making, so proud to see this finally reaching everyone’s ears. I hope this is a big year for them!
I also wrapped up tracking the majority of the new Bad Cop I have been working on yesterday and it’s shaping up to be nothing short of a record that will earmark a return of rock n roll to Music City. The guys and myself included have worked tirelessly to get this one in shape and I’m looking forward to getting this one out there soon as well.
Our friends at Vice Magazine premiered a new track today by Nashville based Bad Cop called “Green Eyes” ! It will be on the upcoming record I will be doing with them in the Spring. Check it out here:
http://www.vice.com/read/listen-to-bad-cops-new-single-green-eyes
Catch them during SXSW if you’re going to be there!
A few weeks ago, The Cadillac Three performed for an audience of friends and family in Nashville for a live taping for CMT’s Listen Up. The show turned out really great, and we managed to get a pretty solid multi-track of the performance that night. I took it back to Undertow and put a mix on it that we all felt really good about. Word has it that CMT has chosen to move the video into heavy rotation as of today! White Lightning is a band and crowd favorite, so I’m glad we were able to capture a special performance that hopefully everyone will enjoy. Special thanks to Roxanne Ricks at Audio Technica for the microphones, and John Richmond at Budda/Trace Elliot for the amps, and Roger Gibbons and the whole Clair Audio crew for the sound reinforcement at the show. Please check this tune and the other videos from that show and let me know what you think!
http://www.cmt.com/artists/collections/cmt-listen-up/896712/
Really excited for the world to see this video. As some of you may know, Kyle and I have been working together for quite some time, and we’re really both really proud of his new album, Brighter Than the Sun, that will be out in July 23rd via his own Elephant Lady Records. We often reference lazer beams, spaceships and various other worldly sounds while recording, and he’s finally figured out a way to bridge the gap between talking about it and actually doing it. Big props to him and director Will Holland for bringing this idea to fruition and I think it perfectly matches the concept of the song. Hope you will think so too, and please get this record when it comes out in a few weeks!
Really excited for this to fall on everyone’s ears. This record came about through the persistence of my good friend Chris Snyder, aka Ace Reporter, and his desire to re-connect with his love for music. He spent the better part of a year writing songs every day. Literally. He wrote 365 of em. All the while he was asking his fans to vote on their favorites and after the year ended, he found himself with quite a batch of material to pull from, and he decided to pull a record together of his and his listener’s favorites.
He called me one day and asked if I would be into the idea of going upstate in New York to a sustainable farm and help him put together a cohesive recording that he felt would bookend his experiences from the year of writing. Of course I said yes, so we took a few pieces of gear, some food, coffee, and whiskey and headed off into the woods. What transpired in that barn for 10 days was nothing short of beautiful, and we left feeling really good about what we had captured during our time there.
Shortly after returning to civilization, Chris sent me the tracks after a bit of editing and some overdubs to mix. He joined me in Nashville to finish off the mixes, attend mastering, and also catch a Wilco at the Ryman. Not a bad way to finish off a record…
Fast forward to 2013, and Ace Reporter has partnered with Ooh La La to release Yearling, and I look forward to seeing the live versions of these songs soon, and if you’re at sxsw in March, you can catch him there. Maybe I’ll see you there…
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/
Hope to see everyone tonight, great bill, and if you haven’t been to the Hi Watt yet, this is the best reason to come check it out!
Welcome to www.itsgrainger.com!
The online home of producer/writer/mixer/engineer, Chris Grainger. Based in Nashville, TN & primarily works at his own studio, Undertow. The desire to create in an environment that embraces modern technology & analogue techniques has kept Chris steadily working since the early 90’s. His treatment of every project is unique to the artists involved, & helps them focus on the music foremost, while steering their energy towards capturing the moments that hopefully impact all of us.
Notes from the Undertow