The Waystation

Sunday, March 14, 2010

'My One and Only Love'

Our very own Bobby Love is tying the knot this June. I was very flattered that Bob asked Nick and I, of all his musical friends, to play a song at the ceremony. Nick's thought was to do a version of 'My One and Only Love', which is one of my favorite jazz standards and a song that my Uncle Don played on the saxophone during my own wedding. We assumed there would be a fair number of 'jazzers' in attendance at Bob's wedding, so the idea was to turn something they would know into something unexpected. So, I worked on an arrangement using my Telecaster -- trying my best to mimic something Jim Campilongo might do.

Although Nick and I decided to write something instead, I've already spent time learning how to play a '6th chord' and putting the arrangement together -- so I recorded 'My One and Only Love' this weekend while my wife was out of town. Here's a link to download the track. And, here's a shot of my little home recording rig, where I spent most of this weekend noodling around on the song.

Download: 'My One and Only Love' by Guy Wood and Robert Mellin. Arranged, performed, and recorded by Dave McDowell.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Another Milestone

I would be remiss if we didn't mark the 10-year anniversary of our self-titled record, The Waystation. A milestone in our lives and our music, listening to this record certainly takes me places. Whether its recording thunderous handclaps for 'Following' that never made the record, shooting the album photography in the Charleston, or singing to a Pamela Anderson poster during 'Circle, Circle', the memories are quick to come streaming back.

It makes me happy that the record still lives, available for download at iTunes, generating spins from various licensing deals, and even selling a physical copy or two at CDBaby once in awhile. Heck, 'A Way Out' just won a semi-finalist award in a songwriting contest last week.

But, what makes me happier still are other people's experiences with the record. A couple that used 'Keeping Time' as their wedding song, a fan from Senegal who told us his favorite bands were The Rolling Stones, U2 and The Waystation (and sent us a dashiki to prove it), or just the look of surprise when new friends hear the record the first time.

It's these kinds of stories that make the words Nick wrote for the inside jacket of the CD ring true: "To those of you that have shared this adventure with us along the way, we offer a heartfelt thank you. And to those of you for whom this recording is your first introduction to The Waystation; welcome."

And in closing, as Nick said so eloquently said the other day, "It's Been Ten Years...would ya buy a freakin' record already?!?!?!"

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Do you like Stevie Wonder?

Check out Messenger, currently available as a digital pre-release from Michele Thomas. The album includes selections from the one-and-only Stevie Wonder and features our very own Bobby Love as well as friend-of-the band and sometime-studio-drummer Darren Scorza.

Monday, September 28, 2009

'Perfect' is Track of the Week

After some enthusiastic reviews, 'Perfect' was selected as Folk-Rock Track of the Week at Garageband.com. For 7 days starting on Monday, the 28th of September, 2009 'Perfect' will be featured in the Folk Rock category on the site. It will also be featured in the Folk Rock Track of the Week podcast.