The High Road

This page follows the creative journey of “The High Road” ~ from early acoustic versions and the story behind the song to the recording process and how it continues to evolve.

Early Versions

The High Road ~ Song Intro/Back Story

Originally named “Scorched Earth”, The High Road is another song that will be part of my upcoming album. This one will be more on the bluesy – hard rock side of things 😎🎸

 

The High Road ~ Solo Acoustic (March 2020)

This is the first version of The High Road, another song that will be part of my upcoming album, Slow Burn. As you progress through these videos, you’ll be able to see how much this song has changed and evolved ✨

 

Recording the Song

The High Road ~ Recording Booth Footage

Here’s a work-in-progress recording of “The High Road,” a song I wrote mid-pandemic last year. The song was inspired by something I heard Marc Maron say on his podcast “WTF.” He was talking about a relationship and how he was trying to “take the high road.” 

This recording is used as a demo to be able to do production on top of it. Once the time comes, I redo both guitars and vocals separately 😎

Marc had a tour in 2009 called “Scorching The Earth” ~ right after his divorce from his second wife.

So I incorporated the phrase “scorching the earth” into my song that I wrote about my own relationship struggles.

 

The High Road ~ Jimmy Paxson Drums Session

Here’s some video footage of Jimmy Paxson recording drums for The High Road

Drums are usually the first thing we track, and we build up from there.

 

Live Performances

The High Road ~ Guitar Therapy Session 2

The High Road is a song from my upcoming studio album. We’re still not quite there yet with the final version, but it’s such a fun song, I decided to include it in the Guitar Therapy sessions. 🤩

Lineup

This first audio was a work-in-progress recording of The High Road, a song I wrote mid-pandemic. The song was inspired by something I heard Marc Maron say on his podcast “WTF.” He was talking about a relationship and how he was trying to “take the high road.” 

Marc had a tour in 2009 called “Scorching The Earth” ~ right after his divorce from his second wife.

So I incorporated the phrase “scorching the earth” into my song that I wrote about my own relationship struggles.

In this version, you’ll hear the drum track that we’ll be using for the final recorded version, as well as a “scratch” vocal and guitar. I’ll be replacing the vocal and guitar with a new vocal part and at least one (probably more) guitar parts.

This version is really useful for me to hear what’s working and what’s not working with the arrangement of the song. The next version will have an ending that is a bit different than this version…

 

This second audio is the version of the song I recently shared with comedian and groundbreaking podcaster Marc Maron, who inspired this song and will be playing guitar on it as well. We recorded Marc’s guitar parts a couple of weeks afterwards, which you’ll be able to hear in the next audio player below.

The crazy guitar sound you hear in the beginning is my electric guitar going through this Soviet-era tape delay/fuzz box that producer Seth has. We’ve used it on a couple of my recordings and it’s fun to use cuz it’s so unpredictable in the sound you get. 🎸

 

Here’s the almost-finished recording of “The High Road,” including the newly-recorded guitar solos from me and the song’s muse, Marc Maron (pictured). Something Marc said on his “WTF” podcast years ago inspired this song, and I’m thrilled to be featuring his guitar playing, along with my own, in the solo section.

Right now, the solos aren’t as loud as they will be in the final mix, but you can hear the difference between my parts (heavily effected with octave and tape delay effects) and Marc’s parts (more traditionally bluesy-sounding). Marc brought his 1965 Champ amplifier to the studio, along with a gorgeous Gold Top Les Paul that he used on the tracks.

We had a professional video recording of the session, and I’m looking forward to sharing the footage with you as well, at some point in the future. 🤩

Here’s an almost-complete mix of “The High Road,” featuring Marc Maron on guitar (and me on guitar too ~ we do alternating guitar solos)!

Seth will be taking a little more time to perfect the mix, and I’ll let you know when it’s done so you can hear the official version we’ll be releasing on the album

 

This is a fully mixed version of “The High Road” ~ everything is balanced and in place, but it hasn’t been mastered yet, so it’s a bit quieter than the final version.