DAY TWO here at Capitol Records. We started the day with our friend, Lukas VanDyke taking a few band shots outside with the Capitol building in the background. We were thrilled to have him around for a bit to take some session shots for us. I can’t wait to see what he gets!
We started the session right on time this morning with two quick passes on “Forgetful Soul.” Since it was the final tune we did last night, we wanted to get a quick fresh morning take. Around 10:30 we jumped in to “Holy is Our God” which is a great song of praise to our great God. This tune was a bit tougher for us to get than we expected. It’s one of those songs that sounds simple, but takes meticulous focus and effort.
Around 1:30 we moved on to “Search and Know Me” – a driving rock song inspired by Psalm 139.
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
When you record at Capitol they really take care of you – from fresh fruit, bagels and cream cheese in the morning to having lunch brought in for you, to keeping the coffee flowing all day. Today, they brought us lunch from Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. Mmmmmmm….
After getting our arteries greased, we went back in for a nap one more take on “Search and Know Me.” Our great friend and audio master, Darius Fong joined us.
Next we started in on “Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy.” I’ve always loved this song’s haunting melody and beautifully poetic lyrics written in 1757 by Joseph Hart. This arrangement, with a new chorus by Ryan Foglesong, is one of my favorites. It’s a great deep-folk arrangement that starts in 6/8, moves to 4/4 for the verses and then back to 6/8 for the choruses. You’re gonna dig it. On the last take, Scott told the guys to think out of the box and be creative with their parts. Boy were they! John was even playing the piano strings with a pencil!
7 songs done!
We reached our 3 song goal today several hours earlier than we were expecting so we jumped right in to the next tune – “Bring Me Back to Calvary” – a great Celtic-folksy tune centered around the cross. The Getty’s would be proud of this one. 
We’re hoping to bring in all kinds of celtic sounds and instruments – maybe even uilleann pipes. For today, Scott had us each grab a couple of drum sticks and play some multi drum loops. It was great. At one point, he had us all sitting on the floor and just using sticks on the floor. It felt like percussion learning day in kindergarten.
After a quick break, John and I recorded the beginning of the gorgeous ballad, “Beyond My Highest Thought.” The intro and first verse are a lovely rubato piano and vocal. Of course, my vocal was just for reference. We won’t be recording vocals until later in March.
Singing on Frank Sinatra's chair!
Once we were happy with several takes, the band came back in to play out the rest of the song. The break must have done them good, because they nailed the first take with only a few little woopsies here and there. We wrapped on Beyond in no time. That was 9 tunes down all together! YIPPEE!!
The last song we worked on was “Run Toward the Cross” which is a powerful song about our need to always be returning to the cross, remembering the cost of our salvation and repenting of sin.
Here are some pics from today.
