The blizzard that blanketed the Gulf Coast region with several inches of heavy, wet snow late last January proved to be just the kind of weather that inspired local band, The Wormdogs, to get busy.
Band members Will Pearl, Danica Cunningham, Braden Lalancette, Rick Soszynski and Nick Ledak had been on tour, playing venues in New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
With New Orleans as their next stop, and the winter storm bearing down, the band members left their faucets dripping in their rental house so as not to freeze the pipes, packed up their gear in the van they call, "Pup," and drove to New Orleans' Bigtone Records studio.
Over the course of a week, they fell into a steady schedule of coffee, practicing, po' boys and recording. The result: their new album, titled, It's For You, out now.
Will Pearl plays drums, percussion and sings with The Wormdogs. He recently spoke to Vermont Public's Mary Williams Engisch about the week-long making of It's For You.
How the band recorded one song per day
"We'd start the day, we'd wake up all together in this house with five bedrooms, and we'd assemble after breakfast to try and put together a song," Pearl said.
Drawing from a catalog of brand new and familiar songs meant some needed more attention than others. Some of the songs had been percolating for months, while others, Pearl said, "were brand new and not fully fleshed-out."
After a loose morning rehearsal, they'd refuel for their afternoon session.
"And then we go grab some po' boy sandwiches and some lunch and head over to the studio a few blocks away," Pearl said.
Advantages and disadvantages of recording songs live to tape
"We recorded live together, all the instruments, at the same time, and vocals with some very cool antique recording equipment on reel-to-reel tape from the 1950s," Pearl said.
Running tape and a digital recording at the same time proved fruitful. That meant the band could take multiple stabs at each song, then listen through material and use the best takes for the album.
And that live-to-tape setup lent itself to creating an authentic sound.
"The feeling of The Wormdogs is there, because we're such a live band. Our strength is in our mutual inspiration from playing together in the moment," Pearl said.
Some unforeseen happenings made for more excitement in the studio. For one track, Pearl said, the reel-to-reel failed to record the take properly.
"We just had a digital version, and one of the other tracks, the digital version got jammed, and we just had the tape."
The Wormdogs will celebrate the release of It's For You this weekend at its fourth annual Bolton Rag festival at Bolton Valley Friday and Saturday, Aug. 15 and 16.
Watch The Wormdogs perform their song Tried and True live as part of Vermont Public's local Tiny Desk Contest submission series:
