In the great words of Kenny Crandell, “The dishes are done, man!” It’s become a ritual of mine to announce that at the conclusion of something great.

Recording is now finished! All we had left to track today was some vocal harmonies for 2 songs which didn’t take much time at all. We listened back to each track and made sure we didn’t miss any vocals and even without mixing or getting the best takes it already sounds so amazing that I can’t believe I did it. Couldn’t have done it without some amazing musicians, engineers and helping hands. This has truly been one of the best recording experiences of my life and I’d like to send a quick thank you out to Brad Delava of Delava Production, Dan & Fran Jimenez, Brian Brash, Dan Bob Goterch, Mary Simpson, Steve Flynn and Sean McLaughlin from 37’ Productions as well as The New England Art Institute for making this all possible.

Now begins the wait for Brad to mix the record which I will be pestering him about starting…tomorrow. I have some shows coming up to prepare for and a lot of songs I had already started writing before recording that I want to finish up. Look forward to seeing you at some shows and I’ll keep you posted on how everything is progressing. Thanks for taking the time to follow me through this process. Cheers, Brian

After spending 3 days at 37’ Productions recording, the remaining recording was to be done at the New England Art Institute of Boston’s on-campus studios where Brad is graduating from this summer. The room was great and setup was quick, which was important since we had a small window of time to get stuff done there.

I recorded vocal harmonies and played around with a few ideas and got some really good stuff down before we did a bass track which was the real goal of the day.

My brother Shawn, who plays bass for the band Vanna, was going to be on tour all summer but I really wanted him to play bass on at least one song on my record. They happened to be playing Boston Aug 4th so I arranged for him to come into the studio right after soundcheck and a meet & greet with fans to lay down a bass track. Shawn arrived with a little more than an hour left on the clock in the studio after battling Red Sox traffic so time was of the essence. Knowing how good of a musician and bass player my brother was, having him hear the track for the first time and writing a bass line to it and then record it didn’t seem like a tall order. Shawn got right into it and before we knew it we had a sweet bass track like he just came from practice with his bluegrass jug band. Very happy that we were able to work it out for him to play on the record.

Day 5

Today was all about laying down lots and lots of harmonies that would make the Soggy Bottom Boys wanna dance. I can really hear things coming to life a lot more with the vocals now that all my melodies are coming together. This is a really fun part of recording for me, and also the part that comes the easiest for me. We recorded for a couple hours and finished all but 2 songs. We’ll find another day to squeeze in a few hours of vocals and my buddy Erick Serna is going to record a slide guitar track on one song for me at his studio in Western Mass which I am very excited to hear. Almost, almost finished and ready for mixing! I’m very happy with how things are coming along and that’s just hearing everything raw, unmixed and not even the best takes. Exciting times. Thanks for stopping by, hopefully only 1 more recording blog until the mixes come back!

I’ll begin recording my debut EP at 37’ Productions in Rockland, MA on July 28th with my good friend and producer Brad Delava (Actor|Observer, Vinnie Ferra). I can’t wait to see these songs I’ve been working so hard on come to life during recording and I can’t wait to share them with you. I will be posting pictures and video from the studio daily right here at www.brianmarquis.tumblr.com so follow me here and on Twitter www.twitter.com/TheBrianMarquis for the latest updates.

I’m very excited to be playing my first show August 3, 2011 at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston, MA with some amazing musicians, Erick Serna (ex-The Dear Hunter), Rhianna LaRocque and my youngest brother Greg Marquis. It’s sure to be a great night and I look forward to seeing friends and family there as well as meeting new friends. 

Wed Aug 3, 2011
O’Brien’s Pub
3 Harvard Ave.
Allston, MA 02134
18+ $8 8PM 
Tickets: http://www.ticketweb.com/t​3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dis​patch=loadSelectionData&ev​entId=3791445