About the Making of Spin
Spin came out in November of 2003. It features twelve songs, ten of which are previously unrecorded (live recordings of the other two were featured on Good Tar). Produced by Evan Brubaker (who produced Corners), Chris Rosser (who produced S.S. Bathtub and Change) and Troy Glessner, it breaks new ground for LaMotte, both in terms of production and songwriting.
“I feel like this is the strongest batch of songs I’ve written, and we worked hard to develop them in the studio and try to capture the essence of each one” David says.
The CD was recorded at Spectre Studios in Tacoma, Washington, and Hollow Reed Studio in Asheville, NC. It was a challenging and sometimes discouraging process. “We have this cultural myth that everything good should be easy, but I’m coming further and further away from that idea as I get older. Mark Twain was barely restrained from burning The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and though I’m not suggesting this CD is on the level with that novel, it’s encouraging to know that I’m not the only person who has felt that way in the middle of a creative project.
Troy Glessner working some production magic
“I really love the record, but to get to where it is now we did throw out about half of it and start over. The feel just wasn’t right on those songs. I think we got them now, and it was a good decision, but it’s a painful thing to just erase this material you’ve been working so hard on.”
The production styles vary tremendously, from a solo guitar piece to an unabashed southern rock song (full drum kit, electric guitars and lap steel), several songs with string arrangements and one with dotar (a folk sitar). “The main thing I’ve learned about production is that you have to help the song be what it already is, not try to make it something else. It’s always a mistake to try to make a folk song into a pop song, but it’s equally misguided to try to go in the other direction. Evan, Chris and Troy are great at listening to the songs and giving them what they’re asking for.”
Guest Artists:
- Evan Brubaker – background vocals
- Kerry Cockayne – drums
- Myles Corbin – bass
- Troy Glessner – electric guitar
- River Guerguerian – percussion
- Jonathan Kingham – background vocals
- Sean Halley – electric guitar
- Christine Kane – harmony vocals
- Michael Manring – fretless bass
- Phil Peterson – strings
- Chris Rosser – organ, piano, Rhodes 88, dotar, Wurlitzer, bass, percussion
- Dan Tyack – pedal steel, lap steel
The physical CD version of Spin also features enhanced content. If you put it in a normal CD player it will play normally, but if you put it in a computer you will have access to a music video for the lead track, Miss You, guitar sheet music for three of the songs (Spin, Look at Me and Peter – also available above on this page). There are also thirteen extra MP3 tracks—The MP3s are the original ‘living room demos’ for the songs on the record, as well as a piano/vocal version of Chances, which is on the CD in a somewhat faster guitar-based version.
To read the original 2003 one-sheet promoting Spin when it first came out, click here.