December 06, 2011

Yesterday it was announced that Dennis Ellsworth will be showcasing on the Bluebird North stage at the 2012 East Coast Music Awards, in Moncton, NB. Very exciting news.

There are a lot of things in the planning stages for the release of the new record. One of which is deciding on a title and scheduling the mastering and manufacturing, and publicity. It is an exciting time. Oh, and happy warm December y’all.

With love,

D.M.E

Athens, Georgia

I’ve just returned home from two weeks in Athens, GA where I was recording my new solo record with the one and only, David Barbe (Drive By Truckers, Sugar). I had demoed close to 40 songs and David sifted through them, chose a great band, which included himself on bass, and when I left the studio, heading home, I knew what I had done was definitely my best yet.

The band included Matt Stoessel on guitar and pedal steel, Thayer Sarrano on piano and organ, Seth Hendershot on drums, and of course, David on bass. Drew Vandenberg was at the console. We had intended to record to 2″ tape, but the machine was acting up, so we settled for sending everything through the guts of the machine to the computer just to get that warmth, and then we mixed to tape. The results are fantastic, and the process was efficient. We did no more than 4 takes of each song to keep it all sounding fresh. In the end, we recorded 11 songs, 10 of which will appear on my upcoming album, to be named soon, and released in the spring of 2012 on Busted Flat Records.

We tracked for 4 solid days, and mixes over 4 days. We consumed large quantities of Miller High Life and Coors Heavy, ate at Taco Stand as much as we could, and enjoyed enough games of wiffle ball to know that we are out of shape and should make some changes…but will we.

Oh, I should mention, Mark Geddes who plays bass with me in Dennis Ellsworth and Haunted Hearts was in tow. He was there to take in the session, drink, eat, wiffle ball, and he played banjo on two songs.

So, I am back in PEI. Today it’s snowing, and I welcome the white. The wind is howling, I am relaxing after a hard summer of work. Taking some time to reconnect with things and people and getting ready for a busy holiday season and an extra busy year of shows, Haunted Hearts recording and travel.

With love,

D.M.E