Fall Risk

Exerpted from: One Great Band, One Great Studio, Two Great Days: Hanging With The Fall Risk at TRI Studios The Fall Risk's eponymous CD is getting the best of both ends of the 'that was then, this is now' production. Producer and engineer Chris Manning has gone back to the Seventies sound, using vintage preamps, vintage mics (Telefunkens and Sennheisers), and, wait for it, reel to reel tape. He's also going for the one pass and let's do it feel: a hands-on approach, without the deadly over-rehearsing that can turn a good performance sterile, just enough to hit it without having to futz with it too much. From everything I listened to, he's going to hit every note at exactly the right pitch. The result is fabulous. There's an old-school immediacy to The Fall Risk, the kind of thing that puts the listener firmly in the middle of the music. Some productions get too dependent on the fancy candy-store display of high-end toys, and end up streamlining the listener completely out. The vibe of both the music and the recording session itself are destined to join my clutch of yes, it's a recording studio and some things never change and what's more, they shouldn't memories. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. There's even an Echoplex on the corner. Laying down the initial instrumental tracks for Cry Baby Cry, Chris listens to playback and talks to the band. Mike Sugar gets the first feedback: 'Can you get a little more greasy on the bass? Mike obliges, sliding a third. Chris talks to the entire band: Play it all together guys, more of an 'I'm on holiday' vibe. Piano, warm and shimmering, works it's way through the guitars and rhythm section. There's organ in there too, interweaving with no hesitation and no fumbling. The track is there, coming together with heart and feeling and it's just what the doctor ordered. For a few perfect poignant minutes, time collapses in on itself .... Chris gathers the band in the control room for a group listen. The talk is technical, but Chris knows what he's after: he's after magic. And the band is delivering. ...

As comforting as a favorite bathrobe. This is the individual noodling, the small touches on each band member's integral contribution. Of course, it helps when the band doing the work is committed. The Fall Risk is. They're absorbing, listening, integrating the input and the output. ---Deborah Grabien, TRI Studios, Marin County, CA, March 2013 No Depression Americana and Roots Music Created by No Depression Feb 17, 2009 at 9:06pm. Last updated by No Depression Sep 24, 2012. 2013 Created by No Depression.