Today we went into Butcher Shop Studio to start laying down tracks for the song No White Flags. I met up with my friend Guthrie Trapp who is helping me record and produce the song. Sean Sullivan our engineer is setting up mics, turning knobs, and dialing in all of the levels. This guy is amazing! First we sit down and I played the song a few times on guitar so we could chart everything out and see the chord changes so we have a reference sheet to where we are at in the song. 
<<<<<< SEE PICUTRE  - This is what No White Flags looks like on paper.) 
Then we start playing together and recording the number. I played acoustic first and did a scratch vocal to record the bass and drums. Then went back and started tracking acoustic guitar and electric. We're sending the rough mix up to Dominic so he can record his vocal tracks! Looking forward to getting the vocals so we can begin mixing.  

We'll have some rough tracks to take a listen to soon! Hopefully all goes well and we make something decent!


Below are some pictures from our session....

So about a year ago I started writing a song with the idea that I could raise some money for TeamGleason. My hope was to create an anthem and have some big named artists get together and record the song. Well, a year later and I'm still working on the song. And the "Big Named" artist, for now, is going to Delbert the Band. Thanks to Gleason Fest our band is getting back together to play at this FUNdraising good time. Super excited about closing down the streets of Spokane! And I'm pretty excited about this tune.  

Anyhow, back to a year ago, I sat down with my guitar and started playing a riff and thought of events and ideas that were inspired by Steve. I saw his "No White Flags" campaign and immediately started to formulate my theme around this never give up mentality. 

With this positivity idea I tuned my guitar to Open D and started strumming big major scales that rang out. In music there are chord progressions and each chord is assigned a number. For the intro I had to incorporate the Three Chord and the Seven Chord played next to each other to represent 37.

I have recorded this song quite a few times using my iPhone to capture the progression of what I was working on. I've sent numerous versions to Dominic for feedback and suggestions. Tomorrow I'm heading into John Prine's studio in Nashville to start working on a demo with some incredible Nashville session players. I'm pretty excited to see how it all comes together!

So, this is what it looks like from a songwriter putting stuff on paper. This is the most current sheet with lyrics and chord changes notes of the song. 

No White Flags

Intro: 4.5…… 6.3…..37….1..
Riff 1           Riff 2  Chunk Chunk   Riff 3 (2x)

Verse
2                                                                 3  
Stars dropped a bit of trouble on me.  Didn't change my state of mind. 
4                                           5 (stay on riff)
Stacked odds and obstacles   Better believe I won’t stop trying. 

Riff 3 (2x)  
Verse 2
2                                                                      3         
Optimist Mind. Gray Crimson fighting   to gold armor with a flour de lis
4                                                              5                                      4         3      2      1
Never stop with this new up rising    Battle cry I never cease.    Fight On   

Chorus

1 (riff 4 1x)
I'm flying  No white flags.   Raising No white flags. 
4                                  5                          6                           7
Always make the most crying no remorseful tears
4                                    3          2        1
No white flags        Know No Fear       

Riff 1         Riff 3 (2x)
Verse 3
2                                             3         
Hurricane,  tides rise in furry  Monday night crowd believes
4                                                              5                                             1  (riff 3 1x)
Braveheart and a cry for “Freedom”  Three seven and the trinity       Fight On
Solo  (slide up to solo)    1….4….4….1….4.5…… 6.3…..3.7….1..

Bridge 
6                            5                   6                         7                              1
Never surrender      No retreat      Never give in          No defeat   No white flags    3x (6.5.4.3.2. to 1)     

Chorus 

Slide up into chorus heavy

(always make the most, crying no remorseful tears)
(try to hold me back but I’m holding no reserves)
no white flags   show no fear
no white flags  know no fear
no white flags raised by me
 

riff 1

So here I am, standing in my kitchen playing along with old CDs and recordings of live shows from our band Delbert. Yes, we wrote  the songs and created the guitar parts but it's been a while! So, my back is feeling a bit funky from holding my guitar, my fingers are burning, I'm gettin cramps from standing in one place and running through the same chords over and over again, but this is fun! Really fun! Can't wait to meet up with the band and run through this stuff for real! 

Getting ready for some crazy August 24th madness as we regroup, get on up, and get down!  

Tonight I played along with the All Dressed In Brown CD in it's entirety. Now I just have to smooth out some intricate riffs and remember the way we play the song forms live. I haven't played these songs for sooooo long. Smile, TRO, Fish Food, All Dressed In Brown.   And then I came to the last song on the record, Show Me, a song I don't think we ever played live. Looking forward to playing it at G Fest for Steve. It was originally written about a fictitious inspirational person who we imagined to be awesome. And now we can apply it to someone just like him. Fore it is him. It will fit in well on our set list. 

This old stuff is new again and really fun to be playing!  
Cheers! 

~Tommy