I hope anyone joining us for #IAWLP is getting snacks & drinks sorted & sitting down for a solid listen & Q&A ~ i'll have a thread here of my memories of the sessions & Josienne will have another, follow both & ask us anything ~ we have @KaceyMusgraves on as a support act :)

This is nearby #FortWilliam - I was lucky with the skies, that week. It's a great little town. Spent a few mornings there having a coffee & exploring, looking at maps for ascents I'll never make that would likely kill me if I tried, but a man can dream, eh?

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Ah, those opening chords. Incredible stuff. I arrived with Josienne at @watercolour_uk then left the band to get on with their music business. That's me & my trusty size 11 @scarpaNA's a while down the road from the studio.

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The frozen edges of a puddle by the Loch by the studio, while other people were making music half a world away.

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I remember watching Dave the drummer play that offbeat floor tom, thinking, what is that? what is he doing? well, that's what he was doing ~ and now, Seconds....

Walk far enough from the studio along the shores of The Black Water (Loch Linnhe, originally An Linne Dhubh, say it like 'Un LYEEN-yuh GHOO') & you'll be able to look over at the inspiring might of the #BenNevis range, too. Walk back to the studio, if you like.

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Making it all about me, that's my shadow, on a tree. The band played until the early hours & I wandered for many miles around.

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There's JC & I sitting on a raised up sofa behind the mixing desk, so you can listen properly to what's going on. I'm not certain how helpful I was but it sounded beautiful. I remember how much @ElliotGalvin's Rhodes called to mind The Carpenters, who I love dearly.

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There was a bridge nearby, low & dank underneath, a kind of ruminating animal graveyard, full of bits of bones, a grim & lowly place to stumble on. I had a drink under there then moved on.

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Spoiler - she did not start yoga tomorrow or any other day
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That's me filming the video for 'If I Didn't Mind', though I didn't really know it at the time, and I think we all minded a great deal. Here's what I made out of what I shot.



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There's the drummer, https://www.instagram.com/davehamblett/  & the pianist https://twitter.com/ElliotGalvin  relaxing behind the desk as Josienne & Sonny discuss the finer points of electric guitar tone & the acceptability or otherwise thereof.

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There's the desk, with a half empty bottle of red & Sonny's frantic notebook. There's also a washing up sponge and so many empty coffee cups I'm surprised anyone could get any work done. Sounds about right & no, I can't explain the sponge.

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OK, pause there, folks, the first side is played! we will hit play on side 2 at twenty one hundred hours gee em tee on the sharp dot, take a break, as a Q, get a drink, see you soon!

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I think this is a family tree of the folks that run @watercolour_uk - a more characterful & inspiring room to play music in you will not find.

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here's Josienne asking 'is that, is that, how's that' during a vocal harmony take on 'My Love Gave Me An Apple' ~ sorry this isn't in order...

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I would get up early & play guitar in the main room before the others arrived. I wrote the main guitar part for 'Safe Mode' like that. It was intimidating to be around while the band were working & I had a complicated reaction to that but good things fell out of it.
 
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It wasn't possible to stay up late and play after they were done because they worked until fucking ridiculous o clock. Making an album in a studio is such a strange kind of tiring. Listening to the band play Slender was an intense moment, let me tell you.

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Sonny's double bass headstock. I used to play double bass 20 years ago and I was kicking myself that I ever stopped. I still am, so I'm gonna start again, if anyone knows anyone selling one cheap :)

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Here's some closeups of things I found in the studio, ferreting away under the feet of the musicians like a squirrel in a bin.

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That's Josienne playing her beloved @Alvarez_Guitars MD60 in the big live room @watercolour_uk. She worries at the walls, don't we all. This is my favourite song on the album, maybe on any album, always has been, always will be.

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JC appears to be opening a bottle of champagne, so I guess she must be done, tbh I don't recall any celebration; it's strange work & I just remember wanting to just leave, but hey, good that we apparently found the time to not do.

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Here's a huge treat for you ~ this is Mary Ann Kennedy ( @NicUalraig) recording 'My Love Gave Me An Apple', an unused rush from the 'If I Didn't Mind' video. This was such a perfect moment, one of the last things to go on tape in the session.

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Four shots of the #BenNevis range surrounding @watercolour_UK - you've seen these before, but I couldn't not include them in this thread, since they are an integral part of 'In All Weather' to me, an Alec's eye view of making that beautiful piece of music.

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JC playing the #saxophone part for Onliness, the last track on the album. This was a wonderful moment, as she played it over & over, looking for the perfect combination of notes to go with the words.

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