On the upcoming Hogback CD

I find myself getting dragged, kicking and screaming like a kid in Kmart, into the 21st century as far as my computer skills. Cell phones, e-mail, the whole technological revolution has found me and my band in the wilds of Wyoming. Much of the band have been content with old PA’s, cheap beer and our rock n’ roll thus far on our journey, but, as my father would say, it has come time for Hogback to "shit or get off the pot." There was a little meeting in a coffee house shortly after opening for Jason Boland and the Stragglers at the Cowboy Bar in Laramie, where the concept for this new record was born. Without the familiar lubricant of alcohol, we were clear-headed for this talk, which in rock n’ roll is not the easiest thing to do. God bless Aaron Maier for asking some really poignant questions about what I felt Hogback should aspire to "beyond the whiskey and women, Nate………"
After some long talks with some close friends, and myself, it dawned on me that making a record was the obvious next step, along with getting a real .com site other than myspace.
I’ve been writing songs since I was in high school in Georgia, playing in acoustic trios and rock bands while attending Reinhardt College and University of Wyoming in Laramie. So, needless to say, now in my early thirties, that I should get some of this shit out. Thanks to the entity known as Hogback I finally had a vehicle to do so. Seems logical enough, right? So, here I find myself in the midst of making a record with some of the finest cats I’ve ever had the pleasure of making music with. Thank you guys….
This collection of songs was purely written in Wyoming – and there ain’t no cowboy ballads, if you were wondering. Over the last ten years of my life in the west, there have been many adventures. You’ll find songs ranging from love and the loss of love, the nightmares of hospitals, struggles with addictions, killing songs, redemption, and thank God, hope. We can all use a little of that in these times. Bill Brizuela has got some great stuff on this record, as well. I told the guys that I needed to record these songs, not because I thought they were great songs and shit like that, but as a catharsis in my own songwriting. I felt that if we did not record them they might be lost. And even worse, I felt that my songwriting couldn’t improve unless we put them to bed. We had also resolved as a band that without this project, we would be ‘stuck’ being a local Wyoming bar band, although a pretty good one, still a bar band. That was great, but we weren’t satisfied with it. You get just one walk around this planet, you know…
We didn’t have FAME in Muscle Shoals or anything like that, but thank God for Dan and Gail Tinker and their Thunderground Sound Studio in Laramie, Wyoming, we had a facility. Without the headache of traveling to Fort Collins or Denver, we had a great place to stretch out and get it done. The mere fact that there is any place to record in Wyoming is amazing. It helps that Dan and Gail are from Tennessee. It’s easier for me to open up when I’m not the only southern accent in the room. Without their kindness and patience, this would have not been possible. Thanks, y’all. We’ve had more productive days than others and we are not done with this recording process yet, but it has been a scream, so far. We are currently cutting the vocals and are hoping to have it mixed and sent down for mastering by mid-March. We’ve strived to keep it as organic as hell and as Patterson Hood put it, "No Steely Dan…"
Thanks to Naomi and Gracey for kicking us in the ass and getting the Hogblog rolling.
Thanks for all y’all’s help.
Nate