Stay Warm has traveled far and wide in the last weeks, and I’ve been thrilled to begin receiving heartfelt glowing feedback from the first to buy the new album. The music you’ll hear was a complex collaborative effort in my favorite studio with a number of Alaskan musicians, as well as a few from outside the state who added their parts remotely. The photos below tell the story….
Click any photo to begin an enlarged slideshow. Captions explaining each photo will show at the top. Enjoy!
10th Planet Studio, Fairbanks, Alaska, housed in a woodsy log cabin. My last 3 CDs were birthed here.
Esther Golton behind the mic at 10th Planet Studio, recording Stay Warm in winter/spring 2012.
Singing with a smile at 10th Planet Studio, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Mountain dulcimer set up in the studio – yes the stand is a walker! 😉
My view of engineer Pat and the lava lamp through the glass of the recording booth.
Coffee – good strong coffee – the delicious fuel of many a long, impassioned recording session.
The hard drive – the contraption that houses the hundreds of tracks we recorded for Stay Warm…
Each song on Stay Warm had one of these sheets to keep records of all the tracks and takes and overdubs. Layering parts gets pretty complicated over time!
Esther pointing happily to percussionist Kliff Hopson. I have a thing about pointing in photos. 😉
Kliff Hopson paired his energetic djembe groove together with Isaac James on Yula.
Pam Emerson ferrying to Seldovia, Alaska to sing harmonies live with me at the Seldovia Music Festival 2008.
Esther Golton with my great friend Pam Emerson. (Harmonies on Nectarina and Yula)
Isaac James – who I met in summer 2004 when he played the song Yula with Borrina Mapaka in the yard of my 12×12 cabin. Via a California studio, he remotely added the wonderful African djembe sounds on Yula.
This magical 2004 Whole Wheat Radio interview captured Borrina singing Yula live in my yard, with Isaac on djembe. I learned this beautiful song from that precious recording.
L to R: Kipchoge, Isaac James (djembe on Yula), Borrina Mapaka (writer of Yula), unknown, Larry Zarella, unknown. Borrina Mapaka sang his beautiful song Yula in our yard in 2004 for Whole Wheat Radio.
Isaac James (djembe on Yula) with Borrina Mapaka (writer of Yula) in Talkeetna, Alaska 2004.
John Keech – an amazing bass player I love working with. Why the sign: I sent a series of photo updates to my dear friend Katrina Scott-George in CA when she was ailing.
Alex Clarke adding electric slide to Overjoyed.
Alex Clarke on acoustic slide – Fireweed Ladies. 10th Planet Studio engineer Pat is on the right getting him set up.
Alex Clarke – tasty mandolin on Fireweed Ladies
While Alex laid tracks on Fireweed Ladies, his wife Ann was crafting a blanket on the side. Perfect for a song celebrating crafting women!
Robin Dale Ford and Pat Fitzgerald, Queen and King of 10th Planet Studio. I am so lucky to have worked on 3 albums with these dedicated engineers, talented mufti-instrumentalists and great friends.
Robin Dale Ford playing banjo on Corn Corn Corn. We did not include it on Stay Warm but we sure had fun recording it! Robin DID play her bass on a several songs.
Robin Dale Ford – a grainy but very cool photo. Robin played banjo on Reasonland, on Esther`s first album Unfinished Houses.
Esther Golton with Robin Dale Ford of 10th Planet Studio in Fairbanks, Alaska – co-producer of Stay Warm, and terrific human being.
Blurry fun! Esther Golton with Robin Dale Ford at 10th Planet Studio, Fairbanks, Alaska
Pat Fitzgerald – drums throughout the album. Also my engineer, co-producer, encourager and friend. I am so lucky to have worked with him on 3 albums.
Another message to my dear friend Katrina Scott-George during the Stay Warm recording sessions. “Look, Katrina! I have a drummer!”
Caiti Hopper – harmonies on Overjoyed, What Can I Say, and Fireweed Ladies. She`s a helluva singer and a quick study in the studio. Listen for her amazing high vocal at the end of Fireweed Ladies, singing “bud and bloom”. Makes me smile every time.
Caiti Hopper grins after nailing it on harmonies.
Pointing to my awesome harmony singer Caiti Hopper. Yep – pointing again!
Helena Buurman – angelic cello
My degree in music has come in handy. Here’s the cello score I wrote for Wintered In. Played by Helena Buurman.
Helena Buurman – cello – just beautiful!
A Bay Area friend of Pat and Robin’s, Mighty Dave added that funky clavinet to What Can I Say. I hope to meet him someday. I hear that song come on, and Dave’s clav puts a big happy grin on my face. http://www.davepellicciaro.com/vb3.htm
Sabe, a Fairbanks cellist & singer-songwriter, added her passionate improv to Where is the Field. We rehearsed via skype from Boston to Fairbanks. Check her amazing music out at http://sabeflores.com
Most know Anita for her Flying Squirrel Cafe in Talkeetna. She’s also the patient, talented graphic designer for Stay Warm. Here we’re making veggie kugel at the Squirrel. Love and thanks to my sister Anita! http://flyingsquirrelcafe.com
Must mention the amazing Airshow Mastering Engineer Dave Glasser who polished my CD into a sparkly sounding gem as the last step in the recording process. Photo from http://airshowmastering.com
My engineer Pat and I reviewing our Stay Warm To Do list near the end of the project… apparently a little tired…
And so… having completed countless hours of work tracking, editing and mixing late into the night… Pat and I fall asleep! Hope you enjoy the results!
About one year ago (Feb 29th be exact – leap year!) I packed up many things musical, and departed for Fairbanks, Alaska to begin recording my new CD Stay Warm at 10th Planet, the beloved studio of the North Woods. Here’s a little photo documentary and video clip of the journey from cabin to car atop belly-deep snow.
This was the typical scenario whenever I was leaving to play a gig or go to the studio in winter in Alaska. Music could not be made without a blue plastic sled at hand.
Click on any photo in the gallery below to start a slideshow – the captions will show above each picture.
Loaded sled with instruments, gear, skis.
From cabin to car in very deep snow
Snowshoes were essential once I turned off the main path.
Stopping to pose. 🙂
It’s tricky to keep the sled from tipping!
There’s more snow than meets the eye here…
Up on top of the crusty stuff – so much easier!
It’s pretty out here…
Almost there…
The little black case is a bowed psaltery.
My stuff is pretty snowy by the end…
Snowshoes must come off to jump down the ledge onto the parking area.
Unloading the sled rather than pulling it off the cliff!
Awkward armload….
Skis always seem to go everywhichway!
Here’s a little video of an exuberant me setting off on my musical adventure. And now a year later, my 11-song baby is finally getting ready to be sent to press. Sometimes it feels like the whole last 12 months, with all its creations and changes, was one big swashbuckling slog through deep snow…
