As
information about the recording of Bryndle's second album
comes in, it will be posted here. The source of this information
is the band and their management. Scroll to the bottom of
this page for an overview of this
project.
January
3rd , 2002
We
are now shipping!!!
December
31st, 2001
The
CDs have finally been received at The
Bryndle Store today. Once they get autographed, we'll
start shipping. We expect the first orders out the door on
Thursday, January 3rd. Happy New Year!
December
21st, 2001
We
are now taking pre-orders at the Bryndle
Store and expect to begin shipping "House Of Silence"
on or before December 31st 2001. A sample of three of the
songs from the CD can be downloaded in this MP3
file. The songs (in order) are "This Time Around"
(vocals/Kenny Edwards), "All The Way Gone"
(vocals/Karla Bonoff) and Concrete River (vocals/Wendy
Waldman).
December
20th, 2001
In
a perfect world, "House of Silence" would have shipped
a couple of weeks ago in time for the holidays but the reality
is that the wheels of manufacturing don't turn as quickly
as we would have hoped. We'll know the exact date in a day
or two but it looks like it will begin shipping before the
end of the year - but probably not before December 28th.
Not to disappoint too much, here's a bit of a taste to hold
you until then. This
MP3 file includes parts of three different songs from
"House of Silence." Enjoy! (NOTE
- This file is just over 4 megs in size and is just over 4
minutes in length)
December
12th, 2001
The
final, approved artwork was received back from the art director
for the project. The original art was done by Mark Spencer.
December
6th, 2001
A
DAT containing the master of "House Of Silence"
was sent to manufacturing.
November
28th, 2001
I
received a call from Wendy at 9 PM this evening letting me
know they had just finished mixing Bryndle 2. "House
Of Silence" is finally done! It now needs to be mastered
and manufactured but those aspects of the project are waiting
on the finished files. We should know in the next few days
when the CD will actually begin shipping, which will effect
when we can begin taking orders. More to come soon.
November
26th, 2001
Email
from both Wendy and Kenny confirmed that they are very close
to finishing the mixing of this project. Both have mentioned
how hard and exhausing the mixing process has been the past
couple of weeks. Wendy's email said that they could be done
in as short of a time as a couple of days or it might be weeks.
November
6th, 2001
Bryndle
2 is now officially called "House of Silence." The
name comes from a piece of art by noted surrealist artist
Mark
Spencer and it will be featured as the cover artwork of
the CD.
As
of this date, the production team is well into the mixing
process and an early December, 2001 release date is still
scheduled.
October
19th, 2001
The
last major recording session for "Bryndle 2"
is taking place today as Kenny, Karla and Wendy gather at
Long House Studios to tackle a brand new song from Andrew
Gold. Since they are recording their parts over his original
tracks, it's not certain if Andrew will be at these sessions,
but it's a good possibilities he will be present as well.
The last time all four of them were together was at Andrew's
50th Birthday, celebrated a few months ago.
My
understanding is that all that remains are a few minor parts
on various tracks and then the mixing of the album begins
next week.
October
17th, 2001
A
mad dash is taking place as the final days of recording on
the project known as "Bryndle 2" finish up.
If all goes according to a tentative schedule, mixing will
begin the middle of next week.
A mysterous new song from Andrew Gold has entered the lineup
in the last few days and last minute collaborative writing
is taking place.
Expect an official announcement concerning the release date
very soon.
September
23rd, 2001
The
first Bryndle 2 Website promo debuts.
September
19th, 2001
In
the past 10 days, nearly nonstop recording of Bryndle 2
tracks have continued, both at Wendy's and Kenny's home studios.
Scott Babcock recorded the drums and percussion for nearly
all the tracks this past week at the Long House Studio. Most
of those tracks were originally recorded with click tracks
or drum machines and Wendy (in particular) was excited about
the new tracks.
Andrew attending one of those sessions where he helped with
backup vocals. I spoke with Wendy Waldman by phone today and
she feels that the release of "Bryndle 2"
is certainly possible by the holiday season this year - but
they are waiting to make a formal announcement of a release
date for just a while longer. Kenny had announced earlier
in Bryndle Chat "we're definitely doing it this year!"
It was a very optimistic phone call and Wendy is very happy
with the recordings to date. "Bryndle 2"
will be credited as being produced by "Bad Haggard"
- the team of Wendy Waldman and Kenny Edwards.
It looks like there will be 14 tracks on the album - three
lead vocals from Wendy, Kenny & Karla each and at least
one from Andrew. The rest of the cuts have shared vocals with
most of the four singing or playing on most of the tracks.
September
7th, 2001
A
major attempt is being made by all members of the band to
complete Bryndle 2 before this coming holiday season.
At this point, it's not certain this goal can be achieve within
that timeframe but we should know if it's possible within
September. The Long House Studio has been configured for drum
and percussion recording and Scott Babcock, Bryndle's longtime
drummer is expected to record much of his parts in the next
few days.
August
25th, 2001
In
email and phone correspondences with the band in recent days,
all indications are a possible release of "Bryndle
2" before the end of this year. Recording is taking
place in Santa Barbara and Southern California locations.
Some
songs which I've understood to be part of the album have been
dropped and new songs added in recent weeks as the band balances
the final lineup of tracks looking for the right mix of up
tempo and ballads as well as lead vocal duties.
July
23rd, 2001
Two
pieces of positive news came to me by email today. This past
weekend, Karla recorded a vocal track for "Gypsy"
and Kenny and Karla recorded basic tracks for "Compass."
"Compass" is a beautiful new song written by Karla
and Wendy. Karla has been performing it in recent months in
her live shows. Wendy, recently returned from a vacation in
Colorado, has the studio configured for Bryndle work and is
adding various overdubs. I think they are expecting new tracks
from Andrew any day now.
Drummer
Scott Babcock is expected back in the "Long House"
studio to record new drum tracks in the next few weeks.
First
Half of 2001
Recording
continues, mainly in three locations. Wendy's "Long House"
studio in Southern California - Kenny's studio, about a hundred
miles north of there - and wherever Andrew happens to be.
In recent months, that's been Connecticut and Nashville. In
March, Wendy reported in Bryndle Chat in April that the project
was 3/4 done. I know that since that date, there have been
songs that have been "scrubbed" and pulled from
consideration and new ones have been added to take their place.
It's hard to judge how close things really are but work continues.
November
11, 2000
Wendy
posts on Bryndle Chat and reports that all but one track has
been recorded for the Bryndle 2 project. Earlier emails from
Wendy point towards moving the additional recording closer
to where Karla lives so she can add her parts with less travel.
We haven't
talked much about how this project will be released but news
that it's almost done is exciting. Way back in 1996, Andrew
was asked in an interview if there would be a second Bryndle
album. His answer (as I remember it) was "I don't know when
it will be coming out but I can tell there will be another
one." We've all had doubts as the project stalled or was put
on the shelf since then but the end is in sight.
Fall,
2000
Mostly
Wendy and Kenny have been producing sessions at Wendy's "Long
House" studio. Emails from Wendy are encouraging as it appears
real progress is being made. Reports that they are 3/4 done
with recording (without any specific titles) sound very positive.
August
6th, 2000
The
Bryndle project moves to Nashville as Wendy flies there today
to work with Andrew on the recording of a few tracks. One
of the standout cuts, according to Wendy, is "One Heartbeat
Away" - with lead vocals by Andrew. Your honorable webmaster
got a chance to hear this track once - the last time Andrew
played live with the band in 1996 and it's still remembered
as a high point of the set. The song rocks!
July
19th, 2000
The
plans for the next few days are to edit the vocal tracks that
Andrew recorded last week. Plans also include bringing in
Scott Babcock in the very near future to record drum parts.
July
14-15, 2000
Andrew
Gold comes to Southern California and records with Kenny and
Wendy at Wendy's home studio. One of Andrew's strongest unrecorded
Bryndle tracks "One Heartbeat Away" is recorded. Everyone
is very happy with the results. The plans are to bring Scott
Babcock, Bryndle's last drummer in for recording next week.
According to Michael, the project's engineer, they have 8
or 9 tracks that are nearly finished and he expects completion
by the end of Winter or Spring. Wendy has said by the end
of the year.
Two days
before the recording sessions, Matt Cartsonis, who was brought
into Bryndle to replace the departing Andrew Gold, runs into
Andrew next to a pool at a hotel in Southern California in
which Andrew discusses the upcoming Bryndle project.
Summer,
2000
Wendy
contacts Andrew Gold who has now relocated from the East Coast
to Nashville. The plan is that Wendy will send some rough
tapes to Andrew and he will see what overdubs he might be
able to add. Just the fact that Andrew is involved in the
project is rather amazing since there has been little dialog
between members of the group and him since him move to the
other coast.
June,
2000
Karla
Bonoff agrees to be a part of the Bryndle 2 project. She's
playing more live shows and thinking about her next solo album
and completing work on a house she had built which she mentioned
in a magazine article as leaving her semi-retired. Still,
it's been a couple of years since the last Bryndle show and
recording date that she's been a part of.
Summer/Fall
1999
Wendy
and Kenny have taken on the Bryndle 2 project and have been
working on tracks for the album on their own at Wendy's home
studio in Southern California. With Kenny now living 100 miles
to the North now, this makes getting together a little less
easy than it was when the entire band was in the "Southland"
area but, according to Wendy, week in and week out, they've
been trying to do a little work on a steady basis. They have
also discovered that they like playing together so much, that
some of the material is better suited for just the two of
them of there may be the beginnings of a spinoff group in
the making. Kenny and Wendy have also been playing some local
clubs in the L.A. area to roadtest some of the new material.
As far as I know, Karla has not participated in these session.
April
22nd, 1999
Well
folks, it's been more than a year since the full five piece
configuration of Bryndle has recorded anything together for
this project. Very little recording, even by the Karla, Kenny
and Wendy, has taken place in the past year, although there
was at least one session in 1999. It's fair to say that this
project is "on hold" for the time being while they work on
other projects. Wendy is planning on recording and releasing
her first solo album of this decade. Kenny is working with
Tom Kell and Karla has been overseeing the remastering and
release of her "Best Of" collection.
It may
seem like it's been a long wait since the release of the first
Bryndle CD, but Wendy answered it best in a post to Andrew
Gold's message board in the past few days. "Actually, it took
us about 25 years to make the first released CD, so I guess
maybe that is a long time. Of course, compared to that, what's
5 years to do the second?"
This
is not an announcement of the end of the band - or even an
end to this project. Everyone is on friendly terms and everyone
feels a second album will come when the time is right - right
now, they plan on working on other things.
April
16th, 1998
In
an email from Wendy, she has reported that a major component
of the Bryndle CD, the "Big Bonoff Ballad" had recently been
written and completed in the past couple of weeks. Wendy was
very enthusiastic about the results.
March
30th, 1998
Wendy
reports that the band, which has been off doing separate projects
in recent months, may soon be getting together to do addition
recording. There has been some interest from record companies
as well as freeback on the demo. The band wants to try their
hand at making it better.
February
10, 1998
In
the last few weeks, an acoustic version of "What The Gypsy
Said" has been recorded and a tape of it, along with the six-song
demo is being distributed to record companies and Bryndle
goes looking for an interested company to distribute and promote
the band.
January
3, 1998
Copies of a very limited demo called "Bryndle
- A Work In Progress" will be sent out shortly to interested
record companies. This is the first time that any music has
left Wendy Waldman's home studio where the band has been hard
at work recording tracks for their second album since March
of 1997. Just a handful of copies of this six-song collection
were pressed and they are being used to interest record companies
in releasing the follow-up to Bryndle's 1995 debut release.
Some of the tracks sound very polished and ready for release
while others may require additional recording and mixing.
Five of the songs were written by various combinations of
Bryndle members while "Forever Ride" was written by Wendy
Waldman and Bill Miller and first release on an album by Miller
in 1990. Because this is a demo/work-in-progress, it would
not be proper to review this collection in the traditional
sense but more information about it will be posted on this
page in coming weeks as well as discussed in Bryndle
Chat.
Late
November, 1997
It's
been reported by band management and confirmed via email from
Wendy Waldman that a very limited run, six song demo CD of
new material has been pressed. According to their manager,
this demo is going to be used to shop the band around to record
companies. While much more than six songs have been recorded
to various stages of completion, they picked the songs that
seemed the strongest and would show the band off the best
in a quick listen.
August
17, 1997
In
a recent email from Wendy, she reported that the band would
be going back into the studio in late August after the WestFest
show. Left to tackle is what Wendy called, "The Big Bonoff
Ballad." If it has been completed, it's still without a title.
Wendy also made mention that the band would make an attempt
at "One Heartbeat Away" - a song closely identified with Andrew
Gold but re-worked in recent months. The new arraignment will
probably include lead vocals by Wendy.
The band
is now starting to mix some of the tracks originally recorded
at Wendy's house. Michael, the project's engineer has been
looking at Christopher Cross's studio in Santa Barbara as
a probable site.
July
22-23, 1997
For
the first time in months, all five members of Bryndle convened
at Wendy's house for more recording. They re-recorded "Hearts
Of Fire" which took some time. They also re-recorded "Forever
Ride" in which a version that they were happy with was recorded
in just a few takes.
April
20th, 1997
After
a week off from formal recording while preparing for the Peperdine
show this past weekend, Bryndle will go back to Wendy's house
on Monday for more recording. The first thing planned is a
redo of "Heart Of Fire," which apparently, the band was not
happy with in it's first arrangement.
April
14th, 1997
Last
Saturday, April 12th, with only Wendy, Kenny and Karla present,
the band recorded parts of "As Long As It's Real" featuring
lead vocals by Wendy. The rest of this week the band will
rehearse for the show on Friday, the 18th.
April
12th, 1997
This
past week, the band spent two days working on "Heart Of Fire"
which appears to now be complete. There are no scheduled full-band
recording sessions before the upcoming Malibu performance
this next weekend but it's possible that Wendy and Karla will
begin recording "You Believed In Me." This song was written
by Wendy and Karla and recorded by Karla and the Nitty Gritty
Dirt Band. In live Bryndle shows last year, Wendy and Karla
played this song while the rest of the band left the stage
- a short "all-girl" folk interlude in the middle of the Bryndle
show. A short clip of them singing this song is available
on the SOUND CLIPS page.
April
3rd, 1997
This
past week the band got together four times for recording and
worked on "All The Way Gone" with Karla handling vocals. According
to Matt, this is the "folkiest of the bunch so far" with just
Karla and Kenny on guitars and Matt on bass - no drums.
They
also recorded basic tracks for "Bitter Wheel" sung by Kenny
and "New Mexico Cadillac" featuring vocals by Wendy. "All
the Way Gone" and "Bitter Wheel" were written by Karla/Kenny/Wendy
and "New Mexico Cadillac was written by Wendy and Reed Nelsen.
In a
break during the recording, the entire band took a bit of
time off to view the comet this week - not all that easy of
a thing to do in Southern California. Everyone will take a
few days off from recording while Karla and Kenny head to
New York for a concert and Matt joins up with the Foremen
for a show and radio broadcast in the San Francisco Bay Area
- all shows are on Saturday.
March
28th, 1997
The
full band took a break for a couple of days. Meanwhile, Karla,
Kenny and Wendy have done a bit of overdubbing during that
period, experimenting with the four songs they have recorded
so far. Full band recording continues on the 29th.
March
25th, 1997
In
a daytime recording session today, the band worked on a new
song called "All I Need To Know" featuring vocals by Karla
with Kenny on electric guitar, Wendy on piano, Karla on guitar,
Matt on bass and Scott on drums. This was written by Karla,
Kenny and Wendy and Wendy commented about this song, "A whole
new Karla Bonoff sound..." Recording continues this week.
March
24th, 1997
In
the past two days, the band has re-recorded versions of "Concrete
River" and "What The Gypsy Said" that they are much happier
with. Basic tracks, minus vocals and any addition overdubs
are complete now for three songs.
The plan
now is to record about 15 songs for the new album with only
those that turn out the strongest making it to the final release.
After more than seven months in hiatus, there is now talk
of recording "One Heartbeat Away," a song closely associated
with Andrew Gold who originally sang lead in this song. This
song was a standout in their live shows last year but has
only been played once since he's left the band. According
to Wendy who will take over singing lead, it's been completely
reworked and rearranged.
March
23rd, 1997
As
of now, the first song, "Gotta Let It Go" is finished except
for vocals. "Concrete River and "What The Gypsy Said" have
been recorded but still need additional work. The band is
hard at work recording at Wendy's home studio and they plan
on working steadily over the next few weeks.
March
18th, 1997
Recording
has begun! According to Bryndle management, a full studio
has been set up at Wendy's house and all five of the band
members have been recording there. Tape started rolling somewhere
between 2:30 and 3:00 PM, Pacific Time on March 18th. It's
uncertain if these recordings will actually make it to new
album, but it's a beginning. Apparently, basic tracks for
"Gotta Let It Go" were finished and they have started in on
"Concrete River."
March
16th, 1997
Kenny
Edwards posted yesterday in the Bryndle AOL folder that recording
for the new Bryndle album would begin on Monday, March 17th.
This marks the first of any recording for Bryndle 2, the working
title for Bryndle's follow-up to their first album released
in August of 1995.
An
Overview
As
far back as December of 1995, Bryndle was already thinking
about their second album. In a Los Angeles radio interview
that month, the band was asked about a follow-up to their
August 1995 release and then-member Andrew Gold replied "I
don't know when it will happen - but it will happen."
As Bryndle
was finishing their Summer tour, they talked of recording
as early as Fall of 1996 but that date was pushed back when
Karla and Kenny toured Japan during most of November and Wendy
played a few West Coast solo shows - her first in years. After
a second tour of Japan by Karla and Kenny in the Summer of
'97 and Wendy's trips to Nashville to write with various partners,
the second Bryndle album was put on hold.
While
the first Bryndle album was recorded using studio musicians,
according to Wendy Waldman, the second album will have much
more of a homegrown feel to it using primarily the touring
Bryndle band; Karla, Kenny and Wendy backed by Matt Cartsonis
on bass, fiddle & mandolin and Scott Babcock on drums. Wendy
hoped that the recording process for this album would be closer
to the style of The Band's legendary "Big Pink" album where
many of the tracks were recorded live-in-the-studio, in a
very informal setting.
One of
the first songs considered for "Bryndle 2" was "One Heartbeat
Away" which predates the first Bryndle album and featured
Andrew Gold's vocals. In a 1994 radio broadcast, the song
sounded like a work-in-progress, which probably explains why
it wasn't a part of the first album, but by the Spring of
1996, Andrew had added a tasty 12-string guitar part reminiscent
of the Byrds and it was a clear standout on tour. After Andrew
left the band in June 1996, this song was dropped from their
set list but in recent months, the band has been rehearsing
and re-working it for possible inclusion on the new album.
The other
standout cut, "Gotta Let It Go" was road-tested during Bryndle's
1996 live shows. This one features Kenny singing lead and
deals with the ending of a relationship. On the 1995 Bryndle
album, Kenny sang "I never meant to love you, but I just can't
walk away" - In this song the tone has changed to "Sometimes
things don't work out - gotta let it go." Not exactly a love
song in the traditional sense, but some insight into the painful
aspects of a relationship. This song went through some serious
re-working over the summer of 1996 and by the end of the tour,
Kenny's lead vocal was augmented by a new backup chorus sung
by Karla, Wendy and Matt. (UPDATE - I've heard recently that
this song may not be included on the Bryndle 2 - and may be
sayed for a Bad Haggard track)
Another
song that will certainly appear on "Bryndle 2" is "Concrete
River" a song which dates back to at least 1994 and has changed
little since. This song is about the famous Los Angeles River
(featured in Terminator 2) which runs thought the Southern
California area. Unlike most rivers, this one is completely
paved to prevent flooding as it flows through a highly populated
urban area. This rocker features Wendy on lead vocals.
Other
songs that will probably be recorded include: "My Home is
Anywhere You Are" and "I'll Never Forget You."
When
this project first began, Andrew had left the band, moved
to the East Coast and had there had been little communication
between him and the other members of the band. In 2000, old
friendships became more important and phone calls and email
between Andrew and various members of the band rekindled their
old relationship. Andrew is once again working with his old
friends on Bryndle 2. In 2000 and 2001, he was FedExing his
digital recordings to the others. He's expected to move back
to Southern California in the Summer of 2001
As February
1997 came to a close, a studio was being assembled at Wendy's
house where they began recording demos. Since a major part
of the first album was recorded at Andrew's home studio, this
is not as unorthodox as it may sound. Wendy's living room
has been the rehearsal place for Bryndle as well as the place
where most of the group's songs have been written. The recordings
made at "The Long House" have sounded great. If
fact, the studio is now the home studio of the radio show
FolkScene producing some fine
sounding live recordings.
In 1997,
a collection of six tracks recorded for Bryndle 2 were pressed
into a limited run CD and pitched to record companies. The
band was not happy with the recordings and all have been scrapped
- and the recording process started fresh.
With Kenny
and Karla living north of Southern California, it made sense
to do some of the recording at Kenny's home studio. Karla
has recorded most of vocals parts there. Since Andrew's reuniting
with the other three, he has been recording in Connecticut
and Nashville.
