This is the first show Obadiah will have played together in about five years.  When the offer came through (not a week before the show), we all figured, “why not?”  I don’t think any of us were certain as to what exactly was going to happen at our first scheduled session / rehearsal.  That being the past now, I would say that it feels as if we never stopped in the first place.  I won’t say that, though, because I feel we are all actually much better musicians now with a more mature sound then what it was when we left off.

This is likely going to be a rare one off as drummer, Josh Russell, will be shipping out to Oregon in just a few weeks.  So come on down and see what Obadiah has become.  You will not be disappointed.

Click here to check out How I Became the Bomb.

Click here to check out the last Obadiah album.

“All of Me All of Us” – Arrison Kirby

Yes, friends. I began to use my soundcloud account (see below). Here is the first offering…something I already offered before. That pesky “All of Me All of Us” song I know not what to do with.

Initially, it was a commissioned piece.  I had the music fleshed out, but the lyrics were more shit out.   The person paying for it agreed, so I rewrote it from a more inspirational place.  A bit too inspirational perhaps, because I think the end result was over that second party’s head.  Who knows?  Maybe it just sucks.

In any case, this shit’s just been sitting around with no home…pissing me off.  I passed it along to Steve Wildsmith for one of his articles, but I never shared it directly on here.  Here it is now, though.  Why?  Because I wanted to use SoundCloud.  That’s what this post is ultimately about.

Written, recorded, arranged, produced and performed by Arrison Kirby.

All of Me All of Us by Arrison Kirby

“Champagne Fishing Hole”
“Wrong Way Down a One Way Channel Backwards”
“New Beginnings”
“Afraid of the Ghost”
“Waiting”
“Bristol”
“Dane’s Domain”
“Monkey Parade”
“Leonard Skeonard”

There is a nice kind of edginess on this session.  A good mix of experimentation, improvisation, and expansion.  We additionally did a little more instrument swapping than we had prior.  Plus we did not use any electronic beats in this session.  Of course, there is a likely tolerable level of “offness” here and there, but few and far between all the juicy rewards.

“Champagne Fishing Hole” – This was how the session opened…with Megan rapping over Dane’s drums and Katie’s omnichord volume flushing.  I was still playing with shit in the control room, so I didn’t get in on it straight away.  This is completely to the track’s credit.

“Wrong Way Down a One Way Channel Backwards” – I had accidentally set off my looper pedal.  Then I just went with it.

“New Beginnings” – This is a pleasant little, beatless version.  Katie opposed my guitar with ukulele and Rachel took over the omnichord.  Dane played bass.

“Afraid of the Ghost” – This was one of the improvised songs from the last session.  I transcribed it over to a chord sheet and changed a few lines from the lyrics.  Two in particular, which really made no sense.  It’s a simple song, but I’ve come to really like it, all in all.

“Waiting” – This is Dane’s song all the way.  He wrote it, is singing it, and playing guitar.  He recorded a really great countryish version of it, which you can listen to on his Myspace page.

“Bristol” – This is totally the best version of this we have done.  We knew we had it more complete the moment we took it at that new pace.

“Dane’s Domain” – Dane started this badass bassline up and, though I noodle sloppy at times, I could not resist joining in. The girls handled light percussion in the back.  I think we should build on this.

“Monkey Parade” – This is the variation of “Katie’s Waltz” that we have currently arrived at.  This one is a lot more passionate and unrestrained.

“Leonard Skeonard” – I’m guiding the drums on this one.  Though I fumble them at the end, I still think this is a nice closing track.  Dane is playing a soaring mess of guitar solos over Katie’s always otherworldly omnichord.

Katie Collins – ukulele, omnichord, bass
Megan Driscoll – vocals, flute
Dane Hill – drums, bass, guitar
Rachel Jae – axillary percussion, omnichord
Arrison Kirby – guitar, drums, vocals

Obadiah

“Old Country Gaffer”
“13 Simons”
“Return”
“Future”

Written and produced by Obadiah

Josh Lunsford – vocals, keys, electronics
Aaron Shugart-Brown – vocals, guitar
Arrison Kirby – keys, electronics
Nathan Brown – bass
Josh Russell – drums
Dustin Basalla – auxillary percussion

Artwork by Josh Lunsford

Recorded at El Studio, Knoxville, TN.