Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [01:47]
A
Letter From Home was the second group record that we made for Geffen. That was the third in a sort of trilogy of records to us. Somehow we think of First Circle, Still Life, Talking and Letter From Home as going together. And I think in just sort of a general conceptual sense that can be found in the types of tunes, the types of harmony, the general way that the group was being deployed at that time with the different people doing the kinds of things that they were all so well suited to do. And the focus of the band sort of seemed to be built more or less around the kinds of tunes that were represented by the tune. First Circle on Still Life, Six Eight and Third Wind. And that was kind of continued on Letter From Home with pieces like have youe Heard. And yet at the same time, Letter From Home to me has always had sort of a different complexion. We were very excited to welcome back after having been gone for a period of a few years at that time, Pedro Asnar. And of course, his incredible voice always becomes appealing and very attractive. Go to spot in terms of just what it offers, you know, not just our band, any band he's in. He's such a special musician. And there were a couple things about a few songs on Letter From Home like Slip Away that really featured Pedro in much more of a song like way. I mean, he had been, you know, really this sort of orchestrational element in the band. And there. There are some, certainly pieces on Letter From Home that have that same quality, like 557 where his voice is something that comes in later in the piece to just kind of italicize or emphasize certain melodic things. But Slip Away was something, you know, a little different for us and was a piece that was very successful, one of the most successful individual songs that we've ever had. And for me, it's a real favorite too. It's one that at the time it was written, I felt like had that durability factor and that sort of almost inevitable melodic shape and feeling that I really love to try to get to, if possible. Sa. Sam. The band on Letter From Home is with the switch of Pedro from Mark Ledford and David Blaymire's Identical. It continued to be a period where we were quite active as a touring band. I mean, we were playing pretty much all over the world all the time. And I think that tightness, that familiarity and the community that that band represented, especially the core rhythm section of Lyle and Steve and Paul and I, with Marcel joining us, was a couple years more evolved and that opened up, you know, this sort of infinite sense that we could do anything, which is always a great feeling to have with a band. You know, it's great to have those three records kind of seen as three records that go together, but also with their individual qualities and their individual quirks. And Letter From Home is, again, one that, for me, is one of the most special records in our catalog.