Dan Tuffy, musician, producer.

The new record COUNTRY STAR came out on 2 June and gigs are planned for July & August in Australia, and for the fall in Europe (tickets in link!). There has also been attention in the music press like the story below from Music Maker in The Netherlands. They wrote that it was a “beautiful organic sounding” record. The title translates roughly to “Rough Textured Alt-Country via Black & White TV tubes”. The Dutch language is all about precision and exactness. Clearly, I overdid when I was asked me about my gear. I told them all about my new-old stock 1957 General Electric television vacuum tubes that currently occupy my main guitar amp – for a long time. They ran with it.

Then there’s this: by the time an album comes out I’ve heard it so often that I’m ready to move on. I’m rehearsing for my upcoming shows at the moment and I should be going over the stuff thats just come out or other things I want to play live, but I find myself mucking about on some new riff, groove or song fragment instead. Is this a problem? I will no doubt find out the next time I walk onto a stage in front of you. Meanwhile, if you havent had a listen to COUNTRY STAR already, wrap your listening gear around this and wish me well!

Ive written swags of songs during covid and am heading into Studio 150 Bethlehemkerk in Amsterdam to record a bunch of them in April. The 9 or 10 tunes I plan to track in there belong together, but more to the point they lend themselves to being recorded with a big spacious room sound. 150 is a former church and Im looking forward to getting in there and “playing the room” with Madelief van Vlijmen on bass/piano/keys and bvs, Mischa Porte on drums/percussion and Stefan Wolfs on pedal steel and guitars. We plan to use the ambience of the big church like an extra instrument and extra band member. I thought long and hard about not hiring expensive stuido time (150 is high end of the market lush), especially in the current shit climate, but this bunch of tunes is really going to benefit from true ambience in a way that cant be done with digital modelling. I have a whole bunch of other material that Im happier to faff about with at home via file swapping without the added cost of big studio time, but these tunes are screaming room and depth. Ill be working on the home-recordings in parralell so have 2 rekkids at least, maybe 3 on the way. In the meantime, the little combo I have together for the Studio 150 sessions in April is sounding very exciting and imparting serious vibe to the material. There is an environmental theme on the new to-be-recorded record – I feel I have found a musical language that covers my feelings about it without sounding redundant or cliche. What a relief! Working title STAR & COUNTRY.

Left to Right: Stefan Wolfs (guitars &  pedal steel), Mischa Porte (drums & percussion), Madelief van Vlijmen (bass, keys, synths and bvs) listening back to our work in Bethlehemkerk Studio 150, Amsterdam, May 2021

Making a record with these guys was very easy. I mean, they are all well-trained, vibey, experienced players but you need more than that to make music breathe. We were in a big posh studio where the pressure of time vs money was an omni-present reality but we didnt crack, choke or become hesitant. We somehow managed to create a climate together that allowed our individual qualities to surface and mix freely. I think they call that CHEMISTRY when it happens. Free energy. Thats what we recorded. I think you are going to hear that in the new album when its ready. I hope we can get out there and play some shows in this formation when the time is ripe. Ive called them SONG CREW because they are the “crew” that bring the recordings of these songs to life, with their magic. RespekT & Lurve.