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BRIAN McCALL The Lowdown Or Ghatt Park. And Then Some C hase Park Transduction's David Barbe is a busy man. After releasing his solo debut, the uncategorizable Comet Of the Season, in 2000, Barbe began playing out live more than anyone had seen him do in quite a while. Barbe's live presence has since been on the backburner, however, as he and the rest of the Chase Park crew (Andy Baker and Andy LeMaster) have had a steady stream of clientele come through their doors of late. Barbe is playing out a bit more these days though and hopes to get in more stage time in the near future. "I've been writing songs since Comet came out," says Barbe. "So in that way I have been working on new material that is hopefully begin ning to comprise the follow-up. I've been playing with John Neff [Barbara Cue, Monday Night Recorders], Frank MacDonnell [ex-Tom Collins], John Mills [Barbara Cue] and Aaron Phillips [Redneck GReece] since early last summer. It's really turned into a great band. We played pretty regularly during the fall, then I got really busy and we didn't get to play together much until mid-December, when we spent the better part of a week here at the studio playing and recording. tion of work styles. I engineered a Dropsonic record that Dallas Austin produced, which was a fun experience. The same arrangement went for Injected’s last one with me engineering and Nick DiDia doing the production. Brian Paulson brought Seven Mary Three in so we just showed him where everything was and let him make himself at home. In between all that, I just started with Barbara Cue, I'm in the middle with Dodd and the Stars and I'm very close to finishing up with Southern Bitch at this time." Since opening their doors, Barbe, Baker and LeMaster have been the nuts and bolts of Chase Park's ever-rotating gear assembly. However, there are a couple of new faces in the mix. "Daniel Rickard's been doing a good bit with us over the last year," notes Barbe. "He's been engineering a lot as well as assisting me on the Dropsonic project and filling in for me with the Truckers when I cavalierly declined getting a flu shot and ended up with a nasty stomach bug. [Lona guitarist] Marcus Thompson has also been really valuable helping out with the Truckers' new stuff. He made the trip to Muscle Shoals with us as well." Since early fall we’ve actually had more outAide engineer* and producer* coming in to work than in the pa*t. There * been a heavy combination k , of work Atyle*. * Frank MacDonell and David Barbe What will come of that, I don't yet know. We'll be recording some more during the spring or summer, hopefully right on the tail of doing some shows." As gifted a producer as he is a singer-song writer, Barbe's behind-the-boards talent has had rule of the roost lately. Open for over seven years and going strong since its inception, the Chase Park facility has recently been at work with such local outfits as Barbara Cue, Southern Bitch and Dodd Ferrelle & the Tinfoil Stars. One of the most highly anticipated releases of '04, the new one from the Drive-By Truckers (still tentatively titled The Dirty South), is currently receiving its final coat of polish courtesy of Barbe and equally well- respected engineer John Agnello, who's worked with an A-list multitude of artists from Patti Smith to Dinosaur Jr. "We're almost ready to master the new Truckers record," Barbe promises. "We've been working on that off and on for about a year, mostly at Chase Park, but also a bit in Muscle Shoals, AL, at Fame Studio B. We spent about a week there just after the new year. At the tail end of that, John came down and we mixed it together. I haven't had much experience with having my recordings mixed by somebody else, but it really did work out well. "Since early fall we've actually had more out side engineers and producers coming in to work than in the past. There's been a heavy combina- The reason that Chase Park remains so busy and highly regarded is that it doesn't give off the pristine, finger-wagging pretense that's associated with big time studios and hundred bucks a minute producers. However, the guys are all musicians themselves and are serious about what they do. They're also generous enough to pass their knowl edge on to the fellow musicians. So, lesson being, if you go 'round Chase Park way keep an open ear as you'll likely gain some valuable know-how that might get lost in translation coming from a less attentive and less trustworthy staff. "We do have a lot of repeat clients, for which I'm very grateful," Barbe says. "It really helps to establish a working relationship over time. You can get over some humps the first go-round, then it becomes easier to get down to creativity the more you work together. On the other hand, if I've been able to gain some knowledge from other engineers, John Keane in particular, then I'm happy to share what I can when someone is gen uinely interested. It's funny and also an asset that two people can record something the same way through the same equipment and the two finished products will sound totally different I've experi enced this with John and of course with the Andys. There's just too many variables at play." Michael Andrews NO CREDIT NECESSARY TO FINANCE OR LEASE! Rates as Low As 4.49% • see heywardallenscion.com for details. 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