In 2003 I lived in Bosnia for a few months and while there recorded a little four-song EP, the Americana EP. I was really proud of it, it was my first time working with a producer and it was my first project since 1997. I’ll have to “re-print” the epic story of the Bosnian disc reproduction mofiasco on here soon for those who haven’t already heard it.
After the first Happy Sounding Sad Songs sessions I wasn’t quite happy with the collection. There were a few songs on it that sounded like they belonged more with the previous Americana EP than with the rest of their companions on HSSS. I tabled those three, recorded two new ones (IDKWTDAT & Cliché), and that was that.
I had it in my mind to re-work Americana since then. The original EP only used sampled drums and on a couple of the songs they sounded, well, sampled. I wanted real drums on those, combine them with the 3 stragglers from HSSS, ignore the fact that someone without a career has no place releasing a B-sides compilation, and whammo: new record.
Well it took a while to get around to re-working those old tracks. I had to find a studio that could import them. Then we discovered my producer back in Sarajevo had made a mistake with the backups, and I was missing most of one of the songs. We worked on the other three, adding new guitars and drums and some keys. We mixed more professionally. I mashed-up a little ending for Closed that harkens forward to the (now-past) remake of Dream Town on HSSS. I ended up throwing out one more song.
Anyway, everything was ready to go last summer. Then some stuff happened.
Anyway, here it is.
Album notes:
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American Dream Town
A song about secret societies, plastic surgery and other curious aspects of the American Dream.
Daniel Miller: acoustic guitar, vocals
Elvis Srsan: synth bass, hammond, vocals
Tom Bridwell: drums
Chris Holt: electric guitar -
Numb Us
We all have our drugs, our little helpers.
Daniel Miller: acoustic guitar, drums, vocals
Salim Nourallah: bass, vocals
Chris Holt: electric guitar -
Black Eye’d Kind of Love
I’ve always been pleased about how many details of the story I was able to tell in this song with such a relative economy of words. As for the story, I made it up.
Daniel Miller: acoustic guitar, drums, vocals
Salim Nourallah: bass, vocals
Chris Holt: electric guitar -
Prayin’ for You
“No one can keep you down when your heart is already on the ground.”
Daniel Miller: guitars, drums, vocals
Salim Nourallah: bass
Michele Pittenger: vocals -
Closed for the Year
A song about an imaginary place where capitalism has no effect. It is kind of the bookend to American Dream Town.
Daniel Miller: acoustic guitar, vocals
Elvis Srsan: synth bass
Tom Bridwell: drums
Paul Williams: hammond
Jesse Donoghue: electric guitar
Original sessions for American Dream Town and Closed for the Year produced by Elvis Srsan at Mandarina Studios in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2003. Electric guitar for Closed for the Year recorded in Jesse Donoghue’s living room in Delray Beach, Florida some time before 2003.
Numb Us, Black Eye’d Kind of Love and Prayin’ for You produced and recorded by Salim Nourallah and mixed by Rip Rowan at Pleasantry Lane studios, Dallas, Texas in 2006 and 2007.
Additional recording for American Dream Town and Closed for the Year by Tom Bridwell and mixed by Paul Williams at Tomcast Studios, Dallas, Texas in 2010.
All tracks mastered by Carl Saff in 2010.
Cover art by Cathey Miller, from the original piece “Bring It”
Title font: Raleway by Matt McInerney
Cover design by Daniel Miller