Welcome to the first post of our Socially Distant Storytellers Series! We recorded the entire record with Earle Mankey at his Psychedelic Shack in T.O. It was an honor and privilege to get to work with him once again! The recording was mastered by Guy Martin at Black Couch Studios, who is always a pro! The first track off the record is Rear View Mirror. Take a listen and enjoy the story! We’d love to hear your feedback and answer any questions you have in the comments!
REAR VIEW MIRROR
He said can you come out to play
To the part of her that couldn’t walk away
Spinning round in circles
Like a child under the stars
Can’t move in both directions
So you just stand where you are
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
He talked about the way it used to be
The dashboard clock read only half past three
Silent accusations
Hanging in the air
Stared ahead at broken lines
And pretended not to care
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
The sky turned shades of orange
And her heart turned upside down
The cactus all were blooming
Something lost and something found
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
He had nothing left to share
She was way to tired to care
Lost inside the part of you
That used to hold her hand
While you’re hanging tight to longing, they’ll be
nowhere left to land
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
And you only see
Through the rear view mirror
Why can’t you see me
Sitting here in the passenger seat
Behind the Music:
So we had just played a gig in Huntington Beach and Robert randomly sang a line about only seeing through a rear view mirror. It stuck in my head and I knew it had to be a Medicine Hat song. I brought the rough sketch to practice and tried to describe the vibe and style I was feeling, an R.E.M. kind of jangly tune. Of course Robert knew exactly what I meant and we worked out a bridge, fine tuned the lyrics and arrangements and took it into the studio! This is one we really never even had a chance to play live, but maybe a few times. It’s going to be fun when we can finally get the full band out for the performance of this song!
Geek Tech Notes :
Guitars all capo’d at first fret, high E tuned to D.
Two acoustic guitars panned left/right. Epiphone EJ200 in standard tuning, Takamini dreadnaught in Nashville tuning.
Electric rhythm guitar - Gretsch G6129 Sparkle Jet > J. Rockett Audio Designs Archer Overdrive > Keeley Kantana Clean Boost > 1965 Fender Blackface Reverb Deluxe.
Lead guitar - Fender 69 Thinline Telecaster > J. Rockett Audio Designs Archer Overdrive > Keeley Kantana Clean Boost > 1965 Fender Reverb Deluxe.
Guitars, Robert Ramirez
Bass, Cary Von Gott