LowNoise Records

The Bob Meighan Band - White Dancer

2007-09-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

It's known as 'white' Dancer because the album was "rerecorded and significantly spiffed up" after the band was signed by Capitol Records in 1976 and issued under the same title.

The Bob Meighan Band formed in Tempe, Arizona and developed a huge and devoted following around the state in the mid-70's, playing a heart-warming repertoire of Bob's originals and contemporary country rock and blues covers. No LP got more airplay on KWFM, Tucson upon its release in 1975 than this one.

It also was heard regularly on WNCS, Montpelier, Vermont in subsequent years due to the indulgence of yours truly and also program director Steve Zind, who had been the band's manager. Read Steve's brief bio of the band on Bob's site.

A couple of years ago, I started working on restoring the audio from The Dancer vinyl and digitizing the cover artwork, mainly for myself, with the notion that I'd send a copy of the finished work to Bob and Steve when it was done, and I nursed the project along slowly, on and off.

Then I learned this summer that Bob had assembled a band that would be performing two concerts of their old stuff: The Hotel Congress Music and Film Festival, Tucson, September 1, 2007, and the Fiesta De Las Calabazas at Oracle State Park, Oracle on October 13th. And suddenly I knew I had to finish the job. The results can be heard online, linked through Bob's homepage.

There's also a short video from fragments I shot at the Hotel Congress show - an unplanned experiment to see what a little Canon PowerShot SD750 camera could do in Movie mode with stage lighting and loud PA sound. The audio got very compressed and it's unprofessional for sure, but quite enjoyable! It was very moving to see the hundreds of people who turned out for the Bob Meighan Band after 30 years, and everyone was delighted at what they heard.

A Jethro Tull Christmas With Ian Anderson

2006-10-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

LowNoise Productions is pleased to present A Jethro Tull Christmas With Ian Anderson, our one hour radio holiday special being distributed by PRX.

Multi-instrumental musician, prolific writer, distinctive singer and conspicuous flutist Ian Anderson of the British band Jethro Tull shares colorful Christmas memories, and presents tracks from the "cynical and grumpy" Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Anderson talks about his relationship with the flute and relearning to play the instrument properly after three decades of recording and touring.

Broadly classified at times as Progressive Rock, Jethro Tull's music spans many genres including Jazz, Folk, Classical and Blues, in ways that are as rich and brilliant as they are unique.

This humorous and engaging one-hour special provides a definite counterpoise to more conventional holiday programming fare, and is well-suited to a wide age range, given Jethro Tull's lengthy and illustrious history which began in the 1960's. The band has produced 30 albums and performed more than 2500 concerts in 40 countries.

We've also included original blends of a few of the band's recordings which Tull fans may find interesting.

To listen to the program online, you can sign up for a free PRX membership which by the way will give you access to thousands of radio pieces from stations and independent producers all over the world. You'll also find A Jethro Tull Christmas With Ian Anderson at coolstreams.com.

Mix Celebrating The Beatles Revolver's 40th

2006-05-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

It's been 40 years since the release of The Beatles' Revolver, a most fantastic collection of work by the Fab Four, producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick that changed so much in music and the recording process.

Recently I was asked by producer Paul Ingles to help prepare material for a tribute to the album, Everything Was Right: The Beatles' Revolver which would air on Public Radio International. Consequently, I ended up with an assortment of extractions and loops from the record which wanted to be assembled in some fashion. Mix, remix, mashup - call it what you like - Everything Was Right is the result.

We're very gratified indeed to have received this first response within an hour of posting the mp3:

Hey Douglas,

Just stumbled across your blog and wanted to tell you that I loved your loop tribute to Revolver, "Everything Was Right." It's great to hear someone doing something creative with such classic music. Keep up the good work!

Best regards,

Howard Massey
co-author of Geoff Emerick's
Here, There, and Everywhere

It was a delightful synchronicity, since I had just started reading Geoff and Howard's book! In fact, it was while I was reading it that I became inspired, and this is what happened... Thank you, Howard... and Geoff.

download: Everything Was Right

KWFM Tucson - Mid '70s

2006-04-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

Tucson's Progressive FM station, KWFM mixed country rock with the underground tracks of the day, comedy and newsfeatures, programming freely from a large library. Much more audio can be found on Tim Warden's KWFM tribute site (to which we contribute).

First addition to the player is our Beatle Bits KWFM Station ID, which was heard for many years. Edited with a grease pencil and razor blade.

The Sold Americans - Back To The Pyramids

2006-02-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

ARTICLE: VERMONTERS FIGHT MALL, SETTLE FOR LIFESTYLE CENTER
By Lee Kessler

Here's the song that goes with the story. Todd Lockwood, who also founded The Brautigan Library, wrote Back To The Pyramids for Citizens For Responsible Growth, and he recorded and produced the track at his studio, White Crow Audio in Burlington.

The ad hoc group dubbed "The Sold Americans" consisted of the Burlington band The Chrome Cowboys, who were at that time: Bill Mullins, guitar; Mark Ransom, bass; Robert Crenshaw, drums / lead vocal; and, on this session, yours truly on keyboards.

We're hoping to offer the accompanying video, which was produced by Allan Nicholls.

Cued Up: WNCS

2006-02-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

Here at the LowNoise Records Audio Archives you will find a small and growing collection of sound clips going back to the 1960's, when my passionate involvement with audio production and radio broadcasting began.

One period, my years at a then-new radio station, WNCS in Montpelier, Vermont in the late '70s produced a string of memorable short productions, due chiefly to the imaginative and creative talents of others I was fortunate enough to work with there.

I have preserved and restored a number of early WNCS spots, ID's and promos, and it has been the compelling wish to make these tracks available to anyone who would appreciate them that has driven me establish the LowNoise Record Player.

In time there will be more special content, from WNCS and elsewhere. For now, I hope you enjoy the offerings. Thanks for listening.

Douglas Grant
Tucson, Arizona