Skipping Girl Vinegar bring their adventures to an end in the second and final part of their USA Tour Diaries, which includes their time recording in Nashville, their final shows at CMJ and more... read on!
FRIDAY 19TH OCTOBER
Our second gig for CMJ saw us play the Planetary Showcase at Piano’s in Manhattan. There was so much energy in this venue. Shows upstairs and downstairs and a fantastic lineup. But more importantly, a generous Australian bartender. This was one of our funnest shows in the US. Skipping Girl Vinegar gig in New York. Bucket list check.
SATURDAY 20TH OCTOBER
Today was our last CMJ showcase- the Aussie BBQ organized by Sounds Australia and Stage Mothers. It started out with one of the greatest BBQ’s we have ever been to. Shrimps on the barbie, lamb cutlets, hamburgers and gourmet salad. We were in heaven. Australians sure know how to do a top BBQ. This was our last show in New York, so we gave it all we had. The crowd were amazing and good vibes all round including a group of new SGV fans who had been following us from show to show around CMJ. We’ve met a whole bunch of industry people across our time here. We’re excited by the potential future partnerships we’ve forged during this trip.
SUNDAY 21ST OCTOBER
Leaving New York to Music City- Nashville, Tennessee. We will be spending this week recording two singles with Brad Jones at Alex the Great. As we arrive at Nashville airport we are greeted with many y’all’s. There are guitars in glass cabinets all throughout this airport, posters of famous country singers and country music blaring through the speakers. We are not in New York anymore. The other way we know we aren’t in New York is that we can smell the fresh southern air. It’s a slower pace here. People are still driving huge cars but they are happy to stop on freeways to let us cross the road. The famous Baja Burrito was closed for dinner on a Sunday, but Applebee's Diner was open. ‘What would y’all like for dinner tonight? Y’all look pretty hungry. Y’all wanna drink?’ Accent heaven.
MONDAY 22ND OCTOBER
We had always recorded most of our albums in Australia, before getting them mixed by Brad in Nashville. This two-song recording week would be our first go at getting Brad to record the entire songs from start to finish. Brad’s studio is full of old guitars, quirky instruments and character. Our bedroom cupboard is full of old guitars. Brad works mighty fast in the studio. Today’s focus was new song, Making Our Way. By evening we had already written a new bridge, laid down most of the instruments and were making decisions on song structure. At times this can make you feel uneasy. There is so much trust and blind faith when working at this speed. We are used to spending weeks thinking about whether we like the sound of something. This is all new territory for us but we knew that we were in great hands with Brad. Today is also the day our album Keep Calm, Carry the Monkey is released in America. It debuted on the CMJ charts at #86! This included multiple #1 and #2 positions in top 30s across the U.S. When we got home it had climbed to #43 with more #1 and #2 positions and 36 top 10s!
TUESDAY 23RD OCTOBER
Today, we started working on West Coast, a summery pop song with a hobo aesthetic. Again we hit the road running with laying down tracks. When you work at Brad’s studio, bands keep dropping by. MS MR popped in, they were supporting Grouplove at the Cannery tonight in Nashville. They’re coming out to Australia for Laneway next year as well. We walked up to the Laundromat to do our washing. It’s getting pretty intimate on tour when you know who’s jocks belong to which band member. On the way, we asked some locals which way to the nearest Walmart? They said five minutes. We said we were walking. They looked shocked. ‘Y’all walkin????!’ They couldn’t believe we were walking in Nashville. Renegades we are.
WEDNESDAY 24TH OCTOBER
The recording continued today. The songs are sounding dynamite and we are all very happy with the work we’ve been able to achieve in this short period of time. Tonight, we are doing our final showcase show in Nashville at the famous Basement owned by Mike Grimes of Grimey’s Record Store. Five minutes in that record store can ruin your bank account. Our show at the Basement was a longer set and performing here tonight was like performing in Melbourne. We felt at home here and played the best show of our tour. Playing here felt like a little gift that America gave to us. Matt Schultz from Cage the Elephant and our good friend Chung (Jeffery Sweeney) put this show on especially for us. But the gift just kept giving. Matt was joined on stage by six of his closest friends who also played in other big time indie bands in the US like Sleeper Agent and Schools. Each lead singer played a couple of songs. Kind of like Elvis Costello’s Spectacle. We discovered some new songwriters which inspired us greatly, one being Stephen Gordon. With the voice of Chris Martin and he finger picks like Nick Drake. We walked home from the gig.
THURSDAY 25TH OCTOBER
Brad was producing another record today so we moved next door into Robin Eaton’s studio, Club Roar. Mark was frantically finishing lyrics to be recorded that day. Robin informed us that some interesting things had happened on the four-poster bed in that studio. We couldn’t believe that this was our last day in Nashville. Nashville felt like home to us. There is an earnestness from the people here. Everyone is a musician. You don’t feel so out of place in this town.
FRIDAY 26th OCTOBER
Mark and Chris finally get to step out of the recording studio today to head out to see some of Nashville’s finer points. Sare got sick most of this week and was starting to be on the mend. She still hadn’t seen Broadway yet so was dragged out of the studio by the boys. Mark is a huge fan of American Pickers so it was his first stop on the quick tour of Nashville this morning. As they stepped out onto Broadway, they bumped into Emmylou Harris who was doing a photo shoot at a local record store. Emmylou posed for a photo as she was ‘photo ready’ that day. Stunning as ever. Brad Jones has lived in Nashville his whole life and has never seen Emmylou Harris. On a plane back to Melbourne now. America you have been good to us hobos.
SATURDAY 27TH OCTOBER
This day never happened.
SUNDAY 28TH OCTOBER
It’s sunny and hot in Melbourne as storms steam into America's east coast. It’s quieter here. Wonder when we’ll be going back to America?
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Skipping Girl Vinegar upcoming shows:
Thursday, 6th December 2012
4TH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOW – DROUIN VICTORIA
DROUIN, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
7:00PM
http://www.skippinggirlvinegar.com/