Tales is my 4th full-length album. The ten songs on the record are culled from an intensive two-year period of writing. I wrote close to 50 songs and narrowed down to the ones I felt would fit together thematically. The unifying thread is that all the songs on Tales are character-driven narratives. Think of this album like a book of short stories. You can start at the beginning and go through to the end, or you can dip in and choose one that appeals to you at the moment, then put it down and return later for another.
I wanted the album to feel fresh and immediate, so I gave the band only basic sketches in advance and asked them to go with their first instincts in the moment. We all played together live, and none of the songs took more than three takes to nail down.
In two days we recorded all ten songs. We overdubbed a few parts butthe guts of what you hear on this album is live, the first or second time we’d ever played the song together.
Credits
Mark Westin - Songwriter, lead vocals, all guitars, Weissenborn
Will Bryant - Keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals
Lee Falco - Drums, percussion, backing vocals
Brandon Morrison - Bass, backing vocals
with
Sara Milonovich - Fiddle, backing vocals “All Are Welcome Here”
Scott MX Turner - Bodhran, “All Are Welcome Here”
Produced by Mark Westin with Brandon, Lee & Will
Recorded and Mixed by Brandon Morrison at The Building, Marlboro, NY
Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, Cornwall, NY