The couple soon locked into a songwriting routine.
“When an idea comes to me, it’s the whole song,” Redman said. “I’m not sitting around playing guitar. I hear the vocal melody, the drums and the basslines all at once. I usually record it on my phone and then I let David listen and we figure it out from there. He’s my translator, especially when I think of all those parts for instruments I don’t even play.”
With a handful of tunes, Redman assembled a core band with Payne (electric piano), Matt Webster (guitar), Bryan Lakatos (bass) and Dan Stahl (drums) to record with Patrick Himes at Reel Love Recording Company.
“I’d write a song or two or three and we’d get together, rehearse and go straight into the studio,” Redman said. “There wasn’t a lot of incubation time. We recorded with Patrick, so he played some Hammond organ on the record. He’s really busy but he plays live with us when he can. Now, when we have new songs, we take them right to band. We don’t have to work the same way we did. We’re working on some new songs now and this is the first time we’ve be able to do it all together. I love having everybody’s input.”
Redman filled out the sound in the studio with percussion and backing vocals from Khrys Blank and a horn section of Gary King (trombone), Michael Bisig (saxophone) and Doug Lane (trumpet).
“At first, we were hesitant to put horns on any of the songs,” Redman said. “We held off until the end but there were a few songs that needed to have horns. Once I heard it, I couldn’t unhear it, so we reached out and we found the right people. The horn section started playing live with us this year and Khrys too, so the band is growing. It’s a big, full sound.”
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
Who: Heather Redman & the Reputation with M. Ross Perkins
Where: Yellow Cab Tavern, 700 E. Fourth St., Dayton
When: 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9
Cost: $10 in advance, $13 day of event; cover starts at 8 p.m.
More info: 937-424-3870 or yellowcabtavern.com
Artist info: www.magnaphonerecords.com
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