Darlingside has been a busy band lately.  So busy, in fact, that we seem to be unable to update our own website, and SO busy that I have to do it, which must mean we’re busy, because I never update the website.  I’m usually too busy, or something.

Anyway.  We’ve been hard at work in our own little studio tracking and mixing two of our songs to present to you all soon!  Dave and I made the scenic journey out to beautiful Rhinebeck, NY last week to visit good friend, former bandmate, and exceptional engineer Eli Walker at Clubhouse, Inc, which has to be one of the coolest places on the face of the earth.  We spent an evening/night/early morning/mid-morning tracking drums for some of our newest tunes, and we were thrilled with the results.  It was truly a treat to work with Eli’s ears and expertise, not to mention the Clubhouse’s enviable collection of gear worth more than our house (twice, at least), and we’re looking forward to getting to work on the rest of the instrumentals and vocals here at our studio soon!

In the meantime, we’re looking forward to finishing tracking for Caitlin Canty’s upcoming album in the next week or so, and hopefully finishing the mixing process shortly thereafter.  Things are sounding really great, and everyone’s excited about presenting the finished product sometime this spring!  Somehow, the band is still finding enough time to write and rehearse two new songs, hopefully to be debuted in the next two weeks.  More new music is on the way for our big gigs Pearl Street and The Iron Horse in this area, and hopefully at an area near you…

We’ve also been gigging extensively for the last three months, and the past two weeks have been no exception.  We had a blast playing with Jon Rodgers at PACE in Easthampton on February 27th, and we were thrilled to see many new fans from our recent gig at Mt. Holyoke College in the audience.  Jon’s set was a mesmerizing blend of complex chord structures, beautiful textural palettes from his array of tuned crystal wine glasses (which he played through a loop pedal so that he could then play guitar and sing on top of them… very cool), carefully crafted violin lines, and soaring melodies.  We hope to cross paths with him again soon!

The next night, we made the short 2 hour trek down to Providence, RI, to an up-and-coming new bar called The 201  in a very chic section of town.  Outside of the week I spent in Switzerland 10 years ago, I have never seen city streets so clean as they were outside the venue; I actually briefly considered eating my pre-gig PB&J bagel right off the sidewalk.  Inside, we found a great space for music, with a little dance floor to set up on, and a helpful sound man to plug everything in for us.  We played in between sets from two different local bands, both of whom were excellent, and very friendly dudes to boot.

Finally, after a few days for R&R and one for intense rehearsal, we drove up to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in North Adams, right near our old stomping grounds of Williamstown.  Energized by the familiar surroundings, we played one of our stronger sets to an enthusiastic crowd, and in a room that sounded like what I imagine playing in Giant Stadium might sound like (at least from the drum throne), despite its relatively modest size.  I’m attributing the big sound to the big ceiling, which looked like an over-sized cement version of one of these, and was at least 25′ over our heads.  I think we need to play more venues with Space-Coupling ceilings.

Stay tuned for more soon!  We’ll be posting a couple of tracks for streaming enjoyment in the next week or so… we can’t wait!