theatre in Florence, Alabama. As a matter of fact, I just posted that footage online so folks can see it. I also have video from Huntsville the night before. We plan to pick a few things here and there and put them online. (You Tube, Keentone Records page)
MB: You guys have played all over the place over the past ten years. Are there any particular places that you just ab- solutely love to come back to? Bud: Yeah. We have favorite places that we always play. Places where we tell the agent to make sure that stop is on the tour. One is a place in Springfield, Illinois called Boon- docks. We always have a packed house there and it’s always fun. And Knuckleheads in Kansas City. Of course, Merrimack Hall in Huntsville, Alabama. Pretty much, anyplace in Alabama. We love it. Georgia too. We’re pretty big in the south, but we’ve got some northern places too. Last tour we played some places we’d never played before, and that’s al- ways kind of scary. You don’t what the audi- ence is gonna be like or if they’re gonna come and see you. We played in Portland, Maine and Bar harbor, Maine and out on Long Is- land, and those were about the three best shows on the tour. We’re going back to Port- land this year. All of those places, and the places down south. And after you play some of those places over and over you get to know the management and the promoters and some of the audience members. We’ve got some super fans that come and see us at dif- ferent places. We’re trying to build a little Grateful Dead or Widespread Panic following, you know. Only our shows aren’t three hours long. (Laughs)
MB: You mentioned Merrimack Hall in Huntsville, Alabama. I have been there to see you three times and it always feels like a family reunion with the owners and the band and the audience just loves y’all.
Bud: We love that place. This is the first tour in years and years that we won’t be playing there, because of the way the tour schedule lined up, the owners, Alan and Debra, will be in Africa on a good will mission at the time. But next year we’ll be there!
MB: Let’s talk about the new album, Speck. How did you guys come to work with Geoff Emerick? Bud: We knew Geoff for a long time through different channels. He lived in L.A. There was actually a picture of Geoff with us on the in- side of the jacket of the first record. He talked about producing a couple of songs for us, and when this one came along we just said, “You know what? Why don’t you produce the record?” He was all for it. He got in there and did amazing stuff. The only thing that bugged J.D.- J.D. is our engineer as you know- was that he would ask Geoff about his secrets, like how did you get this sound on a Beatles record or that effect on an America song, and Geoff wouldn’t tell him. He was a tight-lipped dude. JD: I asked him about what he did on our record, and he wouldn’t tell me! Holy cow. We were just real fortunate to get to work with him. It was sad to see him go, though. (Emerick died before Speck was released)
MB: He did a great job. It was obvious that he had experience with the Beat- les. It comes through in a lot of the songs, especially the one with the ukulele and the one with the tub sound. It’s like your very own Sgt. Pepper. Bud: We didn’t set out to make a concept album, exactly. There are certain themes be- hind the songs but as it turns out, it’s all very connected. That’s why we called it Speck, the reference being that we are all just little specks in the universe. We all have our per- sonal problems, but there are bigger global problems too, and we’re all tied together as one people. He definitely put some Beatles
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