A few weeks back Elkhorn released The Golden Lag on Blue Hole Recordings, a two-sided cassette of two medium length instrumental tracks consistent with what we’ve come to expect from this ultra-talented guitar duo. This motivated me to finally finish the edit on the recording of this amazing day in the park from August.
Due mostly to the indefatigable efforts of Aaron Stein, the NYC Freaks Day Out pop-up concerts have created magical experiences for the tuned in. Nestled in a corner of Valentino Park in Red Hook, the artists playing these events are presented in a most natural atmosphere and with fans on blankets or beach chairs, and the feel of the event is like a family reunion of the most knowledgeable music fans NYC has to offer. On this beautiful day in August, it all came together for Elkhorn and the Freaks and all was right with the world for a few hours.
In our previous experiences with Elkhorn, the band has played as a guitar duo featuring Jesse Sheppard on a 12-string acoustic guitar and Drew Gardner on primarily electric guitar. The intricate interplay between Jesse’s melodic lines and Drew’s crunchy strat is both mesmerizing and compelling. On this particular day, the band added Ian McColm on drums, a sought-after talent who has appeared elsewhere on these pages. The first set was familiar to fans with the guitar interplay supplemented by Ian’s tasty fills. A thirty minute piece of pure bliss, it was one of those time-stands-still kind of sets that you never want to end.
But it was the second set that threw us for a bit of a loop. Jesse strapped on an electric bass and proceeded to riff on a funky groove and Drew worked the wah wah to perfection. The thirty minute set weaved in and out of a few different themes but ultimately proved that this band has an infinite number of genres to explore in its future and we’ll be happy to capture them all.
I recorded this set with the outdoor-friendly large diaphragm Neumann microphones set up directly center in front of the band, and the sound quality is stunning. Sure there are a few dog barks and children, but that’s exactly the atmosphere of this terrific day and we are so happy with this recording. Enjoy!
Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]
Stream the Complete Show:
Elkhorn
2021-08-31
Valentino Park – Red Hook
Brooklyn NY
Digital Master Recording
On Stage
Neumann KLM-102s > Sound Devices 744t > 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)
Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
Setlist:
Set 1 [Total Time 30:07]
01 Improvisation 1
Set 2 [Total Time 31:41]
02 Improvisation 2
03 Improvisation 3
Personnel:
Jesse Sheppard: acoustic guitar, bass
Drew Gardner: electric guitar
Ian McColm: drums
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