Cafe' Be At Studios first recorded Lawson Hancock in our modest facility in Tallahassee. The surroundings were crude, which worked well for a neophyte songwriter and singer as an introduction to the recording process. We laid several tracks with me on keys and Lawson on guitar. If I remember correctly the first song that we recorded together was Greg Lake's "Lucky Man." At that time Lawson owned an Ovation guitar, but was just learning to play. If I'm the best guitarist in the room something is terribly wrong.
We recorded a few of Lawson's original songs while the red wine flowed and we had a great time doing it. I had no expectations of him doing much other than entertaining himself and eventually giving up. I've seen it hundreds of times.
I taught Lawson the basics of multi-track recording, proper mic techniques, building tracks, and mixing and mastering the song. Unlike all of those before him that had given up so easily, Lawson actually listened to what I was saying, asked intelligent questions, did his homework, and practiced his fingers to the nub.
Fast forward 2 years and the Cafe' Be At Workshop is thumping down in Tampa. By this time we had two state-of-the-art Alesis ADAT 8-Track recorders, a Ghost mixing console, racks of effects, keyboards everywhere, and 1100 feet of space to get weird. Lawson was ready to record an entire album at Cafe' Be At. We booked time for him and the process began.
Over the course of a few days we developed a working pattern. We'd meet at the Fox & Hound for Guinness, Jameson, and chips with the most delicious Guinness gravy to set an agenda. What songs were we going to work on? What tracks needed to be laid? What worked or didn't work from the night before. Lawson soon embraced our surroundings as another classroom where he was learning the nuances of the creative process.
My son, Redmoon Blackwater, started out engineering the project but soon I witnessed him blossoming into a producer. They connected on several songs that I wouldn't have been able to produce. I stepped back and let my son take over. Lawson was fearful at first -- Redmoon was scary Indian -- and resistant to the change. One night I got too drunk to pee straight leaving Lawson with no other alternative than work with Redmoon. What came out of that night was spectacular. The two were simpatico, of one mind on the project, and Lawson shed his misgivings and pushed on to create an amazing first album that incorporated his lyrics beautifully with his improving guitar chops. And we helped Lawson bring out the truth of his own heart.
Fast forward again 12 years and 5 albums later. Lawson Hancock is a songwriter with a clear understanding of how to emote his message through music.
Lawson's latest album is titled Nest. As a friend of Lawson, I have my own spin on what the title means, but I don't want to spoil your interpretation.
Track 1 - Coast to Coast (just guessing at the song names. I have a pre-release pressing). A very '60's sounding vocal and chord progression infused with
Track 2 - Moody Blues feel with a new hip feel.
Track 3 - Great feeling, swampy rock song
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