“On Track” with Pat Tierney
The track “Misty Morning (Part 1)” was actually a B-Side on the single “The World Don’t Owe You Nothin” from 2013. The instrumental received the inaugural “The Weissenborn Information Exchange” award for “Best Original Instrumental” for 2013 and has since become one of Pat’s most admired Weissenborn tracks among the Weissenborn community. This singer/songwriter from Brisbane, Australia has been working hard constantly touring the length and breadth of his homelands eking out a living just waiting for that big break which I’m sure will come because the man is very talented and a very humble guy to boot. I caught up with him to discuss this Weissenborn gem to see what he remembers about that Misty Morning?
So Pat nice to be talking to you on The Exchange. First off tell about the period of time around when you wrote and recorded “Misty Morning” how does this track fit in your musical timeline? What was going on in and around that time frame?
At the time I wrote this there was a lot of transition in my life, people coming and going. I think I had just gotten my first weissenborn and wanted to breathe some life into it. I was spending a lot of time in and around the studio where we recorded it and wanted to showcase the slide as much as possible within my musical scope and sound. It’s a very important instrument in my writing and I wouldn’t be where I am without it.
Moving on to the track itself, talk us through how it came to life. Was it one of those happy accidents?
The tune was originally going to be a vocal song but the lyrics I had at the time just weren’t sticking and when that happens you just gotta move on. I came back to it in the studio and we recorded it and it just sounded right as an instrumental piece.
So was it?…… A misty morning mean?
It may have been. I can’t remember the exact day of writing but I usually write mostly at night so I’m not even sure where the title came from. It just popped in there and I listened.
If this is Part 1, where’s Part 2? 🙂
Part 2 will definitely surface at some point. It still feels like there’s more to say with this one. Stay tuned.
Where did you record it and how?
We recorded this tune in a tiny little studio in Brisbane which is now shut down 🙁 This place was a studio/coffee joint and it had a half pipe for skating out the front. Quite the place to create some music. From memory we used 2 mics – a Neuman U87 and maybe a RODE NT2 . We tracked it in half an hour.
What Weissenborn did you use to record it, and what tuning?
I used a solid mahogany Weissenborn which was the first one I ever owned. It’s got a really warm tone and great bass response and seemed to fit this track and mood well. The tuning I used on this was EBEG#BEb , a simple variation I love to use.
How did the recording session go that day. Did you nail it first time?
It was in and out , the way I like to do things. Too much time in the studio and you can go a little bit crazy. There’s two tracks on the recording of “Misty” and both are Weissenborn guitar.
You obviously thought it was good but only good enough for a B-Side?
I was really happy with the sound and tone we got and at the time, I was releasing a new single and I wanted people to hear some slide stuff. I decided to chuck the song on the single as a bit of variety as we were selling it at shows and stuff. Glad I did.
I named it “Best Original Instrumental” for 2013 for the inaugural “Weissenborn Exchange awards, I’m hoping that brought you some new fans.
Thanks for the nod.. 🙂 Yeah it seems to have generated some genuine exposure and new friends / slide players have reached out which is amazing. It’s definitely inspired me to create more slide sounds and explore the instrument a lot more.
If I’m not mistaken this is the only Weissenborn instrumental you’ve released? Can we expect any more dedicated Weissenborn instrumentals any time in the future?
I’ve recorded a few lap slide instrumentals but this was the first I recorded with a Weissenborn. Yeah my new album which will be released this year has 2 weissenborn instrumentals on it as well as alot of overdubs/solos in other songs. It’s my favourite acoustic instrument in the world and when I came to record the album I wanted it to be a big part of the sound.
Do you play the track as part of your live set?
Not too much but I’m introducing a lot more slide to my shows where I can. I usually always start live with slide and finish with slide.
What are you working on right now and what are your plans for the future?
At the moment I’m finishing off my debut album ‘Wild World Blues’ which will be released in June and playing shows along the East Coast of Australia with a couple of cool support slots in there as well. After that we’ll take a break and get ready to launch the album with touring here in OZ and New Zealand which I can’t wait for and Europe won’t be too far off….
Thanks Pat for staying “On Track” and let’s hook up again soon when the new album is out, until then all the best.
Cheers brother.