Todd Mathis

In between shuttling kids to camp, watering tomatoes, trying to stay hydrated, etc. I’m finishing up a couple of projects and have a few others slated to start.

Bentz Kirby has put together a talented cast of musicians for a full length cover album that we’ve been working on for the past few months. The end is in sight and I’m excited for folks to hear some of the playing on this thing. Mike Severs, a childhood friend of Bentz and session musician in Nashville who has played on hits that range from Rod Stewart to Dolly Parton  to Don McLean, is featured on a number of tracks, along with locals May Kirby, Rusty Davis, Marv Ward, Jim Graddick, Darren Woodlief, Branhan Lowther, and many others. Look for a release this fall.

My brother came to Columbia in January and we spent 3 days recording at my house and at Archer Avenue with Jim Graddick, Mike Scarboro, Nolan Andrew and Cully Salehi. Moses Andrews later added organ to one track and we are finishing it up for release.  It’s called Home and it’s loosely based on growing up on the cattle farm in Gaffney, SC and how the people there influenced us, especially our grandmothers, parents and extended family.

Hope you’re doing something creative this summer.  If I can help you out in any way, shoot me a message!

Lang Owen is a good guy.

I enjoyed working with Lang off and on for six months or so on his most recent record She’s My Memory. We started the process with some demos he’d made and by discussing what type of sound/album he wanted to make. Once that was settled, I had Lang come in and play all of the songs he had to a kick and snare with just his acoustic guitar. He was a natural to playing with a click and was always prepared and ready to go. After the first few sessions we got into the habit of spending the first 30-45 minutes talking and chatting, then we’d get down to work.  Some sessions only saw us working on one song, others we’d tackle three or four, whatever we were feeling.  Most sessions didn’t go over three hours and the majority of them probably only lasted for two. We’d squeeze in sessions when we both had time.  It was a nice, intimate way to work and a nice way to get to know someone. We started with twelve or thirteen songs but narrowed the album down to ten, with Lang putting a few aside to work on further or scrap altogether. It’s not that they were bad songs, he just felt they didn’t fit the album. And I love that we got to make an album and not just a bunch of songs. There’s a great feel and theme running through the tracks. I hope you all enjoy listening to the completed songs as much as I enjoyed recording them.

She’s My Memory on Spotify 

 

 

I don’t remember all of the details.  What exact age I was, what vehicle we were driving (probably the old Buick Malibu…another story), what time of year it was… What I do remember is dad and I building this gate to the left of the barn in the picture above on a rainy Saturday under the carport at Granny’s house. We used some lumber that he had cut, some large bolts to hold it together and a couple of old sawhorses that were falling apart. A few days or weeks later we went to hang the gate and it was so heavy we could barely lift it. I remember struggling to try to get it onto the hinges and dad saying that we probably should’ve gotten bigger hinges. And I remember him just laughing at how heavy it was. I also remember him joking that any cow trying to get out of that gate would have a big knot on their head. Even though I can’t describe all of the details, just seeing this picture makes me warm inside. I had a good father and I am thankful for that.