Blind Melon is in the midst of releasing new songs with more on the way. This is music to any Blind Melon fan’s ears. While any artist is sure to keep writing and making music, it’s been officially over ten years since the band has released an album. Thus far, two songs have been released – ‘Way Down and Far Below’ and ‘Too Many To Count’. Both have classic ‘Melon characteristics to them.
There’s the strong and never boring musical pieces that you’d expect from this group of excellent musicians. The mix stays true to the group’s past in sound and technical work. Christopher Thorn’s guitar in one ear and Rogers Stevens in the other. Then, there’s Nathan Towne’s bass, that holds down the bottom end but still manages to not get lost in the mix. In fact, its melodic nature finds a place in my ear that keeps the melody moving even when there are changes and stops in the guitar.
There’s the stellar drum work from Glen Graham, which Christopher and I talked extensively about. Thorn says, “He’s on fire, man. His drumming is like nobody else. The sound of Blind Melon really happened when he got in the band and I’m talking about back in the 90’s. We had a different drummer right at the beginning, right before we got a record deal.” I told Christopher that I thought Glen’s drumming on Too Many To Count had that Tones Of Home sound by being crazy busy but not overshadowing the song in any way. Thorn replied, “Glen sounds like he’s making lyrics with his drums, to me. He’s very lyrical. He works around the vocal and he hears everything. It’s an amazing thing that he does.” True story.
If all singer Travis Warren did was sing the songs, I would have to say I’d be impressed with his vocal delivery. He has a nice sound to his voice. It’s forceful but seems to get subtle at the right times. But that’s not it for this talented songwriter. I told Christopher that I especially liked the way the song Way Down and Far Below gets broken down at the bridge and sort of takes on a new life. Thorn explains, “It’s a great song and Travis wrote that song and delivered it like that. Actually, that recording that you’re hearing is.. he came into Los Angeles and I was like Whatcha got, what new songs do you have? I set up an acoustic guitar and microphones and he sang that live in the moment. I think he did one take and we were like – okay, cool. Next song!”
See what I mean?
As you have heard previously with the band’s catalog, there is a certain way their music is mixed. Christopher has his guitar parts and Rogers has his. He tells me that they do not play the same thing. Instead they create their own parts and sort of dance around each other. Thorn says, “90% of the time I’m in the left speaker and he’s in the right speaker so you can kind of hear the nuances in the guitars.” That’s definitely one of my favorite things about their music. I love being able to get lost in specific guitar parts and if two guys are just playing identical guitar riffs, it’s hard to decipher which is which. It can sometimes lead to mud city. Ya know?
You can hear my entire conversation with Christopher which includes the backstory of their song St. Andrews Hall by clicking on the link to your favorite place to listen to podcasts. We also talk about the Shannon Hoon documentary and he gives us some insight on what to expect and the feelings he had while preview the footage. Trust me, you do not want to miss this interview.
-Tommy Marz
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