'Dan in the Deep South'

So yeah, my job does certainly take me to some interesting places. This time three and a half weeks in the U.S with most of the time (after flying in and spending a few days in Boston) down in the south. Based in Nashville, where Joe Bean, the Smart AV U.S Sales guy lives, and then doing road trips all through the south to places like Atlanta - Georgia, Memphis - Tenessee, Jackson - Missipi and New Orleans - Louisiana!

Wow!

This was a GOOD trip. Not as stressful as usual, lots of places I've never seen before and, unusually, I actually had time to take off for weekends and actually see something of the place.

Amazing.

And boy, the deep south is interesting. I've never been to a place where race was so much of an issue. Always unspoken, but always *there*. Very wierd.

But I managed to see some amazing blues and jazz and, luckily managed to stumble into a few things that were very 'real'. As in - not for tourists, not for everybody, but just, well, real. I guess. Hard to describe.

So somehow, and without really meaning to, I managed to make this trip into a real little pilgrimage to the heart of blues, rock, jazz and black music generally, right up unto Memphis hiphop and 'Grunk'.

Again - wow!

Here's some pics

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1st stop Boston - nice city.		O.K With all the history - y'know - one of the oldest and most historic cities in the U.S... What did I take photos of - a bar. Typical. Inspiration for 'Cheers'.

Oh, and just so you don't get the wrong impression - in the one day free I had there I managed to get to Boston Common, check out the 'Old South meeting house', learn about the significance of the whole Paul Revere story, as well as making it out to M.I.T and hitting the book store and scoring some cool texts AND eating crab down by the harbour... - so it wasn't all daggy bars alright? It's just that other stuff doesn't make for great photos...

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Again - nice city		That's me and Joe, the U.S Sales Guy

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Next stop - Nashville...		...Tenessee

So on our first day in Nashville we went to have lunch with this studio designer called Steve Durr. He invited us to this private 'jam session' that he and some friends organised about once a month up at the local observatory attached to the University. We wholeheartedly accepted his invitation and later that evening, as it was getting dark, drove up the winding hill road up to the observatory - and into a truly wonderful experience. Before the musicians arrived we got to play with the telescope! Huge thing! Amazing! I took the photo below through the view finder. wow!

Then as the evening progressed, the musicians began to arrive, and then, either as an ensemble or just on their own, to play songs. And trade stories, and we drunk wine. And listened, in the balmy Tenessee evening. Just amazing. Very, very, real.

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The Observatory		Can you believe it? And with the naked eye looked even more 'just like you can touch it'. Wow!

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The Musicians		Catfish - an amazing songwriter. He's actually a refugee from New Orleans - displaced by Katrina. And one of many. More on this later.

Didn't get this guys name - but boy could he play.


I'm not going to spend too much time talking about work on these pages, but below is the console I commissioned in Boston at a studio called Soundmirror.

Nice studio. Learnt a lot about SACD and DSD while I was there - these guys are THE classical recording gurus in the U.S.

Later we met up with John when he came down to Nashville to record the first ever concert at the 'just-being-completed' Nashville Symphony hall. Again - interesting watching a classical recording maestro go about his work. And of course, the concert was destined to be mixed in Post on the Smart back in Boston. Nice.

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The first E48 in the U.S.		John Newton rigging mics in the newly completed Nashville Symphony hall.

next gallery - Atlanta and Mississippi

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