Whats the difference between producing a lounge record and a roots rock record?
There isn’t one right off the top, except that one has horns and mallets, the other is guitars. If you’re working to retain the swinging, improvising characteristic of the music, they’re both pretty similar. I relate to songs and how to bring the song out, and to get a good performance out of the band. The ways you accomplish that stuff don’t change with the genre. With a guitar-oriented record, you want a brighter sound. With horns and mallets, you want a warmer sound. The differences are superficial. Aside from recording techniques — what microphones, mostly — there isn’t a basic difference in my job. On your new record, you played more of the instruments yourself. Is there any advantage to that? Not really. I did it because Hank Van Sickle, who played bass on most of the record, was touring with Rosie Flores. I would much rather have had Hank there in the studio, believe me. As for the keyboards, they were really easy parts, so it wasn’t worth getting a real organist in there just
