East coast dates with three long-admired singer/songwriters. What’s with the water in Philadelphia? So much talent in one place. Well for sure, I’ll be drinking plenty of it while rehearsing and touring with home-town kids Jim Boggia, Pete Donnelly and Cliff Hillis. You see, the four of us are starting a band and it’s called Three Hour Tour (water reference …
You’ve heard about “pop up” stores, well we’re a “pop-up” band! Four recording artists come together for a now-you-see-them-now-you-don’t limited engagement tour. Chris von Sneidern (San Francisco) Robbie Rist (Los Angeles) Cliff Hillis (Philadelphia) Willie Wisely (Los Angeles) We’re building a great set of music, originals and covers, taking turns on lead vocals, backing each other up, trading songs, and …
Transparent recording process reveals all. I do believe all components of this recording are present and complete, the first song in The Singles Series to reach that mile marker. It now requires some objective ears to mix the thing. Gotta tease out each part more separately: Kelly Jones backing vocals, John Fields bass drums production, Mike Railo piano, Ken Chastain …
Transparent recording process reveals all. I’ve known John Fields a long time. It’s a friendship that veers between collaboration, BBQ, the camaraderie of our same-aged daughters, and our passion for the great music. With long-time relationships, comes funny stuff. Truth becomes unavoidable. Walls come down. And elephants in the room suddenly begin screaming. He and I met at his studio …
Transparent recording process reveals all. After years of not playing the slide guitar, “Invisible” beckons to shake off the rust. It’s something I love to do, having learned how in the 90’s, playing along to “Love In Vain” on The Rolling Stones‘ “Let It Bleed”, and J. B. Hutto & Lightning Hopkins records. It got to the point where we …
Transparent recording process reveals all. Originally I’d shown up at John Field’s studio to talk him through my drum vision for “Invisible”, a new song by Cliff Hillis & myself. Instead, John picked up his trusty Harmony bass, and got to work laying it down. Without any thought or discussion we kept last week’s rough drum edit muted. Besides, he’d …
Transparent recording process reveals all. I emailed him, “play the drums like on Matthew Sweet’s ‘Girlfriend’ or ‘Rhiannon’ from ‘Rumours,’ or both simultaneously.” Then, night fell. The next morning John Fields, producer of two Wisely albums (“She” and “Turbosherbet“) sent me his big messy test pass of drums. Suddenly, the arrangement for “Invisible,” co-written with pal Cliff Hillis, leaps off …
Transparent recording process reveals all. Thirty-one years ago this May, my band “The Addition” and I were LITERALLY arrested while making our first album––caught breaking and entering into our own recording studio. These days, a band making an album couldn’t even FIGURATIVELY get arrested. Music is too ubiquitous, or as former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren once told me and …
Chart Topper for 2012! Hot off the press. Willie Wisely Trio’s reunion album “True” makes Audities Top 20 for 2012 in the esteemed company of Redd Kross, Cliff Hillis, Brendan Benson, Aimee Mann, The Shins, The Beach Boys, Kurt Baker, and Nelson Bragg!!! CLICK ON THE ALBUM COVER TO NAME YOUR PRICE! True by Willie Wisely Audities: Best of 2012 …
Free MP3’s from Concert In Shizuoka. In the run up to our east coast tour, I’m posting a new mini-set of FREE mp3’s from the 2012 tour of Japan. The recordings are rough and ready, and contain songs from my catalog of previous albums––plus new songs too. Here’s Volume 2 of 7, which includes “Good And Bad,” a co-write with …