Revisiting Ian Sherwood’s “Dig That Hole” from his 2017 album Bring The Light, The Atlantic String Machine have created a completely reworked version of the song that swaps the chuffing of a saxophone for a clockwork, and conversely organic, sound of a string section. All while Sherwood gives us a stern talking-to about having a good work ethic.
Recorded as part The Atlantic String Machine’s ‘The Bayfield Sessions’ during the week of the 2019 East Coast Music Awards in Charlottetown, “Dig That Hole” is set to appear on the band’s newest album being released next month.
“It was a bold choice to tackle this project in the midst of performing and promoting the band at the ECMA’s but we found that the whole conference energized the efforts rather than competing with them,” says Natalie Williams Calhoun, the Machine’s cellist. “The Bayfield sessions captured the essence of the East Coast Music scene, not just the sound, but also the incredible community with its generosity of spirit and willingness to jump in and collaborate. What better way to celebrate East Coast music than to spend our days hobnobbing with the music industry world and then late at night laying down tracks.”
The Atlantic String Machine recorded the the tracks in a basement of a rented house on Bayfield street in Charlottetown (hence ‘The Bayfield Sessions’) during the regional music conference. The band also took matter into their own hands arranging the charts, engineering the sessions, editing the tracks and designing the artwork.
Fortunately, the ECMA’s provided plenty of opportunity to draw from a deep well of talent concentrated in a single location.
“On this project, we created a vision from the ground up and invited others to join in. We are fortunate to feature five singer-songwriters on this album: Ian Sherwood, Alicia Toner, Catherine MacLellan, Nathan Wiley and Matthew Byrne. Each brought an original song that we arranged for our ensemble of two violins, viola, cello and bass,” says Williams Calhoun. “We tracked everyone together, live off the floor, and have kept the final product true to the process, nothing added (aside from reverb and a few effects) and nothing taken away. The result is an intimate portrait of six people gathered around microphones to work out an arrangement and put it on tape.”
The Bayfield Sessions will be released on October 10, 2019, with a release show in Charlottetown, PEI. You can also catch the Atlantic String Machine as they tour with Rachel Beck across the Maritimes during the Fall of 2019, before the head out West to British Colombia and Alberta for January/February 2020.
Tour Dates:
9.27-28.19 – Wolfville, NS @ Deep Roots Music Festival*
10.05.19 – Summerside, PE @ Harbourfront Theatre*
10.10.19 – Charlottetown, PE @ The Mack Theatre
10.18.19 – Dartmouth Community Concert Series
10.24.19 – Moncton, NB @ Capitol Theatre*
10.25.19 – Saint John, NB @ Imperial Theatre*
10.26.19 – Fredericton, NB @ Fredericton Playhouse*
10.27.19 – Georgetown, PE @ Kings Playhouse*
11.02.19 – Charlottetown, PE @ St. Paul’s Church
11.06.19 – Goose Bay, NL @ Happy Valley*
11.08.19 – Chester, NS @ Chester Playhouse*
*with Rachel Beck