Emperors Of Wyoming
High Noon Saloon
701 E. Washington Ave.
Madison, Wisconsin
August 6, 2014

01 Bittersweet Sound of Goodbye
02 I'm Your Man
03 Never Got Over You
04 (A Lot Of You Know A Lot Of Us)
05 Cruel Love Ways
06 (Swapping Files)
07 Rebirth Of The Cool
08 (Shooting Stite)
09 Avalanche Girl
10 (Introduce The Band)
11 Sweep Away
12 Brand New Heart Of Stone
13 Cornfield Palace
14 Drinking Man's Town
15 My Sweet Pinery Boy
16 Hard Love
17 Burn In Hell Polka

Phil Davis - Lead Vocals & Acoustic Guitar & Harmonica
Butch Vig - 12-String Electric Guitar & E-bow & Backing Vocals
Robert Frank Anderson - Lead Guitar & Steel Guitar
Peter Anderson - Bass Guitar & Backing Vocals
Kim Henry - Backing Vocals & Electric Rhythm Guitar
Alex Smolinski - Drums

Tascam DR-07 MkII > Audacity > DIME

Butch Vig is probably best known as a producer - Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, and innumerable local bands at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. As a drummer, he's played with Garbage, Spooner, and Fire Town. Phil Davis was one of the songwriter / guitarist / vocalists in Fire Town (alongside Duke Erikson, Butch's bandmate from Spooner and Garbage). The Anderson brothers played in various bands with Phil over the years, and everybody recorded at Smart at one time or another. So, several years ago, the guys started writing songs and recording parts in their home studios, sharing ideas and files remotely. This recording represents their first "real" public performance, the first week they ever all played music in one room at the same time.

The High Noon Saloon is a rather large watering hole, and this was recorded from a small balcony at the opposite end of the room from the stage. The bar is along one side wall, sound desk and rest rooms along the other. The main floor may have had a few tables near the back, but this was basically a standing (and talking) crowd. I was dismayed by the amount of talking all through the show, but I was in the very back of the room, so I presume the people most interested in hearing the band were gathered up front. I find it pretty listenable, but Phil's acoustic guitar intros to some of the songs are perilously close to getting lost in the crowd.

In general, the sound at the taping location was pretty decent, and the level of extraneous chatter may actually be a tad less on the recording than it seemed in real life. I presume the applause would have been louder if it was easier to clap your hands while holding a beer in one of them!

Up in the balcony, I was able to zip tie the recorder to a chair by the railing, and aim the built-in electret condensor cardiod mics toward the stage and PA, only adjusting the volume slightly after a couple songs.

In terms of post-production, after adjusting the volume of the recording, I applied a little EQ, cutting the high bass and low midrange slightly, and added a little lift to the high end, followed by a bit of peak limiting. After a few listens, I've come to enjoy the recording quite a bit. It's just a bit over 80 minutes, and removing a little between song banter should be simple if you're not comfortable overburning a CD slightly.

Hope you enjoy it as well, and pick up their self-titled debut, either the 2012 10 song version, or the 2014 release with three additional songs.