After a long hard road, our studio and practice space (Jonny’s basement) is ready for re-launch. New pergo flooring, fresh drywall and paint, baseboards, doors, windows… not to mention the wall that was taken down to create an open layout in the room.

Here are some photos of the new RtS headquarters.

Here I am singing over a Streets track. The “Newborn” melody kind of works on top of his production.

My version:

The Streets video:

Most of our songs have many versions. Newborn is no exception. Check out our latest version of this song. I think this version is a keeper.

Rain the Shining – New Born (un-mixed/un-mastered)

As stated in the last update, I said I’d try to post some new recordings. Here’s a little taste of what we’ve recorded. (None of them are completely finalized, so keep that in mind.)

RtS Recording Clips

The clips (in order) are: Good Mourning Sun (version 1), Newborn (version 1), Celerate (version 2), and Good Mourning Sun (version 2)

To keep everyone up to date, here’s a short recap of what’s been going on:

1. Jon Anspach officially left the band about a year ago, due to a complications with time and work.  Jon was an amazing bassist and an awesome dude. We wish him the best with his future, and he is always welcome to visit anytime he wishes. For now Jonny has been filling in on the bass parts for recording, but we are looking for a new member so we can start booking more shows.

2. After buying our recording gear, and starting to officially record, we had an unfortunate turn when Jonny’s basement flooded. This flooding forced us to move from our “separate rooms” for recording, back into our “oneroom” condensed format we are at now.

Repairs in Progress...

3. Here are some photos of us in our small but comfy practice space at Jonny’s.

4. We have re-worked and recorded a number of songs, and we will try to post something soon for your listening pleasure.  Songs completed (or almost completed) are:

Newborn, Good Mourning Sun (versions 1 and 2), Celebrate,  and Shotgun Eyes

Here is a new song that I wrote. Only acoustic for now.

Rain the Shining – Ode to Ol’ St. Pale (acoustic) from Rain the Shining on Vimeo.

Brendan Nowlin, circa 2005

Our good buddy (and baby brother of our long-since-gone bassist, Ryan) Brendan Nowlin, interviewed me for Loyola College’s on-campus radio show around 2005. Now, whether or not this aired or if it was for his tryout reel, I have no idea. Either way, he graciously sent the recording over after digging it out from under a pile of dusty mp3s. I thought I would share it to the world. I perform acoustic versions of “Line of Fools,” “A Sudden Burst of Red” and “To Point B” (a different version) in between some questions about the band. I hope you enjoy. Thanks Brendan

Listen here:

Rain the Shining – Loyola Interview

Yesterday we worked on “Shotgun Eyes.” I laid down lead and back-up vocal tracks. Below is one of my takes for the lead vocal for the tune. It’s always so awkward to watch anyone sing without hearing musical accompaniment. I guess that’s why acapella groups are so grueling to watch.  If you can’t wait to hear what the song sounds like with some music behind the vocals, I posted a vid of me singing an early version of this song on the site a while back.

Our normal practice routine involves a good ration of productive and non-productive output. Recording and rehearsing generally gets put under the productive heading, but more-often we find ourselves warming up with just a good ol’ fashion jam session. Now that we record all of our practices, we’re finding that our jam sessions are actually shaping up to be some really good stuff. These jams normally start with a riff or a beat from one of us that naturally births (gross) a pretty fleshed out (gross) song.

I guess after playing together for many years, the three of us know when there’s going to be change-ups, lulls or rockin’ parts. With that said, we thought you’d like to hear a couple jam sessions from our last practice. They flow into each other, so you’ll notice some re-used melodies and textures.

(Remember, all of this stuff is made up on the spot without prior writing involved…so don’t judge)

Make it either way (Part 1)

Make it either way (Part 2)

Rain the Shining - In the Studio

Well, we’re happy to announce that recording has commenced. Yes, we’ve said that we’ve been busy working on new material, and getting everything ready for a while now, but now it’s happening. Thanks to a few new pieces of recording equipment (I’ll let Jonny write about the details on that stuff) and some much needed discipline at practice, we’ve started recording two songs, “Shotgun Eyes” and “Newborn.”

I have to say that the greatest part about recording on our own, is having the freedom to actually create while producing. In the past, we’ve been so rushed in the studio to save on studio time, that we approached the song-writing/recording process with such tunnel vision. The goal was to always nail it on the first try, and get stressed if you don’t. The basement studio gives us the ability to write bigger, take our time and actually enjoy doing it.

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