DIG by Nick Swan

When one can't go out, one must go within. Dig deep. Dig out. Dig it?

This album features all original compositions written and recorded during the Spring and Summer of 2020, the Year of the Rat (Or bat? Nm...)

Like many musicians, I was forced off the road due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. I played my last gig on St. Patrick's Day weekend in Chicago to a packed crowd of drunk 20-somethings either oblivious or defiant to the oncoming reality of shutdowns and quarantine.

Initially, my focus, like most Americans', was on keeping safe and healthy. Once it became clear that we were in this for the "long haul," I settled in to a daily routine of reading some classic novels, watching old movies and generally just existing without the unwanted nuisance of being dead. Gradually, I began to relax and accept the situation for what it is - a chance to step back and reflect. Sometimes you don't realize how fast you're going and how tired you are until you stop. I needed this break - physically, mentally and spiritually.

Of course, these past few months have not just been a constant meditative state of bliss, either. Outside the world has been ready to combust on matters of race, economics and basic freedoms that we all took for granted. Over 170,000 Americans who started the year with us are gone due to this virus. An entire race has had to assert, yet again, that their lives matter. People refused to wear masks, or mask their opinions. The president has... well you know.

When the pandemic first started, I couldn't write anything. It was an overwhelming barrage of information and I just took it all in. The first thing I did, musically, was to record a tribute to two of my National guitar heroes, Chris Whitley and Rainer Ptacek. That was incredibly rewarding and I hoped that by doing it I could push my own music into a different direction. Over the next few months, that is what happened.

My greatest moments of happiness during this time have been when I've been outside or working on music, or both. This album and these songs reflect that. I played a lot of guitar outside, just listening to the birds and other sounds, soaking up the atmosphere and becoming a part of it. Many of the songs that came to me at first were instrumentals I composed while picking around outside. I've named all of them after animals. It's become a running meme to say that nature has reclaimed the world and that humans were the virus, but to a degree it's true. We're just a small part of this planet and taking the time to realize that isn't the worst thing that one could do in-between tweets...

There are seven songs on this album with lyrics. While not overtly political or specific, they all reflect the times we are in. I didn't want this to just be a "pandemic" album that would sound dated a year or two from now. The themes expressed are both of this time and eternal. That being said, I very much feel that all of these songs - instrumental and lyrical - are representative of this moment. I could have released just the songs with words as an EP, or just the instrumentals by themselves, but both felt like something was missing. Both are needed to tell the story and they compliment each other. This is not the kind of album that you blare while cruising down the interstate. It's more a "drive around the neighborhood" album, or better yet, a "put on at home with a nice kettle of tea" album...

Though this has been an isolating time - I didn't make this album alone. My longtime battery partner Rory Faciane contributed his always solid drumming on 5 tracks, recording remotely at his Drum Ninja studio in Mt. Juliet, TN. Brother Doug the Mug Swanson came over to the house to lay down some bass one day as we had a nice "socially distant" recording session/hang. He recommended his fellow Venice, CA, friend Mike Malone, who has played with former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford among others, to lay down some harp, and he added some badass playing to "Everybody's Takin." I put out the call for trumpet on Facebook, and multiple people recommended fellow Nashvillian Emmanuel Echem, who added just the soulful vibe I needed on "The Last Man." Finally, I reached out all the way to Australia to my new friend Grant Cummerford, who added a really nice melodic bassline to "A Stranger." Grant played on one of my favorite albums called "Dislocation Blues" by Australia's Jeff Lang and Chris Whitley. And the logo and artwork was done by my longtime friend from Knoxville, Jeremy Parker. So in a strange way I've done more collaboration on this album than any other that I've done.

A final note on this recording is that I have done all of the mixing and mastering myself. While I've always thought of myself as at least a decent mixer, who can make things "good enough" most of the time, for a release like this I'd normally hire a professional to bring it to the next level. But things being the way they are, I decided it wasn't really possible to sit next to an engineer for multiple days and hours at a time, and I didn't want to send it off to anyone and thus lose control over the process. So, for the first time in over a decade, I upgraded my computer recording set-up. Most of the album was recorded on a simple Zoom H6 personal recorder which is great for capturing live performances but not so great for editing. The edition of Pro Tools I've been using the past several years is very out of date and running on a 2002 Dell desktop that doesn't even have the internet. So I got a new laptop and the latest version of Pro Tools, which gave me access to a much greater degree of flexibility and options, especially with plug-ins. I also got a midi keyboard to experiment with adding different sounds to some of the tracks. This added over a month to the process but was so worth it. I've had so much fun learning more about mixing and experimenting that I didn't want to stop. But finally I had to reign myself in and let this be what it is. But I'm anxious to start the next one now...

So that's it. If you've read this far, you've probably already decided to buy the album. Or you're very, very bored. Either way, dig in...

Tennessee Troubadour. Playing a mix of America's best roots music, from blues & folk to classic rock & 90s grunge.

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