Aside from playing Advance Base shows, the form of musical expression I’ve most desperately missed during our current era of social isolation is singing karaoke. I have a great affection for the tiny communities that come together in any dive bar or pizzeria willing to invest in a modest PA & karaoke license, united by a common compulsion to earnestly sing their favorite pop songs in front of friends & strangers, accompanied by the artifice of prerecorded electronic instrumental arrangement. Wall of Tears & Other Songs I Didn’t Write is my ode to karaoke bars & karaoke singers. Consider it an album-length karaoke performance by me, Owen Ashworth.
The ten songs on this album were written by some of my very favorite songwriters, including a few I’m lucky enough to call friends. The original recordings of these songs have been constant companions in recent years, accompanying me on late night walks & aimless drives around Chicago & its suburbs. They have all made me cry at various points as I imagined how good it would feel to sing them at karaoke.
The instrumental arrangements were performed & recorded in my Oak Park, IL basement using electronic keyboards, samplers & drum machines with the single exception of the pedal steel solo on “Love at the Five & Dime,” which was performed & recorded by Xandy Chelmis from the Asheville, NC band Wednesday. Nicholas Krgovich sang & recorded the backing vocals for that same song, & the backing vocals on “Wall of Tears” were provided by Rebecca Clay Cole, two dear friends who share my love for these songs’ original recordings.
The guitar-like tones on “Wall of Tears,” “How Can You Live…,” “Solid Heart” & “Love at the Five & Dime” (other than Xandy’s pedal steel solo) were performed on a little Korg sampling keyboard loaded with single-note recordings I made by plucking the strings of an Oscar Schmidt autoharp, run through a chain of guitar effect pedals. I call this instrument an “Oscartron.” As much as I love guitar music, I have never been a guitar player, but I have come to love the sound of the Oscartron’s eerie approximation.
My sincere thanks to the recording artists who taught these songs to me: K.T. Oslin, Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, Wednesday, Iris DeMent, John Prine (times three), Dan Wriggins & Gia Margaret. Even more thanks to Matt Bachmann for lovingly mastering these recordings, & to Margaret Hitch for creating the fabulous cover art.
released September 13, 2021
All songs sung & played by Owen Ashworth
with:
Rebecca Clay Cole- backing vocals (1)
Nicholas Krgovich- backing vocals (3)
Xandy Chelmis- pedal steel guitar (3)
Recorded & mixed by Owen Ashworth
at Advance Basement, Oak Park, IL
with additional engineering by
Rebecca Clay Cole, Nicholas Krgovich & Xandy Chelmis
September 2019 - August 2021
Mastered by Matt Bachmann
Cover art by Margaret Hitch
www.margarethitch.com
“Wall of Tears” written by Richard Leigh & Peter McCann
Learned from K.T. Oslin's 1987 album 80's Ladies
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T1fNs3-bEw
“Sweet Old World” written by Lucinda Williams
Learned from Lucinda Williams' 1992 album Sweet Old World
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2f8DCPCdTE
“Love at the Five & Dime” written by Nanci Griffith
Learned from Nanci Griffith's 1986 album The Last of the True Believers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgGG61nQX0w
“How Can You Live if You Don't Love How Can You if You Do” written by Karly Matana Hartzman
Learned from Wednesday's 2021 album Twin Plagues
wednesdayband.bandcamp.com/album/twin-plagues-2
“Easy’s Gettin’ Harder Every Day” written by Iris DeMent
Learned from Iris DeMent's 1994 album My Life
irisdement.bandcamp.com/album/my-life
“One Red Rose” written by John Prine
Learned from John Prine's 1980 album Storm Windows
youtu.be/OVwSjFYEHns
“Unwed Fathers” written by John Prine
Learned from John Prine's 2010 album In Person & On Stage
johnprine.bandcamp.com/album/in-person-on-stage
“Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard” written by John Prine
Learned from John Prine's 1988 album John Prine Live
johnprine.bandcamp.com/album/john-prine-live
“Mr. Chill” written by Dan Wriggins
Learned from Dan Wriggins' 2021 EP Mr. Chill
danwriggins.bandcamp.com/album/mr-chill-2
“Solid Heart” written by Gia Margaret
Learned from Gia Margaret's 2021 single Solid Heart
giamargaret.bandcamp.com/track/solid-heart
Synthesizers, samplers & drum machines used on these recordings:
Behringer Model D (1, 2, 10)
Casio SK1 (10)
Korg EMX1 (1, 3, 9)
Korg ES1 (1, 2, 3, 8, 10)
Korg ESX1 (1, 3, 4)
Korg MS1 "Oscartron" (1, 3, 4, 10)
Moog Opus 3 (4, 10)
Nord Electro 3 (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10)
Suzuki Omnichord OM-27 (8, 10)
Yamaha Reface CS (1, 2, 5, 9, 10)
Yamaha SU10 (4, 9)