Photo by Kevin Yatarola

Mike Gordon and Page McConnell are currently working on new studio albums. The two musicians not only share a band in Phish, but also a collaborator in Jared Slomoff. He has been spending time with both artists helping to craft their efforts. Gordon’s disc is expected to hit in the early fall, while the street date for McConnell’s recording is still unknown.

Gordon offers some insight into his follow-up to The Green Sparrow in the forthcoming issue of Relix. Here is some insight into the disc that will not run in the piece: “My new band members play on a few – probably half of the tracks in different combinations. There were three of them that we recorded as a trio with me and Scott [Murawski] and Todd [Isler]. And then there’s sort of a smattering of other people – either where the original tracks came from in some cases, or where some overdubs were done in other cases. So we’ve got some more Doug Belote. I just had such a fruitful smattering of bass and drum jam sessions and one of those was with him. There are a couple Joe Russo ones and Jon Fishman plays on one track. And Marie [Claire] who was the keyboard and singer from my honkytonk band [Ramble Dove] – she was on one track on my last album [“Radar Blip”] and now she’s on three on this album, and one in particular is kind of like a duet between us.”

Gordon also adds, “This album is kind of bass-oriented. Not in that the bass is the lead, but that the rhythms and the patterns are bass centric. The uniqueness is centered on the bass. So the bass is the key instrument. On Inside In, the pedal steel is the key instrument and if you had to say it for Green Sparrow, maybe electric guitar. But this time it’s the bass.”

For a bit more on the project, check out our report on Relix.com.