Spending an evening with Chuck Johnson and his pedal steel guitar is a welcome respite from our over-scheduled, always-on age. The music drifts in open spaces, not hurried to any destination. Changes are subtle enough that you find yourself somewhere new without recalling how exactly you got there. It’s an overused metaphor surely, but in Chuck Johnson’s music the journey’s the thing.
Chuck’s recent set at Union Pool, opening for Suss, finds him mixing material from Balsams (one of them being “Calamus”) with some newer compositions—as with all his most recent work, boundaries are blurry. Midway through he introduces a loping percussive low end that orients the music without pushing too hard to get somewhere. The measured gait instead suggests an ever-present here—it’s a good place to spend some time.
For even more recent excursions from Chuck Johnson, check out his Bandcamp page for a few live recordings and even some music composed for PBS’s Food Town.
I recorded this from our usual location at Union Pool, room mics combined with a board feed from FOH Leslie Wolf. Thanks to her excellent mix and a quiet crowd, the sound is outstanding. Enjoy!
Download: [MP3/FLAC]
Chuck Johnson
2019-05-21
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY
Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com
Soundboard (engineer: Leslie Wolf) + MBHO KA200N/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (mixdown, limiter, normalize, fades) > xAct > FLAC (24/48, level 8)
Tracks [34:23]
01. Live at Union Pool 2019
Thanks so much for recording this Chuck Johnson show. Sounds great!!! Any chance you also recorded the Suss set?
Thanks again for all of the recordings over the years. Very much appreciated!
Chris
Chris, we did get Suss. Working on it. Hopefully soon. Thanks for listening!