Local Boy Does Good (w/Ann Wilson on Kimmel)

[Joe Muscara]

See Ann Wilsons Swaggering You Dont Own Me on Kimmel

 

Wilson replaced all that sweetness with something nasty and ominous. Her electric guitarist opened the song with a gnarled solo, and the keyboardist played haunted-house riffs. Wilson sang the defiant hook with ragged force, as if it came with a thinly veiled or else.

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Egq2NEHf-8

 

For those that don't know, that's our own mynameisdanno on keys tearing it up. He's nice and prominent in the mix, and while there aren't any close ups, the director didn't lose him, either.

 

 

[MAJUSCULE]

Wow, what a performance from all involved! Congrats to Danno, is he a regular member of the band? I had no idea! Nice rig, too. Would love to hear a longer set!

[stoken6]

Is that a real theremin at 1:14? Pitch mod on a knob/ribbon/pedal? Some skilful use of portamento?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[davinwv]

I met Dan when my wife and I were on our second Cayamo Americana signer/songwriter cruise a few years ago. He was playing keys with John Fullbright (who you should check out if you haven't). There are never many keyboardists on the boat, so Dan and struck up a bit of a friendship talking Hammonds and accordions (he has a custom Petosa accordion that is unreal!). He is an excellent (and tasteful) player and a really nice guy!

[Michael Wright]

Very hip!!

[Doerfler]

mynameisdanno on keys tearing it up.

 

[mynameisdanno]

Is that a real theremin at 1:14? Pitch mod on a knob/ribbon/pedal? Some skilful use of portamento?

None of the above! I have a short-time, high-feedback delay (right on the edge of self-oscillating) going on the organ, on a portion of the top board only. For that last bar of 5 before the "gap", I switch my organ hand from the lower manual (where it's just a regular low-feedback slapback delay) to the upper, so the delay has a few seconds to get good and stacked up with that chord, and then during the gap I mess with the rate knob to get that dive bomb. The resulting effect is a little different every night.

 

 

 

Wow, what a performance from all involved! Congrats to Danno, is he a regular member of the band? I had no idea! Nice rig, too. Would love to hear a longer set!

Thanks! I got the call early last year and have been in her touring band since then, and also got to play the bulk of the keys on the new album. It's been a lot of fun! There are a couple of full-length shows available on Youtube, both from last year.

 

The Nord Stage 2 / CP300 combo has been my go-to rig for many years. The rest of the rig was a definite splurge, but I knew Ann has always loved a Mellotron (she's always been a big Moody Blues fan, and Mellotrons were a regular part of the keyboard rigs in early Heart too), and it gets used a lot. In fact it's supposed to be on this tune too, for strings on the choruses, but I guess those channels didn't make the cut in the broadcast mix for some reason. House guys handle the broadcast mix on Kimmel. Oh well, at least ALL the keys weren't muted!

 

And when you have that big flat top on the M4000D, it would just be foolish not to put an OB-6 on it. Especially when you have backline techs to set it all up and local labor to move it all in and out of the truck, for once in your life.

 

For the curious, all the organ sounds (mostly the Nord's Hammond engine, but occasionally Vox or Farfisa as on this tune) are run through a Tall & Fat and a Mini-Vent with the Ashby Mini-Remote mod (I've been stockpiling them since he can't make them anymore). The Mellotron goes through an Eventide H9 for fun trippy delays and reverbs, and the OB-6 goes through a Boss SL-20 which I have sync'd up to MIDI clock to give me a nice non-clicky square wave amp LFO when we cover "Won't Get Fooled Again."

 

All the keys signal chains then run through a Radial Space Heater in the rack, then I use four Radial JDI's in merge mode to merge the piano/organ down to a single pair and the Mellotron/OB-6 down to another pair. That way the audio dept can have a little more control when they need it while still keeping the channel count reasonable. I use the Space Heater's headphone output to send the whole mess to the CP300's built-in speakers, just to move a tiny bit of air on stage, feel it vibrating under my hands as I play, and so I won't be flying totally blind if my in-ears go down.

 

In addition to MIDI going from CP300 to Nord and from Nord to OB-6, I'm also using a E-RM Multiclock to generate good solid MIDI clock from the drummer's click track setup, and distribute it to the SL-20, the OB-6, and the Nord, with realtime-tweakable offsets for each, and some MIDI Solutions mergers as needed.

 

It's a lot to hook up (the crew calls it "The Spaceship") but it's all dialed in and working great, and I can give Ann just about anything she wants in short order. With just one guitarist in the band, I have a lot of space to fill and a lot of freedom in how I do it, and I'm having a blast!

 

 

 

 

[mynameisdanno]

I met Dan when my wife and I were on our second Cayamo Americana signer/songwriter cruise a few years ago. He was playing keys with John Fullbright (who you should check out if you haven't). There are never many keyboardists on the boat, so Dan and struck up a bit of a friendship talking Hammonds and accordions (he has a custom Petosa accordion that is unreal!). He is an excellent (and tasteful) player and a really nice guy!

 

Hey Davin! Didn't know you were on here! Cheers buddy.

[MathOfInsects]

Yeah man! The talent on this board never ceases to amaze me.

[stoken6]

I have a short-time, high-feedback delay (right on the edge of self-oscillating) going on the organ, on a portion of the top board only. For that last bar of 5 before the "gap", I switch my organ hand from the lower manual (where it's just a regular low-feedback slapback delay) to the upper, so the delay has a few seconds to get good and stacked up with that chord, and then during the gap I mess with the rate knob to get that dive bomb. The resulting effect is a little different every night.

 

Got it. I actually do something very similar in my rig, where I map aftertouch or expression to delay rate, and make those kinds of noises. It does sound very familiar now you explain it.

 

Great performance, btw

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Adan]

What a great tune. Typically when I click on new material from an aging rock star, I'm already in cringe mode. But based on that video I'd say she's still sounding great and writing great songs.

 

Reading danno's description of his rig is kind of intimidating to be honest. If that's how most pro's are wiring up these days, it's way out of my league technically. I'll just slink down to my man cave and pound on my Crumars for therapy.

[mynameisdanno]

Reading danno's description of his rig is kind of intimidating to be honest. If that's how most pro's are wiring up these days, it's way out of my league technically. I'll just slink down to my man cave and pound on my Crumars for therapy.

 

Nah, I'm basically brand new to touring at this level (never stepped on a bus before two years ago), but most of the bands I see are using standard issue stuff and plugging straight in to a DI; wanting an overly complicated rig like this would be more of a strike against you in most touring bands! If we ever shift to doing less truck-and-bus touring and more fly dates with rented gear in every town, I'll definitely have to rethink and simplify things.

 

I could probably get most of the same results with careful programming if I was willing to go Mainstage, but relying on laptops for live use still gives me the heebie jeebies.

[B3bluesman59]

Adan said: What a great tune. Typically when I click on new material from an aging rock star, I'm already in cringe mode. But based on that video I'd say she's still sounding great and writing great songs.

______________________________________________________________________

Ann did not write the song....it was originally a hit back in 1963 done by Lesley Gore and produced by Quincy Jones. Ann still has the voice...love to hear her do a blues album.

[mynameisdanno]

Adan said: What a great tune. Typically when I click on new material from an aging rock star, I'm already in cringe mode. But based on that video I'd say she's still sounding great and writing great songs.

_________________________________________________________

Ann did not write the song....it was originally a hit back in 1963 done by Lesley Gore and produced by Quincy Jones. Ann still has the voice...love to hear her do a blues album.

 

Yup, this whole new album Immortal is covers of writers and/or singers that have passed on, mostly in the last few years (there were a couple of longer-ago exceptions).

 

And Id love to hear her do a blues album too! Shes fantastic in that mode. We closed out most shows last year with Ray Charles Danger Zone. The cover of Tom Pettys Luna on the new album gives an idea too. Warren Haynes guesting on guitar, along with Tim Pierce on electric and our Craig Bartock on acoustic, and Im playing my bluesiest accordion licks.

[zephonic]

Oh good, cos I recognized this schmaltzy Dutch 1970s tune and wondered how that had found its way to Ann Wilson:

 

 

[video:youtube]zJDyEWAebgM

 

 

But congrats on the gig, Danno!

[Adan]

Adan said: What a great tune. Typically when I click on new material from an aging rock star, I'm already in cringe mode. But based on that video I'd say she's still sounding great and writing great songs.

______________________________________________________________________

Ann did not write the song....it was originally a hit back in 1963 done by Lesley Gore and produced by Quincy Jones. Ann still has the voice...love to hear her do a blues album.

 

D'oh!

 

Well I can still compliment her voice, which in it's current state suits this material very well. Yeah, would love to hear her do a blues album much like Cindy Lauper did.

[Dr Nursers]

Just watched this now - great work and congrats on the brilliant gig!

[RudyS]

Oh good, cos I recognized this schmaltzy Dutch 1970s tune and wondered how that had found its way to Ann Wilson:

 

 

[video:youtube]zJDyEWAebgM

 

 

But congrats on the gig, Danno!

 

Haha Menno, I had the same!

 

Cool performance Danno and the rest! Love your rig and the explanation!

[Al Quinn]

Congrats! Great gig, great rig, great playing! Thanks for sharing details.

 

Ive been an Ann Wilson fan for years. Saw her with Heart a few years ago. One of the best singers ever IMHO.

[Joe Muscara]

I caught Danno and the band last year when they came through town (thanks, Dan!) and it was a killer show. Ann still has it, and she's put together a top-shelf band. Like he mentioned, check out the YT videos that are professionally done and full-concert length to get an idea of what she's up to.

 

When he shared this link on FB, I had to post it here. I knew you guys would dig it. I'm also glad he's shared his rig details. I didn't get to catch up with him at that show, but I know the rig would have been way over my head.

[Doerfler]

Ive been an Ann Wilson fan for years. One of the best singers ever IMHO.

 

I've been a huge fan since summer 1976. I saw her (famous) band every time they would come through town in the late 70's. Whe she sang, the hairs on my arm would stand up. Certainly one of the best Rock and Roll singers, male or female.

[GovernorSilver]

Nice playing by Danno!

 

I've been a fan of Ann Wilson's singing since I heard "Barracuda" (or was it "Magic Man"?) for the first time as a little kid.

[Doerfler]

Nice playing by Danno!

 

I've been a fan of Ann Wilson's singing since I heard "Barracuda" (or was it "Magic Man"?) for the first time as a little kid.

 

"Crazy On You" and "Magic Man" were released in 1976. "Barracuda" was released in 1977. Obviously I don't know which song you first heard as a little kid.