Deep in the Desert of Song

Hello. You’ve reached Time & Temperature.

The 97’s are in Sonic Ranch Recording Studios in Tornillo, Texas outside El Paso. I can walk to the border from here, a trek through acres of pecan trees culminating in a big weird wall. Mostly I’m holed up in an old adobe building, either strumming, singing, or listening. The vibes are incredible and you’ll have to trust me when I say that this will prove to be not only our best record yet, but perhaps the greatest album ever recorded in the history of rock and roll.

You have to think like that when you’re making a record. People often ask which of my songs is my favorite, and I’m not joking when I answer, “the newest one.” It’s all about right now. What fun art can I make right now? What complicated human moment can I probe right now? God, I love right now.

I brought over two dozen songs into the band for this album. That’s after Murry and I had reduced the stack from almost twice that number. We are down to twelve. The prevailing musical sentiment of that triumphant dozen is straight-up rock and fucking roll. A few more relaxed numbers have found their way in, but the album’s defining moments are big, loud and fun. You know us though—darkness lurks behind every ray of sunshine.

I can’t share much because I don’t wanna spoil the fun we’ll have when it eventually drops in its ultimate finished form, but I will say that there are some serious bangers on this album. We still aren’t going softly into that goodnight. You’d think a band who’d just won a Lifetime Achievement Award would be happy to put their feet up a little, but nah, not this band.

Ken is currently stacking up guitars. He’s killing it. My guitars are wrapped. Here’s a peek at what my guitar world looked like. You’ll see my #1 workhouse Gibson J200, my primary guitar, as well as a few belonging to the folks at Sonic Ranch. Enjoy.