“On Being” Available Now!
It’s been a long time coming, but our record is now available to everyone. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to have this project done.
I first met my guitar player, Ryan, at a really awkward show that we played at a bowling alley. I opened for his band at the time and we randomly chatted about playing some tunes together. You know, the whole “Like, man, we should, like, JAM together sometime.” As any musician knows, these conversations rarely lead to anything proactive. Next thing I knew, I had him playing my reed accordion and banjo (which he was instantly able to play, despite having never previously touched a banjo). It was the first time we jammed that “Devil, don’t steal my bicycle” came to be.
A few months later (New Years Eve), in a hotel room while getting ready to play Mittenfest, Kevin (Bass) and Rick (Drums) offered their services to me. We hammered out a 5 song set in a few hours, thus the Rainbow Seekers were born. The name is derived from one of our favorite jazz records, “Rainbow Seeker” by Joe Sample.
The decision to record an album came in the coming months. About %40 of it took place in the nastiest basement next to El Oasis in Lansing, MI. The furnace would blare at the most inopportune times and a mystery fungi caused mild hallucinations, but we prevailed and eventually moved Kevin’s studio to a much more comfortable location. The whole recording process never really felt like work and was an immensely collaborative effort. Ideas were constantly flowing, but everyone had their space - and we trusted each other very much as musicians. I cannot tell you how many times one of my band mates would come up with something that completely took me off guard - in that “Wow, I would have never of thought of that…” kind of way. We started off as acquaintances and now we’re almost sleeping together. I’m cool with that. We recently added Shawn to the line-up. He’s our aux guy (he hates being called aux, so make sure to call him your aux friend when you see him). He played in the Lansing band, Loune, with Rick and Kevin prior to the rainbow seekers. He my our best aux friend. Aux, Aux, Aux.
“On Being” is a concept record and every song is there for a reason. It deals with existence and what it means to be human - I sincerely hope you enjoy it. That being said, there are so many people I would like to thank, but I’m going to dedicate another post to that. For the time being, I just want you to listen to the record. Oh, and share it with a friend!!!
Yours,
forever,
joseph michael hertler
Posted 6 months ago
