My Favorite Albums of 2010

When 2009 ended, I did a blog post on my favorite albums of the year.  Though it is hard to believe, 2010 is coming to a close now, so it is time to present my favorite albums of the year (presented in order of release).

The Co – The Co

You may not be familiar with The Co, but you should be.  Laura and I have been very fortunate to be in a community group with The Co’s lead singer, Collin Brace, and his wife Katie.  They are amazing people, and both great musicians.  The Co had a show in Nashville a few weeks before Laura and I got married, so we decided to go support Collin.  As soon as the show was over, I went home and bought this CD on iTunes.  It is great songwriting, and just great pop-rock music.  The standout track is “Keep It Together,” though they are all great.  Be on the lookout for more new music from The Co as well.  They’re currently in the studio recording some of my favorite songs from their live show.

Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More

I admit, I was not a Mumford and Sons fan at first.  I heard the hype about them, so I went and listened to the song previews on iTunes.  Almost all of the songs on this album start out small and then pick up.  Unfortunately, all of the iTunes previews played only the small parts.  It seemed boring so I passed.  Then one day, our friend Nicole posted the music video for their song “Little Lion Man” on twitter.  I was sold immediately.  This album is one of the most beautiful albums I have ever heard.  The way it’s mixed, combined with the songs, the instrumentation, and the voices themselves are just hauntingly beautiful.  And to top it all off, several of the songs remind me of pirates.  What could be better?

Sandra McCracken – In Feast or Fallow

This is Sandra’s second year on my list.  Last year’s Live Under Lights and Wires was a live acoustic album of some of her greatest hits.  In Feast or Fallow is an album of new hymns written by McCracken and friends, or unknown treasures from hundreds of years ago.  The beautiful, Biblical truths, McCracken’s melodies, and Derek Webb’s production make an amazing combination.  This album is also very important to me because Laura and I used the title track as special music in our wedding.  We wanted to declare the words of the chorus “In the harvest feast or the fallow ground, my certain hope is in Jesus found” over our new marriage.  Now whenever I hear that song, I am reminded of that day.

Brooke Fraser – Flags

I purchased this album on the recommendation of many friends.  I needed some new music to listen to while traveling to and from the wedding, and on the honeymoon.  I made the right selection.  This album is full of catchy melodies, soul stirring stories, and other challenging lyrics.  The production is much more stripped down than what I know of her previous work, but it perfectly accents the songs.  The standout track (though it really is hard to pick just one) is a duet with Aqualung called “Who are we Fooling?”  It speaks from both sides of a marriage in peril, but with a biblical perspective on it, acknowledging that they are committed to each other for better or worse.  It may tear your heart out, but you have to hear this song and record.

Taylor Swift – Speak Now

If you had told me last year that a Taylor Swift album would be on my list this year, I would have slapped you in the face.  Ok, maybe not that extreme, but I would have been shocked.  Yet here we are.  When Swift first came on the scene, she drove me crazy, and I would change the radio station as soon as the first note of one of her songs played.  Yet slowly she has come around for me.  When the first single for this album, “Mine,” was released, I knew I was hooked.  Swift has truly become a brilliant songwriter.  So when this album was one of Amazon’s $3.99 deals of the day, I knew I had to buy it.  I have not been disappointed.  This really is just a great album.  Once again, it is hard to choose my favorite songs, but if I had to, they would be “Sparks Fly” and “Mean.”  If you have been anti-Taylor, it’s time to let go and go pick up this album.

So that’s my list.  Let me know what you think of my list, or what your list is.  I’d love to hear.

December Going Ons

While I would like to update at least once a week, at least it has only been 2 weeks instead of a few months. Fortunately, I can say that I have been up to some fun things that have been keeping me busy since I last blogged.

First, I got some new gear. East West was having a big Cyber Monday sale last week so I picked up their Symphonic Orchestra, Piano, and Symphonic Choir samples at an absolute steal. So excited to have some really nice samples to work with now.

This week I had my first visitor in my new music room. My good friend Stephen Rush came by to work on some Christmas music for a group he is in with his sister Rebekah. We were a bit pressed for time, so they aren’t be absolute best representation of my work, but they were fun and turned out well none the less.

I also worked on some programming on Dana Jorgensen’s new album. I offered to show him what I could do on one song, and he liked it, so now I get to do some more. Really excited about that.

And finally I started writing a song with Dana that might end up on the record. I say might because it’s not finished yet, so we don’t know if it’s good enough or not yet, but we’re excited none the less.

It’s been amazing to see how the Lord has provided work for me during a month that generally does not have many musical opportunities. I’m so thankful for them. I’ll post some of what I’ve been doing up here as soon as I can. Hopefully I will have more good things to share soon.

In the Studio, and Thanksgiving

This has been a busy, but great week.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in the studio laying down guitars for Dana Jorgensen’s new album.  It’s really exciting because it’s really the first time that I’ve been responsible for all of the lead guitar parts on an album.  The process has been a real stretch for me, and also very exciting.  I’ve loved seeing what guitar parts I can come up with to make the song into what Dana and Ryan (the producer) want.  I’ve learned a lot about my playing and some areas I need to grow, but I am still so proud of what has come out so far.

I was also really proud of my guitar gear.  The Divided by 13 recorded so well.  For most of the tracking we only used an SM57 on the cab and didn’t even use EQ.  It sounded great without any production help.  After years of searching, I really feel like I’ve found the perfect combination of guitar gear for me.

Dana isn’t done writing all of the songs for the album yet, so I have at least one more day in the studio as well.  I’ll keep updating this blog with info about when the album will be released and where you can purchase it.  Maybe I’ll even be able to get one of the songs up for you to listen to.

Thanksgiving has been great.  It’s my first holiday with my wife, and I’m incredibly thankful for her.  It’s been a fun time of friends, family, and food.  I hope everyone has had as amazing of a holiday as I have.  Blessings.

Come Around

This song has been a long time in the making.  I began writing it over a year ago, and it has taken many different forms since it first began.  My good friend Brett Rutledge help me finish it, and then we recorded it together at the end of this summer.

This is by far the piece that I am most proud of so far.  I think my songwriting, and programming/producing have come a long way, even since Love Guide the Fight.  I’m so excited to share it with you all.  It’s very pop/hip hop and I think it represents a lot of what I listen to and love.  Feel free to download it and listen as much as you like.  I hope you enjoy it!

Come Around
All Instrumentation by Craig McClellan
All Vocals by Brett Rutledge

Come Around by craigmcclellan

Show Videos: Jeffrey James Battle on 3rd

Back in October I got the opportunity to fill in on a couple shows for my Belmont friend Jeffrey James.  They were a part of the Battle on 3rd series at 3rd and Lindsley here in Nashville.  I played for both the prelims and semi-finals a week later, both of which we won and Jeff will be competing in the finals in January.

Since these performances were outside of my usual realm, I thought they would be fun to put up on this site.  I hope you enjoy.

First is a Cover of Hugo’s “99 Problems.”

And then a Jeffrey James original called “Goin’ Back Down.”

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Alive and Kicking

It appears that this site still has a little life left in it.

The past few months have been absolutely incredible.  I am in awe of how God has been working in my life to sanctify me and make me more like Christ.  There have been some difficult times, and some amazing times.  But I am thankful for them all.

First, I am now officially a married man.  On October 30, I was blessed to marry the best woman I know and I am thankful for how in just 2.5 short weeks, she is already having a profound impact on my relationship with Christ.

Secondly, God has brought me on a journey of looking deeply at how He has made me.  I have come to see my strengths and weaknesses like never before.  The next step was looking to see what He would want me to do in light of how I am made.  I have spent a few months examining, questioning, discussing, and really challenging my ideas of what my future might look like, even to the point of strongly considering leaving a career in music.  However, I have come out on the other side with a more firm grasp of how to use my musical abilities for the Glory of God, and I am hopeful and excited for the next few months.

Through these months, I had several incredibly opportunities, but was hesitant to share them on this blog because I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to maintain this site.  Now that it is decided, I wanted to share some of what has been going on.

First, I finished recording a song that I wrote with Brett Rutledge and will be posting that on this website in the next few days.  It’s my best homemade recording to date and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Secondly, I cowrote a song called “God I’m Coming” with the group Watersedge and Jeromy Deibler of FFH which will be appearing on Watersedge’s new album due out next year.  I am so proud to have been a part of it.  Jeromy is producing the record, and asked me to come to the studio the day they were cutting our song.  It was a surreal and incredibly exciting experience to watch some of Nashville’s best musicians recording a song that I wrote.  When the album release gets closer, I’ll post more information here.

Finally, this coming week, I will begin tracking guitars for Dana Jorgensen’s new album.  This will be my first experience of recording the guitars for an entire album and I could not be more excited.  I think the album is going to be fantastic, and I will post more info and some pictures from the studio next week.

To anyone who still checks this website or my facebook page regularly, thank you so much.  I look forward to sharing with you more frequently what God is doing in my life.

~Craig

Guitar Gear: Overdrive Pedals

I think it’s pretty safe to say that Overdrive is the primary component of electric guitar tone.  The overdriven sound defines what every other tonal element will sound like.  It is also arguably the component that has the most options to choose from.  From overdriven tube amps, to modeling solid state amps, to pedals, tone hunting can be a tedious process, and one that I have been involved in as long as I’ve been playing guitar.

I believe that for me, I have found the holy grail of overdrive setups.  I know that everyone has their own needs and preferences, so in no way do I think that everyone should use this.  I am simply posting this to share what I use and why.  Hopefully that will be of help to someone.

Many people ask me why I have a nice tube amp, but use pedals for my overdrive.  The answer is that I play with a Les Paul and need a good clean tone often.  I don’t like the sound of my guitars with the volume rolled off which is what you need to do to get both overdrive and clean straight from the amp.  So in order to have that nice clean sound and a nice overdriven tone, I need pedals.

Now, I do have a really nice tube amp, so I want my pedals to be as transparent as possible.  That’s why I have chosen the pictured pedals.  The Timmy by Paul Cochrane is the most transparent overdrive pedal I have ever played.  It sounds just like my amp played at a louder volume.  My Divided by 13 is a very open and uncompressed amp.  The Timmy, simply makes this louder which is great.  This allows the drive to cut through the mix really well, but not sound like a chainsaw.

I just got this pedal a few weeks ago and it has really made me feel like I have finally found the tone I have been chasing for years.  The best part is that it works well with all of my guitars.  It was so hard to find a pedal and amp combination that would work with all of my guitars (especially my Gretsch).  For the first time ever tonight, I played an entire set with my Gretsch and felt comfortable with it on every song.  I use this on 75% of the songs I play now.  It was also only $125, which as far as hand made pedals go, is incredibly cheap.  I highly recommend it.

The other pedal is by a company called Nobels.  It’s their ODR-1 overdrive.  I had never heard of Nobels before I bought this pedal, and still don’t know much about them.  I just know that this pedal was only $56 and sounds absolutely amazing.  It’s a far more compressed overdrive than the Timmy which gives a bit more sustain and thicker sound.  It compliments the Timmy really well, and also works with my guitars incredibly well (especially the Les Paul).

There are a few other drive-like pedals on my board.  I do use a fuzz and distortion pedal as well.  Maybe I’ll do a post about them in the future.

I hope this was interesting and beneficial to someone.  Keep on the lookout for some videos from me about gear and playing over the next few weeks.  Ryan, Carl, and I are already discussing the content and will be shooting sometime in the next week or two.