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MEGADETH TEE

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Our first record MEGADETH TEE was released July 15, 2022, but took nearly four years to write, re-write, record, and promote. It was inspired by the words and story of our dear friend, poet Johnny Allen.

IS IT NOT COOL?

MEGADETH TEE at a 2019 band practice.

LYRICS

1. The Dirt Road
2. The Slow Death of Lung Cancer
3. Sending Out A Dove
4. I've Got Your Blood
5. I'm Glad You Got Out (But I Miss You)
6. Rushing Lattice
7. No Kind of God
8. MEGADETH TEE
9. To Feel So Small (Hello Me, It's Me Again)

Johnny Allen wrote the poetry and prose that make up the majority of the lyrics and story of the record. I added to and subtracted from this material during the songwriting process where inspiration or melody dictated. The original work is beautiful and you can find it along with the adapted lyrics as they were sung by clicking on any of the song titles above. David Mohr contributed the lyrics for the song Rushing Lattice and I wrote the entirety of I've Got Your Blood.


Jarod Keel filmed this live version of Rushing Lattice, which is different from the studio version. This one was recorded by Zach at Dream Cabin Sounds, and mixed by Matt Thomson at Ivy League Recording in Portland, Oregon.

MUSIC

PERFORMED BY

Ashley Maiden: Bass Guitar, Vocals
Evan Bailey: Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion
Jacob Bradford: Guitar
Zach Peach: Drums, Percussion

FEATURING

Rachael McElhiney: Vocals
Graham Farrow: Vocals
Farrow and the Peach Leaves: Handclaps

Zach and I arranged the majority of the songs as a two piece. This happened over the course of about a year or so, and since the band at its inception had no older material to rely on we basically had to play the new songs live, which led to a lot of revision as we figured out what was working well, and what needed to be tighter. We worked a lot on song structure and some of the early material went through a fair amount of restructuring. We made a lot of demos around this time as well.

RECORDED BY

Jack Shirley at The Atomic Garden in Oakland
Patrick Hills at Earthtone Studios arranged
Zach Peach at Dream Cabin Sounds
Jacob Bradford at The Birchville Cat Motel

In the fall of 2019 we recorded a demo with Tim Green at Louder Studios consisting of Megadeth Tee and To Feel So Small. I think the demo versions have a lot of rawness and energy, and in some ways I like them a little more than the album versions.


Our plan was to go back in the studio to make a full length in early 2020, but COVID happened, and we ended up recording basic tracks in November with Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden East. Some vocals, guitars, bass, and drums were recorded live as a band. I completed lead vocals with Jack in December, and shortly after met up with Patrick Hills at Earthtone Studios, where we did Rachael and Ashley's vocals. We recorded additional guitars, Rhodes, auxiliary percussion, and Graham Farrow's vocals at Dream Cabin Sounds. Final tracking was done at Jacob's studio, including synths, keyboards, and more guitar. Jack and I mixed the album back at Atomic Garden East in July of 2021.



ART

Justin Butler is an incredibly talented graphic artist, and one of my oldest friends. Justin did a mock of my first idea, but also came up with a second direction for the art, using Cyanotype, which is a very old printing process, using specialized paper that produces a negative of the subject matter. We decided on the cyanotype concept, which ended up being the best match for the mood and subject matter of the record.

FINAL CONCEPT

MEGADETHTEECOVER

INITIAL CONCEPTS

MEGADETHTEE1

MEGADETHTEE2

MEGADETHTEE3

Thank you for reading and thank you for listening! _Evan

The second of the Jarod Keel Live at Dream Cabin Sounds videos.