Did
you notice, this Hank Williams project is going to be released on
vinyl? Why? Because it sounds so much better than digital. Digital
may be easier, lighter, even cheaper (depending on who owns what), but
vinyl sounds better. It’s warmer, more pleasant to listen to, there is
no indescribable ‘hiss’ like digital has, even though they hide,
disguise, and immerse it. In Iowa City, there’s a small studio called
Flat Back. The owner is a young guy, Luke Tweedy, who recorded some 50
different local bands, some who couldn’t even get the sessions out on
record, because of lack of funds, or whatever. To help get some of this
original music out to the public (much of it rock, but some is terrific
Americana, and even traditional country) Flat Back is releasing a
“Comp” (I’m assuming that might mean compilation 12-inch vinyl disc for
Saturday’s Record Store Day). That was yesterday. I couldn’t believe
the lines waiting to get into record stores in Omaha and Des Moines, to
guess what…BUY VINYL DISCS. This particular project features 11
different tracks including some Iowa City bands like “Liberty Leg and
Hugh Lewis” and even one track by Flat Back co-owner William Elliott
Whitmore and Jenny Hoyston of the San Francisco punk band Erase Errata.
By the way, I still have some vinyl’s of the six projects I recorded
for Moses Asch, now owned by the Smithsonian Institution.
Bob Everhart for Country Music News International