Big Sky Country -Recording for Marie Barnett

A few months ago, our friends John and Marie Barnett invited us to be a part of recording Marie’s new album for Vineyard Music. They’d be flying us and a few other friends up to Montana to make the record in their house. We were honored and excited to say the least, and thanks to our amazing family offering to take care of our babies, we were able to get away for a few days to that big sky country, God’s country.

John has always been my favorite songwriter. Can’t say enough about the guy. I learned his songs at the bible study and church I went to in my teens and got to know him a bit through a mutual friend. To me, John was the coolest. A hard-working family man who loved God and had a bunch of KILLER guitars! When I started to write my own songs, his were always the standard I measured them by. His new songs still continue to blow me away.

Of course Marie is a gifted singer, songwriter and worship leader in her own right. A great cook, with a heart of gold. The songs she’s penned for her new album revealed a new poetic depth in her writing. And the melodies just never let go of you. It runs in the family I guess, seeing that we would be recording great songs written by their kids, Jesse and Jennifer as well. Heritage indeed.

To everyone’s joy, “Skinny” Larry Schubert (whose nickname would later be challenged by Texan Bobby MacDonald) was coming along with us from the Central Coast to play some pedal steel guitar. To our surprise, our 8 hour journey to Missoula, Montana became a 2 day re-enactment of “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”. Just instead of trains we had buses, blizzards, scary plane landing attempts, buses, more airplanes, and a rental car across Montana. Thankfully Sarah was with us, on the phone for hours with the airline and rental car place, making sure we would get to the Barnett’s before the weekend. Larry and I would probably still be at the motel in Pueblo, Colorado if not for her.

It was killing us knowing all our friends were in Montana, 3 or 4 songs into the record, and we weren’t. But once we finally arrived in the winter wonderland of Missoula. We seemed to forget the trouble of getting there, and just took in the beauty of our destination. Snow gently fell on the whispering pines, covering rooftops and fence posts. Horses in their pens, sleepy smoke drifting up from the chimneys. Sarah just smiled. We don’t get this where we’re from, and my words don’t do it justice.

The pirates all welcomed us aboard with flannel hugs and plastic cups. What a crew this was. John Barnett would be playing acoustic guitars, driving his tractor, etc. Marie, of course would be singing, cooking, singing, cleaning, singing some more, and cooking even more. Jesse Barnett was the engineer, “recorder of sounds”, which is much more difficult than you’d think. He also wrote a couple of the tunes we’d be doing. Bob Hartry was the producer/guitarist. A sweetheart with an amazing ear, and the guy responsible for keeping the band focused. It would have been really easy to lose track of time laughing, eating and jamming with this group. The other Bobby, Bobby MacDonald, flew in from Texas to play bass. Bobby is an amazing bass player, but he’ll come at you like a spider monkey if you turn your back on him for a second. Rich Kamrath was there from L.A. to play organ and piano and sing some harmonies. He’d played on the last two records I’d been a part of, so having him there just felt like home. Montana wonderboy David Casey drove over from Helena to play piano, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, accordion, and to sing harmony. The wildcard. So gifted and such a humble soul. Love this guy. And lastly, Mark Folkrod, from my backyard, was there to play the drumkit, percussion and whatever else was needed. Mark is a dear brother whose playing takes any song up a notch, and his knowledge of 80’s metal is always sure to impress. He never lets you down. Rock solid style council.

Thanks to Mark Folkrod for all of these beautiful black and whites!

I guess you can tell a lot about a person by the people they gather around them. The music that this band was creating together definitely spoke of the quality of the Barnett’s character and the warmth and beauty of their songs. Ironically, the first song we eased into after arriving was “Jesus’ Name”, one I’d written that Marie had wanted to record. I was a little honored; just a little. With John on his Lowden 12-string and me capoed up on his Bourgeouis, we jingle-jangled our way through this song like driving with the windows down in the summer. Sunny sounds for such cold weather!

Next we banged through an older song of John’s called “He is Lord”, one of my favorites still. We’ve been singing this song for 10 years in our church. David Casey played a beautiful piano hook, and the boys on rhythm were chugging like a locomotive. Rick and Larry sprinkled some B-3 and steel on top for sweetness. Then it was time for bed.

I’ve always wanted to record like this. Holed up in a big cabin in the middle of nowhere, snow falling outside, dogs sleeping by the wood burning stove. Pot of coffee on all day. The smell of cookies in the oven. Drum kit, piano, organ, bass guitars spread all over the living room. Microphones and cables running to and from everywhere. Gorgeous guitars leaning against every wall. No clocks really. Whoever was awake would usually get the first go at the song. And the music was just so fitting to the environment. Warm, wooden songs, and sweet, sweet fellowship.

One of the highlights for me was all the singing we got to do. David, Rick, Sarah, Marie and I formed various mini-choirs to beef up the choruses on a few songs. Lots of great singers in this bunch. All of us singing close around one mike was just too much fun, especially so late at night! Mercy! It was beautiful watching my Sarah contribute harmony vocals to “Heaven Came Down” and “Jesus’ Name”. Her first time recording! It was hilarious trying to scream out a duet with Marie on “Call Upon Your Name;” my new favorite. And of course, Marie singing her heart out in spirit and truth sounded as lovely and desperate as ever. I guess you call it anointing or something, but when she starts singing you just FEEL God. You want to drop what you’re doing and just rest in His presence. Green pastures and quiet streams.

I felt this most on the last track we recorded, “Every Tear”. It was around 5:00am on the morning we all had to fly out. At this point there were just four of us awake and it was strangely quiet in the house. This was a song Marie had written a few years back for our precious friends P.J. and Monica Wahl, when they lost their son Mykel in a tragic accident. I sat down and gently strummed one of John’s acoustic guitars as Marie sang her song of hope, comfort and resurrection. Jesse and Bobby sat at the board with their eyes closed. We were all worshipping.

Even without much sleep, our three days in Montana just flew by. Next thing we knew we were hugging goodbye and wrestling back those tears. Could’ve stayed up there and kept recording songs forever. I can’t wait to hear the album when it’s done. Everybody played with such passion and poured so much of their heart into every song. You could hear it in the headphones, the monitor speakers, all the playback. I really think this batch of songs is going to bless, encourage and invite all who hear it into God’s presence. The whole process was a joy. Making the kind of music you love with your friends and family, worshipping Jesus surrounded by God’s majestic creation, eating delicious grub all day long….I mean, c’mon! That’s as good as it gets. Can’t wait to do it again.

A little video of the home recording studio.


Recording at the Barnetts from Cameron Ingalls on Vimeo.