It’s always a good day when I get to visit the legendary Capitol Studios in Hollywood – the home of so many celebrated recordings.
My occasion to visit Capitol last week was to sit in on a session with She and Him. They have a new collection called Volume 3 and were recording a live session for Morning Becomes Eclectic which airs this Friday. In addition they are headlining our first World Festival show at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night.
When I sat down (right next to Nat Cole’s piano!) to talk with She (Zooey Deschanel) and Him (M. Ward) I wanted to hear about their writing and producing process. Zooey writes most of the songs and Matt plays on, produces, and arranges them. Matt talked about the freedom of that process in relation to writing and recording to his own albums. Zooey talked about her love of their collaboration. The two seem to be so different, yet so in sync.
Something I notice about Zooey’s choice of three covers on the album, to me, says something about their sound and the sound of the album as a whole. The covers are songs from the 50’s, 60’s, and 80’s and somehow they are presented in a way that’s truly timeless. Not easy, but done so well here.
On a personal note, seeing Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell will be a great thrill for me. I had the privilege of meeting Ms Harris once. I told her that my favorite song was “One Of These Days.” She said, “That was my mama’s favorite song.” I’ll never forget that and I’m really excited to see their collaborations come to life on Sunday night at the Bowl.
Find more info on the show and buy tickets here!