From: owner-st-digest@smoe.org (st-digest) To: st-digest@smoe.org Subject: st-digest V2 #11 Reply-To: st@smoe.org Sender: owner-st-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-st-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk st-digest Saturday, December 20 1997 Volume 02 : Number 011 Today's Subjects: ----------------- S,T! article [Heather Myers ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 16:25:22 From: Heather Myers Subject: S,T! article The Patriot-News -- Weekend Section Harrisburg, PA Friday, December 19, 1997 Details: Music Lover's Fest II at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster Tuesday features Suddenly, Tammy!, Cherry Twister and Charming Hostess. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. The cover is $5 for this all ages/21 and over show. For more information call (717) 299-9684. Suddenly, Tammy! Looking Ahead to Chameleon Show by Barry Fox (of the Patriot-News) It's been two years since the last Suddenly, Tammy! album and the story behind the next one from the Lancaster trio could be an episode for "This Old House." Using "The ChurchBox" studio in Columbia -- owned by drummer Jay Sorrentino and bassist Ken Heitmueller -- to record their second album for Warner Bros. Records, the band ran into some unusual delays. "It took a little longer then we originally intended," said vocalist/pianist Beth Sorrentino from her mother's house in Lancaster. "we ran into some problems other bands don't have. Like sound proofing the church, we had to build shutters for all the windows, and build a booth for the [sound] board." The studio was originally in Heitmueller's basement and dubbed "The CatBox" because of the nine felines in residence. It has since been moved, and expanded, to an old gothic-looking church on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Once construction and recording was completed the album was first mixed at a studio in Hartford, Conn. but was not to everyone's liking. A second mixing session was done in Los Angeles with producer Jim Scott, who has worked with Tom Petty among others. That, apparently, was the right mix. The Los Angeles trip "was a really good experience," Beth Sorrentino said. "It was worth the wait." Now the Sorrentino siblings and Heitmueller are putting the finishing touches on the still untitled disc, set for release in late spring or early summer. Beth Sorrentino described the new collection of songs as "very sparse as far as orchestration and over-dubs. It comes across as very organic and clear. It's a good blend of simple piano and vocal songs, poppy songs and more complicated band songs." She also revealed that some additional keyboards and horns were added to the usual piano, bass, drum Suddenly, Tammmy! mix. After a series of self-produced and indie label successes, Suddenly, Tammy! chose to sign on with Warner Bros. four years ago because of its "tradition of artistic freedom," Beth Sorrentino said at the time. That tradition has continued through their first W.B. release "We Get There When We Do" and their current work. The choice of studio and the mixing makeover were essentially in the band's hands, Beth Sorrentino said. Pressure from label honchos about where the work was done, album content or the speed of the project was not a factor, she said. Following their own creative path has been standard procedure since the Hempfield High School grads formed Suddenly, Tammy! in 1989. Two years later the trio produced its own four-song EP "Spokesmodel" in the then four-track "CatBox" studio, hand coloring the cassette covers and delivering them to area stores. A second EP "El Presidente" was produced by the Boston-based team of Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie, whose previous clients included Hole and Dinosaur Jr. The band's first full-length album, "Suddenly, Tammy!," was done under the auspices of New York indie label "spinArt," home to Lotion and The Dambuilders. At the same time "The CatBox" had grown to a full-fledged studio and recording site for Velocity Girl, Tsunami and Lilys. By mid-1993 Suddenly, Tammy! was a secret no more -- radio play on stations throughout the Northeast led to a national tour opening for The London Suede, a slew of media coverage including MTV News and eventually that Warner Bros. deal. Beth Sorrentino said she and her partners are looking forward to the Chameleon show because of the anticipated big holiday crowd of familiar faces and the rare chance to play live. "We haven't had a lot of time to do a lot of shows in a row," she said. "We've been so engrossed in the record process... We plan to go out in the spring and do some colleges, that's where our audience is a lot of the time." If this new album continues the upward mobility of Suddenly, Tammy! colleges will be just a part of their audience and "The ChurchBox" could be looking at another face-lift. ------------------------------ End of st-digest V2 #11 ***********************