11. Tim BurgessOh No I Love You
Coming from a chart background he must have moved from his comfort zone to do this record, but I think its a massive triumph, its a really beautiful record. Using highly skilled Nashville musicians must have been daunting when you have worked with the same people for more than twenty years. When we gave our tracks to Timothy Wiles [FF mixer] we tidied the sessions up, I guess similar to cleaning you house before a cleaner comes to do it (not that I’ve ever had a cleaner!). I wonder how he prepared himself before jumping in the studio with regimental producer Mark Nevers. The session musicians go in there, do their bass parts or horn parts, once the hour was up, they’re out of there. I was playing a couple of shows in New York so flew over to Nashville to lend another pair of ears. That’s where I met Kurt Wagner, he was collaborating with Tim, writing the lyrics, two very different people coming from different walks of life it was interesting to see and hear. I imagine it was a gamble for both of them. Tim, to hand over the task of writing the lyrics for a whole album as much as it was for Kurt, writing lyrics and handing them over to someone else to put out in their own interpretation. Brave! I think again it’s seeing an artist in transition that excites me, there is more going on than just a sound, it’s living.Â