Thom Sumbler and the Exceptions

So, I realize I've been remiss updating this blog, so I'm going to try to get better about that this summer.

We're back in Northern Michigan for the summer and starting to play gigs in the North Western MI area. I was in Elberta (Frankfort area) last Sunday afternoon at Mayfair and will likely be there again very soon. I'll let you folks know as we finalize the schedule. Mayfair is a really fun place (local bar restaurant with great food and a really wonderful, outdoor patio bar. It's off the beaten path (meaning downtown Frankfort) so it's reasonably quiet. The owners, Nick and Natalie are really committed to great food, great service and a fun experience for their customers. Keep an eye out here for dates and if you're in the area, please come by and say hello. Music generally starts at about 430 or so till maybe 7-730, depending on weather and other activities in the area. We'll be playing swing tunes on the patio and We'd love to see you.

Until then, thanks for checking in and keep an eye on this page. Sign the mailing list of you haven't already; we promise not to spam you' we'll just advise of gigs and any new developments.

Thanks everybody!

November 8, 2018

Well, the new record "There's One in Every Crowd" is officially completed, mixed, mastered and sent off for replication. I know, I know, this was supposed to be done in the Spring. Well, I learned yet again how much work there really is to making a record. You know, I've learned this before....how quickly we forget. We are looking now at a mid-late January release and we'll be sure to keep you posted. We are really happy with the results and I sincerely hope you will be too.

October 28, 2017 

We were in the studio all day yesterday and today, with another full day tomorrow. The guys have been just amazing to work with, they have played incredibly had and been so fun to work with. Here’s a little breakdown of how this all has broken down. 

Day 1, Friday 

We got the rhythm tracks down for 9 of the 11 tunes. (This has to be some kind of record!). Rhythm in this record is made up of Greg played bass (what an absolute master), Ernie on mando kind-of functions as the high-hat in a sense, I played rhythm guitar which in this project (essentially the snare), (there will be no actual drums on this record) and Kit on lead-guitar added come initial melody line and initial fills. I put a scratch vocal down so we had placement in the songs. This is necessary so we don’t all get lost (“hey wait, I thought that was the bridge…” “No, 2 A parts then the bridge, really, I thought there was an intro, the 1 A and the bridge?”…No, we went over this…….”) Without a scratch vocal, these little forays into annoyance happen a lot. 

By the end of the day, about 9 hours, 2 pounds of mixed nuts, a container of this evil, salty, spicy bar snack mix, and a couple of dozen cookies of my wife made for us (Karen, you are awesome!), we ended up with 9, very tight tracks that just swing like mad! 

Chris Daniels, as producer did an amazing job for us! He’s a true master, great teacher, a very patient guy and he just gets it on a level the rest of us only aspire to. This is a good time to call out to Evergroove Studio in Evergreen Colorado as well. Brad and Drew are the engineers, they really know their business and are making us feel very welcome….pure pleasure to work with and a beautiful setting. 

Day 2, Saturday 

The object this day was to get the lead guitar parts in place and a vocal on one track from a guest vocalist and long-time friend of mine, Dave Gandini. I asked Dave to sing a Sinatra tune we are doing because Dave just kind-of is Frank Sinatra. He’s a very talented and very funny guy that is just fun to be around. We got a great vocal track from him. 

And then there’s The Kid…. OK, there’s this kid. Jack Kuelling is 14 (really, a young man). His dad and mom are friends of mine and Jack started playing guitar a few years ago. I got a chance to play with Jack back in the Spring and I was just shocked at how talented this young man was. I decided then that I wanted him to play a track on this record. So, a few weeks ago, I sent him the rough of one tune and gave him a little instruction on what we wanted. Jack was in today to record his lead fills and a solo. The kid just hit the cover off the ball! His playing was just exceptional (for an adult, remember, he’s 14) and the bluesy soul just dripped from him. His demeanor was almost more impressive; he was having fun, but he was all business. He got right to the point, called out things he did that he didn’t like and went back to redo them. 30 minutes and we had great leads and fills. Awesome…. 

Kit Simon played most of the other guitar leads and fills on Saturday as well. He’s another real master. Great, great sound. 

Sunday is vocals, mando and violin fills. Should be another great day!

October 18th, 2017 

As you can probably imagine, the prep work that goes into a record is almost endless. First, I recorded “roughs”. This is where you just sit and play through the songs so that the band can assess the song-form, key, meter, and how much corralling of the lead guy (me) they will need to do. The roughs were, well…rough….very rough. We then created charts (thank you Kit),changed keys, threw out a couple of songs altogether and changed meter on a couple of others. 

We had the first actual rehearsal last week, it went exceptionally well. Chris Daniels (producer) was incredibly helpful and patient. This part is a humbling process. There were a couple of those “Well Thom…how about we rethink this a bit…” moments. But, that goes with the territory. Great musicians really are fun to work with. In moments, you can completely change direction, just by throwing in a different transitional chord, change of meter, maybe a key change in the bridge….or throwing out the whole damn song in a couple of cases. 

In the final analysis, find experts to help, listen to them, be flexible, check your damn ego at the door (note to self) and have fun! Good players are good for a reason. 

More to come next week! 

September 30, 2017 

There has been a lot of progress since I last updated you. Chris Daniels, of “Chris Daniels and The Kings” has signed on to produce the record! I’m so appreciative that Chris would take time out of his schedule to do this project for us. Chris has several records out, all of them are just fantastic. He did an amazing record several years ago called “Louis, Louis”. This is a collection of songs by Louis Jordan, Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima. This record swings, it’s just incredible! So, I called Chris and told him what we were planning, he offered to produce. 

So, here’s the roster: 

Producer – Chris Daniels (Chris Daniels and The Kings) 

Lead Guitar - Kit Simon (Olde Town Swing Band) 

Stand-up Bass – Greg Garrison (Leftover Salmon) 

Fiddle – Jay Genender () 

Mandolin and Dobro – Ernie Martinez (every other acoustic band in Colorado) 

I am so lucky to have guys as talented as these guys to work with; they just don’t come any better. 

We’ll have a couple of guest performances as well, but I’ll fill you in on those

OK so, there’s a whole lot going on. I’m really excited about this new record that we are scheduling for release in late Q1, 2018. It will be called “There’s One in Every Crowd” and it will be a collection of swing and jazz tunes done on bluegrass instruments, but in more of a jazz style. Yes, yes, I know that’s hard to imagine, but I can hear this really clearly in my head. The challenge here will be to get from my head to a finished CD…. that’s a really big leap. But, I’m lucky enough to have some really great players signed on to help. I’ll tell you more about them as we start working.

Meanwhile, we are finalizing song lists, starting arrangements, picking the specific instruments and all the dozens of other details that have to go into this. There are a whole lot of martinis going into this thought process! I just love this genre, sometimes, I feel like I was born in the wrong time period.

Keep checking back as we’ll be putting comments and pictures here as we go through the process.