One rainy day, just before the new year, my friend Ian Tuttle and I drove around Marin County, taking pictures. I should say: Ian took the pictures. I stood around. In the months that followed, Ian assembled twelve music videos, one for every song on the Exact Change album.
My collaboration with Ian kind of transcends any one discipline. We’ve played music together, we’ve done photo shoots, we’ve talked life, we’ve remembered teachers. Now, he’s made a pile of music videos and this is the first!
Happy New Year, kiddos! Today, I am releasing two tracks from the archives, that few have heard before.
Some of you have heard my album “Ancient Baby”, which came out in 2019. It was a long and winding road, getting to that final draft. Some of the songs on the album were recorded four times in four different studios! What you’re hearing here are the first versions of “Rock & Roll’s Callin'” and “Possibilities”, recorded in 2014 by the late, great Alex Laipenieks.
Alex was a brilliant analog purist, whose studio (Owl Sight Recorders, in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood) was a veritable time machine. Between oil paintings of Elvis and his collection of ancient furniture, there was a trove of analog recording equipment. A neglected old computer sat in the corner, only used when necessary to produce a digital “drop” of one of his mixes.
I worked with Alex for 12 sessions total, making my first renderings of the 13 songs that would become Ancient Baby. Alas, Alex and I fought like cats and dogs. Our visions were strong, and our personalities divergent. At one point, we fell out of touch, with Alex refusing to hand over the 2″ reels containing my tracks, so that I could bring them to another studio for completion. After a year or so, Alex reached out and said, “Come by and have a glass of wine. You can do whatever you want to do with these reels brother.” We mended our friendship, and I carried the reels from Alex’s Owl Sight Studio in Oakland out to Ethan Turner’s Owl Mountain Studio, in Inverness, Ca.
Ethan is both a friend and a mentor to me and we produced our own versions of all 13 songs on the album. However, we did decide to work with two of the tracks that Alex recorded at Owl Site, adding things where we saw fit and creating new mixes of “Wild Horses” and “Back to the Start”. If you are new to my music, then this story whole story is probably a bit much. Just know that these tracks were a vital step in the creation of the Ancient Baby album.
In early 2021, Alex passed away, after a 3 year-long battle with neuroendocrine cancer. He was a loving father, a totally unique recording engineer, and he made a mark on the Bay Area’s music scene. In addition to his work as a recording engineer, Alex was the original drummer of a great band called the Mr.T. Experience, and he interfaced with a great many musicians here in the Bay Area through his work as a live sound engineer at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill nightclub.
Lastly, I’d like to mention the album art, drawn in 2014 by Cameron Forsley. As a Google search will reveal, Cameron’s illustrations have proliferated the San Francisco literary, music, comic book and tattoo scenes. He’s a hard-working, original, humane and sometimes controversial artist who I admire greatly. This art was originally intended to be the front cover of the Ancient Baby album, and up to this point, has never been released to the public.
Thanks so much for reading and listening. Happy New Year, once again. May we look back with gratitude and go forward with purpose.
I always wanted to write a Christmas song. I chipped away at this one for a decade, and finally finished writing it during a trip to visit my brother in Kenya, a few years back. I was raised in Catholic churches and CCD classes, and had some of my first experiences of awe there. I hope this tune can also connect with folks who don’t have a Christian background, in that it’s about the preciousness and precariousness of family.
In other news, I’ve got two Bay Area shows happening this weekend:
Tonight, Friday Dec.1st in San Francisco Sharing a bill with old friend and stellar songwriter Matt Jaffe at the Bazaar Cafe. This totally un-amplified show starts at 7:00, and I will be playing “in the round” rotating mini sets with three songwriters. Love playing this way.
Tomorrow, Saturday Dec.2nd in Forest Knolls, the Sparkling Water Quartet returns to the Papermill Creek Saloon, in Forest Knolls. We are joined this time by Tony Owen, who will start the night around 9:00 with his soulful and singular songs.
Hope you enjoy this new song, wherever you are. And those of you who are in the SF Bay, I hope to see you this weekend!
Hot off the press! A new music video, directed by my longtime friend and collaborator Zac Jaffee last month, on Lexington Avenue in New York City.
I love Zac’s improvisational spirit. He is a great actor, writer, and experimental musician. I implore you to have a look at his work: https://www.zacjaffee.com
“Yours Truly, New York” is a bit of a love song, or maybe a longing song. It’s also a song about songs. If you enjoy the sound and feel of it, I invite you to peruse the “Exact Change” album, which is now live on your favorite music streaming service, whichever one it be.
Like all the songs on the album, this one was recorded & produced by Alex Rather-Taylor and Miles Wick. The mix was done by Ethan Turner & the mastering by John Greenham.
^ This link is a collection of all the sites where you can stream or buy the album.
I hope this music brings you a feeling of depth, peace, connectedness with yourself and maybe a couple laughs as well.
Thank you, as always, for your ears and your support.
Yours in music,
Chris
PS- You can also hear the whole album on youtube:
Album Credits:
Dedicated to Bruce Munson Recorded & Produced by Alex Rather-Taylor & Miles Wick Mixed by Ethan Turner Mastered by John Greenham Album Art & Design by Parker Richard Front Cover Photo by Tomas delToro-Diaz Written & Performed by Peck Copyright & Published by Chris Peck 2023 ASCAP Crying Music
Here’s “Tears Were Mine”, the third single from my new album, “Exact Change”:
It’s kind of a love lost & transcendence song, of the True Fiction sort. I hope you enjoy it.
If you are a Bay Area person, and you’re looking for something fun to do tonight, I’d like to invite to a little show in Fairfax, at Peri’s Tavern. I’ll be playing a solo electric set at 9pm, followed by Michael Michael Motorcycle and Milk for the Angry ~ two great bands full of friends.
If not tonight, I hope to see you all somewhere soon, in the world or online.
After a very sweet and communal release party last Thursday, my new album, “Exact Change” has hit the streets!
CDs and Digital Downloads, as well as free streaming, are all accessible on Bandcamp, my favorite place to discover music online:
Song by song, the album will appear on the major streaming sites over the next several months. But for now, it feels great to keep it between us, available directly from me via Bandcamp.
This is a solo performance album, but a potent and supportive team circled ’round and made this album possible:
Alex Rather-Taylor and Miles Wick produced and engineered the recording.
Ethan Turner mixed the album, with style and generosity.
John Greenham did a zen-like job at mastering.
Parker Richard designed the album art – wait ’til you see it!
Ian Tuttle Photography took a pile of inspired photos, to lend wallop and magic to the album release. The stop-motion you see here was shot and assembled by him!
Luke Westbrook was there to listen and offer ideas at every stage of the process.
My backers on Patreon were the first to hear all these tunes, and that circle of support made the album viable
The Sparkling Water Band gave many of these songs their first live public performances. I look forward to playing all these songs with you guys, and hearing what surprise you breathe into them every time.
It takes a village.
I look forward to hearing what you all think of “Exact Change”. Thank you, as always, for your ears and your support.
Yours in music,
Chris
Ps- Here are a couple moments from the release party last Thursday, 7/6 at Peri’s Tavern in Fairfax, photographed by the inimitable William Wayland.
My friends, we’ve made it. It’s summer, and it’s also time to release a new album, very soon!
This one’s called “Exact Change” – 12 new songs, performed solo and recorded live by my dear friends Alex Rather-Taylor and Miles Wick. “Exact Change” brings us to the end of the Ancient Baby trilogy, with a distilled collection of story songs dealing with a range of American themes: the postal service, making a living in music, dating online, weddings gone wrong and other situations that you might find familiar.
Pre-sales for the whole album went live today on Bandcamp. You can get the album as a digital download or as a CD (with album art designed by Parker Richard), and you’ll get immediate downloads for the two singles that have been released so far : https://peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com
If you’re in the SF Bay Area, I hope you’ll join us at the **album release party** on Thursday July 6th at Peri’s Tavern in Fairfax. I will start the night with a solo set at 9 PM, playing the new album in entirety. Then, I will be joined by the Sparkling Water Band and special guests for a groovy second set.
Today’s single release, “Truther Babe” is kind of a mischievous rom-com that hopes to mend some divides of our time, as a conspiracy-minded lady begins an online dialog with a New York Times-reading man.
I hope you enjoy this tune, and if the spirit moves you, I hope you’ll share it with some friends who might relate.
Song by song, the new album will hit the big streaming sites over the next 6 months, but for now it feels great to keep it between us.
Thank you, as always, for your ears and your support.
Here is the first single from the “Exact Change” album. It’s called “Young Inside”, and I hope it makes you feel that way:
“Exact Change” is a solo album, by which I mean it’s twelve new songs, recorded live and solo, with no overdubs. It was recorded and produced by my close friends Alex Rather-Taylor and Miles Wick, across three sessions in 2021 and 2022, in Sonoma CA and Elgin TX. These guys made me feel so at ease, and capable of doing new things in front of their microphones.
On a technical note, this album was recorded onto a DSD digital one bit recorder, through microphones that Alex hand-wired together out of kits that he bought from the Microphone Parts company in Sebastopol CA. The signal went through a Soundcraft 200b mixer, and then a DAV Audio preamp, and into the KORG DSD.
All of this to say, Alex and Miles and our fourth musketeer Luke Westbrook assembled a very hip recording rig, and I feel blessed that I got to work with such sensitive, musical, and tasteful collaborators on this album.
When it came time to mix, I called on my friend and mentor Ethan Turner, who put the music through his hand-built plate reverb, among other magic tricks at his studio, Owl Mountain.
To finish things, John Greenham mastered the album, with a light, zen-like touch.
I’m now figuring out what kind of hard copies I’m going to make of the album, and where to throw the release party in the fall. Stay tuned, as more news and music on this front will be coming soon.
Thank you, as always, for your ears and your support.
Hearing Is Feeling ep.3 is live! A great conversation with songwriter Sarah Rose Janko of Dawn Riding, filmed in New Orleans. We discussed her origins as a songwriter, her connection with New Orleans and the SF Bay Area, and her direction going forward.
This past November, Dawn Riding released a potent new album called “You’re Still Here”. Have a listen, I think you’ll dig.
Sharing a bill with old friend and stellar songwriter Matt Jaffe at the Bazaar Cafe. This totally un-amplified show starts at 7:00, and I will be playing “in the round” rotating mini sets with three songwriters. Love playing this way. 
Peck 