THANKS | Kyle Kerley

I met Kyle Kerley at the Kafe Kerouac open mic. Kyle is very important to me. Kyle is very important to a lot of people. Kyle is the best communicator I know. He will tell you what he’s feeling, maybe why he’s feeling it, and what he intends to do about it. But only after he ask you. He’s got a way of cutting through all of the noise and getting to the core of why you’re both talking in the first place. He’s plugged in, he’s empathetic, and he’s tremendously loving.
Kyle is a nurse, and a songwriter, and a flugelhorn player on the record. He’s also an arranger, and worked closely with Dan Seibert to make sense of all of my first arrangement ideas. He decided what worked, what didn’t, and what to do about it.
I hold Kyle in high regard. Recently I was writing down the names of people who I knew that I could call any time. Kyle is at the top of that list.
Looking forward to seeing you more often, watching a movie, and being surprised that you still play Pokemon Go.

THANKS | Corbin Pratt

I got a message out of the blue from a stranger on Facebook one day, asking if I needed pedal steel on any tracks. Of course, he was in the basement within a few weeks, sitting in on a practice, blowing our minds. He claims that he decided to learn to play steel after a breakup. If only we all were so productive.
Corbin’s a jack of all trades, but like a master of all trades. He’s played bass for us in a pinch and dished out the perfect pedals for a song, happily letting me borrow them for weeks on end. He’s a very kind and honest fella, excited by songs and excited to play. If you’re making a record, he’s the guy to fill in all of the nooks and crannies you didn’t know needed something.
The record wouldn’t sound near the same without his takes, which he laid down in all of two hours.
Thanks for the help and the happiness. And for lugging around the steel. Congrats on the new marriage; many years of happiness to you both.

THANKS | Erin Mason

Erin was the second person who joined in on Hello Emerson songs after meeting at a Kafe Kerouac open mic run by Jason Dutton. I saw her sing with Oliver Oak a bunch of times after that, and I haven’t sang with someone who has such a knack for feeling out a harmony so quickly and effortlessly.
She learned all of the words to an eight minute song in a few days. She sang beautifully on a couch with Jack and I when we did a session with On the Couch. Her voice is now on about half of the songs on this album.
On the last track, Erin and I crouched around a ribbon mic in Oranjudio, strumming and singing the tiniest song on the record, laughing along the way. It was early in the morning after a long night of tracking, and she was nearly late to work. Maybe she was. I just remember the speedy drive I took to drop her off, within a few minutes of the start of her shift.
Many thanks to Erin for the time she put into all of her parts, and the special occasions where we get to sing together. Be on the lookout for her first solo release sometime soon.

THANKS | Daniel Seibert

I met Dan during my first year of school at Ohio State. We lived in Baker Hall West together, but I didn’t meet him until a Tune-Yards show at the Newport. He was with a group of pals, putting paint on each other’s faces. I, a stranger, was invited to join in on the fun.
Dan is one of the most talented musicians I know. Dan’s also one of the best people I know. He’s diligent and hardworking, and pushes me where I need to be pushed. He’s a great arranger, and took my attempts at string parts and made them make sense. He always asks if there’s more that he can do, and he calms me down when I need to calm down.
Nothing would sound the way that it does without Dan. Since starting to play in Hello Em, he’s joined a slew of other Columbus bands. And he seems to always steal the show in whatever he’s a part of. Thanks for everything, Dan.

THANKS | Annelise Powers

I’ve known Anna the longest of anyone who helped out with the record. She’s my older sister by three years. So, I’ve know her all my life. Sibling powers, activate, and all that.
We didn’t get along terribly well when we lived together. Even when we did, I never really understood her. We’re very different. I tend to find a safe place and hide in it. She tends to see places that should be safe and venture to change them, come what may.
I got a phone call when I was in my freshman year of college at Belmont University. I walked out of my dorm at Pembroke Hall and paced the hallway as she told me that a child was on the way. I was scared and I was excited. And now I’m an uncle. And Anna’s become one of the most wonderful mothers. I’m excited for her life as she makes it, and of course I’m ready to continue becoming the uncle I think I’ve always wanted to be.
Thanks for your patience. Thanks for your digital design savvy. Thanks for your daughter, who’s made the family feel more whole that I though we could feel.

THANKS | Matt Ciani

DAMN so Matt is Tori’s pal. He lives in Chicago now, and makes some rad music of his own that Kyle showed me (whoa Kyle is also friends with him).
He worked with us remotely to master the record, and was kind and courteous when we had to remix some parts and send them back. He was a great value with great values (he even offered his services to us in exchange for a donation to a dope nonprofit whose funding could take a hit under the new administration). Our little record got all sparkly after it when through his magic machines.
I’m still not sure how he did whatever he did, but everything sounds just a little bit more special. And I gather that’s how that’s supposed to work.
Best of luck with next projects on your docket Matt! 

THANKS | Tiera Suggs

Damn.
So, I’m not comfortable with photographs of myself. I don’t have too terribly many of me, and the ones that I do have are normally of me holding a guitar on a stage at a bar.
I knew that we could use some press photos, and I’d would be more comfortable with them if I could make a big project out of it. If they were cool, and not just pictures with my face in them, then I’d be more inclined to use them, right?
So, Tiera came over to the house and played perfectly along with our shenanigans. I had ripped up several years worth of small notebooks. I always carry a notebook around in my back left pocket, and they seem to pile up over the years. Jack and Dan and I (oooo and Em helped too!) decided to use a leaf blower in the house to blow the paper about for some fancy pictures. And Tiera made us feel right at home doing so.
Tiera has a great eye for shots, and a great eye for edits. I wanted something natural, said so, and she went right back and shifted things into that theme. If you need photos of anything, Tiera can probably find a way to make even your best plans better.
Hooray for Tiera D Photo. Your photos are plastered inside our little CD case.

THANKS | Jason Dutton

Jason runs the open mic where I first shared songs in Columbus. He made a good and supportive environment, without making things too comfortable. I admire the way that he would cordially inform people studying in the south room that it would become an open mic in a few minutes. So get out while you can.
I like the songs that Jason writes, and how he performs the songs that he doesn’t write. For a while, I thought that he wrote a Weakerthans song about a cat. I have since listened to the original song; it sounds like a bad cover of a Jason Dutton song.
Jason was always encouraging, when I would walk up on Tuesday nights from my first dorm on Ohio State’s south campus. As I start writing new songs over the next half year, I’m looking forward to stopping back in more often to see what works and what doesn’t.
Thanks Jason, and thanks Kafe Kerouac. Thanks for welcoming my into Columbus a few years ago.

THANKS | Varun Chandrasekhar

We recorded most of the album with Victoria Butash, but Varun helped us out during the final bits of the process. He got all of the extra goodness, thanks to his access to the Mershon Studios at OSU. He recorded all of the bass, pedal steel, horns, and strings.
I also got to see his senior recital. Wow! Jazz guitar music!
Varun cheerfully led those sessions to put the icing on the cake, and could be lighthearted and fun while he did so. 
Thanks much to Varun. I still love hearing your obsessive takes on jazz composers that I didn’t know the first thing about.

THANKS | Glenn Davis

Glenn was not involved in almost anything having to do with the record before it was all but done. He played a house show that we hosted for Friendship, and we were both surprised that we hadn’t met before then. He asked if I had any music to share, so I sent him the first bounce that we got back from mastering.
Glenn took the time to really sit down with the tracks and offer his honest feedback on a few small changes. And a long walk and a conversation made me feel more comfortable with the role that songs fill in my life. I’m happy that he reached out, and flattered that he spent his time listening in.
Looking forward to the new Way Yes record. And looking forward to another walk along the Olentangy.