THANKS | Jon Weisbrot

OH DAMN so Jon is dumb good. He’s crazy. He’s so good at sax. He’s righteous. He’s sassy. He’s an animal.
When we had the first horn sectional in my house, we said that people could follow the charts, but then pointed out a few spots where people could get a little loose. And man, did Jon get loose.
He’s got this laser focus, where he can nail anything, and then laugh it off and just rip some improvised lines that the song needed, but I could never have written.
Jon’s great. Thanks for the sassiness.

THANKS | Lee Tucker

Lee is a monstrous trumpet player. He plays with Booty & the Kidd in Columbus, but I think I met him through Dan’s OSU music school connections. He killed everything he played.
At the end of Lake, there’s a big ol horn outro. Lee’s trumpet signals that with this trill sorta line, perfectly wrapping up everything on the album with this sort of casual triumphant little phrase. I was so happy when I heard it in the studio. I think my favorite part of the entire project was working with Lee and the horn guys in the OSU studio, jumping up and down, yelling encouragement, terribly excited for what they would do in the next take.
Thanks so much for lending your time and talent, and giving me something to jump up and down and shout about.

THANKS | Zach Zerkel

Zach asked if he should bring his bass trombone instead of his regular trombone. We said, yesyesyes of fucking course you should do that.
Whenever I was trying to wrangle people’s schedules, Zach would always be the first person to respond with his availabilities. It might seem like a small thing, but when you’re trying to schedule 15 or so musicians, it’s a complete dream. He’s super diligent, on his shit, and communicates clear as a bell. Oh and he can riiiip on the fucking trombone.
Zach, I’m really happy you brought your bass trombone to the recording session. And I hope you’re bringing it to the show on the 25th.

THANKS | Kristen Peters

A ways back, I played some acoustic guitar for a show that Kristen played at King Ave 5. It was the first time that I had played guitar without singing, and I was terribly nervous, but she made sure I was as ready as I could be. I think Jack Doran connected me with her, and I’m happy we got to make sounds together again.
And she just got married! Hooray love! Thanks so much for playing a great violin, writing some great songs, and leading the trio in the studio. Oh man, and balancing music with everything else in your life. I look forward to trying to do the same. Be well and enjoy the honeymoon!

THANKS | Tristan L'Heureux

Corbin Pratt introduced us to Tristan when we mentioned needing a string trio. When Tristan arrived at my house for the first string sectional, I was super comforted. He immediately descended upon his sheet music and started marking it everywhere.
Tristan remembers when we decide to do something as a group. If we decided to put a crescendo somewhere, he’d mark it in, and every time after that, there would be a crescendo there (Looking at you, Brody McDonald). We always knew that we could count on Tristan.
When I sent out the “save the date” email for the release show, Tristan was one of the first to respond with a relevant gif. I’m excited to play with him again, and I’m excited for everyone to hear him.
Til then, hold high your favorite relevant or irrelevant gif here.

THANKS | Stephen Forster

Many thanks to Davin Copfer for the introduction. When we were looking for string players, we didn’t have any pals on hand to play cello. And then we someone better than we had any right to play with. Stephen studied guitar and composition at Berkeley, and now is knee deep in physics and cello at OSU. He’s kinda one of a kind.
I’m not sure if I can properly describe Stephen’s playing. But even the small, simple little lines that we had written came to life in his hands. He’s an absolute pro with a fantastic taste in memes.
Thanks for your cello. When listening back to mixes, I always wanted a little bit more cello.

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.