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Prime Grade A, USDA inspected
To someone whose name is Johnny Kap, and who was
born in Canada, when people in the South say your name it comes out sounding
a heck of a lot like Jaw Kneecap. Many of Kap’s South Carolina
neighbors are fierce defenders of their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms,
but Johnny is only armed with a trusty used Aria Pro ll, CS-400 Cardinal
Series guitar, a guitar he bought from an old friend over 20 years ago
who’s still, to this very day, one of his best friends. In fact,
that guitar was used on 90% of Prime, Jaw Kneecap’s debut
album. So, guess you could say Kap is into long-term relationships and
remaining loyal to his friends.
The folks around Simpsonville, SC, way say that Johnny
Kap can play that guitar just like ringing a bell. He shreds with the
best of ‘em and his face melting solos are second to none. Now
that, along with his remaining loyal to long-term friends and being a
great songwriter, is probably why he attracted the attention of a few
other guys who possessed an equally amazing amount of talent and got
them to play on Prime.
We’re not talking about the usual suspects and
hired guns (aka studio musicians) here. No siree! We’re talking
prime musical meat: Grade A, USDA inspected, organically grown and raised
masters of sonically succulent superlative sound. Guys that those fancy
folks up north would probably call “virtuosos”. So, where
do we begin? |
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Guess as good a place as any would be to start with Chris
Buck. He not only holds down the job of being one-half of the rhythm section
of Jaw Kneecap with his progressive bass guitar playing, but he also wails
away like nobody’s
business as the vocalist on Prime. He’s worked in the past with
such masters of complex chord progressions as Allan Holdsworth. Now if y’all
don’t know who Holdsworth is, then dropping any other names to impress
the likes of you would be like casting pearls before swine. No offense intended,
mind you. Chris is endorsed by Carvin guitars.
When asked about the recording process... Johnny elaborates;
"I was the primary songwriter for Prime, but some of the lyrics were written
by Chris , and others were based upon poems by Robert Service, Chidiock Tichbourne,
and Jon Whyte. I like to start with lyrics, usually from a poem, and see if
the meter makes sense and can be hummed. If it can, I try to work out the basic
chords. Once that's done, I like to look for weirder versions of the chords,
like inversions, or maybe alternate tunings, to spice things up a bit. Once
the chords and the meter are worked out, the lyrics may be rewritten. I like
to use odd time signatures when appropriate. Once we have a rough demo and
we're ready to record, we start with drums. The drums on Prime were played
by Mike Leasure and recorded at Shawn Bossick's Diamond Studios in California.
Chris Buck, who played bass and had lead vocal duties, recorded his bass at
his home studio. Vocals were recorded at Diamond Studios by Shawn. Acoustic
and electric guitars were recorded in my own studio, but the electric guitars
were all reamped by Shawn using his Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier. The string
tracks and piano tracks were all recorded remotely in the musicians' own studios.
Once Shawn completed the mixing, it was turned over to Adam Ayan of Gateway
Mastering to put the final polish on the project. You can expect to hear a
wide variety of material that hopefully blends into a seamless project with
a few audio surprises thrown in for good measure! I would classify it as hard
rock/progressive rock."
The other half
of the locomotive rhythm section that powers Jaw Kneecap is drummer and percussionist
Mike Leasure. Mike’s
toured with The Walter Trout Band, Edgar Winter, and Albert Collins. He also
has endorsement deals with Ludwig Drums, Istanbul Agop Cymbals, and SilverFox
Drumsticks.
The album was recorded and mixed by Shawn Bossick of Diamond Studios and mastered
by Grammy award winning mastering engineer Adam Ayan of Gateway Mastering.
So, there you have it: Jaw Kneecap. From beginning to end and one and all these
are the ones who make up the Prime ensemble. Put them all together and
the result is a hard rock sound that rattles the bones while pleasing the ears.
It’s big, meaty and muscular. It’s visceral yet vibrant. It’s Prime!
To learn more about Jaw Kneecap
http://www.jawkneecap.com/
www.facebook.com/JawKneecap
http://www.jawkneecap.bandcamp.com/
www.soundcloud.com/JawKneecap
www.reverbnation.com/JawKneecap
www.twitter.com/JawKneecap
www.cdbaby.com/cd/jawkneecap
itunes.apple.com/us/album/prime/id653277002
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