‘Husk’ is the second album from Launceston blues duo Guthrie.
It arrives five years after the original recording sessions and four years after frontman Liam’s passing.
Here are some words from the band’s drummer, Luke:
“Husk was initially tracked on the 6th of August 2016. Liam and I had originally planned to track an EP of songs that were written more recently, but decided to lay down some older, unreleased songs to bulk it out into an album. We had finished recording an EP with The Bad Dad Orchestra just prior to Husk, where all the instruments were tracked individually and chopped/changed a lot in post production. We both thought tracking guitar and drums live with Guthrie would be more our vibe, so that’s what we did. Our friend Jamie Stacey engineered the recording and we literally just faced each other in the studio, hit record and played all the songs as if we were doing a gig. Some songs are first takes, some second. No click tracks, no punch ins, no bullshit. Vocals were done later because Liam wanted to concentrate on his guitar playing. There’s a couple of overdubbed guitar bits and pieces, a droning bass synth in ‘Blues Man’ some percussion in a couple of verses and that’s really it. Dave played around with some effects and stuff when he was mixing, but it’s all the live performances. There’s a couple of mistakes in there that probably should have been edited out! I guess it adds to the charm though.
The album had been mixed and was ready to be mastered at the time of Liam’s passing, releasing it was a mental hurdle that I couldn’t get through, so my friend Dave Cooper ended up doing all the leg work for me – and I am extremely grateful that he did.
Tracked on the 5th of August 2016
Recorded and Engineered by Jamie Stacey
Mixed by Dave Cooper of Sound Machine Studios
Mastered by William Bowden of King Willy Sound
Artwork by Sheridan Kerr of GOOD GRAVY
Release: August 5th, 2021, MGM Distribution
Words: Luke Young