The Hangfires are an elusive bunch. Downright secretive. Somehow, in the dead of night, using time-tested tricks of the trade, secret formulas, and unnecessary adjectives, Dan Baird found a way to cobble together the mysterious story about one of rock's newest bands. A story that continues to confound historians the world over. You didn't ask for it but here it is in all its unbridled pandemic glory.
Joe and I have been writing songs together for quite a while and when the lockdown started we just started working like everybody else, remotely. I’d write some chord changes that went together, Joe would write lyric, chop the music to fit, and we’d maybe buff the lyric and arrangement again. Like normal, just not in the same room. We had decent versions of Out of the Woods and Bullet Named Karma with program drums (Joe’s department, all the way) and those songs really did Sound and feel good. Then Joe took some of my changes for a new one and added a few of his own and wrote Far Cry. We went to it like normal, and then I heard the arrangement with Joe's vocal. “Joe, this song is just too good for program drums. I know a guy named Greg that I might be able to rope into this,” says I. Greg and I had already been doing some work in the same manner for The Fossils (way too long a story), so I sent it to him and asked if he’d be into drumming on it. He heard it, and said “What a great song! Is that you singing? Yeah, send it.” No Greg, not me singing. Joe is, I can’t do that. Joe and I got the drums back a couple days later. Holy Moly! Joe and I agreed that the song just took a big jump up. I said now we need a keyboard player, not me playing Fisher-Price B3 pads, I know a gal, lemme make a text. “Hey Jen, I’m gonna send you a song, see if you’d be into playing,” mailed her a rough mix. “Dan, yes! What a great song, who’s singing?” can’t remember what tune we sent to them next, but they were both into it again. “Greg, Jen, wanna be in a band? Cause I think y’all are gonna end up making a record with me and Joe.” No physical meeting, no Zoom conference, just tracks flying around, and Joe and I freakin’ on how good it all felt. The things that took us the longest to do were to settle on a Running order and find a band name. 10 songs later we had our record. Joe still hasn’t met Greg, and has met Jen once a few years ago. Somehow this fact makes me laugh. The pix of us are where we individually made the record. Hope ya dig it. - DB
The Hangfires |
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Available NOW! The Hangfires hail from Nashville, TN and features Dan Baird, Joe Blanton, Jen Gunderman, and Greg Morrow.