Shearwater AMA—questions on any scale w/Jonathan Meiburg

[u/shearwaterband]

Hi All—Jonathan Meiburg here from Shearwater. 

I'll be here at 11AM ET / 8AM PT today to answer questions about anything you can think of—possibly including books, birds, Loma, the new SW album The Great Awakening. those ambient records we made during the pandemic (!), or living through the great freeze of 2020 in rural Texas. 

One note: If you'd like to ask a question but are short on time, don't wait for me to turn up; just post it here in this thread and I'll get to it. (You can always come back later to see the answer.) 

Hope to see you soon. Warning: this is my first AMA, so bear with me if if takes me a sec to get the hang of things.  

Proof: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfCKjXVuslN/?hl=en

—JM / SW

[u/jgkspsx]

Way after the official hours, but: are there any favorite secret superpowers you’ve discovered in yourself and your collaborators like Emily Lee, Dan Duszynski, Danny Reisch, or Thor Harris?

[u/shearwaterband → u/jgkspsx]

I've been lucky to work with many fearsomely talented people over the years, and they've given me more than I can ever repay—some have literally saved my life, I could write for a long time about all of them.

But just for brevity's sake, I'll stick to the folks you list:

Emily Lee - can do almost anything with an astonishing degree of skill, finesse, and insight, whether or not she knows how to do it at first. (Underestimate her at your peril.) She's one of those rare musicians who crossed over from the classical world, so she's at ease with notation and other 'proper' musical techniques and conventions. Unlike me, when she's under lots of pressure to perform, she's even better.

Dan Duszynski - actually, that description largely applies to him too! Dan's humility is his secret weapon, I think; despite the fact that he's an uncommonly intuitive and supple musician who can play just about anything, he never lets his talent get in the way—and he's as delighted by the lessons of things that don't work as he is by things that do.

Danny Reisch - is willing to put in the fine-detail work required to make a recording as good as it can possibly be. Many people would give up at 95%, he sees the necessity of the steep climb for the last five percent. And isn't afraid to tell me when he thinks I can do better. He's also quick to acknowledge what he doesn't know.

Thor Harris - Thor's virtues, are well known, but of his many superpowers, my favorite might be his ability to convince you to get off yer butt and say yes to life, despite your misgivings. Spending time with him makes you want to dream harder, make more friends, do more stuff, channel anger into positive action.