On the final evening of our little trip around Europe with Mr. Bob and his entourage we said our goodbyes to band, crew and tour and went to bed as usual; then a very unusual and rare thing happened. The next morning the band were driven not to the airport to fly home as would be the case normally, but to British Grove Studios where we were set to resume recording for the next MK album.

With the tour done and dusted we set our minds to the many and varied new Knopfler compositions and were up and running before lunchtime. Ian's studio drum tech was actually in the studio setting up Ian's drums before our crew had even finished loading out from the Hammersmith show on the final night. Actually at about the time Mark and Bob were performing the now infamous 'Forever Young' duet. A mention of the logistical challenge for our production boys, in particular, Colin Barton, Production manager. The task of making sure each piece of equipment reached it's final destination was his. For example, my gear needed to be split up, some of it heading for the studio and some of it to be sent home and some left in storage. Then there was the PA, lights, backline, wardrobe...all needing to get to different parts of town before heading onwards to wherever..



So, on to the sessions..

The assembled musicians consisted of our entire band, Mark, myself, Ian, Richard, Glenn, Jim, Mike and John together with the remarkable Phil Cunningham who flew down from Scotland for the first week. Two notable other guests were to make their appearance over the two week period, Tim O'Brian and Kim Wilson. Tim of course needs little introduction and toured with us in the US on our last trip stateside. A wonderful artist in his own right, Tim is an incredible mandolin player and of course a bona-fide banjo master! He was genuinely excited when I told him that I was making (modest) moves to learn how to play the banjo. Claw-hammer style. It was great to see and hang with Tim once again. Tim also did a fair bit of singing on these sessions and his wonderful voice merged beautifully with Mark's. We also did a fair few group backing vocals.



Our other special guest is Kim Wilson, harmonica player, lead singer and co-founder of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Since none of us had ever met Kim, when he arrived, he was greeted with much excitement and enthusiasm. Mark of course had followed Kim since the early days of the Thunderbirds and has been a huge fan of his playing ever since. Kim happened to mention that due to his connections with the band 'Rockpile' and Terry Williams, he had been to see the Straits in Sydney during our record breaking 26 nights in a row at the Entertainment Center. The mere fact that Kim is here is a pointer to the style of some of the recordings.

As always, Chuck has been recording the band using a Nuendo system on a Nuclear PC but we also use the sophisticated and slightly controversial CLASP system. It's a plug-in hosted hardware system that utilizes analog tape on any multi-track tape recorder. In our case a pair of 16 track head-block-fitted Studer A800's. In a nutshell, everything you record passes through the tape machine, onto and off of the tape and into Nuendo. The clever bit is the way in which it deals with the inherent delay of such an operation. I can't say how many or what kind of songs we've recorded but it's quite a few and Chuck has bettered himself once more as the sounds have been pretty spectacular.

My banjo gets acquainted with Tim's..



Glenn on the big old girl. Note the dampening device.



Richard Bennett in his booth with a Harmony guitar and a Mark's Fender Vibrolux..



Richard and Tim run through some parts..



Whilst Mark, Kim, Glenn (and Richard again) do the same...



A familiar and welcome sight over the period...Chuck takes on an E.S.B at the world's best pub (we think) The Mawson Arms



Everyone poses for the last day of recording with Kim - Glenn Worf, Chuck Ainlay, Guy Fletcher, Jim Cox, Ian Thomas, Richard Bennett, Mark Knopfler, Paul Crockford and Kim Wilson.



This week has been quiet at British Grove as everyone has returned home after their extended trip, thus leaving Mark and myself in Studio Two to sift through, comp and generally bask in the delights from the past two weeks of wonderful Studio One sessions.


This year marked the tenth anniversary of my first humble diary beginnings. In a year which has been difficult for vast the majority living in these troubled financial times, we've been fortunate and blessed with yet another opportunity to get out and play. Plus an added bonus of nipping back into the studio the day after the last show.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy and prosperous New Year to everyone who has followed my diaries both in Studio and on Stage. Long may we travel together.

see you next year...