Track Premiere: John Fatum "The Little Pie Blues"

Trained as a jazz percussionist at Rochester’s Eastman School of Music,  Brooklyn singer-songwriter  John Fatum’s  self-titled album, due December 9th, weaves a legacy of story and sound in a timeless collection that is amplified by Dala Record's analog recording process. Recorded on an 8-track reel-to-reel tape machine in New York’s East Village, the album captures the beautiful imperfection of a live performance on songs influenced by Country Blues, Gospel, Americana, Jazz, and Gulf Coast.

This new project consists of ten tracks including the opening tune, "The Little Pie Blues" a slow, bluesy-burn gem that is accompanied by the crackly sounds of a tape machine and highlighted by  a warm, soothing trumpet solo from producer Billy Aukstik.

Fatum  explains the  story behind the song: 

"I  wrote the song in the Fall on my back porch in Brooklyn where I have a beautiful little window sill. I was sitting on the deck, playing my guitar when I got into the pulsating rhythm of that little guitar phrase. I was thinking about a girl, but I was also thinking about the metaphor of the porch, the mood and how pretty it was outside and I imagined mixing up the metaphors with a girl and a pie sitting on a window sill - and the song was born there.  

What was cool was that the song took on a whole new life when I got into the studio in Billy's apartment and we started playing the groove. I was playing the guitar riff on a nylon string guitar, which has a different kind of sound to it where it fills up the space with a very relaxed feel, and Billy was playing on a Maestro Rhythm King drum machine - an instrument we love that JJ Cale, Sly Stone, and other musicians have used. When we got that little dancing rhythm going, we set in with the metaphor of the sweet little girl and the pie; then we got into the bigger studio and had the slide guitar part happening with Mike Harlen and the song took on a whole new life. In the song, I talk about the clouds and then start listing pie flavors, which is an homage to 'A Prairie Home Companion,' a show I used to listen to growing up. They used to do a bit about "bebop a rebop rhubarb pie," so that was in my head as I started listing the flavors and just having fun with it. 

One of the most special moments on the track is Billy's trumpet solo. It's  one of my favorite parts of the song because after all of the other stuff, you all of a sudden hear a trumpet - so soft and vulnerable and precise - and it really opens the song up  and takes it in a different direction that I really love and enjoy."

Fun fact:  During recording, Fatum raided a cutlery drawer searching for the perfect utensil to rap on the tape machine. It turned out to be a butter knife which blends with Aukstik’s Maestro Rhythm King and Fatum’s thigh slaps. 

TDC is proud to premiere  "The Little Pie Blues" below. For more information visit his official website.

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