User:Matthewschnoor/Where the Tree Meets the Ground

Where the Tree Meets the Ground is the first studio album by Mattawan-based rock band Broken Face. Former band members Caitie Rowe and K.C. Van Fleet left the group after the release of The Beach, paving way for the group's new lineup, including lead singer Jake Dawson, multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist Evan Frazier, and a guest appearance by Sam Barajas on the track Sick Beats. Though the album was released to much acclaim, both Dawson and Frazier departed after its release, causing the band to go on hiatus for almost three years. The name of the album comes from a song (Where the Sand Meets the Sea) written by the fictitious band Broken Fight. This song was also the inspiration for the title of their first album, The Beach, named ironically.

Pre-Production & Initial Recording
After the release of "The Beach," Rowe and VanFleet left the band. Congdon and Schnoor decided to take this new album in a different direction from The Beach. Wanting to make a more legitimate, serious album, Schnoor wrote a song about being skeptic of religion. After realizing this approach was not going to work, the duo returned to their roots, attempting to write more ridiculous songs. Congdon and Schnoor recorded the original tracks, Pledge, Song, and Where the Plunger Meets the Poop before they realized they needed to try a new approach and needed a larger group of people contributing to the album. Evan Frazier had been a guest on "The Beach" and agreed to join on as a full band member for the first studio album. Jake Dawson was also recruited to take part in the album being impressed by the band's EP The Beach.

Recording and Production
Like their first album, it was recorded almost entirely in Schnoor's basement. After completing the production of the aforementioned tracks in early June, the band gathered together to record the entirety of their album. At this point, no one was certain who would be contributing what to the album. Congdon put Schnoor's laptop in front of Jake Dawson, while playing pre-recorded midi tracks on a keyboard and Dawson immediately began improvising. Dawson proved to be an invaluable member of the group as the rest of the band was extremely impressed with his first recording, Mountain Dew and Pizza. (In the track, Congdon can be heard exclaiming his excitement at the end of the track) The band decided to let Dawson have creative control of the rest of the album. By the end of the night, the band had over an hour's worth of music, almost entirely recorded by Dawson. Unfortunately, immediately after the recording, Schnoor's laptop was dropped and the screen was cracked and the band was unable to do anything else with the album for several weeks.

Unlike The Beach, much of Where the Tree Meets the Ground features music not created by the band itself. Dawson improvised and sang lyrics along to well-established songs, including Let It Be by The Beatles and the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. Not having to create the music, it allowed much more lyrical density to take place on the album.

Post-Production & Release
When Schnoor finally received his computer, he quickly edited the songs (every individual song was recorded on one long track as the band members found that Dawson had random spurts of inspiration, and chose to record the entire time in case something came to him) and put the album together with 22 individual tracks and released it independently on July 17, 2007.

Reception
The album received mixed reviews from people close to the band. Former member Caitie Rowe commented that it almost seemed like a different band. She added though she liked Dawson's lyrical content, the fact that he was now the lead singer changed the band too much. The current lineup liked the album better than their first. Congdon commented on the album, "The group just came together. It didn't feel forced like a lot of The Beach did." Schnoor added "Having Jacob Dawson added to our group may have been the best decision we ever made."

Personnel
Jake Dawson (lead vocals), Grady Congdon (vocals, accordion, drums), Evan Frazier (backing vocals), Matt Schnoor (backing vocals). The album was produced by Broken Face and Matt Schnoor.

Track listing
All lyrics by Jake Dawson except where noted.


 * 1) "Pledge" (Congdon, Schnoor) - 1:36
 * 2) "The Jakey D We Know" (Congdon, Dawson, Frazier, Schnoor) - 3:18
 * 3) "Le Douche (remix)" (Congdon, Schnoor) - 1:06
 * 4) "Mountain Dew & Pizza" - 1:34
 * 5) "Where The Plunger Meets The Poop" (Congdon) - 0:25
 * 6) "Bose vs. Epos" - 1:49
 * 7) "Song" (Schnoor) - 0:46
 * 8) "Wii Wii Wiiii Wii Wiiii" - 1:10
 * 9) "Cisco" - 0:51
 * 10) "Jewish Sloppy Joes" - 0:36
 * 11) "Jimmy John's (mess up)" - 0:32
 * 12) "Jake's Bonnie" - 1:02
 * 13) "Kilts" - 0:39
 * 14) "Psycho!" (Congdon, Schnoor) - 0:12
 * 15) "Tickle My Tongue (Totes)" (Dawson, Frazier) - 1:17
 * 16) "Sick beats" (Barajas, Congdon, Schnoor) - 0:57
 * 17) "Ye Olde Dew & Video Games" (Congdon, Dawson) - 1:09
 * 18) "Threadlessssssssssssss" (Congdon, Dawson, Frazier) - 1:53
 * 19) "Country Song" (Congdon, Dawson, Frazier, Schnoor) - 1:04
 * 20) "Ode to Teachers" (Congdon, Dawson, Frazier) - 2:11
 * 21) "Swinglines" (Congdon, Dawson, Frazier, Schnoor) - 1:27
 * 22) "I Love My Friends" (Congdon, Dawson) - 0:19