Donavon Frankenreiter digs deep

A print made by locally-based artist John Van Hamersveld, of “Endless Summer” fame, for Donavan Frankenreiter in 2007. Courtesy John Van Hamersveld

by Alex Khatchadourian

A print made by locally-based artist John Van Hamersveld, of “Endless Summer” fame, for Donavan Frankenreiter in 2007. Courtesy John Van Hamersveld

A print made by locally-based artist John Van Hamersveld, of “Endless Summer” fame, for Donavan Frankenreiter in 2007. Courtesy John Van Hamersveld

About 38 miles southwest of Austin, Texas, sits the small town of Wimberley. There, in the heart of Texas Hill Country’s rolling landscape, a Southern California beachside native and his two bandmates, retreated to a sprawling 50-acre estate, better known as Blue Rock Studios, to create what is now Donavan Frankenreiter’s new album, “The Heart.”

“It felt like we were on another planet while working at Blue Rock Studios,” said Frankenreiter, who plays Saint Rocke next Tuesday. “We were sleeping in the studio; no TVs, no radio, no visitors, just wake up, grab some coffee, and then spend 10-hours in the studio, cranking out a song a day. We never had to leave.”

After 10 days of recording, during which every second in the studio was filmed and live-streamed online, Frankenreiter has fashioned an album that is not only seeming of the laid back songsmith’s usual earthy groove, but reveals an artist with new found intimacy as each song honestly addresses the range of emotions that come with love, loss, and raising a family.

“There was a lot of energy in the studio,” said Frankenreiter. “The whole place was like an energy vortex, which was radical. At the time I was making the record, there were a lot of heavy things going on, including my dad dying, so emotions were running high with each recording.”

However, unlike the privacy afforded by most studios, Frankenreiter opted for these recording sessions to be live-streamed on the Internet in a rather soul-baring exhibition for his fans.

Following a live-streamed show that Frankenreiter played at Blue Rock Studios a year ago, he proposed the then unfathomable idea of streaming the creation of The Heart in it’s entirety.

“At first they thought I was crazy and that it wasn’t going to work,” said Frankenreiter. “But the concept of having people all over the world, despite differing time zones, be able to log on at any point during their day — since we would be in the studio for close to ten hours a day – and watch how a song is created, was bitchin’. People could come check it out for 30 minutes, leave, and even come back later.”

Although there were some slight apprehensions going into the unusual recording environment, Frankenreiter admits he was unfazed by the four video cameras tracing his every move.

“There was a point where I thought, ‘I hope this doesn’t make everybody play weird.’” said Frankenreiter. “It’s already weird enough when you’re in the studio, then add the pressure of being filmed. But as soon as we started to record, we got into a roll. I was so focused on the overdubs, the vocals, getting a song done each day and how we were going to get the drums and the bass tracked, I forgot there were even cameras there.”

With The Heart’s deeply personal and sentimental candor that shines through its musical simplicity, it’s no wonder Frankenreiter found himself too preoccupied to pay the cameras any attention. Co-written with fellow singer-songwriter and prior music collaborator Grant-Lee Phillips, tracks like “When The River Bends,” and “Big Wave,” exude the lovely, rollicking vocal highlights Frankenreiter has become so well known for in the past.

John Van Hamersveld and Donavan Frankenreiter. Courtesy John Van Hamersveld

John Van Hamersveld and Donavan Frankenreiter. Courtesy John Van Hamersveld

While the record offers up the singer’s breezy contemplation of love and life, The Heart offers moments of real heaviness with “California Lights,” written about Frankenreiter’s father’s battle with Leukemia, who passed away two weeks after the record was completed. A live take of just him and his guitar was chosen for the record, and showcases the vulnerability and contemplation Frankenreiter taps into throughout the 11-song record.

“Every record that you go in to make, I think, that’s the record that you’re supposed to make at that moment,” said Frankenreiter.  “I couldn’t go back in the studio and make Start Livin,’ nor would I want to. That’s what’s so beautiful about making albums like this one, you can have songs that you write and you sit around the house playing them, but not until they get recorded is it like, ‘Okay, they’re done, they’re frozen in time and that’s it.’ Not to say we can’t go back to Blue Rock and make another album there and have another great group of songs, but I know it will be different; emotionally at least. When I listen to these songs now it reminds me about a lot of the stuff that was happening then.”

Frankenreiter, who will return to Hermosa Beach to take the stage at Saint Rocke next Tuesday, September 15, will have some opening support from local singer-songwriter Jamisen Jarvis. The 13-year-old South Bay native has proven her lyrical and vocal chops at Hermosa Beach’s Surf Fest, the 2015 Special Olympics opening ceremony, and Static Beach’s Friday Night Live radio program. Languid at times, soulful at others, Jarvis has the allure of a vocalist beyond her years.

Donovan Frankenreiter plays Saint Rocke next Tuesday, September 15. Doors at 6:00 pm, show at 7:30 pm. For ticket information head to www.saintrocke.com. ER

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