Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Guitar Amps
  • Plugin Week 25
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Artist news
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • Drums
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Plugin Week A-Z
  • You Oughta Know
  • Fake AI band
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Wrecking Crew
Recommended reading
Laufey
Artists Laufey on how a vintage guitar and amp inspired recent single Silver Lining
Bon Iver
Artists “I knew it was good because I couldn’t get through it without sobbing”: Bon Iver breaks down his duet with Danielle Haim
Pelican's Trevor de Brauw [left] and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec perform at Hellfest 2022. De Brauw plays his Gibson SG. Schroeder-Lebec is playing his Silverburst Gibson Les Paul Custom.
Artists Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec on musical wanderlust and Pelican’s riff evolution
Bruce Springsteen in Concert, 1984
Recording “Not necessarily the record I had planned”: Springsteen explains why he “wasn’t happy” with Born In The USA
Joe Bonamassa plays a vintage Gibson Les Paul SG equipped with a Maestro Vibrola. He wears a gray patterned suit and sunglasses.
Artists Joe Bonamassa announces new album, Breakthrough – listen to the title-track now
lone
Computers Lone on how he creates his technicolour, rave-adjacent electronica
Brandi Carlile and Joni Mitchell
Artists Brandi Carlile reveals the songwriting maxim that Joni Mitchell lives by
  1. Artists
  2. Guitarists

In the studio: City And Colour

News
By Josh Gardner ( Total Guitar ) published 8 September 2015

Dallas Green on C&C's latest album

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Introduction

Introduction

“To be honest, there’s not really a lot of acoustic guitar on the record.” Dallas Green has startled us with the revelation that If I Should Go Before You, his fifth full-length LP as an acoustic troubadour, is er, well, not very acoustic at all.

It is all full band, and a lot of electric guitar… which should p*ss a bunch of people off!

Indeed, anyone who’s heard lead single, Woman, will be struck by the huge, ambient soundscapes and minimal lyrics taking the place of the intimate acoustic numbers of the past. Given this Floydy left-turn, we have to ask, is the whole record like this?

“Well, they’re shorter for starters!” Dallas jokes of Woman’s near 10 minute run-time. “But it is all full band, and a lot of electric guitar… which should piss a bunch of people off!”

The band he’s referring to are the musicians he’s taken on tour with him the last few years: bassist Jack Lawrence, drummer Doug MacGregor, guitarist Dante Schwebel and pedalsteel man Matt Kelly.

Page 1 of 3
Page 1 of 3
Going live

Going live

Rather than record the album with session musicians, he brought them into the live room of studio D in Nashville’s famous Blackbird Studio, and captured If I Should Go Before You, mainly live, in 10 days.

“I’d never felt that confident with a group of guys who were not only talented, but took really good care of my old songs,” says Dallas of the decision.

I could just present the ideas in their rawest form, and then have the guys help me put them together

“I kinda felt like they were trustworthy, and I could just present the ideas in their rawest form, and then have the guys help me put them together.”

When it came to the album’s expansive guitar work, Dallas and Dante were able to split the load fairly easily.

“I’m kind of the more main riff stuff, and he’s like that Steve Cropper/Curtis Mayfield funky weird stuff,” he affirms. The new tones, meanwhile, were created with the aid of some choice gear including a boutique Clark Fenderstyle 1x15 combo, Strymon effects, and a 60s Fender Jazzmaster Dallas describes as, “the perfect blend – I can make it sound supergnarly when I need it to, and I can back it off and it can be as clean as the day is long. It’s become my main guitar.”

Page 2 of 3
Page 2 of 3
Heart and honesty

Heart and honesty

While Woman is a jamfest, that’s not the only unfamiliar well the new material draws from, however. “I’ve always been a big fan of D’Angelo, stuff like that…” Dallas reveals.

It’s a group of people trusting each other to make the best thing possible

“And I don’t know if I’ve ever been able to put that influence into my music as much as I would have liked. But this is the best showcase of that, so I’m pretty excited.”

Fans may be wary, but the heart and honesty of his songwriting remains, and Dallas is sure the hardcore will appreciate his new, more communal direction.

“The record is like this family oriented experience, where it’s a group of people trusting each other to make the best thing possible,” he enthuses. “And I think that’s what we did.”

Page 3 of 3
Page 3 of 3
Categories
Guitars
Josh Gardner
Stay up to date with the latest gear and tuition. image
Stay up to date with the latest gear and tuition.
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Laufey
Laufey on how a vintage guitar and amp inspired recent single Silver Lining
Bon Iver
“I knew it was good because I couldn’t get through it without sobbing”: Bon Iver breaks down his duet with Danielle Haim
Pelican's Trevor de Brauw [left] and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec perform at Hellfest 2022. De Brauw plays his Gibson SG. Schroeder-Lebec is playing his Silverburst Gibson Les Paul Custom.
Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec on musical wanderlust and Pelican’s riff evolution
Bruce Springsteen in Concert, 1984
“Not necessarily the record I had planned”: Springsteen explains why he “wasn’t happy” with Born In The USA
Joe Bonamassa plays a vintage Gibson Les Paul SG equipped with a Maestro Vibrola. He wears a gray patterned suit and sunglasses.
Joe Bonamassa announces new album, Breakthrough – listen to the title-track now
lone
Lone on how he creates his technicolour, rave-adjacent electronica
Latest in Guitarists
Jackson Pro Series Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT7 and HT7P
Misha Mansoor spills blood as a home shopping TV presenter to unveil new signature Jackson 7-strings
Dickey Betts and Warren Haynes live onstage with the Allman Brothers Band in 1992. Haynes wears a patterned shit and plays his Les Paul Standard.
Warren Haynes on what Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts told him when he joined the Allman Brothers Band
Joe Trohman of Fall Out Boy plays his Zemaitis singlecut onstage in 2023.
Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman ruled out for rest of the year as he gets surgery on injured right hand
Vivian Campbell and Ronnie James Dio onstage in 1985 as they tour Campbell's final studio album with Dio, Sacred Heart. Campbell is playing a well-worn Charvel S-style electric guitar.
Vivian Campbell on his relationship with Ronnie James Dio – and what Dio told Ozzy about his playing
Troy Van Leeuwen of Queens of the Stone Age plays a red/orange Gretsch onstage, and is framed by a triangle of yellow-green stagelights.
“It was the most bizarre musical experience”: QOTSA’s Troy Van Leeuwen on playing Paris's Catacombs
[Left] Richie Faulkner plays his custom Les Paul Custom while Rob Halford looks on; [right] Late-stage Ozzy-era Sabbath the first time around, with Ozzy cheering on guitarist Tony Iommi
Judas Priest salute the OG metal gods with a cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs
Latest in News
Jackson Pro Series Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT7 and HT7P
Misha Mansoor spills blood as a home shopping TV presenter to unveil new signature Jackson 7-strings
Ozzy Osbourne
“The greatest day in the history of metal”: Black Sabbath’s final mega-gig raised £140m for charity
David Guetta
David Guetta says he’s never played a pre-recorded DJ set, and can’t understand why anyone would think he has
Blackstar ID:X 50: The new combo from the British amp titan is described as "this is the most natural-sounding" modelling amp on the market.
Blackstar unveils ID-X combos – complete with 6 amp voices, over 35 effects, CabRig and OLED display
The Gibson Les Paul Music City Special – 50th Anniversary is a limited edition hybrid that combines the old Marauder and Music City Junior, and offers them in wine, tobacco sunburst and ebony finishes.
Gibson celebrates 50 years in Nashville with limited run twist on a cult electric played by KISS
PRS SE NF 53: the super-versatile bolt-on electric gets a long-awaited SE release, and here all three finish options – White Dog Hair, Black Dog Hair and Pearl White – are photographed in front of a pair of PRS half-stacks.
PRS remixes its NF 53 for the SE line – and it's a serious workhorse electric for under a grand

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...