Folk aficionado Jack Klatt releases his latest single “Tomorrow,” from his latest album It Ain’t The Same, via Yep Roc records. Klatt’s newest project is a masterpiece carefully crafted and well produced; a project bursting with diversity and skilled musicianship.
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“Tomorrow is about staying in the moment,” Klatt said. “The biggest moments in life can’t be planned for and often involve great risk. Just like falling in love, getting a divorce, moving to a different city, changing jobs and raising a child. You have to dive in, risk it all, and above all, trust yourself,” he said.
The song was written during a river adventure Klatt had while having a psychedelic experience which included wildlife, camping and eagles. It seemed like a good day for a song.
“I was spending a few days on the St. Croix river. It was springtime, a typically rainy season for us in Minnesota, and the slough of the river had expanded into an elaborate backwater maze,” said Klatt. “As planned, I took a dose of mushrooms, got in my canoe and paddled slowly upstream through the backwater. I was very quiet the whole day, sneaking up on egrets, and other forms of wildlife. I would’ve gotten lost back there, if I hadn’t had the notion of chasing an eagle through the twists and turns of the slough. The beautiful bird led me right back to my campsite before the sun went down.”
Like the writing process, Klatt took another unusual approach to production for the song. Previously he had recorded his projects live in a matter of days, on tape and with very little overdubbing. But He wanted to do something different, bigger, better for the new album.
“I wanted to take some more care and explore all the possibilities the studio had to offer,” said Klatt. “I suppose that is part of where the title It Ain’t the Same came from. This record feels like a step forward for me, a departure from my earlier, country and blues-based recordings. I grew so much musically through the whole process. I can’t wait to get back in the studio and do it again.”
Klatt recorded the single at Reliable Recorders in Chicago with Alex Hall, who also played percussion and keys on the album. The duo experimented with the music, rearranging it often until it felt right. Klatt was tweaking the song up until the last seconds in the studio. Klatt and Hall ended up recording two renditions of “Tomorrow.” While Klatt connected with them both, the version that made the cut just matched the tone of the record better and felt more essential to the track listing.
Photo by Tom Irvine
