Eve Selis - Family Tree (2011)

As winner of Best Americana at the 2010 San Diego Music Awards, Eve Selis is no stranger to Roots music. Family Tree features 14 sturdy tracks drawn from the dark, rich soil of American music. From the swamp-rock of “Rubber and Glue” to the plaintive country heartbreaker “Don’t You Feel Lonesome” to Leonard Cohen’s majestic masterpiece “Hallelujah,” Selis and her band dug deep to create a towering opus of interconnected musical branches, all dripping with Selis’s indelible “honey chipotle” voice. “This CD sums it all up for me,” Selis explains. “I got to explore all the different styles of music I love; I got to co-write with all my favorite songwriters (Marc Intravaia, Kim McLean, Calman Hart, Rich Wiley, Doug Crider); I got to sing wonderful songs about the things that mean the most to me — loss and love, sadness and joy, hardship and triumph, faith and family; I got to record with the best band in San Diego, with the best studio team I’ve ever worked with…I couldn’t be happier about this CD.”

Family Tree was recorded at San Diego’s premiere recording facility, Big Fish Studio in Encinitas, under the guidance of GRAMMY® winning producer, Steve Churchyard. Recording “old school” to 2-inch analog tape, Churchyard captured the warmth of Selis’s unique style, both explosive and tender, allowing him to recreate the natural sound of her live performance. Musical partner, Marc “Twang” Intravaia remarked: “…we hadn’t recorded to tape in 20 years.”
After final takes, the tracks were then brought into the digital world by transferring them to ProTools on a Mac for overdubs, where Churchyard took advantage of all the latest digital tools to create a 21st-century record that sounds like it could have been recorded in the musical heyday of the ‘70s.

The recording of the CD was financed entirely by fans of the Eve Selis band via the crowdfunding web sites Kickstarter and PledgeMusic. A video appeal on both sites asking everyone to be a part of her “record label” brought in donations from $10 to $10,000. This allowed Selis to not only record at Big Fish with Churchyard but to hire renowned musician Albert Lee, described by Eric Clapton as "...the greatest guitarist in the world." She also brought in acclaimed sidemen, Dennis Caplinger on fiddle, mandolin, dobro and banjo and Rick Schmidt on pedal steel guitar.

Mastering was done in Nashville by Best Engineer Grammy® Award winner Richard Dodd, known for his work with The Dixie Chicks, Big and Rich, Martina McBride, Brooks and Dunn, Tom Petty and many more.