Nightlife / Music

Jim the Mule to release 3rd CD

By David Burke | Wednesday, July 16, 2008 | () comments

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Jim the Mule - Shoot the Moon

When it came time to record their third album, Quad-City roots rockers Jim the Mule found comfort in the surroundings.

It just happened to be at the Davenport home of their producer, Justin Farley.

“We were finding the spaces in that house and how it suited each track. It’s not a sterile studio environment,” drummer Ryan Koning said. “It kept things loose, and it was actually fun, or as fun as recording can be.”

The control room was set up in the dining room, the drums in the bedroom, and the living room became the studio lounge.

“It brought its own vibe to it,” bass player Jason Gilliland said.

Koning, Gilliland, lead singer/guitarist Tom Swanson and guitarist Dan Videtich took their time getting the album recorded. They said inspiration even struck for the cover art of “Last Solid Ground” — a picture of a living room light fixture taken by Videtich, a former newspaper photographer.

“We got a good start to it in the house,” Koning said.

“These songs kind of shaped themselves more so than us shaping them before we got there,” Gilliland said. “There were moments when things just happened. Sometimes things happen, you like them and you use it.”

Seven-year veterans of the Quad-City music scene, Jim the Mule will release “Last Solid Ground” with a concert Aug. 1 at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Davenport. The band also will perform at the Wells Fargo Street Fest during the upcoming Bix weekend.

Farley, who was later hired as the audio engineer for the River Music Experience’s Redstone Room, was what the band needed to record its follow-up to the 2003 studio album “To a Sunday” and its self-titled 2005 live album.

“He knew when to push us a little harder,” Koning said. “He could hear things pretty early and kind of knew some directions to push us in that we wouldn’t do if we were left to our own devices.”

Band members had continued to write even as other albums were released.

“Once we got them to the point where they were ready, as an artist, we thought it was time we get in the studio,” Gilliland said.

“We’re a band where we prepare material as we go along. It’s not like us to go hole up in a mountain for two months at a time and write music,” Koning said. “It comes out when it comes out.”

The band has matured through the years and a handful of personnel changes, and members said that growth is reflected in the new CD.

“We’ve really learned how to play as a group. That’s taken its own shape,” Koning said. “The sonic landscape has evolved.”

The band labels itself “Midwestern rock ‘n’ roll” and said that, conceivably, “Last Solid Ground” could be the big regional or national break they’re looking for.

“That’s always in the back of everyone’s mind. It’d be great to go out and really try to do it,” Gilliland said. “Reality sets in as well: We all have families and day jobs. Mainly, we take it as it comes.”

Koning works for GemVision, and Gilliland works for the Capitol Theatre. Swanson is the general manager of the River Music Experience, and Videtich is a freelance photographer who most recently was hired by Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful presidential campaign.

The band members remain dedicated and are looking forward to see what next month’s CD release has in store for them.

“We put a little more into it than the average weekend fun band,” Koning said. “That’s who we are, and we want to do it that way.”

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Jim the Mule CD release party, with The Dawn

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1

Where: The Capitol Theatre, 311 Ripley St., Davenport

How much: Advance tickets are $3 at Co-Op Records in Davenport and Moline; $5 at the door

Information: JimtheMule.com on the Web