Bay Area Favorites San Geronimo Share ‘OneMic’ Session

Bay Area favorites San Geronimo, one of the bands that doesn’t feature a member with the last name “Lesh” who has played Phil’s Terrapin Crossroads venue the most since it opened, are gearing up to bring their “California Certified” brand of rock nationwide over the next year or so. Today, we’re pleased to share a video featuring songs not on their recently issued Better Days LP and previously unreleased, recorded in one take using one microphone.

Each of the band’s frontmen get one song a piece, showcasing San Geronimo’s dual-frontman/songwriter approach. If you dig the likes of Hiss Golden Messenger, Wilco and The Avett Brothers, San Geronimo should be up your alley. In the video below we watch as SG performs Jeremy D’Antonio’s “Payday” and Darren Nelson’s “Company Man.” D’Antonio tells JamBase, “‘Payday’ was written as a direct response to the trending lack of compassion/empathy present in our society. I think everybody is just hanging on by the skin of their teeth, and it is not for one person to judge how another person gets through the day. If we were all lend a hand, I imagine we could all have a payday.”

On “Company Man” Nelson shares, “I wrote ‘Company Man’ on a Sunday afternoon while contemplating life & the choices I’ve made. Sometimes, when looking back I think, ‘what if?’ I think we all do. I guess the moral of the story is: try to make good choices, if you don’t you could spend your life with regret & who wants that? Life’s too short!

“We’ve had the pleasure of working with John Cuniberti on this project, we didn’t know much about him prior, except of his amazing track record of being a sought after producer & engineer. When we entered the studio he put us straight to work. His theory was that if you’ve got a good song with a good story, good band & a good producer then you should be able to capture the vibe with a good take & let the track speak for itself.

“It was John’s brainchild to use only one microphone. If you watch the video, you can see that the amps are small & strategically placed, along with the drums, vocalists & acoustic guitar. We’d roll tape, record the song, then go into the control room to have a listen. If something was too loud or too quiet we’d have to compensate & try it again. These sessions have been the best learning experience & most rewarding in our musical career & we can’t wait to do more! No overdubs, no fixes, just one mic, one cut & even only one camera man documenting the recording with no editing on his end either! That’s rock & roll!”

With that in mind, watch San Geronimo perform “Payday” and “Company Man” for a OneMic session:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI17z4Qv36c