A Day at the Cluny Studios

The Cluny Studios is in Byker, which is to the East of Newcastle (the cold end), tucked on the hill nest to the Ouse Burn.
Martin's aim was to give me a day in the studio to play a set of songs live, to see if I could 'do a Nick Drake', or my equivalent, anyway, at my lower level, but in that spirit. There were to be no overdubs and wherever possible I was to sing and play the song together, ideally in one take to sound as spontaneous as I could.
We'd arrived 2 hours late by accident, but the engineer, Sean, was there smiling and ready to go.
After breaking the ice with a few mild studio stories, it was time to start.
I wasn't nervous- either I do myself justice or I don't. I know sometimes that I can start with the the best of intentions, in good voice, rehearsed, and end up with a pile of rubbish, and other times against the odds I can get the perfect version of a song.
I decided to start 'uppy', and recorded Gotta Have a Heart, Three Maple Men and The Song of the Unsung Heroine all in one go, vocals and guitar together, first take.
Then things got a bit sticky so we had a coffee break and I did a few more songs guitar first and then vocals: Summer Days, She Will Fly, The Song of the Landsman's Soul and Degas (the songs with the high-up vocals).
We noshed some paninis and then I did another couple live (Champagne Friend and Daisies), then I did Little England and Two Little Girls and Me, the two low-down singers, to finish off with.
In between, we told more studio stories and looked out of the window at the tourists with hard hats by the burn. Sean told us they have discovered old pit tunnels between the Town Moor and the burn and you can go in them.
We had started at 12 and finished, mixed, at 7.30. Sean was great- really calm, and Martin was supportive in a very subtle way; he knows the songs and the way I sing very well so he knows when I can do better.
I am messing about with track orders now, and wondering which one to dump- the idea is to have an album of ten songs and I recorded eleven. I have put three of them on Myspace.
The working title is 'Take One', a pun on the first-take ethos but also because it's a totally solo album. It also sounds a bit 60s and there is a bit of that  in some of the songs (but not Daisies which is straight out of the 1920s).
It's over a year since I've been in the studio and I really appreciated the chance to do some recording in a proper professional setting again- what luxury!- and the company was good too. When the listening has settled (it takes a few days before you can listen objectively) I will know whether I should re-record any of them. If I do, I will try to go back, because it's a brill studio!