Ballard began recording with Dave Matthews in Los Angeles at his home studio on September 26, 2000. The following was recently released by MTV.com:
"While the band is effectively restarting the recording process from scratch, Ballard told MTV News on Tuesday it's likely that songs written during the Lillywhite sessions, such as "Bartender," would not be scrapped."He and Matthews are rapidly writing new material and laying down demos, and the two have written six new songs in the last five days. 'What's happening between me and Dave is magical,' Ballard said. 'We're on a creative high tide.'"
Those are certainly promising words! I am very pleased to hear that the songs DMB did with Lillywhite are not going the way of the dodo. I really grew to love these songs during the summer tour, as I'm sure many of you did too!
So, who is this Ballard guy anyway? Here's a little background information for you: A graduate of the University of Mississippi, Ballard moved out west and worked as an assistant for Elton John. After paying his dues as an assistant, he worked as a pianist for Kiki Dee, with whom his first song hit the charts. Next up for Ballard was a full-time song-writing gig at MCA Music and the rest, as they say, is history.
The artists Ballard has worked with throughout the years reads like a Who's Who of R&B, A/C and pop music: Quincy Jones, George Benson, James Ingram, Patti Austin, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Teddy Pendergrass, Jack Wagner, Wilson Phillips and most notably, Alanis Morissette.
While Ballard may seem to have had a decidedly pop past, it was with Alanis that his music took a raw, fresh turn. Music industry buzz lingered that he was now only interested in working with "angry women" after he signed on with Presley. But of course, he has proved the buzz wrong, and has collaborated with five of the non-angriest guys on the planet!
So, what is this new direction DMB wants to go in with Ballard? Is the "creative high tide" going to bring to fruition our DMB new album dreams? Guess we'll have to hold tight and wait 'til February of next year... until then, we're still Waiting and Wondering!
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