This is my latest project I call “brand new ache”. It was written and recorded in april through august 2001. During which time my life took a downward spiral… suffered through a break-up, lots of chaos around my world. I felt things I’ve never felt before. New doubts, new frustrations, new strength, new found weaknesses, new anger, new mercies, new grace and a brand new ache.

official album title: Brand New Ache

street date: December 7, 2001

label/dist: n/a (Independently released)

produced by : Chris Taylor

recorded in : San Antonio, TX

01. where to begin? 02. supreme 03. one of the luckiest people in the world 04. clear blue goodbye 05. salvation 06. underneath the tree of stars 07. ain’t life sweet? 08. devil and the deep blue sea 09. swing your dress 10. the last time i saw you 11. brand new ache 12. here’s to the losers… bless them all

OVERVIEW: Chris Taylor returns with his first album since Worthless Pursuit. Brand New Ache -- and it's companion, The Lo-Fi Project -- are actually homegrown releases created "for the fans" by special arrangement with Rhythm House Records. Taylor commented on this hiatus from his national releases: "...although i'm still tied in to that big process of making a record for distribution and mass marketing, i felt it worthwhile to make a record (or two) for the fans who've been into my stuff for a while now."

BRAND NEW ACHE LINKS: Click here for an interview about the two homegrown CDs. Take a closer look at the artwork (coming soon) Read the brand new ache lyrics Visit the chris taylor juke joint

Distributed by Eternal Gypsy Music Brand New Ache Product Number: CTODISC 091101-2 UPC Code:6-56317-58052-2

I checked myself into the studio (tony’s house) and he gave me studio time to record the kind of record I wanted to make. I knew I had to have complete control over all aspects of this creation. I wanted to produce it, have a big hand in the mixdown, the artwork (I’d been doing some painting...), pick all the musicians to play on it. The exact opposite of both of my label records.
Anyway, for better or worse, this is my baby. It’s the inside of my head, the belly of my heart, the walls
of my soul. The songs were written and recorded quickly ‘cos I wanted to keep that spirit goin… and i
get bored too fast! The musicians learned parts, made up parts on the fly, laughed and made all sorts of fun, wild noise with me.
There was something refreshing about doing an indie record at this point in my life. Sell it out of the
back of my car or through the net. Lots of people came to help me out, Geoff Lupton and the folks at Krazy Kat helped me snag some gear for live and in studio use. Greg Carnes helped organize the studio schedule and keep me booked on the weekends. All the players donated their time and energy to learn
the songs and make the sessions… “everything you know is upside down… the life you had no longer around oh no…” words to a song now the story of my life. Tv, clubs, church all became boring. Sometimes you find yourself with no motivation, no easy to see answers, no direction and no big plans… this is that time for me. I hope you can find some strength in these songs. Maybe some peace for whatever is goin’ on in your world.
Me? I’m tired and need sleep. I’ll wake up tomorrow and feel the heat of the texas sun on my face and try to start a new chapter in life… keep on keepin’ on, brothers and sisters. And maybe we should all try to go with God…
~ Ct

Ain’t life Sweet?
Recorded in Berkley, CA with matt slocum in matt’s garage as a demo. This was one of those songs that just arrived. We didn’t have much to work with- no lyrics at all, just the title. Matt threw out some chord changes and I started scattin’ vocal lines and then we really built the track with added guitars and a pedal steel. We recorded this quickly on pro-tools and I was supposed to go back and actually write lyrics since the words to the recorded version were made up on the spot. That never happened and the tune remains as-is… now it’s one of my favorites.

Where to Begin?
This was again made up in studio for the ‘brand new ache’ sessions. Me, shane, and justin just turned on the tape and let this one fly. There was only a few minutes left at the end of the reel of tape and our engineer Tony F said to make it short. It was gonna be a hidden track or something kinda throw away until I talked myself into putting it as track one on the new record. It sets up the mood of the record and has quite a spirit about it. RUBEN V came in later to put that far away crying guitar on there. He played the parts and I screwed with his delay pedal! Oh… the joy of being in control!