Originally I’d shown up at John Field’s studio to talk him through my drum vision for “Invisible”, a new song by Cliff Hillis & myself. Instead, John picked up his trusty Harmony bass, and got to work laying it down. Without any thought or discussion we kept last week’s rough drum edit muted. Besides, he’d [...]

Transparent recording process reveals invisible warts and extracts an Autotune confession. I emailed him, “play the drums like on Matthew Sweet’s ‘Girlfriend’ or ‘Rhiannon’ from ‘Rumours,’ or both simultaneously.” Then, night fell. The next morning John Fields, producer of two Wisely albums (“She” and “Turbosherbet“) sent me his big messy test pass of drums. Suddenly, [...]

Transparent recording process will reveal all. Thirty-one years ago this May, my band “The Addition” and I were LITERALLY arrested while making our first album––caught breaking and entering into our own recording studio. These days, a band making an album couldn’t even FIGURATIVELY get arrested. Music is too ubiquitous, or as former Sex Pistols manager [...]

Wisely Considers (Musical) Performance-Enhancing Drug Regimen. ‘Time Machine’ music player by Secret Friend. Politics and music are sometimes awkward bedfellows, but sometimes the combination explains everything. Late last year producer Linus of Hollywood invited me to contribute to an album project he was crafting for Secret Friend, a hybrid American/Australian project by Sydney-based songwriter Steven [...]

Expansive Radio Interview from Maui. Wow! Finally, DJ Michael McCartney and I sit down for a fatty–our first radio interview–17 years in the making on the Maui Time Machine on KEAO-FM. It rolls in at an hour and includes all manner of stories and songs–old and new. Who feels it knows it. Follow the Maui [...]

Paying forward for all those foot rubs I’ll need in 2013. The greatest conundrum of modern life is deciding how to respond to the flood of Facebook birthday wishes one receives each year. You want to be polite and respond, yet you realize that an automated reminder triggered the whole landslide. If I look at [...]

Free Downloads Courtesy of Our Favorite Radio DJ’s You’re probably here because you heard the latest Trio album “True” on the radio. Be sure to thank the DJ who made this free download possible and ENJOY the tunes! Leave a comment below too. Just click on the widget below and be sure to click on [...]

Chart Topper for 2012! Hot off the press. Willie Wisely Trio’s reunion album “True” makes Audities Top 20 for 2012 in the esteemed company of Redd Kross, Cliff Hillis, Brendan Benson, Aimee Mann, The Shins, The Beach Boys, Kurt Baker, and Nelson Bragg!!! CLICK ON THE ALBUM COVER TO NAME YOUR PRICE! True by Willie [...]

Debut Gig for Kristin Mooney & Claire Holley’s New Project! Wisely Plays “Desert Nights” at The Standard Hotel in West Hollywood – Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 7:30pm For a couple years in the early oughts I DJ’d in the lobby at The Standard Hotel–until they fired me for playing entire sets of cheezy vintage easy [...]

Death-Defying Encounter with Rock’n’Roll On A Budget. It was a short tour, without a good paying anchor gig. Meaning: we’d driven too far, for too little. If something magical didn’t happen at our gig in St. Louis tonight–like selling a ton of CDs–paying the guys in the band wasn’t going to happen. So, this morning, [...]