Walt Hamburger Discusses His One Week Experience

Two things really intimidated me about One Week Records. Drawing my album cover and writing this essay. Here goes nothing (bear with me).

I was nervous and excited to fly to San Francisco to spend a week with one of my musical idols, Mr. Joey Cape, and his wonderful family (Kristen and Violet). I had met Joey twice in Green Bay and we immediately bonded over whiskey and stories, but it’s another thing all together to be invited to spend a week in his house making a record.

Being from Wisconsin, I was equally as excited to make this record as I was to be able to wear shorts in January. The Capes and their pets made me feel truly at home right away. I felt lucky to get to spend a few minutes each day with the two brilliant women in Joey’s life, Kristen and Violet. And then Mochi the dog would join us for the studio time……which was significant. Ten songs in seven days, 17+ hour days. I’m still not quite sure how we pulled it off.

Everyone is aware of what Dr. Cape has done as a songwriter, but I am now lucky enough to see what a gifted producer and engineer he is. An okay lyric wasn’t good enough. We needed to get to the bottom of what I was trying to say and then find a way to articulate that into something tangible. And the results were incredibly rewarding. We didn’t change things just for the sake of change. Every production element was performed only if we agreed it improved the song. Sometimes it was rewriting an entire verse, other times it was adding 2 measures of an e minor leading into an F major. NO AUTO-TUNING (amen)! I even got to co-write and perform “Whiskey & Jen” with Joey. That was a truly unbelievable experience for me. I kept saying I felt like I won a trip to rock n’ roll fantasy camp.

But the best part of each day was when our brains no longer could decipher the difference between vocal takes. That meant the work was done, we could drink whiskey, and I would be treated to stories from Joey.

I was lucky enough to time my trip to end with a quick mini-tour with Lagwagon, which was an adventure in itself. Besides being treated like a lifelong friend by E and everyone at Fat Wreck, I got to hang out with Frank Turner, Dave Hause, Brian Wahlstrom, the guys from Lagwagon, and I should probably just stop name dropping. But it also gave me 14 hours in the van to talk and share stories with Joey which was honestly my favorite memory from the trip.

I guess I can sum up my experience like this. It’s a dangerous thing to meet your musical idol. It’s rare they will live up to your expectations, and more often than not you end up disappointed. That’s not what happened with Joey. In fact, it went a million times better than I could have ever hoped. It was tough for both of us when it was time for me to return to the frozen tundra. I can’t wait to see him again. He’s still a musical idol, but I’m proud to say he’s now my friend.

I’m very proud of this record. I’m proud to be a part of the One Week Records family. I’m proud to represent Wisconsin. I’m proud to spread the message of pet rescue each show I play. And I’m very thankful for this opportunity to sing into your earballs. I’ve been doing this for 18+ years and can’t wait to see where this takes me next. Cheers! #DrinkWisconsinbly