Design Garbage 101: Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons
Raise your hand in feathers.
The history of the feather, the songwriter and his band it was for, Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons, goes back a few years. The feather was first scribbled as a sketch idea featuring a little man staring at a giant feather for a record made in Rockford, IL at the now defunct FUSE studio.
Above: Mock illustration for “Little Bird” cover eventually became a cover for Rockford, IL band, The Pimps when Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, Fuse, and management decided a photo of Cory’s face was best on the cover for attracting label interest… music marketing 101.
That record was and still is “Little Bird” by Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons. A beautiful little soul filled pop folk rock album produced by Mark Muraski, Miles Nielsen and Cory themselves over the course of 2005-2006 that followed up the EP they made as well the previous year called “Darken your Door.” Both features many talents by many people who helped shaped those recordings and Cory’s midwest vision in songs.
Above: Darken Your Door EP by Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons.
The feather means something different to Cory and everyone else involved as it does to me. At some point in the making of the “Little Bird” record I remember Cory arranging a great well-know session player in Augie Meyers, who’s played with everyone from Bob Dylan to Tom Waits, to fly into Rockford for a weekend session. During those moments with the making of that record it became clear to me this little project Cory was recording with FUSE was thinking ‘big’ and beyond those moments. Other artists like Bun E. Carlos and Rick Nielsen with their Rockford ties came by to add parts to songs in production. In whole it’s a beautiful little accumulation of the midwest scene caught in a tiny little moment featuring great talented skillful unknowns in Mark, Miles, Noah & Adriel Harris, Dan Pittney, Mike Beert, Rachel Hanlin, Rick Setser, Justin Perkins, Daxx Nielsen, Tony Berkman, General Jim Westin, Mark Baldin, Mr. Adam Plamann, and Daniel J. McMahon. My memories from watching the making of that record influenced many decisions made artistically giving color and shape, design, to Cory’’s record and anything else needed artistically to help market “Little Bird” along the way
Said record went through many shift shape ideas and album cover ideas and eventually the feather was thrown out because the goal was to market Cory- not a feather. That mock eventually became the cover of another great midwestern punk band’s record by The Pimps after it’s songwriter, Stu Johnson, saw the sketch and demanded it for his band. In Cory’s case, simple 101 music marketing theory took over and successfully I will add. Cory and “Little Bird” got the attention of many people in the music industry, pieces fell into place, and Cory signed with Sony/RCA in the fall of 2007. The record itself is still widely unavailable but should be in the near future. See below.
So the feather, the idea of feathers, came back around in some way. Cory’s major label debut hit everywhere on Sept. 29th, 2009. “Death Won’t Send a Letter” is the title and it’s definitely worth seeking out. It’s a good 2009 Americana pop-rock-folk-blues-record manic on style and full of live studio energy thanks to an awesome rhythm section. One of Cory’s strongest aspects as a songwriter has been his voice, a soulful-gospel-rock-scream-it-from-the-mountain yelp that can crack or soar. With a rotating cast of ‘Wandering Sons’ again this time around, how would you not want to hear a band like this on record? Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam; Brendan Benson, Little Jack and Patrick Keeler of the Raconteurs, Greenhornes and solo ventures; Sam Farrar from the very under appreciated Phantom Planet brings an awesome warm bouncing bass feel to the whole sha bang. The list goes on.
The rhythm section rocked my first listen, and Cory’s songwriting has sharpened too on pop focus. “What Do You Need” is one of the best indie pop songs I’ve heard this year hands down. The kind that gets buried on a record and slips into indie nerds’ favorite of the year list, like mine- it’s a great overall pop rock song, unlike anything I’ve heard Cory write to this date and deserves to heard whether you like sitting through full records like I do or buying singles on iTunes- which is a giant excuse for being lazy.
So, the feather. Cory, Adriel and the rest of the Sons are set to embark on their first major tour of the US & Europe supporting indie songwriting great and Raconteur, Brendan Benson. The idea of a lively skeleton staring at his insides came via email. The perfect idea actually considering I’ve spent 4-5 years now focusing on drawing little human or animal objects staring at ‘something’ larger than themselves in theory and wonder. Cory and Adriel needed something simple on style, not too abstract, that conveyed the feeling of taking a look inside yourself combined with birds and feathers, life and death, hearts and thoughts– if possible. All elements present themselves in various manners. In this case it had to be marketable for merch material (tour ts, posters), but it still had to mean something and appear fragile, powerful and marketable to the average music lover all in one.
Enter medical anatomy books, various feather images, ink, paper, various sketches, ‘there it is’, scanner, digital threshold, auto-vector and coloring for mass print production. And away it goes. Art and commerce.
Not many ideas end up this way. Most in fact end up in the trash can or stuck in a notebook. So thank you to Cory and Adriel for conveying this idea so clearly.
A limited archival print is available to purchase of the feature illustration “Raise your hand in feathers.” by clicking here. 2 sizes, perfect for empty walls and framing. Many more illustrations and prints to view at the link as well. The t-shirt itself can be bought by catching the band on their US winter tour with Bendan Benson.
Below is a very brief sampling of the work I’ve done for Cory and the Sons over the years.
