Album Notes

John Watkins: Vocals/Guitar
James Wallace: Bass
Rhett Berger: Drums

The Unawares, of Columbia, SC, have been together as a rock trio since 2006. They approach conventional rock songwriting with idiosyncratic, unpredictable, minimalist, up-tempo brevity.

Encouraged by the band’s self-produced debut, “Hey Zeus,” local recording engineer/producer Chris Wenner stepped into take the band’s following three recording projects to a new level. “Hey Zeus” was a multi-tracked studio project produced independently by the band in John Watkins’ noise-proof garage. The album was sold at The Unawares’ first live gig at The Whig in Columbia in late 2006.

Wenner approached The Unawares after that show and offered to record the band live using a two-track analog machine in his vaulted-ceilinged loft. The “Tooth Dip” EP, released in November of 2007, was the first collaboration between The Unawares and Wenner. “Pinkie Greene” was the full-length follow-up, recorded in Wenner’s West Columbia spread, now known as Anole Ridge Studio. “Pinkie Greene” proved so strong that, along with The Unawares’ local shows, the band played gigs along the east coast region, including Athens, Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, Philadelphia and Brooklyn.

Watkins, the ever prolific songwriter, introduced the band to his new material in early 2010, which the band developed together. The Unawares entered Anole Ridge Studio in May 2010 to record what is now “When The Trees Are Empty.”

The Unawares – “When The Trees Are Empty”:

- Recorded and mixed by Chris Wenner and The Unawares at Anole Ridge Studio, West Columbia, SC;
- Tracked “live” on Otari MX/5050;
- Edited in Pro Tools;
Mastered by Dave Harris at Studio B Mastering, Charlotte, NC.