Typically, when a band signs on with a major label, it is not long until the band is in the studio recording their debut. A month of prep and a month or two recording is often the standard procedure. But as always, the Thanks To Gravity team decided to do things a little differently. The concept was dubbed "Slingshot," and it's purpose was to put out a recording of major label quality without the pressures of the major label debut. This process would allow the band to tour, with the assistance of the team at Capitol Records, and promote the new CD on a nationwide level; thus giving the band an entire year to develop national name recognition and a good relationship with their new record label well in advance of the first Capitol record. While Capitol was ready to go, the band felt they needed a little more time to work the grassroots following they had begun to acquire before the major push came. It required patience, a rigorous tour schedule the likes of which the Gravity boys had yet to see, and a partner that would bridge the gap between the band's own Difference Engine Music label and Capitol. The obvious choice was AWARE records. And so it was that only days after the band finally chose their major label partner, they were once again in the studio recording their last indy release, Slingshot.

The excitement of this time period was palpable. A new record, a major label record deal, and a super special delivery for Sean Caughran from the stork (Sean was now nicknamed Feelix, so as to avoid confusion between synth man and drummer), all made for the Slingshot sessions to be an incredible experience for the band. Producing most of the record was AWARE's recruit, John Alagia, whose long list of recording credits most notably includes Remember Two Things, the Dave Matthews Band's final indy record.

Adding to all the excitement was the environment that the band chose to record in. Instead of a stale studio, the group arranged to take over the beautiful Portsmouth Unitarian Church for part of a week. Engineer Jon Altschiller arranged for top notch recording gear to be delivered to the church which was then transformed into a hi-fi recording facility with an incredible ambience. Drums on the altar, microphones everywhere, tons of natural light and in the evening, hundreds of candles illuminating the room; it was the perfect environment to capture the essence of Gravity.

The material for the disc turned out to be a historic retrospective of sorts... the band was not yet ready to release their new songs, which they wanted to save for their Capitol debut, and so used the opportunity to rerecord more developed versions of older material. It was no coincidence that the band chose two songs from each of their three previous records. They had created a list that was representative of their current live set and that was also a perfect retrospective of the band's indy career. Supplementing that list were two tracks that had become live staples but had so far never made it onto a Thanks To Gravity album, the band's rendition of Justify My Love (originally written by Lenny Kravitz with Madonna), and of course, the by now infamous Pachelbel's Canon. The final result was well rounded, sonically up to par compilation of the Thanks To Gravity catalogue that would hopefully give the band the momentum they needed to slingshot into the upper stratospheres of the music world.

Click the song title for printable lyrics.