kid sister and grammy nominated Atlanta singer songwriter, Shawn Mullins produced this album in the spring of 1998. Dashboard Buddha was released in May 1998.
Dashboard Buddha (DBB)
was conceived as a band moniker during a conversation between Ruth and a co-worker.
Ruth told Piper about the conversation. Piper took it a step further and draped
a song around the idea of a Dashboard Buddha. (Sorta like a plastic jesus)
Piper was toying with the idea of writing music for a band when she wrote
the song. That is why it doesn't sound like a folk song.
This track can also be found on Broken Bridges as a live cut. The live track
was a last minute save to a technical snafu in the studio. They rerecorded
it in the studio for DDB. Somewhere the decision was made to title the sophomore
album Dashboard Buddha. Now you know.
DBB was recorded in Atlanta
with the help of a friend and fellow musician Shawn Mullins. He used to be
a folkie just like them with his guitar and van. Shawn wanted to use his confidant
in the studio, Glenn Martullo. Glenn and Shawn had worked together many times
on SMG recordings.
Glenn was still finishing the then newly created Orphan Studios when DDB was
recorded. Dashboard Buddha was the second album to be recorded at Orphan,
Soul's Core was the first.
Ruth and Piper crashed at Brother Jim's as they recorded DBB. Jim had a chance to come into the studio and lay a few guitar licks on one of Ruth's songs. Chris Dunbar, Ruth's brother-in-law, brought his bass and added the bottom end to most of the album. David Patterson, what a deal, sat in to rock found out. Thanks for the Vienneau family for making that spring possible.
When DBB was made Ruth was free from the corporate vampires and Piper, well, we're still working on her. Dashboard Buddha was a call from fans to record songs that were main stays in their live sets. When they toured with DBB they had worked up twenty new songs and would only sprinkle a few cuts into the set. I guess it was time to record another album...
coming soon, lyrics and insert photos.
