Pour la grande fromage is French for for the big cheese, so the title of this song translates to homage to the big cheese. Who's the big cheese? You're looking at her in the photos.If you listen very intently to Homage (pour La Grande Fromage), you'll hear the rhythmic and essential raison d'être for the track itself, my cat Hana's purring. Kind of on a lark, my wife, Michele, and I thought our cat needed to have a starring role in the creation of Slider- Ambient Excursions for Pedal Steel Guitar. I thought I could probably make a loop out of her purring and use that as the rhythmic basis of the song. It worked! If you knew Hana, then the following story wouldn't come as too much of a surprise- I swear it's true.
a little afternoon snooze on the hammock...
The Big Cheese at work (sawing logs) in the studio
My plan was to set up a chair in my studio. Michele would sit, I'd go find Hana and put her on Michele's lap and Michele would hold her close to the mic to capture her purring. On the morning that I intended to record Hana, the sun was out; it was a nice warm day. Michele came into the control room and left the door open behind her. I followed her into the studio, set up a mic on her and just as I was about to go out to find Hana, she sauntered into the control room, walked right past me, through the hallway, into the studio and jumped up on Michele's lap, as if to say "Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup!"
data entry is difficult without thumbs
Hana's now 21 and feeling her years, but she's still the big cheese! Just ask any other cat in our neighborhood.
