The Donald is in town. No, not the bilious gas-bag with the orange combover. The Donald. Donald Fagen, the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame member and co-author with Walter Becker of some of the sweetest, most delicious jazz-inflected tunes in the pop music canon. (“Peg” and “Do It Again” are great, sure, but I’m keener on “Josie,” “Time Out of Mind,” and “Black Friday.”) What’s rock royalty doing in ye olde town of cow, you ask? Oh, just co-producing a record.
The legendary Steely Dan frontman is twiddling the knobs at the Near Southside’s Eagle Audio Recording on the sophomore album by indie-world rockers Oh Whitney. Fronted by Fort Worth native Peter More, Oh Whitney was once based here (and in New York City and North Carolina) and is now based in the little arty town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where Peter and his bandmates bumped into Fagen on the street one day a while back and became friends (“Time Out of Mind,” Nov. 21, 2012).
The band began recording in Mexico in December and was making some headway before The Nightfly decided a change of scenery was in order. Enter: Fort Worth.
Over the years Fagen has collaborated with quite a few artists but has sat in the producer’s chair only a couple of times. Oh Whitney’s album will represent his first project without his name on the front cover. The band expects to release the still-untitled disc this spring and relocate from Mexico to Austin. In between laying down tracks at Eagle Audio, Oh Whitney will perform on Saturday at the nearby The Live Oak Music Hall & Lounge (1311 Lipscomb St., 817-926-0968). Cover is $5. Whatever you do, don’t drink Scotch whiskey all night long and die behind the wheel.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
