Heaven’s Waiting
(2007)

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Heaven’s Waiting was recorded before the band had settled on a line-up. Matt Gervais played all of the drums on the record, as Dave Lawrence had not joined the group yet. The record was recorded piece by piece, and as such, most of the band members play different instruments other than their “main” instruments. A few additional songs were intended to be on the album, but never saw an official release. These included Deleted Scenes, The Ballad of Gavril Ivolgin, and Jellyfish on Dry Land.

Recorded at
Electrokitty, and Nick’s Bedroom

Mikey Gervais:
Lead Guitar, Saxophone, Clarinet, Vocals

Matt Gervais:
Acoustic Guitar, Gilbransen Organ, Banjo, Vocals, Drums:

Peter Fedofsky:
Piano, Slide Guitar, Organ, Accordian, Vocals

Nick Holman:
Bass, Trombone, Euphonium, Vocals, Tamborine

Tracks 1,4 Written By Peter Fedofsky (ASCAP)
Track 5 Written By Nick Holman, Peter Fedofsky, Matt Gervais
Tracks 2,3,6,7,8,9,10,11 Written By Matt Gervais (ASCAP)

The Pugilist: 
This song was written after the death of Peter’s grandmother. Knowing that no recordings of her voice existed, the nucleus of the song was inspired by this idea.This can be heard in the line, “tucked in the back of my battered mind is a voice that’s fading fast.” Fedofsky played lap steel on the recorded version.  

Postcard: 
Originally featuring a much gentler acoustic arrangement, the song was transformed by the addition of horns courtesy of Nick Holman. The demo featured an extended bridge section, which was cut in the final recording.  

When My Ride Comes Along:
A song about boredom and an ambivalent approach to early adulthood.  Listened to a lot of Please, Please Me and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot at the time.    

Left Hand:
Written primarily by Nick and Peter, the song originally featured a different set of lyrics and a much slower and sadder arrangement. This is one of the few Curtains For You tracks that have collaborative songwriting credits.

The Big One: 
The ending of the recorded version is awfully familiar to Beatles fans… err…  

Heaven’s Waiting: 
This song was inspired by Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych. Mike Gervais plays clarinet and saxophone on the song.  This song was written while working the late shift in the meat department of a large grocery chain.  

Each & Everyone:
The accordion on the song was operated by two people at once, as it was broken. One would pump, and the other would play the keyboard.  Written on a stop along the Burke Gilman Trail in late Winter ’05.    

Unfamiliar:
This song was inspired by August Wilson. Nick Holman provides a euphonium part that foreshadows a theme from Dreams & Drunkenness. Matt Gervais provides the banjo on the recording.

The Snails:  
The sound effect on the intro is taken from a 78 record. The song itself was inspired by the passing of Matt and Mike’s grandfather.  

Dreams & Drunkenness: 
The sound collage at the end of this track was assembled very late in the recording process, and includes elements from an excercise record, scissors, bottles, and conversations of band members. In the middle of the tracks, Matt (guitar) and Peter (accordion) can be heard singing a live version of Jingles, Jangles, Buckles, and Bows. The uncredited track was written by Mike Gervais.  

Until the End:
The final track on the record is a solo performance by Matt Gervais. It has been performed in a Curtains set only once.  

Non-Album Rarities:

Deleted Scenes: (live or demo?)
Deleted Scenes was a staple in the live set at the time of the recording of Heaven’s Waiting, but was never formally recorded.  

The Ballad of Gavril Ivolgin: (demo)
Inspired by Dosoyevsky’s The Idiot, Gavril Ivolgin was originally supposed to folow the song Heaven’s Waiting on the album, but was never formally recorded.  

Jellyfish on Dry Ground: (demo)
Jellyfish became an obsession of both Gervais and Fedofsky, as they would stay after rehearsals to work out the arrangement. Matt demoed the song, and had Peter overdub a piano part onto the demo. The loose piano work on this demo is due to the fact that Gervais and Fedofsky only had enough time to make one pass at the recording.