Emergence!

I am way overdue for a conversation, albeit one-way, with my universe. (But let's make it two-way. Please leave a comment or follow me on Twitter or Facebook!)

Where to begin when so much has happened? And is happening! I guess the beginning is a good place. But that's too far back. Let's start in the middle somewhere with the latest recording! I'll TRY and keep it brief. We recorded at legendary Robert Lang Studios, the studio that's hosted such luminaries as Macklemore, Foo Fighters, Train, Nirvana, Death Cab, Heart, The Dave Matthews Band, etc. Couldn't hurt to record there, right?

It gets better.

The owner, Robert Lang, is a very astute, wise man. He knew my project might be the perfect carrot to get a former Robert Lang Studios engineer he admired back to the studio AND he thought we would be sympatico and work well together. And you know what? He was spot on! Jakael liked my songs.

He also knows people.

He brought in some amazing talent, name talent, to help the "no-name me!" Players like Ben Smith, drummer for Heart. (Yes, that Heart. "Barracuda" and Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.) Garey Shelton, bass player who has played with BB King, James Brown!!!!! Jesse Colin Young, and Randy Meisner. Mycle Wastman, singer, who was on The Voice, season 3. Lucas Field, vocals, who formed Low vs. Diamond (RIP). Andrew Joslyn, who does all the strings for Macklemore and is currently touring Europe with The Man! Jeff Kathan came in to play a little 'tymp' - yes, tympani - on "The Violence of Your Heart." Jeff drummed for Paul Rodgers, founder of Free and Bad Company. Roger Wood, one of the Pacific Northwest's premier Hammond B3 players, embellished deliciously. I was most fortunate to stumble across Katie Kuffel online. What a voice/talent! I knew she was the one to sing "Violence." I was right. Maddy Dullum was the stand-out singer who responded to my Craigslist want ad for singers. She sings on "All You Ever Do Is Rain." Jakael Tristram added amazing electric guitar, Mark Adams spiced up "I've Been Waiting" with beautiful Spanish Guitar. Krystle Macza, classical pianist, was called in when I struggled with the meter of a piano part. (That I wrote! Go figure. But it happens, especially for us not classically-trained pianists!) She nailed it in, like, two minutes; which is amazing, considering the song is more than 4 minutes long. That's how good she is!

Okay, I said I would TRY and keep brief. Failed miserably. To conclude: the songs are done, mastered by multi-Grammy winner, Tom Coyne (Adele, Beyonce, One Direction, Sam Smith, Ariane Grande, etc.), at Sterling Sound. An aside: I realize I'm dropping a lot of "names" here. But what's a poor, obscure musician, who doesn't want to remain poor and obscure, to do? Leverage those "names," people, leverage those "names!"

Now, we're plotting and planning how, when, where, what to do with these songs. Next steps: launch our publicity campaign in late March.
Release our first single sometime after that.
Go to ASCAP Expo and schmooze, schmooze, and schmooze.
Release another single, maybe in June. We'll see how the ship sails...

Exciting days ahead, we pray and hope. Thanks for reading this and let me know what you think or how we might support each other.

Peace,
David

P.S. The image is the cover of my upcoming ep. The face is Katie Kufell. The artist is Dylan Riley. He is amazing, as you can well see. Thanks Katie and Dylan!

 

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