Album Notes

The project began last year, having written some new material which, naturally, I wanted to record. Lying in my back catalog there was some older songs which warranted revisiting. Gradually, the concept of the album began to formulate: A metaphysical journey on two levels. On one level, it is a road trip thru parts of the United States. On another, it is a personal voyage thru facets of my life. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place when I enlisted the vocal talents of some of my good buddies in Nashville to interpret the material. The individual songs proposed to each artist reflects their own musical style. The end result is an eclectic mix of folk, rock & traditional R&B. Recording began in April 2001 but it took the remainder of the year to record all the tracks due to road commitments of the artists involved as well as the musicians providing the musical backdrop. Some of Nashville's finest play on these tracks such as Rick Schell (Pin Monkey), Lance Martin (John Conlee Band) & Steve Paxton (The Wilkinsons) to name but a few. On vocals there is Doug Hoekstra, Ron LaSalle, Joe Pagetta, Duane Jarvis, etc., all of whom have their own current album releases. Initial stocks of the album, available from CDBaby, come with an extra CD rom which includes writer's bio, song log (how the songs came to be written), lyrics & two folders of jpeg images. One folder contains candid pics taken in the studio during the recording process. The other uses photos from my personal collection to illustrate the song titles. What the critics say: "The record has a smooth sound that alternates between smoky, Springsteen-inspired city rock & a more rootsy, heartland style" Noel Murray (Nashville Scene) "A compilation subtitled as A Songwriter's Album Of Songs.. it's the breadth of instrumentation incl. horn sections & cellos that really makes the songs" Mark Whitfield (Americana-UK.com) "Through the use of pop cliches & the raw emotion of truly original pieces, this is the essence of Written On The Hood Of An Old Car. The skilful retrospective musical arrangements emphasize how deep our most personal memories are bonded to pop music from Elvis to Jewel" Theo de Jong (Roots Town Music Magazine)