Album Notes

This recording is a document of some songs I’ve written over the past several years. In addition, it is my hope that it showcases the immense talent and creativity of the guys I had the pleasure of working with. I’m writing my own liner notes because I have some specific things to say about this record. I modeled this project after some of my favorite recordings. Those recordings have several things in common. In general, I find that I prefer to hear live performances. I like to hear songs I can understand, with adventurous forays into risky territories. I like liner notes that tell me some specifics about the record so I can learn from what I listen to. (If you are a guitar player, for example, even a record you don’t care for can be a useful reference if you are told what guitar was used, etc.) So, with all of that in mind, let me tell you a little about what we have done.

The recording was done in two afternoon sessions, averaging about four hours long. The first day we worked as a trio, and the next day as a quartet. We worked at a fairly quick pace so as to capture fresh impressions of the music and not overwork the tunes. There were no group rehearsals. In general, I tried to end up with two takes of each song. (Some had three, some only one . . . whoops.) I chose the takes for final mix based on how well I thought the songs communicated. So this record consists of live, complete takes with the following exception; Mark wanted to add a percussion track to “Too Much Spice.” We were ahead of schedule and so he played around with it a little, and honestly, I was inclined to exclude it. But as I was listening to rough mixes I got to where I had more fun listening to the track with the extra percussion than without it, so fun won out. During the mix process editing was kept to a minimum so that what was played would be what you hear.

I’ve thought a lot about what to say concerning the guys that appear on this record with me. They are busy working musicians who live in the area. Steve and I have worked together quite a bit. He has become a good friend and I can’t imagine how I could have done this without his guidance and encouragement. Mark and Mike are guys that I only had brief contact with on just a few gigs but they left lasting impressions. When it came time to start this project I wanted to seek them out. If I was not involved with this record I would want to hear it for their performances. In the early stages of planning I considered getting someone else to do the guitar in my place so I could focus on the production and the songs and not worry about making mistakes. But I knew I was going to have fun playing with these guys so, once again, fun won the day.