Album Notes

*** To get the liner notes (lyrics, credits etc...) for “Taste The Rain” e-mail info@jeffprestonmusic.com for the FREE 15 page PDF. For more on "Taste The Rain" read on...

THE TRACKS

"Taste The Rain" flows with Character sketches Salma, Nevermore and No Party Waiting; cinematic “couple on the run” love stories of desperation and determination fearlessly rendered in Contemplation and You, Me & A Car; the home for the holidays feel of Make The Best Of Everyone charmingly tackles the awkwardness of family get togethers while the title track Taste The Rain and The Need, Irreplaceable and Drama look beneath the surface of love and tumultuous relationships and find something to celebrate. The tropically dark Nevermore, inspired by Maughm's "The Moon And Six Pence", describes how paradise is often lost as soon as it is realized and the all too often futile attempt to hold on to that paradise at any cost. The upbeat piano ballad One Wish To Go, the brooding As Always and the echo of Salma-Reprise round out TTR. While Jeff covered the drums, vocals, guitar and piano for most of the album, feature performances by Sheldrick (guitar/piano), Tony Germinario & Rich Simoniello (Bass) Jeremy Lamb (Cello), Kenny Shankar (Piano) and Ali Rulle (back vox) kick things into an even higher gear at key spots.

THE STORY

"The original plan was to do a full-length album but life got in the way". That's how Jeff describes his first solo effort "Goodbye July". “I’m happy with GJ but there were more important things to deal with at the time, so a short EP was the only option.” The title track was a favorite on iTunes and lead to a feature performance and live radio show at The Sundance Film Festival in 2004. Fast forward 4 years and while working on Christopher Ward's "Fog Warning" Jeff linked up with producer Jonathan Sheldrick (Fatty Acid) while finishing post production on Jeff's Score to the vampire thriller at G & E Music in New York City. "We talked shop for 5 minutes during a "Fog Warning" mix session and I immediately knew we'd work well together tracking some new songs." Jeff and Jonathan completed the core 5 songs of Taste The Rain in January 2009 at G & E and Faithful Dog Music, also in New York.

Jeff then tapped several other musicians and took over as producer to complete the remaining 8 tracks with a decidedly different approach. He reunited with JEL bass player Tony Germinario to track bass for the remaining tracks except for "You Me And A Car" where Jeff got former JEL and Baron alumn Rich Simoniello some "bass-time". Simoniello also handled most of the mix and all of the mastering for TTR at SoLuca Sound in Maplewood, NJ. "Tony and Rich crushed their parts and I can honestly say that after playing more than 10 years with Rich and more than 17 with Tony, there are no two collaborators I'd rather write songs with."

Preston also recorded a lot of piano tracks for many of the albums signature chord progressions which adds even more dimension to TTR. "I'm a drummer who can play a little guitar so piano was kind of an unknown for me in the studio. However, after utilizing it a lot on the film scores I thought it would be the perfect tool to use to give the last 8 tracks a different feel. The guitars are still there, but the piano tracks add that strong, percussive tonal quality that cuts through the complexity of a modern pop-rock mix. It’s especially apparent when Kenny Shanker shows his chops on “One Wish To Go” and “Salma”.

The overall result is one of the most dynamic singer songwriter albums of 2009. Taste The Rain mixes all the acoustic warmth and intimate moments of a singer song-writer album with the optimism and energy of modern rock. Preview the tracks now and you’ll start to get it. Get the full tracks and listen a few times and you’ll have a new favorite singer songwriter.

***** To get the liner notes (lyrics, credits etc...) for Taste The Rain e-mail info@jeffprestonmusic.com for the FREE 15 page PDF.