Album Notes

It all began in the spring of 2000. Recently separated from his all too brief marriage of 4 years, Robert purchased a Fender Stratocaster and an amplifier to match. Though he hadn’t so much as touched a guitar in over a decade, the recent changes in his life somehow drew him back to music and playing again.

At the time, the idea of writing and recording new music wasn’t even a consideration. The guitar was a diversion, something to do and maybe have some fun with. But, as time went on, hashing out covers jamming with locals grew old.

What if he could write something people would like, maybe something that would impact them outside of the flavor of the moment pop of the day. What if, somehow he could do this alone, without the help of his contemporaries who all seemed bent on the idea of becoming superstars in an age when there were no longer superstars.

The real question became, how?

Part of the answer, was the internet and a website called mp3.com. It seemed everyone had a track or so on mp3.com in those days and though much of it was bad and worse, some were very good indeed. Next was how to actually create the recordings. Using a conventional studio was out of the question. It simply would take too much time and expense, a luxury he simply didn’t have. Here digital technology in the form of an 8 track recorder, the Boss BR-8, seemed to be the answer.

Sadly, a few months and nearly 30 songs in, the BR-8 died. The unit had to be shipped off to Boss/Roland for repair something that meant several weeks of down time.

To continue working, the decision was made to purchase a more portable, though in some ways more limited recorder, the Boss BR-532. This machine had something the BR-8 didn’t, a programmable drum machine and a huge collection of effects. This and the addition of a real 4 string bass guitar (he’d been using a bass simulator before) completed the aural canvas enabling him to flesh out the basic tracks.

One of those tracks would become “No Freedom Won” the second track on the CD you’re currently listening to and hopefully planning to purchaseJ

At that time, there were no lyrics to any of these songs. Robert though a member of several bands in his youth and spending many years in choral ensembles never felt confident in his vocal abilities. This led him naturally to think instrumentally first.

Things may very well have stopped right there were it not for the input of locals who, though they liked the music, unanimously felt that the songs were incomplete without vocals. To that end, yet another recorder purchase was in order and now, vocal mics.
The SM58/SM57 though great mics, forced Robert to scream to get the feel he was after and that just didn’t work. So, armed with a decent, not great but decent, condenser mic, the vocals were recorded as the lyrics themselves were being written.

In the end, those 30 some odd songs, became the 11 tracks on this CD. Parts of the others would end up on later recordings but these 11 were important to Robert and seemed to tell the story of where he was just then as a whole.

If you want the digital downloads, get em here (cheaper than iTunes:))