NEW MUSIC
Dang – how I have neglected this blog thing! Anyway, here I am back again – hoping to better in the future.
I have been thinking lately about how I drum on demo projects or albums where it is not a technically a “band” and most people that I know might not be aware of some of this music. Time to change that! I have been a part of some very cool albums that have been released recently, and I’d like you to know more about them.
The process of recording and creating an album is often a very long and arduous one for artists. Sometimes it is done with a band or a group of musicians you are working with long-term. I have had the pleasure (and sometimes pain) of working through that process with various bands. It’s a pretty cool feeling to be a part of this process of creation.
For other artists though, they work solo on their material and often perform solo or hire musicians to play with them. They need musicians to play when they go into the studio to help make their musical vision a reality. These are the projects I want to let you know about that you might not hear about from me so often, because I am not necessarily involved in the long term. Nevertheless – there have been some very rewarding and soulful musicians I have had the pleasure of recording with of late.
Sometimes it is a year or more from the time I record drum tracks to the album release date. Usually these records are made with a little bit of rehearsal and a lot of feeling, intuition and energy. The majority of my part is done at the beginning of the recording sessions. I often go back in and do percussion overdubs closer to the end of the tracking sessions.
There are so many steps in the process after the tracking - overdubs, editing, mixing, mastering, manufacturing, and distribution – phew! It’s a big commitment. Some projects are never are finished - they just don’t make it that far. I am sharing a couple of the projects where all of the parts came together in a way that sounds really great to me. I am super proud to have worked on these albums.
“Give it Up” is the debut album from newcomer Conor Coughlan. I can’t rave enough about this talented young man and am so honored to have been a part of this recording. He has so much potential – an exceptional singer/songwriter. He possesses the craftsmanship in songwriting of someone beyond his years and plays a mean harmonica along with being a pretty great acoustic guitar-slinger! Jeffrey Wood produced this album and we had the great Adam Munoz turning knobs (a.k.a. engineering) along with my pal Paul Olguin playing the bass – super great times at Fantasy Studios. I love, love, love working with all of these guys and to have it be on something as exciting as Conor’s music made it extra fabulous. Conor is back in London performing and the album has just been released - October 2015.
Another one of those albums is “Songs from the Well” by Marca Cassity. Marca was raised in Oklahoma on the Osage reservation and granted a tribal artist grant to make this record. I think it came out great and was honored to have played on this album. It album was produced by Julie Wolf at Fantasy Studios and also featured Paul Olguin on Bass and Adam Levy on guitar. All three are stellar musicians that have played with so many great people over their lifetimes – folks like Nora Jones, Indigo Girls,Carly Simon and Mazzy Star. It was a great project to have been a part of. I have been fortunate to work with Julie and Paul on many other musical projects in the past. You can check it out at Marca’s website: http://www.marcacassitymusic.com/
Right on! There you have it, my latest installment.
Over and out for now-Dawn
October 15, 2015
