RECORDINGS
WICKED LITTLE THINGS
When I heard that Gregg Williams and his studio, The Trench, was located a mere seven blocks from my house, I jumped at the chance to record there. Yes, I had my own place, but at that time my gear was dedicated to clients and their projects. I wasn’t about to change any mic placements or pre amp settings in order to work on my own stuff. Besides, I needed a break from my own space.
Gregg is a fine musician, an ace drummer and an amazing producer with quite a lofty pedigree. He has worked with some powerhouse players over the years, including Sheryl Crow, Blitzen Trapper, The Dandy Warhols, Quarterflash and Pete Droge.
We had a blast making this and became great friends. Also featured on the record are Jim Walker (JVA, Studio 515) and John R. Smith (Nu Shooz), two stellar musicians and songwriters in their own right .
The Greg’g experience forever changed my approach to sound engineering, as it was a master class in both recording and mixing techniques.
This is also the record that took me straight to New York City, into the law offices of George N. Stein, Esq. and ultimately, on to Nashville, Tennessee as a songwriter.
THE BIRDBRAIN COLLECTION
The unsung hero in this life of music is my melodically gifted and quick -witted wordsmith brother, Dave Paul. We have been writing songs together for nearly four decades. We used to crank them out on weekly basis in his attic, recording them onto a boom box for our own amusement. He’d hear the fruits of our labor later, as my band would play those songs live in a club and subsequently record them for fans. I would say without reservation that we were quite a prolific duo.
This collection of songs is built around “Birdbrain”, a song written by Dave and me long ago, in an attic far away.
This was an internet -only offering, featured on Crowchow Radio. It will be re released.
THE SPEEDING FERLINGHETTIS
This was to be a final recording effort before I kissed music goodbye. I bought some decent analog gear and set it up in my North Portland basement. I wrote some songs and then recorded them live in my makeshift “studio” with a drummer (Bob Thompson) and a bass guitarist (Matt Tracy). There were very few overdubs. No Autotune. No editing. This was old school reel to reel.
I felt pretty good about the results as I carried the bulky Tascam and two reels of tape into White Horse Studios to commence mixing.
There I met audio engineer, Dave Friedlander. Gazing at the bulky tape machine he stated, completely deadpan, “What is this, the eighties?” I knew that he was all in as soon as he played back “Wicked Love” through that SSL console. Dave did a masterful job of mixing this record. I’m very grateful. I also want to thank Burnside Records for the fantastic distribution deal. The unintended consequence of this record has been a lasting career in music.
