I'm happy to announce that my new CD "VOICEPRINTS" is finally finished!! (It better be since we've already booked the release party)

There's not much room on the myspace player to list everyone involved with the project so I have to give my shout outs right here. The story starts like so....

This CD started about a year ago and it has really become a magical thing for me. My good friend Josh Bartunek from D:duc+ion Studio in MN called me up and said, "Let's start this thing off right!" Josh is an amazingly talented and giving engineer who I've worked with before on tracks for the International a cappella act Stormy Weather as well as on the TimePeace CD. The two of us did some work with Ben Odom of the legendary Soul Stirrers (Sam Cooke's old group...oh yeah, and they happen to be the only gospel group in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame..not too shabby).

Well, Ben found a week that he wasn't touring (very hard to do) and took a train (Ben loves trains....I'm thinking of buying him a caboose for Christmas) from New York to my home in Chicago. We then drove to MN to meet Josh. This resulted in a wonderful soul song called Sweet Jenise. (There was a lot of pressure to perform here because Sweet Jenise happened to be in the studio as wives tend to be when you make them sing backrounds on your CD)

What started out as an a cappella tune turned into a very cool piece written by myself and Ben and featuring Josh's magic mix. It was just what I needed to get started.
Buddy G. who is one of the best co-writers I've ever come across wrote music for a song I later named Move On. It had a rock/latin feel to it. I brought Buddy's tracks with me to MN and laid down vocals. The ball was rolling. Before leaving MN, I had Ben and Josh work on some tracks for an old fashioned soul duet I wrote called Falling Fast and suddenly I had three songs!

Tom Vienna is a great guitarist who co-wrote some tunes with me for my first solo CD. He gave me a music track a few years back that got lost on my computer. I happened to find it and inspiration hit! Tom and I have different ideas about music but we still manage to make things work. He has a knack for coming up with musical pieces that never cease to inspire lyrics and melodies. The music he wrote that I found became one of those songs that just poured out of me. (These are rare but oh so nice) In about an hour I wrote the lyrics for a clever tune called Get Me. Earlier on, Tom hit me with another inspirational piece that generated lyrics about my happy place called Dreamtime.

Enter Chad Burton. Too talented. Chad and I hit it off right away and penned a song called The Breakup (Already Gone). This was a step in a musical direction I was itching for. A sort of soulful hybrid. Chad's life was a little jumbled and he wasn't able to do much else so he introduced me to Danny Giorgi. This was a good day.

Danny Giorgi is brilliant. This guy can conceivably put together a whole project in a day if he wanted to and it would completely kick ass! He is hands down one of the best guitarists and bass players I have ever worked with and his musical writing and producing skills seem to play out as naturally as the wind blows. The best thing about working with Danny was the fact that we were on the same page. He always understood where I was coming from (Usually Chicago which is a long way to Danny's house!) and our mutual respect made it too easy to work together. Finishing off the CD with Danny made the process a lot of fun. He not only co-wrote songs on the project but was a large part of the production. He also ended up playing on most of the CD. I called him up and asked for something with a reggae feel and by the time I got to his place he had the musical foundation for the song which became Flow. I was writing lyrics to catch up to his music and production. I then talked to him about a melody I had for a funny yet meaningful piece called The Way. I already had the lyrics written and just needed some instrumental help. Danny came up with the idea of keeping it stripped down. We recorded it in no time and it's a gem. I can probably write 3 more pages on Danny but I think you get the idea. He kept the CD alive.

I wrote a song called Gone with Buddy Goettsch for the TimePeace CD after having a bottle of wine to toast that project. We discussed the rough side of trying to make it in music and he pulled out this music to a love song he didn't like. I then pulled out a pad and wrote Gone. This is a great song for any aspiring musician. We recorded it as an acoustic duet and I always felt like there was more that could be done with it. Well, I teamed up with Buddy(He's in New Mexico) and we put together a full band version of Gone with me singing the whole lead. It was great to work with the magical Buddy G. once again. Danny came on board and played guitar and bass. Mr. Joe Venegas played the drums.

Joe Venegas is a supremely skilled drummer who has this crazy habit of doing everything in one take! He came on board and basically said, "You need drums. I got drums." He continually came in and truly became the main backbeat of the entire CD. He was constantly giving and selfless and laid stuff down in one take! Damn! One take! Thanks Joe.

My old lounge partner Rich Boban came on board and recorded a song we wrote while we were playing Mondays and Tuesdays at Chicago's Drake Hotel. It's a song about a little bar in East Chicago that I used to play in. I ended up mentioning every act I've started as well as The Enchanters in the tune. (The Enchanters were an Atlantic Records act that my father sang for. They became local legends and even performed with the Jackson 5!) Since it was a jazz piece I signed on Bill Romer from Freek Johnson. It's the one tune I've written that can truly be called a diddy.

There are so many others who have helped out on this thing. Drummer Traci Braun is in many ways a musical soulmate. She jumped on board and not only played her bootie off, but was the personification of moral support. People in general don't get much better than Traci.

The latest version of TimePeace (We're currently on version 7.0 I believe) came on board to record the new version of Lover and Every Little Thing. TimePeace has always had this habit of becoming more family than business and I can't thank them enough for being there. Every Little Thing has been a fan favorite and it was great to remake it. I think it's a strong recording. Lover is also one of my favorites. I changed it up during the live shows and felt the need to record the new version. I love it. It's has an old school soul vibe with a party at the tail.

My brother from another mother, Jesse Hernandez came in and added percussions on a couple of tunes and also sat with me as I reviewed the first master of the whole CD. He sat with me through the whole thing. He didn't have to but that's Jesse. My friend.

I was lucky to get keyboard work from Virgil Frey who is not only ridiculously talented, but as easy going as they come. He really flavored up the project and I can't thank him enough.

Sax player Terry Higgins came on board and blew the hell out of his horn for Move On and Fallling Fast. He was an early guiding light when this thing kicked off. Terry Higgins. A true professional.

I must also mention John Carpenter of Thunderclap Recording.
John is the nicest man in the business and has an excellent ear. His focus on the small details is what makes him one of the best. I recorded Every Little Thing, Lover and Get Me with John and he was a patient and professional presence. No wonder this guy is booked so much. He also serves up a mean cup of coffee. Thanks John.

It has been a journey. I've had a lot of fun putting this thing together. My approach was simple: record songs that I'd like to sit back and listen to. No analyzing. Just enjoyable listening. This has resulted in my most natural project to date. I hope you fine people enjoy it as much as I do.

Oh and by the way, if you got to the end of this blog...I AM IMPRESSED! I MEAN SERIOUSLY! WOW! THIS WAS LONG AS HELL!

Love and Laughter Always Folks.

Robby