It’s been two years since I started recording my debut album. It all started in December 2009 when I chose “Love Can Rule The World” as the first song to record. It was recorded at Woody’s House in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, with musicians Fred Gillen, Jr. (bass), Eric Puente (drums), and Paul Silverman (piano). I hired Virginia-based producer Matt Singleton to finish the track. I was very pleased with Matt’s work and I hired him for the next three songs, which were “Hudson River”, “Fall Back”, and “Eyes Upon The Skyline”.
With four songs finished, in October 2011 I decided to hire a new producer Kevin Hupp at the Groove Room to continue the album. Kevin, who is based in my neck of the woods in the Hudson Valley, NY, is an award-winning Drummer/Producer and Songwriter. Kevin has worked with renowned artists, including Iggy Pop where he performed all the drums for Iggy’s 2009 CD “Preliminaires”, which were recorded at the Groove Room with Kevin engineering and playing.
Kevin and I start with three songs: “Everybody Needs To Have Some Fun”, “Anything For You”, and “Need You”. Musicians featured on these songs include Marshall Toppo on bass, and Alex Suzman on guitar. I am very fortunate to have Alex perform on 2 tracks (“Anything For You”, and “Need You”). Alex is a 2007 Grammy Nominee producer, and contributed his guitar and production skills to the 2009 release of rockstar Ace Frehley’s “Anomaly” CD. I also asked my best pal Hal Brigish to play rhythm and lead guitar on “Everybody Needs to Have Some Fun”. He did it from his home in Virginia (gotta love technology!).
Once the songs are mixed and mastered, I will have 7 songs total for the CD. The final step is to record three more tracks to finalize the CD with ten songs. We already know which ones they will be.
I hope to have the CD finished by summer 2012.
Thanks for reading and I will continue to keep you posted on any updates.
Joe 12/19/11