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Good Thing

Latest Update:  CD's Have Arrived!!!

The Players

Dwight Mark -Lead vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, mandola, mandocello, waldzither, bass fiddle, lapsteel, resophonic guitar and Weissenborn Hawaiian guitar

Bob Tyler - Guitars & vocals

John Magnie - Piano, accordian, tin can & vocals

Steve Amedee - Drums

Chris Engleman - Bass

Jeremy Lawton - Hammond Organ

Tim Cook - Vocals & Tamborine

Celeste Krenz - Vocals

Tom Knox  - Harmonica

Hannah Alkire - Cello

The Songs

 

1.      That’s the Good Thing

2.       Touch the Moon

3.       Far Away From Here

4.       Recipe Box

5.       Too Soon To Say

6.       More Trouble Than Love

7.       I Can’t Hold Her Down

8.       Down In Tuscany

9.       Somewhere In Between

10.    It’s My Turn

11.  In Your Eyes

 

 

Lots of good things have happened since I asked Bob Tyler to produce my first CD back in March. 

The week before we were to begin recording, we sat down and listened to demos of my material and we picked the first songs to be recorded.  I had just setup my bouzouki and wrote the song, "That's the Good Thing".  I told Bob I had a couple new songs and we liked this one.  Bob wrote the bridge to the song.  I have tentatively name the CD, Good Thing.  Read on and maybe you'll understand why...

My "Flea Market Tim O'brien Style" Bouzouki

We had 6 songs ready for the band.  I asked Bob if we could get John Magnie, Steve Amedee and Rich Moore.  Unfortunately, Rich's schedule was packed, but Bob was able to schedule Chris Engleman, who plays with Mollie O'brien, as well as the house band on E-Town.

So the first six songs were put down:  Far, Far Away, I Can't Hold Her Down, It's My Turn, Too Soon To Say, That's the Good Thing, and Touch the Moon.

The guys did a great job!

 

Below:  Top Secret photos inside capital t studios.  Jeremy displays pinpoint microphone placement to pickup ambient baby sounds.

Celeste provided a lot of encouragement to start... and finish this CD project and played a big role after this day in the studio, as we began to work on the vocal tracks.  She coached, re-phrased lines, gave me confidence to sing to the best of my ability and let's not forget - she fed me great meals!!!  She also made me run around the neighborhood when I was low on energy during the vocal recordings.

 Bob and Celeste's baby, Sam, also played a big role on the CD going forward.  He helped Daddy in the studio - constantly arranging his cable connectors and we hungout together everyday.  I'd like to think of Sammy as the beautiful distraction as we were recording.

Speaking of beautiful distractions...  The next few days I began recording my vocals and I met Jessica at the house during my breaks - she was helping watch Sammy as well as recording her first CD.  We played with Sammy and talked about music.  I taught her to play mandolin that day and she sat in the studio as I recorded a few songs and also inspired me to sing at the best of my ability.  She is now back home in Trieste, Italy.
Then I was off to Italy.  While I was in Tuscany, I spent each night sitting on the wall overlooking the wine vineyards, watching the sunset, drinking wine and playing mandolin.  I don't know what the house-keepers, the farmers, and nearby German tourists thought, but I thought it was appropriate to play and sing Red, Red Wine.  I wrote 4 songs while I was in Tuscany.
I had the words to one of the songs, Down in Tuscany, completed and while I was in Rome, wrote the melody and then I continued to Santorini island and Athens, Greece and couldn't get the sound of a mandolin ensemble out of my head.  So when I returned home, I wrote out the parts and recorded Down in Tuscany on bass fiddle, mandolin, waldzither, mandola, mandocello and bouzouki.
So that gets us to 7 songs.  Bob, Celeste, Sammy and I spent a few days over the next couple of weeks working on my vocals and adding my instruments to the songs.  We also decided to record a couple of songs with just me and my guitar - Recipe Box and Somewhere in Between. 

Nine songs...  That still isn't enough - we needed one more.  That same week we were pickin' songs, I had acquired a dobro/resophonic guitar.  And just like That's the Good Thing, I had a bunch of scribbles I had written that became the blues song, More Trouble Than Love.

More Trouble Than Love will give listeners a dose of the blues-rock that crowds typically get at my shows.

In February bought a 1920's Hawaiian Weissenborn guitar.  It is played with a slide, or steel which made Hawaiian Steel music popular back in that era.

 

I began adding it to songs with the band ~ a Dave Matthews tune here, a Rolling Stones tune there.

 

Then I began converting some of my favorite songs onto the instrument and playing it during my solo breaks with the band.  Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes, was one of those songs that I just thought fell right onto that instrument.  

 

I didn't plan on putting any cover tunes on the CD, but I did want to record the Weissenborn on the CD.  Bob and Celeste encouraged me to add In Your Eyes and it was the last song we recorded.  I think the simple and beautiful arrangement on the Weissenborn helped me communicate the honesty and passion of the lyrics.  Celeste had me running on full emotion (and maybe a sip or two of Irish Whiskey) to get through singing that song.

 

So when will it be done?

Well, there's still a lot to be done and some money to be raised to finish it.  Hannah added her cello parts to Far, Far Away. Bob is adding some final guitars and vocals.  Celeste will add her vocal to Too Soon To Say - I can't believe I only have her on one song ~ she's is Denver's secret weapon.  At least I get to continue working with her to design the CD artwork.  She's also trying to get me to sit in with the band.

Bob, Celeste & Brian at Little Bear.

So next, Bob will mix it down and we'll have Jeremy master it.  In the meantime, Celeste and I will begin working on the CD artwork.  I'm researching environmentally friendly packaging, which may cost me a bit more, but I feel I must follow my heart and the lead of my friends, Kraig Kenning and Jim Edfors.  Kraig is like a pioneer in environmental CD packaging - he's had all of his CD's custom made with recycled cardboard and paper for years.

I also need to plan for my CD release party and hope to redesign the entire website by then as well.

I've experienced lots of good things to get me through this project...