Great PRODUCER, Arranger (amp Lead Guitarist) for Your Recording Project (Bay Area)
PRODUCER, ARRANGER (also if desired, Lead Guitarist)
FOR YOUR RECORDING PROJECT
Make YOUR album sound GREAT!
Many years' pro experience
Specialist in all Americana/ Folk-rooted styles
-- Blues, Country, Roots-rock, Rock & Roll, Contemporary & traditional Folk,
Bluegrass/ old-time, R&B, Soul, Gospel, Rockabilly, etc.
CAN ALSO PROVIDE inexpensive STUDIO & ENGINEER
and top-quality pro PLAYERS on any instrument!
REFERENCES and SAMPLE RECORDINGS available
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I've been working in this area of the business for many years. I've produced, and provided musicians for, a dozen independent CDs, also music for several films, plus many demo's etc.
Let's say you're a SONGWRITER. You have good songs which you're used to performing alone, or with one or two backing musicians, but for your album, you imagine a bigger band sound. A fuller rhythm section -- tasteful, super-solid bass & drums. And maybe some different "color" or lead instruments to enhance the music, to make the song sound the way you have imagined hearing it. A fiddle on this song, maybe also a pedal steel on that one. A piano or organ here... maybe even some horns there... mandolin or accordion... lead guitar in a particular style on this one.
But how do you find the best players to give you the sound you imagine? And how do you tell them when to play more or play less, what the intro or the ending should be, who should take the solo and when should that happen, and so on? How do you communicate to backing musicians the subtleties of feel which will make this particular song of yours sound special and right to you?
Dealing with these questions is a specialty of mine. I'll work closely with you to help you decide exactly what each song needs. We'll work together on the arrangement -- how to handle the intro, solos, ending, etc. to best enhance your song. Should we repeat the bridge after the instrumental? Should there be a little pause at the end of the second verse, before the song builds to the chorus? We'll make all those decisions together. Then I'll chart the entire sequence of the arrangement so the rhythm section players can very efficiently lay down tracks which include all the details we've decided on, from the intro down to the last note.
And I can provide excellent professional players on any instrument, to give you the soulful and beautiful backing your song deserves. Well-known musicians who've worked as sidemen (side persons!) on recordings I've produced include Bobby Black, Tony Marcus, John R. Burr, David Grisman, Darol Anger, Barbara Higbie, George Winston, Bart Davenport, Kathy Kallick, Annie Staninec, Tom Rozum, Jessica Jones, Suzy Thompson, David Phillips, Dave Scott, Jim Peterson, Jeremy Steinkoler, and many more.
I'm also very skilled at writing creative backing VOCAL PARTS (like the gospel-flavored call-and-response vocals you hear on classic Aretha records -- and in bluegrass gospel songs!), and I've written many HORN CHARTS for groups of two, three, and four horns.
And, working with YOU, your singing, in the studio -- I'm a very attentive, sensitive "sounding board" for you, helping you get the best vocal performance you're capable of... letting you know when you've really got a great take -- or if you should try re-singing a verse or a single phrase to get a better sound or a better interpretation of the line. My previous clients will tell you that I helped them get vocal performances in the studio that were far better than they thought they were capable of! -- and which really made the song, and the album, more special, more exciting.
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Then again... If you're a BAND with your personnel already together... I can be that outside ear that most of us need in the studio, giving you input on the takes you lay down, telling you when you've got a great take or need one more, possibly suggesting modifications in your live arrangements to make them work a little better in the studio, and perhaps providing occasional "extra" parts, color parts that you don't have in your live show but would like to add on the record. Like the Stones adding organ, or a horn arrangement, or a fiddle player, or some gospel backup singers, on a particular song.
REFERENCES, SAMPLE RECORDINGS: I can provide you with references from enthusiastic former production clients... Also can send you tracks I've produced. Tell me what your musical style range is, and I'll send you tracks I've done in a similar style.
Getting ready to record? Thinking about recording? I'd love to discuss your project with you and see if I might help you in some way. Call any time... (Please call, rather than text! Thanks.)
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