New CD production update 11/23/2014

   The new CD is a collection of 10 songs. Seven are new. Written during the past 2 years with a musical foundation coming first. Building from the composition and letting it develop before bringing lyric and stories to each song. This process has generated a unique group of songs that do not depend on strong lyrics. The musical themes stand on their own and for me have inspired some of the best songwriting of my life. The lyrics are simple stories of everyday events carefully crafted with attention to each syllable. From the porch of my grandparents house in NE Pennsylvania, to the blowing winter storms here on lake Erie, this collection is filled with honest accounts from my observable life. In addition to the new songs written for this CD, I have re-recorded an older song of mine, "Anywhere Else But Here", adapted "Hold Me Close" by Avin Loki Baird, and the trad. "I bid You Goodnight" thought to be written by Joseph Spence.  The later song has been my open mic closing number for over 25 years.

   Having recorded my own performances with the idea that they should be able to stand as an honest representation of my solo guitar and vocal presentation, I wrote some bass parts that primarily follow the guitar. I added some mandolin to a few. Once the foundation of the song had been established, I carefully considered additional accompaniment. Each song includes additional vocals. For this I reached out to Cindy Langmack and Xe La who both appeared on the last CD. Becca Rhoades, Laura Joy, Becca Bessinger, and Davidion Pearl also sing on the CD. Additional instruments were restricted to acoustic parlor type instruments including fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and harmonica. For this, Bill Lestock, Becca Rhoades, and David Krauss have all added some wonderful parts. There are 3 more musicians scheduled to come in over the next couple of weeks. I will announce those performers when the parts have been recorded. All of them are admired in our area. I am excited for the coming sessions.

The CD is beautiful and yet to be named. I hope to have it released in February.

Possible names include:

Hemlock Hill

Easy Win

Autumns Charm

Minister Creek