The late June recording sessions went well at Good Luck Studios in Chapel Hill. The first day in the studio is always the hardest for me, and this time was no exception.  After all the microphones were set up and levels checked etc., I had to lay down a guitar/vocal “scratch track,” (used as a template), for each of my two new songs. A click track,( a sound like a metronome keeping time), plays in my headset while I do this. Then I lay down a guitar only track while listening to the scratch track and/or the click track playing in my ears. This work tests and stretches my abilities to their max! Jon snapped this picture of me during a break on our very first day.

On day two I put down the vocal tracks to these two songs as well as some harmony vocals on previously recorded songs. Day three was primarily Jon Shain, (my producer), laying down his guitar parts and a lot of listening to all the rough mixes of the recorded songs. We made decisions about which ones would make the cut for the cd.

As is always the case, something wonderfully serendipitous happened during the recording sessions. On the last day, Jon thought about adding an accordion to my rendition of “Dark Eyed Sailor,” a traditional Broadside Ballad from the 1700’s. He called up his friend, Chris Frank, who was not only home at the time but had the time to come down to the studio and lend his exceptional talent to the song. Chris is a long time member of the internationally renown Red Clay Ramblers. Chris’s poignant harmonies and melodic lines added a layer of beauty and authenticity to this recording.

To round out the day, FJ Ventre, (my engineer), recorded several bass tracks to add to songs as needed. Next up, the rough tracks will be mixed and then mastered. This work will probably take until the end of August.

While FJ works his magic, I must turn my attention to the actual manufacturing of the disc. It will go to Discmakers for production but there is much to be decided upon regarding artistic design for the packaging. Album title, song sequencing, art work and or photographs, song lyrics, credits, printing design, etc. must all be finalized before it can go into production. I have my work cut out for me in the coming weeks! I will keep you posted on my progress. Thanks everyone for following.