I've been back in the studio in the YO (Youngstown, OH) adding brass, keys, harmonica and vocals. What was supposed to be one full day of recording turned into a week of adventures.

From LA, I flew into Detroit. I brought the rain and mild temps back with me, for at least a few days. (Update: The motorcycle didn't sell. Too cold out West, and when does it rain for over a week straight in SoCal?) Once back in Toledo, I didn't even bother unpacking before heading East.

My father and I took our first road trip together. It was great to hang out in the studio with the quasi-Scotsman, my father. He drank most of the day with my friend and film maker Chris Rutushin, while I worked. (Chris also shot a bunch of footage for my documentary.)

We had all full cooler of beer, snacks, & a crock pot with my home made shredded chicken sandwiches. Recording started at 2PM. I think this picture was taken at 5PM. My Pops caught his second wind after a two hour nap.
Working with engineer Pete Drivere was a privilege. He gets the classic, timeless landscape that I inhabit and captured that in the recording. I even got Pete to lay down some guitar licks on a couple tracks, which really glued the whole composition together.

Local keys wizard Chris Leonardi worked his magic armed with a 1971 Hammond B3 w/ Leslie, Fender Rhodes, and piano to boot! The result being - half of the record sounds reminiscent of the late 60s and early 70s. Rounding out the caravan of musicians was Fredo on Saxophone from local jam band Jones 4 Revival. What a positive personality to add to the mix, not to mention soulful phrasings.

More friends turned up, even a dog, and the beer flowed. I conducted a half dozen friends with brown bottles grasped tight, to sing a rejoicing chorus of "Sha nah nah nahs". Then we stumbled out of the studio at midnight and bellied up at Cedars, downtown. After last call, my father tried to rally the troops for after hours with his Scottish toasts, witticisms, and Gaelic half songs. There were no takers.
The next morning my father left for Toledo and his job. I had more work to do. On a day off from the studio, I worked in the edit bay on a friend's feature film. Again it was a late night. Editing a film is very similar to editing a book, you're just telling a story through a different medium. By the early AM we carved out the final edit of "Fine Tune". It's incredible to see dreams realized, and Chris Rutushin has a hell of a film on his hands. We even took my song "Lazy Day" (finished just one day earlier, mind you!) and added that to the soundtrack.

It took two more sessions in the studio before finishing all the parts. The last of them being an 11:30PM - 7AM red eye. Obsessing over my songs, I slept little throughout that next day. The evening brought me again to Cedars on Swing Night. Bartender, Little Billy hit me up with a Sloe Gin Fizz followed by a few pints of Straub. Every time I turned to go, he had snuck a ¼ refill into my mug. 10PM quickly turned into last call. Throughout the night I couldn't connect with the friend, who's couch I was crashing on. His cell phone was on the fritz. I was locked out of his apartment complex. By 3 AM I was wandering the Youngstown streets among snow flurries. Any beer buzz had been zapped by the wicked cold. At three thirty I curled up in an industrial building's hallway. The cold concrete floor stole the heat from my tired corpse. No sleep for the past two days, little food, and a bed of grime consoled a strung out soul.

"Living on the road is getting old," I murmured to myself in a half chuckle. Then shortly after I lamented in heartbreak, "How long can I keep this up? I should have driven the bus, instead of riding out with my father." I longed for BARB, my V-Dub, and the shelter she provides me with.
Meanwhile, I slipped in and out of half-hour spells of exhaustion and winking sleep. The heat pipes kicked on at 6AM and I snuggled close. Finally, some salvation. I wandered the streets again at 8AM in search of a cafe, warmth, and the reminder that I'm not a homeless bum. I snagged a seat and tea at a cafe called, The Beat on YSU's campus. I made another call, but my friend's cell phone immediately went to voice mail. I propped a foot up on a chair and grabbed one of the books from the slim collection on the wall. They were discarded rejects from a library. I cracked a few spines until I found one that I could stomach. I rummaged through the story of a botched North Pole exploration in the early 1900s. One of the ships got caught in the arctic ice flow. They were abandoned by the rest of the company. Other ships continued on in search of glory and discovery without sending help...for 5 years!

Three hours later I wondered back to the cafe at Cedars. My cell phone was dying quickly. That damn cell phone of his better start working soon, I thought. At the cafe I bumped into some friends I had seen the night before. They didn't believe my late night adventures. Then they discovered my soot ridden jeans and their eyes suddenly spread wide. I had another tea. Minutes later I fumbled with it and spilled it across the table. Then salvation came in a phone call. My heavy boot steps plodded over the snow dusted sidewalks. Minutes later my limp body fell into the couch and I was out. I think I've earned my Youngstown stripes.