Ok, I know. It’s been kind of like “the boy who cried wolf”! I’ve announced (prematurely) several times over the last year “Hey, everybody, I just finished my first solo album! It’s coming out soon!”
Oooops. Didn’t happen.
Why? Well, for all of those predictable “artistic” reasons….”Oh, those artists!“….No, seriously, we added songs, subtracted songs, mixed and remixed, our producer Warren Hibbert went off on a safari….(ha,ha!), I lost my shoes on the way to a session, an elephant ate my lyrics, a monkey named Fred stole (borrowed) my Felix guitar … er…. uh…. uh… well….
Actually, we just weren’t really finished. But, hey, if you are still interested, it’s done!!!! And it’s on iTunes for your listening pleasure, if you are so inclined. It’s a compendium (I think that’s the word that means a varied selection) of many styles of songs I’ve written and performed along with the help of many of my friends and OUTSTANDING musicians: Elliott Randall, Laurence Juber, Jimmy Young, Bob Babbitt, James Montgomery, Gloria Gaynor, Karl Latham, Lance Quinn, Rachel Allyn, Maci Schneider, Chip Davis, Chris Leuzinger, Larry Franklin, Russell Velaquez, Daniel Sadownick, Polly B, Kevin Humphris, Charlie DeChant, Heady Hustla, Pat Severs, Mike Franklin, Kirsten Thien, Susan Didrichsen, and me…. I feel blessed to have them all playing on the record. It was mixed by Warren Hibbert and Grammy winners John Seymore and Obie O’Brien (Bon Jovi’s engineer). After so many years working as a writer, musician, producer, arranger, publisher, and chief bottle washer on so many other artists’ ‘records’ (an older person’s name for CDs), I decided to take the plunge and do a solo album, if for no other reason, for posterity and for my friends and family… aw, how sweet…..Actually, I’m expecting to sell millions and go on tour with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr… I’d even sit in with them if they wanted! LOL …. All kidding aside (I know you’re saying “yeah, right“), really, I am proud of this record and all of my friends who helped to make it come to fruition. Warren Hibbert (The easiest man on Earth to agree with) did a fantastic job producing the record. The list of who’s who who (when have you ever seen ‘who’ three times in a row? For that reason alone you should listen to the CD) are playing on these tracks read like a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame menu. You can preview the songs on iTunes, if you like it you can order it. If not, you can just keep playing the previews over and over again. Not the easiest thing to do at parties, but, hey, it’s been done. Trust me! Ha,ha….
So when you get a chance, let me know what you think about my album WHEN YOU GOTTA GO, YOU GOTTA GO …and yes, that is me on the cover, and that’s my sister Joan looking and laughing from the passenger seat of my Dad’s ’51 Studebaker.
Peace through music
Don O