Swamp and Roll Music...Think Rock and Roll based with a telecaster with tremolo, spiced with piano and organ, brazed with accordion, mandolin, fiddle served on a bed of lyrics and vocals that form a party on your aural palette.

16 MP3 Songs in this album (67:48) !
Related styles: Rock: American Trad Rock, Blues: Funky Blues, Featuring Guitar

People who are interested in James McMurtry Little Feat The Band should consider this download.


Details:
This project started over two years ago with the idea to just make a demo at a guyâs basement studio. My band Crooked Routes went from five guys, then to four, then to the Vince Junior Trio, with Craig and Tommy, two really great friends that I met while teaching elementary school, Tommy in third grade, me in fourth, and Craig in fifth. But time and interest in making music together began to shift as lives became more complicated. Both Tommy and Craig got married and had kids.

One of the reasons my family moved to Asheville, NC was to be around a community of musicians. I met George from Olâ Hoopty when he jammed with our band. Our lives kept crossing paths and I asked if heâd be interested in a quick, rough demo to get an idea of arrangements. The problem with George is he just doesnât know how to make a rough demo. The playback I heard in his studio sounded better than I could have imagined, so I decided to just work on the tracks in his studio. He is a great blues piano player, soulful organist, and now with some encouragement, a fledgling accordion player.
Soon the trio sound was augmented with lush organs, funky pianos, and a rootsy accordion. And I started hearing more sounds. Matt Smtih, an amazing pedal steel player, (Laura Blackley, The Trainwreks, Carey Fridley) began basting the tunes with his sweet pedal steel sauce. I saw a fine old time/bluegrass band here in West Asheville, Dehlia Low, and got the fiddlerâs card. Maybe a year later I called Natalya Weinstein and she too found her way into that basement in Swannanoa to add to the sound. I heard James and Melanie at church and they were soon working on a harmony for one of the songs as well. Rupert Oysler ended up moving from Wilmington, NC where I first recorded with him, to Asheville. His tone and what he can do with a harp always makes my jaw drop.

So every so often, maybe couple times a month, Iâd rush out to Georgeâs, and put a couple of hours in on the tracks. I literally sat on a couch and it really did feel like therapyâ¦processing some of the challenges a day of teaching and parenting two little kids would impose. After decompressing, weâd pull up a track and begin the fun job of making music. Iâm sure that if I had had a concentrated block of time, we could have been done in a week. Iâm glad that didnât happen. If good music wasnât produced, at the very least, a terrific friendship with George was. And for this I am grateful.
Dedicated to all the artists out there who work a day job, parent every other minute, and still manage to find the time and, more difficult, energy to create.