MP3 Gerry Reid - Real Stories

Pop rock, soft rock.

12 MP3 Songs
EASY LISTENING: Adult contemporary, POP: Pop/Rock



Details:
It was my dad who got the ball rolling by showing me a few guitar chords when I was about five years old. On my first gig, at age seven, I sang Daydream Believer by the Monkees. We made a whopping $2 each and I was hooked; I have been a performer and songwriter ever since. At one time or another I've played every genre of music, and I still love all types. As well as guitar and a smattering of keyboards, I spent about ten years in intensive classical training as a flute player and have a great deal of experience playing in symphonies and chamber ensembles. At some point, I'm not sure when, I returned to my young roots as a singer-guitar player. I've been fortunate enough in my career to work with some truly extraordinary musicians and done hundreds of gigs, as well as vocal sessions for radio and television

It was a chance meeting at a party/jam session that I came to know Steve Sexton, who at the time was keyboard player in the iconic Canadian band Red Rider. Over the years Steve has always been very supportive, playing on a lot of my early song demos. When it came time to record my debut album Steve was the logical choice to take the helm as producer. With Steve's vast musical experience with such artists as Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Anne Murray and countless others, I knew I was good hands, so I went to work writing the songs that would comprise the album "You Get What You Give." We settled on 11 original songs and one cover song written by Randy California and recorded by Spirit. Randy's song, "Natures Way" was a song I had performed live for many years

Having chosen the songs, we assembled a group of fantastic musicians and friends and began working on the album. All the people involved were a joy to work with; especially notable are the contributions of guitar player Doug Macaskill (Rod Stewart, Mister Mister, Eddie Money,) and my close friend Jay Speziale the extremely talented singer and bassist.

Having completed the tracks, it was time to tackle the mix. At this point it was my good fortune to have Terry Brown come on board to mix. Terry's reputation as a producer and mixing engineer are legendary and his world renowned work as the producer of the first thirteen Rush albums as well as hundreds of other productions, was both exciting and scary. Terry's gentle nature and expertise put me at ease immediately and I was able to breath a sigh of relief when I learned that he liked my songs. I am still to this day in awe of the vast body of work Terry has produced, and he remains one of my true heroes in the music world. We remain the best of friends and I hold him in the highest regard.

Having completed the album, it was released with very little support by MCA records in Canada. A couple of the tunes received a good amount of radio play with "Slow Dance" and My Mind's Made Up' performing modestly on the Canadian Charts. "Your Touch" garnered a spot in the top 100 songs released that year by radio station Rock 95 in Barrie, Ontario.

This brings me to the re-release of "Real Stories" in the hopes that through the wonder of the Internet the CD may reach a larger audience who were not exposed to the music the first time around. I hope you enjoy listening to this album as much as I enjoyed making it , and that the songs find a place in your heart.

Cheers, Gerry