New England Country Americana Music

13 MP3 Songs in this album (51:21) !
Related styles: COUNTRY: Alt-Country, COUNTRY: Americana

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Details:
âTurn A Pageâ is the first release of three more CDs to come â the result of over 30 years of writing and singing. Otis has gotten sidetracked a few times â first by playing on and producing 5 CDs on the North Star Records label, then in a move to New York City where he managed the famed Wetlands Nightclub, and then in a move to Italy for 4 years. Otis Read has performed in hundreds of different settings over the years and none of this has dimmed his desire to get his music out to the public.

Most of the tunes on âTurn A Pageâ deal with love and loss the additional sidetracks associated with them. The most prolific period for Otis was his four years in Italy where he was able to concentrate on writing songs without having to worry about earning a living. He was charged with watching a farm in the breathtakingly beautiful province of Umbria. Within a few weeks after arriving he started a writing frenzy that didn't let up for a few years. He looks back on this time as âone of those unforgettable opportunities that I am still seeing the positive results from.â

Otis' first experience in the recording studio came in 1972. From then on he was hooked. Around 1985 he recorded New England Christmastide with a group of Rhode Island musicians and followed that up with four more instrumental releases of tunes on North Star Records. He continued working in RI until the early 90's when he moved to New York city and worked as the general manager for The Wetlands Nightclub. It was there that he worked with a large number of younger groups that had come to New York looking to get their music to a wider audience.

In the late 90's Otis moved to Italy with his wife, the painter France Middendorf. It was in Italy that he settled into his longest spree of songwriting and began to work on tunes that were as varied stylistically as they were musically. It was here that he began to think about recording his music for the long term.Upon his return to the US he became settled in Rhode Island and set about reestablishing a musical home base. He got a regular gig at the famed India Restaurant in his hometown of Warren, RI and hasn't looked back.