Blues/rock, R&B/funk, Pop/ballads, Eclectic style from a seasoned guitarist/vocalist

11 MP3 Songs
URBAN/R&B: R&B Pop Crossover, BLUES: Funky Blues



Details:
Hi! Thanks for dropping in!

You will find the music here an eclectic blend of blues, r&b, and pop styles. The songs were written, played, and recorded by me here in Road's End Studio. My wife, Cynthia, adds her voice to the mix in Sunday Morning Blues. She also created the artwork on this cd. An artist and writer of children's books, her voice is always welcome when I can get her on the mic. I am a guitarist/bassist/vocalist who is also a fan of sequencing and the guitar synthesizer. The rolling hills of Green County, Wisconsin provides the serene backdrop for my creative muse and the projects that are preserved on this CD. This music is my first offering, with a second CD nearing completion.

It was over 40 years ago, long before I finished high school, that I decided to become a musician. What a relief! I never worried about career choices! I quickly switched from a cheap guitar to a Fender bass and soon became a fixture in the Wisconsin music scene.
As chance would have it, while playing with Tim Davis and James "Curley" Cooke in 1966, we hooked up with Steve Miller who was out in San Francisco. This became the Steve Miller Blues Band at that time. The group auditioned and played at the Fillmore and Avalon ballrooms, and the Matrix along with numerous (soon to be) recording stars from that period. I was 19 then and was drafted into the army later that same year. After the service, I settled in Madison, Wisconsin and wound up playing with several great blues and r&b groups usually featuring horn sections. The highlight for me in those days was a stint with a great blues group out of Milwaukee called Short Stuff. This was Jim Liban, Junior Brantley, Roger Brotherhood, Billy Stonewall, and myself. Although we came within inches of being signed back then, no cigar.
In the 70's I went back to the guitar and had a great go at it with a few more pop groups. All of these groups had been playing cutting edge music in the Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago area back in those days. After I stopped performing with bands in the mid 80's, I bought my first multitrack recorder.

It has always been amazing to me how much music can live in each one of us and how it effects us. It's a universal link between people. My music wants to be entirely me. But there are times when I have to look at it as a tribute to every artist that influenced me as well as the great musicians I had the luxury of playing with over the years. I could be frozen in time, but since I believe that music doesn't understand that boundary, it has never mattered to me. The music contained on this first CD may reflect, to a degree, an era that I have always considered to be the real renaissance in music within the last 50 years. It is music I may have recorded in my 20's, but better late than never! Does the music sound dated? Wait until my next cd! All folk rock! (Kidding...ok, maybe one cut.)
I am excited to be a part of the community here on CDBaby. It's a spectacular showcase of musicians at every level and style of music.
Of course I welcome your comments about the music. Feel free to e-mail me or hook up to the Familiar Cat website and I would be happy to respond.
Sincerely, Richard Personett