After two long months without practicing as a trio, Island Song gathered on the main floor of the 105 year-old stone church that is HALO (www.halolive.us) and worked on current and upcoming tracks for two different albums. Our producer, Shawn Daley, co-owner of The Mohawk Studio, had prepared all of the recording equipment needed to produce the incredible sound that can only be produced in such a venue. Since the Covid 19 virus has shut down concert gatherings, the entire floor of the old church was arrayed with furniture, speakers, sub-woofers, household lamps, lending to an atmosphere not unlike conducting a concert in a really comfortable living room in your grandmother’s home.

As we rehearsed some of the soon-to-be-recorded music, Shawn recorded, as best he could, our performances on his audio-visual equipment for later upload onto this web site. David Altman played the Ashiko drums (one of the two he borrowed from his wife, Gilda) and Tim Barrett added bass and cello tracks to the the 35 original songs that I wrote for these two albums. Our goal is to select the best from the 35 songs we worked on, weeding out those songs that we deemed not worthy of public consumption without further work.

Tonight, Dave will join Shawn in the studio to add drums to the 16 songs on Island Kind of Life that are complete with guitar, vocals, and a little harmony. Tim will finish up the bass work next Monday so that Shawn can Master the album soon for public release. This album will feature these songs:

Island Kind of Life                                                                            

1. Little Red Bucket 
2. Old Man Dancin’
3. Livin’ My Life This Way
4. Island Forecast
5. Bought a Boat
6. Perch Search                   
7. People Like Me   
8. Battle of Lake Erie
9. I Missed the Damn Ferry Again
10. Island Saturday Night         
11. Morning After PIB Blues
12. Starve Island Resort              
13. Island Kind of Life
14. My Sweet Bessie (rewrite of a traditional folk song )

The next album, Gone Too Far, will be more serious in nature, reflecting on struggles with love, anger, depression, anxiety, sadness, and imperfection as human beings. The song, The Last Day of My Life, sounds sad, but is hauntingly beautiful with true love at its central core. Looking for Mary Lou is devastating in its frankness, a true story from my past. Window Pain is a song I wrote for a friend who spoke of looking out through a window at the rain streaming down the window pane while tears streamed down his face…the pain of a lost love. Keep Breathin’ In I wrote for my good friend, Rose, and all others who are cancer fighters.

Gone Too Far                                                   

1. All We Got
2. Antidote :23)
3. Damn Thoughts of You
4. Dreamin’
5. Ebb and Flow  
6. Flawed
7. Give a Damn Blues
8. Gone Too Far
9. I Rue the Day
10. Keep Breathin’ In
11. The Last Day of My Life
12. Livin’ My Life
13. Looking for Mary Lou
14. Love Is A Song
15. Screamin’ at the Demon
16. Window Pain

More to come as we progress on this musical journey. I may release singles such as: Itty Bitty Lime-O, Down Below Key Largo, Island Boys Makin’ Noise, Playin’ All Day, One and One Ain’t Two (a tribute to John Prine), and Takin’ Her Top Off (Yep, it is exactly what it sound like). Have a great day and remember to support your local musicians. Crash