In 2014, I began recording songs for my current musical project, In This Circle. It was the year after I had released my previous project, Older and Wiser, a compilation of original tunes written and recorded way back in the mid to late 80s. Older and Wiser had been recorded on reel to reel tape decks by bouncing tracks and released on three separate cassette tapes, so it needed a bit of brushing up to catch up to 21st century music recording technology. After going through the process of digitally re-mastering my music from the Older and Wiser project, releasing it as a CD, and then going the digital distribution route via Spotify, iTunes, Rhapsody, and CD Baby (to name a few), I figured it was time to get back into the recording studio and get busy with my new crop of songs that have made their way into the world since the 80s.
After a pause and retiring from my 27 plus years of working for the State of California in 2015 (it was a solid ‘day job’), I resumed work on In This Circle in 2016 and am patiently making my way through the creative work process. I currently have 10 song demos completed and there will a total of 13 tracks for the finished product. Soon, I will be contacting various musicians in the Sacramento area that I know and have worked with about coming in to lay down the final song tracks. After that, it’s time for the mix down! That’s when Ed Etzel (my talented engineer and the owner of Audio West Recording Studio in West Sacramento) and I will get busy polishing the tunes to ensure a pleasant listening experience for everyone. I plan to release In This Circle in the fall of 2016.
This album is my way of honoring other songwriters I have collaborated with (and been inspired by) over the years of my own songwriting career. It is also my acknowledgement of the power of creative flexing that’s needed to bring about new musical expressions as inspired by life and its multitude of experiences. The process of collaborative songwriting with others requires humility, boldness, patience, listening to each other, and an open heart and mind.
