Tag Archives: Showplace Studios

DownTown Blog – Rock’n’Roll 4 The Soul (Part 1 & 2)

For years I’ve felt like the lone voice talking about rock’n’roll. That’s been changing as the term “rock’n’roll” has been making quite a comeback. People are talking about it more and it makes me feel like I might just have had some kind of effect, even if by only putting it out in the universe watching it come back like an echo. That’s cool in my book.

Since RnR is back in the collective conscience I thought it would be a perfect time to reintroduce my version of it by releasing Rock’n’Roll 4 The Soul. At the core of this album are 6 songs which were recorded just to see what would be created. Something good? Something worth pursuing further? A cool hobby to take up and have some fun with? That’s about as far as it went. I was managing and producing The Discontent, who I felt were THE perfect band for the time. I also started my record label Sha-La Music for their music. So, I was very involved, if you follow.

Jessie, Robert, Tommy & Eric

I had released the band’s 1st album societydidit and quite frankly…it didn’t. But I knew how good it was and ahead of its time. That’s like a curse to me. I was right about it being ahead of its time, because 5 years later, to reboot the band, I remastered the lead track Bulletproof and released it at Specialty Radio, which were the Specialty shows on Alternative Radio. It was becoming the proving ground for new music at Radio. Even major bands like Radiohead and Foo Fighters released their music there first. It was highly competitive, to say the least!

Tom Fletcher

But I had learned a few things in 5 years and hired the top alternative specialty radio plugger. I used an alternative mix by engineer Tom Fletcher. Fletch was in from LA because I hired him to produce another band I was managing named Shotgun Symphony. In fact, both bands started their projects on the same day. I was at Unique Recording in NYC and The Discontent had booked Showplace Studios in Dover, NJ. I hadn’t been there since it had become a studio. It used to be a club back in the day and my band played there, opening for Robert Gordon. So it was through The Discontent that I would meet the studio owner Ben Elliott, and I was about to start a 20-year working relationship with Ben.

Ben Elliott & Keith Richards

Fletch was staying at my house during this and I would play him what The Discontent had recorded. I played him Bulletproof and he was floored! I asked him if he would like to take a shot at mixing it and he jumped at it. To me, Fletch was one of the most talented producer/engineers I’d ever seen. A very cool guy who knew an SSL board inside and out. Watching him inspired me and got me thinking about recording some of my songs again. It was Fletch who told me to just cut it all live with guitars. Fletch was also ahead of his time and did this killer mix. This time Bulletproof went Top 5 at Specialty, going as high as #3. Instant success for an unknown indie band’s 5 yr-old recording!! 5 years later I had better connections and the right sound for the right format.

Bulletproof video – Directed By Rune Lind

It was less than a year after Fletch’s comments to me and I was in Showplace Studios getting ready to cut 6 tracks with The Discontent’s drummer Tommy Mastro and bass player Eric Hoagland. They were rehearsing in Asbury Park in a place called Wild Sound owned by a guy named Joe DeMaio, who now owns Shorefire Studios and is my engineer. Go figure! That’s where I did my 1 and only rehearsal with Tommy & Eric. I knew my stuff would be different from what they were used to, so I told them to just go with it. When I think about it now, I could see that they could have some reservations since I was their manager. My job was to critique their performances at live shows and now I’m asking them to play with me in the studio. Plus, they knew I’d played with Garry Tallent & Max Weinberg from the E Street Band. Maybe a bit of pressure?? LOL

Tommy

I knew they were cool with it and pumped to get in the studio with me. Tommy was the real deal. I saw it the 1st time I laid eyes on him playing with the band. Eric? Ummm…not so much. I kid Eric. 😊 The truth is he was in a no-win situation. Because I wanted to allow myself the space to experiment with different parts and people I was upfront about it with him, so I told E that I would probably be replacing what he played. Thanks, Eric, for being cool with that. I knew you could handle it. 😊

The Big E

Tommy attacked the songs like he did with The Discontent but he could also put a groove to it. I would compare him to another great drummer, Kenny Aronoff—muscular, hard hitting, and solid. That was Tommy. It’s a bit of a haze now but I do remember the energy from Tommy & Eric, we were committed! Add to that a great live sound that engineer Ben Elliott got and all done live to tape. ANALOG BABY!! It was a fun day. So much so I had to lay down some vocals and guitars the next day. Now I was doing this because I was bringing The Discontent into Showplace to record some demos for a 2nd album. But first I would borrow Tommy & Eric to cut some tracks of my own music. I was going into the 2nd day and starting to hear about it from the band. INGRATES!!!

So, you get the picture. It turned out when I was done and listening at home I was hooked! Here’s what I remember about these tracks:

Turn Around and Go: One of my all-time faves and I knew Tommy would kill it. He did. I think we cut it first. I added the guitar intro lines and sang one of my best RnR vocals. I wrote the song after a visit to Cheeques, one of NJ’s best Go-Go bars with my cousin Gordon. We were sitting in the middle of the bar when the next dancer was introduced by the DJ. She came out strutting her stuff in heels and wearing a top hat. Suddenly she stopped, put her high heel on edge of the bar right in front of me, leaned over and kissed me! WTF?? My cousin looked at me in amazement and said “do you know how many times I’ve come here? You come in 1 time and this happens”??!! lol I already had the music and just needed the right inspiration to write the lyrics. I knew right then I would finish the song. 🙂

Ozzie

Dead End Space: I wrote this with Jessie Hobbs and Ozzie Caccavelli from The Discontent. Yes, there was a great guitar player in the band named Ozzie. It’s Jessie’s lyrics. He was the main songwriter in the band with me and Ozzie adding musical parts. The band demoed it at Ozzie’s home studio and I think I played acoustic guitar on it. I wanted to do my own version of it after that and brought in Tommy to play drums and PJ Farley (of Trixter fame) on bass. Ozzie came in later to add his guitar. Not 1 of the core songs and definitely not a typical Discontent song. I heard it as a type of Fleetwood Mac thing which fit more with my style.

PJ

Think a Little Louder: This song has some epic stories behind it. I was working with a guy in NYC named Eddie Walker. He and his band were rehearsing in Soho near Little Italy. After listening to them a few times I approached Eddie with the music to a song of mine. I played him the song with a melody but no lyrics. I asked him to write them. The next time at rehearsal he sang to me and the band the finished song. I still remember it. That’s how good it was to hear the 1st time. A real Moment! Eddie and his band recorded a decent version, but he and the band would eventually split up and Eddie moved down to Austin. I always liked the song and wanted to cut it myself. This was the last of the core tracks recorded that day and the least successful one for me. I didn’t really like anything about it. A couple of years went by and I decided to go back to Showplace to finish recording the other 3 tracks. Now I’m managing a band called Soaked that won the WXRK Battle of The Bands! The 2 main guys Steve Brown and PJ Farley were in Trixter, which was probably the 1st young rock band to break on MTV. They were just out of high school and Trixter became a big deal.

Steve

I decided the problem with the track was the key. It’s in B and will play much better in A. Also, the song had a 3rd verse and I decided to get rid of it. In its place I wrote a bridge that took me back to the final chorus and fade out. When I got to the studio, I had Ben Elliott delete all the recorded parts except for Tommy’s drums. Remember this is analog tape. You wipe it and it’s gone forever! It was here on this track that I learned that the basic track is recorded for the drums. If the drums are all there, then you can re-record anything with them in place. Tommy is solid and he’s all there! I go in and record a new acoustic rhythm track, including a new bridge, with PJ putting down the bass next. Then Steve comes in with his monster red guitar that he saves for special occasions and plays these heavy sounding chords. Now Steve is an incredible guitarist and I know he could have shred all over the track. But he’s chill enough to just play a simple but great sounding guitar part that really carries the track. When I hear what he plays I know the track is finished. It rocks now!

And You Know Why: An important song for me. I was working with Garry Tallent and played it for him. He called Max Weinberg up to come and play on it. He did and we cut it at Shorefire. I didn’t know at the time how rare it was to have both Garry & Max playing as the rhythm section on a track. It turns out, besides backing Bruce, they’ve only done it a handful of times with other artists, and I’m one of them. A few years later I recut most of my parts and added new vocals at Showplace with Ben engineering. Not 1 of the core songs. Had I not written this song, I might have quit music altogether. No lie. That’s how important this song is to me. I had left my band The Tupelos and was burnt out. I just couldn’t bring myself to write the kind of songs we had been playing anymore. After 6 months or so, I happened to be playing guitar and came up with the chords that start the song and verse. They blew my mind. They were so different from anything I had done before, and it relit the fire in me. I HAD to finish this song! Once I did, I never looked back.

Rock’n’Roll 4 The Soul (Part 2)

Lost and Found: This one was probably the 2nd track to be cut. I recut the bass because I heard something different that I wanted to try. There’s nothing wrong with Eric’s part and he knew going in that I would probably redo the bass at some point. It has become 1 of my most streamed tracks. It’s got this vibe and I think that’s what catches the listener’s ear. It ended up with just me and Tommy playing on it. I added a tambourine that makes it feel like a RnR Gospel type of track to me. The lyrics also seem to add to that with a kind of out of the darkness and into the light imagery. There’s something inspirational about it. At the same time, it’s 1 of my oddest songs from a musical standpoint. There’s major against minor musical things that shouldn’t work together but somehow do. Also, years after writing it, I looked at the lyrics from a new POV while recording it and it seemed like they were about something bi-polar…” the lows are high and the highs are low” Then the lyrics on the chorus are so positive. It took me years to understand how I could write them.

Think It Over: Also 1 of the core tracks with Tommy killing it, as are Steve & PJ. I wanted to focus on the guitar sound. The opening chords remind me of Pete Townsend, who is a guitar player I don’t think of right away as 1 of my influences. But every time I listen to him I find myself of 1 mind with him on how to approach guitar parts, especially from a RnR standpoint. There’s a really cool guitar sound on it.  As time has gone on, I think this song has some of my best lyrics. I was probably writing it about and to myself, although I wasn’t aware of it at the time. I also think it’s 1 of Tommy’s best tracks. He plays some parts that surprise me because they’re things I wouldn’t think of him playing. His energy makes the track happen.

Martin H. Samuel

Soul’d Out: This is kind of a sleeper. My original idea for the song was in an Americana style and feel, but the lyrics that award-winning lyricist Martin Samuel sent me were so sad. The music I had sounded too upbeat. However, the lyrics fit really well with the melody and I could sing them, so I had to change the groove if I wanted it to work. It was an emotional piece. I cut a demo that I really liked, so I decided to cut it as one of the core tracks. This was the last of the 3 songs that Steve & PJ played on. Steve brought a beautiful 12-string acoustic and played another great sounding part. I had played a pulsing bass part on my demo and I had PJ play the same part but let him decide when to add passing notes and he nailed it. It’s simple but he adds these nice bass lines that help to build the tension in the track. I think it’s 1 of my best vocal performances.

Redemption: The song is built around the guitar riff that starts the song. This is the 3rd and final version of it. The very 1st time I played it with my band was at a small club on the upper East Side of NYC called JPs. Downstairs in the basement were 3 of the owner’s friends—James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet and JD Souther. JD told me he liked the song and that it sounded like a hit. That might have been the hit he had just snorted talking because a closer listen to the lyrics might have changed his mind. When I went solo, I re-wrote and recorded it as Temptation with my good bud Monte Farber playing bass. A definite improvement but I still felt I hadn’t got it right yet. On this version I overhauled the verses and re-wrote the chorus. The lyrics reflected a situation I found myself in, so they were truthful. What I finally got right was the sound of the guitars for the riff and the 12-string Rics on the chorus. That’s what I was always going for, so it was worth all those years to finally get my reward. Redemption was cut with Steve Holley on drums and Paul Page on bass and not 1 of the core 6.

Steve, Robert & Paul

Gongs of Karma: There was a gong in a corner at Showplace Studios and I made it my ritual to hit the gong every time I would start a session. Then I would hit it again before I left the studio after a session was over. One day I had Ben Elliott set up a mike to record me banging the gong, as it were. I wanted to have the sound on tape. It was at a mastering session with Larry Bentley that I decided to use what I had recorded, but listening to just the gong hits was a bit boring. I got an idea and asked Larry if he had some effects I could use on the gongs. After some experimenting Larry found what I was looking for and we created the track. I knew I was going to use it as an intro to Brian Jones. The crazy thing is that the track has been sync-licensed a few times.

Brian Jones: I could write a book about this song, and I probably have come close to it over the years. In case you don’t know who Brian Jones is, he’s the guy who started The Rolling Stones. Mick & Keith joined HIS band. The song came to be written because I was “in touch” with Brian’s spirit. This was confirmed many years later in a channeling session I had with the renowned spirit of Dr. Peebles. Google the good Dr. and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about. I’ll leave it at that and just talk about the song. I’ve said it took me 15 minutes to write and 15 years to finally get it right, recording-wise. This might have been the 3rd or 4th of the core tracks to be recorded. One day I was on my way to the studio to work on the track and I was trying to figure out how to approach it. Then I remembered that when my band was playing it with Garry Tallent on bass, Garry was modelling his bass part on the chorus after Bill Wyman’s bass on The Stones Paint It Black. I wasn’t sure if it fit the song, but it was a very cool idea! Thinking about Garry’s idea of using a particular Stone’s song for the basis of a part sparked the light bulb to go off. Why not do the same kind of thing throughout the song?

When I got to the studio, I went to work with The Discontent to try some of my ideas out. We modelled the chorus on Gimme Shelter with driving guitars and the way it breaks down with the drums. Then I had the thought to try the oohs from Sympathy For The Devil on the backing vocals. From there I added a piano part that plays the same pattern through the song. It’s played to Brian’s piano rhythm on Let’s Spend The Night Together. All in all, I used 7 parts from Stones songs, including The Last Time, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Jumping Jack Flash and Satisfaction. But something was still missing for me. What was it?

One weekend I was going up to Boston with The Discontent for a gig they were playing. I think it might have been on that trip that I saw this wooden stake in the median near Mystic, CT that read “next stop Downtown Mystic”. I knew it was the perfect name for my little project the second I saw it. I never saw that stake again on the return trip or subsequent trips to New England. On the way back from Boston, John Borneo (guitar) from the band asked me what I was doing later. He knew I had a beach house at the Jersey shore and would probably be going down later that night, which is what I told him. He said his sister was having a birthday party in Red Bank and invited me to drop in on my way down to the beach. John was a bit of an enigma to me. He was the heartthrob of the band but was kind of quiet. So I said “sure, give me the directions”. I get there later that night and the party seems to be winding down. John introduces me to some people. I’m sitting at a table in the backyard and one of his sister’s friends asks me if I could use a good harp player? The Discontent is not the kind of band for a harp, but as soon as she asks me, I know I have the missing piece to Brian Jones. That’s just the way my mind works. I tell her to give me the name and number of this harp player. You never know.

Jerry Fierro

When I heard the word harp, I flashed back to the 1st time I saw The Stones. It was a TV show and Brian was wailing on his harmonica. That was it—the harmonica was the missing piece to this track! I called the harp player and asked him if he would come to Showplace Studios to record something for me. His name was Jerry Fierro and as it turns out, he was a champion harp player, having won a few titles in competitions over the years! He showed up at the studio and I wasn’t quite sure what we would do. He asks me what style of harp playing do I want. Chicago? Yeah, sure. Ben mikes him up and as Jerry starts to play, I realize that the harmonica should represent Brian in the song. I tell Jerry to riff after every line, as if it was Brian responding. I coach Jerry to create the intro part that gets repeated in the song and he’s killer! When Jerry is done playing, I know I have the finishing piece I was missing.

Brian Jones is a good example of the lengths I will go to for a get a great track. It will consume me, sometimes for years, but it won’t leave me until I get it! I should be less nuts about it, but then I wouldn’t be me. 😊

Last Teardrop: There are just some songs that I write, and I feel like somebody else should sing them. This is one of them. I don’t think it fits my voice. The original track was recorded with Bruce Engler singing the lead. His voice was perfect for it and he nails it! It’s on his One More Chance album that I produced and played on. This is my version with Bruce adding acoustic guitar with mine. I wrote it at a time of great emotional upheaval in my life and I consider it one of my best. I feel that if I was ever lucky enough to write a “classic”, this would be it. It’s probably one of the lesser-known songs in my catalog and I included it on this release to try and change that. I think it’s a great album closer.

Eyes of The World: This was originally going to be on the album, but it didn’t make the cut because I was never fond of the mix. I decided to finally fix that by remixing it at Shorefire with Joe DeMaio engineering. I added some more acoustic guitars and 12-string Rics to finally get the sound I had been looking for. I had cut the lead guitar part on my 1964 Fender Strat played thru a Leslie speaker cabinet that Ben used for the B-3 organ at Showplace. Bruce Engler, who played a great slide part and sang vocals, went in the studio and would keep the rotors going on the Leslie because they would slow down. Joe featured more of the Strat in the mix to give the track that chimey sound. I was so happy with the results that I decided to release it as the advance single to promote the release of the RnR 4 The Soul album.

Ben & Robert

So there you have it. These are my best recollections of the songs and recording them. It’s amazing to me that I remembered as much as I did. Part of releasing RnR 4 The Soul is not only tell how DownTown Mystic was created, but also to honor the people that helped me to do it. My main interest was always doing the best thing possible in recording these tracks and I know that everyone who was involved felt the same way. I couldn’t have done it without them and as I look back now, it’s a bit bittersweet because 3 of the participants are no longer with us. Tommy, Ozzie and Ben have all passed since the recordings. I dedicate RnR 4 The Soul to them because we were RnR brothers and they are missed by everyone who knew them.

Listen to RnR 4 The Soul:

https://promo.theorchard.com/VnXFdaXiFuP03WmmaaaN

DownTown Blog – Live & Shadow Walk

2 years ago in September 2021 I released the DownTown Demos. The premise for this release was that I would release demos that featured the songs Live and Shadow Walk and then go in the studio and re-record new versions of them. Then listeners could compare them, like before and after photos. It was a bit unusual to do it this way but I wanted to show the natural progression of the songs going from demos to finished product.

A few months later in January 2022, I was in Shorefire Studios with drummer Steve Holley and bassist Paul Page to record the tracks that would become AmeriKarma. Included in these tracks were Live and Shadow Walk. It had been a number of years since we were in the studio together and we picked up like it was just the other day. Both Steve and Paul were very enthusiastic about recording these songs and the initial session proceeded along in a timely fashion. That is until we tried to record the basic track for Shadow Walk.

Paul, Robert & Steve

I knew in advance that Steve was knocked out by the demo because he called me about it a few days before the session. I say he was knocked out because I had never heard this kind of reaction from him for one of my demos. This blew me away. When Steve Holley talks, people listen! Lol I had very straight forward kind of rockers planned for Live and Shadow Walk because I wanted them to be different from the demos. One of the other reasons for putting out the DownTown Demos was because I didn’t think I could ever duplicate them. They were one-of-a-kind recordings. It seems that Steve had other ideas.

I had taken it for granted that Steve & Paul would listen to the demos I sent them and do their thing for the recording like they had always done in the past. Then we’d run the track down in the studio and find the right groove and tempo for it. Paul was in the pocket as usual but on Shadow Walk, Steve was intent on recreating the demo. WTF??? I really hadn’t anticipated this from him because I thought he’d hear it the same way that I did. I didn’t think there was any way a band could reproduce the demo.

Steve Holley

Steve wanted to try and try he did. There was something he was hearing but it was eluding him behind the drum kit. Paul and I looked at each other in bewilderment. Neither one of us were going to say anything to him. We plodded along until we had something on tape that we could listen to. It was the perfect point to stop for the evening and start fresh tomorrow. Let’s sleep on it and come back with fresh ears.

The next day I arrived at the studio knowing I had to take charge to get the approach I was looking for. We gathered in the control room with engineer Joe DeMaio and listened to the playback of our previous night’s work. Being the consummate pro that he is, Steve thanked me for giving him the time to try out his ideas but this was my session and he’d play what I wanted him to play on Shadow Walk. I told him the approach I was looking for and we cut the track in a couple of takes. However, Steve was not done yet.

After finishing the track and listening to it, Steve wanted to try one more idea. There was still something gnawing at him and he wanted to try an overdub on the verses. Now he goes in and takes out his tympani sticks and uses them to lay down a part on the toms. It seems totally out of left field, but when Steve is done playing, he’s created the part that nails Shadow Walk! Like I said, Steve Holley is the consummate professional and that part he played proves it. I don’t know anyone who would have thought of playing that but that’s why he’s Steve Holley. As far as I’m concerned his overdub really put the finishing touch on Shadow Walk. I know THAT wasn’t on the demo! LOL

With the basic track out of the way, the real work could begin. There are a lot of guitars on Shadow Walk and that was by design. I wanted to make them as atmospheric as possible and I would put my Jimi Hendrix knowledge to good use with a bunch of backward guitar sounds. But I needed something for the instrumental solo. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Luckily, I had an ace in the hole—Joe (hold) DeMaio to be exact! I had heard that, besides being a talented engineer, Joe was also a talented guitar player.

Joe DeMaio and SG

I had to put him to good use, so I asked him if he would try putting down something for the solo. Joe was up to the task and laid down a beautiful double slide part that sounds like the guitars are melting to me. Just a perfect sound! With the solo done we moved to the out choruses and the guitar frenzy that builds in the background. I didn’t want them to be upfront over the vocals. This sets the stage for the ending solo and once again I turned to Joe. I had brought in my 1968 Gibson SG for the job. We had been talking about Clapton and Cream and his use of the SG. Joe plays a killer solo on the end of Shadow Walk that sounds like Clapton in ’68. Even Clapton doesn’t sound like that anymore, but Joe does 🙂

The recording of Live went fairly smoothly. I knew the demo had been a bit on the slow side, so we went with a bit more energy. Paul’s bass part really sets the stage for the song, so much so, that I decided to feature it at the start of the song. The tricky part with the bass is the depth of sound you get. Pushing it to the forefront, I had to make sure the listener can hear what Paul’s playing for it to work. Then there’s the mastering process to consider because the bass sound can, and probably will, change from what we already have on it. This would be my 1st time working with Leon Zervos, who’s a world-class mastering engineer, but new to me. 

I had already recorded my lead vocals when Steve came back for a day to do harmony vocals on a few songs. When it came time for Live, we stacked his vocals and then he went into the studio to add percussion where needed. He brought out an over-sized cowbell, the name of it escapes me, and proceeded to play throughout the track. Steve would have made Christopher Walken very happy with the amount of cowbell he laid down as only Steve Holley can. 🙂

The plan was now to send a track to harmonica wiz Jerry Fierro down in Florida to record a harp track on Live. It had been 25 years since Jerry had come to Showplace Studios in Dover, NJ to cut his iconic track on Brian Jones. That had been a day of destiny for me. A harp track was the final piece I needed to complete the song and on a chance meeting at someone’s birthday party a few weeks earlier, I was asked if I could ever use a harp player. As soon as I heard the word “harp” (cool slang for harmonica) I knew I had the final piece to the puzzle that was Brian Jones. That harp player turned out to be Jerry.

Jerry Fierro

Joe DeMaio sent the track to Jerry, who sent back a sizzling harp track. The only thing left was to record a guitar track to bounce off of Jerry’s harp and add to the bluesy vibe of the track. I went with my 1964 Fender Strat to play on the track. This guitar sounds so good; it will pretty much play for you. Once I had my part, it was time to mix, and I knew this mix would take some doing.

Unlike the demos, the final mixes for both Live & Shadow Walk took months before we were ready to master. Live took around 40 mixes to complete and Shadow Walk about 30, but I think the proof is in the final product. I think that we delivered great versions of the songs that really show an evolution from the demos. A big heartfelt thanks to everybody involved. U guys ROCKED it!! 🙂

DownTown Blog – Fly

With the release of the 21st Century RnR album, I felt like I had made peace with the end of an era. The songs represented the best of the work I did with my engineer of 20 years, Ben Elliott. It was time to move on and I was ready to do it. The release of the 21st Century album was timed with going into the studio to record new material in a new studio with a new engineer.

For 20 years I had recorded at Ben’s Showplace Studios in Dover, NJ. The studio was gone with Ben so I had to find a new place to record. Change was in the air. I sold my house of 40+ years during the Covid Pandemic and had moved 80 miles south down the GSP. A year after Ben’s death I closed on my new house and realized I was only a half hour from Shorefire Studios in Long Branch, NJ where I had recorded the On E Street sessions with Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg

Shorefire Entrance

Garry was a co-owner of the studio then and I hadn’t been back since he sold his interest in it. A guy named Joe DeMaio had bought the studio. I didn’t know Joe, but as it would turn out, we had many things in common, including being guitar players. What was amazing was how we had managed to never meet before I walked into the studio in January of 2022. My fellow compatriots in the enterprise were 2 old friends–Steve Holley and Paul Page. It had been a while since we had played and recorded together.

Paul, Robert & Steve

What I didn’t know was that Steve had been working with Joe at Shorefire for 20 years! As is usually the case, we picked up as if we had just seen each other yesterday. Covid had surely changed everything but some things never change, and as far as I was concerned, that was definitely a good thing. 🙂

I found out very quickly just how fast and on target Joe DeMaio is as an engineer. Setup was a breeze and Joe had the sound of the drums down with very minimal sound checks. We were recording from the word go. That was something I was not used to. But Joe knew the sound of his room. Having briefly talked beforehand, Joe told me he had set Steve’s drums up like Ringo’s kit and that was no exaggeration because they sounded great! Also, Joe had replaced the original MCI board with a classic Helios console, one of the last to be made. This was the console used in all those classic 60s and 70s recordings in the UK. It had THE sound!!

Joe DeMaio at the Helios console

I was originally planning to work on 5 songs but we ended up recording10 tracks. One of the songs had different versions. I was not a real fan of a song called Fly. I mean, I liked it but it wasn’t exciting me in its original form. What was exciting me was doing a different version of it ala Buddy Holly. Paul was very much for doing it but Steve was a bit reticent about it. He thought it was a great song and was afraid I would release the Buddy Holly version instead. However, he finally agreed to record a BH version, setting up his drums like Jerry Allison, the drummer for The Crickets.

Now you’re probably thinking, Buddy Holly?? Yes Buddy Holly. In fact, the original title of Fly was Buddy Holly. That was before I had any lyrics. For some reason, I kept hearing Buddy Holly influences in the music on the demo. So much so, that I wanted to record a version that was based on Buddy’s Peggy Sue. And we did! I still have some work left on it before I can mix it, but this track will be released someday! 🙂

Robert on the Breedlove

It was the original version of Fly that we cut that would take me by surprise. I knew exactly what acoustic guitars I was going to record on it, including the 12-string Rickenbacker. What I didn’t know was that the 12-string Ric would be recorded through an early 60s white Vox AC30 with the Blue Celestion Alnico speakers…a Beatles geek orgasm if there ever was one! The Ric sounded amazing through it! The song took on a whole new character for me after that. There’s a bit of a laid-back Tom Petty feel to it that works really well. Recording the vocals was a breeze and it would be the 1st song I ever had Steve Holley sing harmony on.

The day before he came down to record vocals, Steve had lost one of his oldest friends. He seemed to be in a sad place but I think having him come down to record vocals helped to lighten his load a bit. He had some ideas for the harmonies that made me rethink the parts of the song. One was in the main refrain which acts like a bridge in the song. I had recorded a high harmony on the demo but Steve didn’t hear it that way. He heard a lower harmony for it and I was glad he did because I wasn’t sure about the harmony on the demo.

By not singing a harmony over the lead vocal on that part, it allowed me to keep the focus on the main melody and that was helpful. But in working on the song, it took on a zen-like quality for me that I had never experienced before. The mix was one of the easiest I’ve ever done, which owes a good deal to Joe DeMaio’s engineering. But it also had a very calming effect on me, which was odd. The song somehow transformed into something I really dug and I decided I had to release it as the 1st Single from the sessions! 🙂

Fly was recorded in January and February, mixed in March, and released in May. To date, it’s getting airplay on 100+ stations in 25 countries around the world. I also decided to make it my 1st single release at AAA Radio in the US in over 6 years. That just might be too long a time to be away but I also decided to release the song When The Angels Sing as a AAA Exclusive and part of the Fly single release. Steve also sang harmony on that track, but I’ll save talking about it for another day.

Fly just seems like a song for this point in time. I wrote it during the Covid lockdown and I think it speaks to a lot of people around the world who just want to get out and about again. At the time I wrote it I was just trying to lighten up a bit from some of the more intense songs I was working on. But as I played it for people, their feedback made me look at the song in a totally different way. It’s not easy trying to put complicated ideas in a simple straightforward way, which is what Fly seems to do. It’s one of my favorite tracks now.

All in all, I’m having the time of my life working with Joe D. at Shorefire. I’m a retro-sounding artist that has to deal with “classic rock” comparisons but that’s what you’re going to sound like if you’re trying to compete with recordings made 50-60 years ago. It comes with the territory. In doing so, I don’t sound like anybody else and having the chance to work with a Helios board only enhances the sound. Also, these are much different recordings from any others I’ve done before and a challenge to me as a producer. I could not ask for more! 🙂

DownTown Blog – 21st Century Rock’n Roll

I decided to make a statement with the release of 21st Century Rock’n Roll. I’m releasing it the day before my 70th Birthday…so how’s that for a statement? Being an artist is not what it used to be, or is it? It’s not like it was in the 20th Century, that’s for sure. More importantly, I wanted to make a statement with regards to the current state of Rock’n Roll.

Right now, as far as the venerable genre goes, the only thing I can see out there are The Rolling Stones, speaking of venerable. I look at this as a good thing because it helps me make a case for 21st Century Rock’n Roll. The Stones are really the only band keeping RnR alive. Why 21st Century Rock’n Roll? Well, despite being compared to classic rock artists like Tom Petty and sometimes being classified as classic rock (really?), I don’t think my music could exist at any other time than now. There might have been a few years in the early 80s for a few of the songs, but on the whole I don’t seem to fit in any other time than the 21st Century.

The truth is I don’t really sound like anyone out there. My shorthand for my influences is Buffalo Springfield meets Rockpile. These are not 2 bands that sound like each other and were certainly not as big in their day, but both were highly influential. From the 60s, Buffalo Springfield spawned Stephen Stills and Neil Young and led to CSN/CSNY. Richie Furay and Jim Messina left to form Country Rock pioneers Poco. All of these artists and groups had a big influence on my playing and writing. In the 80s, Rockpile, formed by Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe, were at the forefront of New Wave. It was at a Rockpile show in Asbury Park, NJ that inspired me to create DownTown Mystic, albeit years later.

To make my RnR statement on 21st Century Rock’n Roll, I chose what I would consider to be my most rocking songs. These are not necessarily all my best songs but they are mainly my most rocking ones. Most are up-tempo. I like to think that I probably put out the most up-tempo tracks out there. Up-tempo tracks are generally considered harder to play and require a certain amount of skill from the musicians. Rockpile was an up-tempo kind of band, with great players, which is probably why I favor them. Of course, The Beatles were also a huge influence and I always looked forward to what new up-tempo songs they would record.

Ben Elliott

The other thing about this release is my chance to honor the late Ben Elliott, who was my engineer for 20 years. He sadly passed away in April 2020 as did his beloved Showplace Studios. Ben’s as much a part of 21st Century Rock’n Roll because his sound is on display. Our goal was to make records and I know we succeeded with these tracks. Just ask anyone who has tried to write and record Rock’n Roll. It’s not as easy as it looks. It’s all about great sound and getting that sound. Ben was a master at it. It’s definitely the end of an era for me, which is probably the main reason for releasing 21st Century Rock’n Roll.

To have these tracks that Ben engineered, at this point in time, is truly a blessing. It’s no surprise that Keith Richards name would also come up now. I mean, why wouldn’t Keith Richards name come up when you’re talking about Rock’n Roll? Keith Richards, the architect of The Rolling Stones brand of RnR and myself, have something in common. That something is actually someone, namely Ben Elliott. Keith met Ben at Showplace when Ben was working on Howling Wolf’s guitar man, Hubert Sumlin’s album About Them Shoes. It was sort of a tribute to the guitarist featuring Keith, Eric Clapton and Levon Helm among others.

Ben & Keith (photo courtesy Arnie Goodman Photography)

Ben must have hit it off with the Stone s legend because soon after, Keith hired Ben to be his personal engineer at his Stamford, CT home studio. Ben’s stories about working at Keith’s were hilarious as well as interesting. I think the other thing I have in common with Keith Richards is our love of all things GUITAR. My recordings are all about GUITARS as are Keith’s. The other thing is the SOUND. You can’t have one without the other when it comes to recording them. Keith knows something about sound, as well as guitars, and that’s why he had Ben as his engineer.

To me, Keith Richards is synonymous with RnR. If there was only one photo to have next to the definition of RnR, it would be of Keith’s face. Even before Chuck Berry and that’s saying something! Keith has doled out far more riffs than anybody I can think of that have any meaning. Yes, Chuck is the Father of RnR but it’s the Son who took it further. Keith took it to another level as an artist, particularly as a Recording Artist. That’s also something Ben Elliott gave me. I became a Recording Artist because of Ben and I will always be grateful to him for that.

Ben & Robert

DownTown Blog – Better Day Part 3

Going through this experience made me take a closer look at my life and reflect on many experiences. I took stock of where I’d been and where I was going despite trying to stay centered in the present moment. As I said at the end of Part 2 of this blog, I was going to have a Better Day in more ways than one and when I started the Drug Trial and chemotherapy, I began to focus on how to promote the new music I just recorded. I needed to keep my mind on my music and keep myself positive and moving forward, while I was spending 6-8 hours a day for a week each month sitting in the Infusion Center. I had music business to deal with.

In 2018 I signed a new Digital Distribution deal with AWAL/Kobalt Music and released a couple of singles off of Rock’n’Roll Romantic in the second half of the year. I promoted them to Worldwide Radio via the iPluggers online Radio platform and scored some good success. The plan for 2019 would be to release 3 new singles before putting out the Better Day album by the end of the year. I had new music but couldn’t decide which track to release first.

The decision would be made for me when iPluggers ran a special promotion for Valentine’s Day looking for love songs. With Love Light ready to go, it was a no-brainer for me. But instead of just releasing 1 track, I decided to add a B-side with the Americana tinged Tomorrow’s Clown. This is without a doubt the most unusual and unique track in the DownTown Mystic catalog and I wanted to give it some extra exposure before the album release. This song would also bring back an epic memory about how I came to write it because it involves meeting the legendary songwriter John Prine.

Trilogy

Way back on December 16, 1972, a month from turning 21, my band Trilogy would play a sold-out show opening for John Prine who was headlining with his self-titled debut album on Atlantic. A buzz was building in music circles about his unique songwriting skills. A week before Christmas, a capacity crowd of over 2000 people filled the gym of my alma mater Rowan University in historic Glassboro, NJ to watch an amazing all-acoustic show. We were the big band on campus so this was a really huge deal for us and as you might imagine, this was the largest audience we ever played for. We were out of our skins!! LOL Looking back we managed to play a strong set of our original songs and went over very well with the audience. However, John Prine was somewhat of a surprise headliner that night when compared to the other artists on the bill.

That bill included a young up-and-coming Bonnie Raitt, who was very popular in the Philadelphia area, which was only a half-hour away. She was touring behind her new critically acclaimed 2nd album Give It Up on Warner Bros. and getting a lot of radio play. But the guy from South Philly who really should have been the headliner instead of being the Special Guest, was the guy whose career was taking off like a rocketship with his 2nd breaking hit single Bad, Bad Leroy Brown—the late great, Jim Croce. He was the main reason the gym was filled to capacity and that WYSP in Philly was simulcasting the show on the radio. Also, his sideman, guitarist Maury Muehleisen, who left school at Rowan to sign and make a solo album for Capitol was returning home to Glassboro! It was heartbreaking to hear the news that both men had been tragically killed in a horrible plane crash only 9 months after this show.

Jim Croce & Maury Muehleisen- (Photo by: Fred Sabine/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Jim Croce was a really cool, humble, open kind of guy. You would not know he was on the verge of a meteoric rise to stardom, and he graciously gave me a great tip that night. He went on after us and did a killer set that brought the gym to its feet. I saw him backstage afterward and asked him how he could play his acoustic guitar without being miked up like we were. He showed me a brand new tiny acoustic pickup called a Barcus Berry that he taped to the bridge of his guitar. You couldn’t even see it from the stage and I was right up front watching. The next time I went home I made a trip to W.48th Street in NYC to visit the mecca of music stores—Manny’s Music and bought 3 brand new Barcus Berry pickups for the band. It changed everything. Thank you Jim Croce!! But I digress…

Bonnie & John

Bonnie Raitt would actually close the show because her flight from Syracuse had been delayed by a snowstorm. So John Prine followed Jim Croce as Bonnie was being driven from the airport to the show. As he was walking up the back of the stage, the backdoor to the gym suddenly opened and in walked Bonnie with her bass player Freebo. She ran over and grabbed John around the neck in a hug that nearly pulled him back off the stage. Luckily he was able to maintain his balance and avoid a nasty fall. He then went up to the mike and with a sly smile muttered something like “I knew a little snow wouldn’t stop Bonnie”, much to the delight of the crowd at hearing Prine’s inside joke. But I digress…again…

On this night John Prine was 25 and just starting out on his musical career. He had recorded his major-label debut album and in 1972 he earned a Grammy Nomination for Best New Artist. Nearly 50 years later he shed his cult status and was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. That debut album, John Prine, is now considered a classic, filled with little masterpieces that got the buzz growing on the mailman turned songwriter from Chicago. Backstage there was definitely something about him that was different from other people. You could see it in his eyes and I was intrigued by him. It made me want to see him play. We chatted a bit as he sat a bit bemused by his headline status, quietly drinking beer to take the edge off his nerves before the show. I probably spent more time talking to his manager Al Bunetta because the 2nd artist that Al was managing, Steve Goodman, was having a breakout hit with his now-classic song City of New Orleans.

John Prine (Photo by Tom Hill/WireImage)

It’s funny thinking back to that night and just how much I absorbed from watching John Prine’s performance. I was like a sponge back then and I was paying very close attention to him and how he started every song with a certain style of fingerpicking that always had this little rhythm to it. It certainly rubbed off on me because it wasn’t long after that show that I came up with the fingerpicking for the music that would become Tomorrow’s Clown. The other thing about John Prine was his way with words and how he just seemed to have a knack for writing about life. He could take something small and natural and make it sound offbeat and still get to you.

Robert/Trilogy

I know he got into my head that night because not only did he influence my fingerpicking, but he also got my attention with his lyrics. Tomorrow’s Clown is a love song about a serial killer (pure Prine). The inspiration for the song came from watching an episode of Kojak, a popular TV series at the time, but the lyrics are definitely due to John Prine. I say this because I’ve never written anything like it before or since and I can only conclude that there’s just no way I could have written the song if I hadn’t seen and met him that night.

Ben & Robert

Tomorrow’s Clown is one of the oldest songs that I’ve written and recorded and like a John Prine song, there’s something particularly poignant about the song itself, as well as the recording of it. 2 of the people involved have recently passed away. My engineer of 20 years, Ben Elliott, who recorded everything DownTown Mystic ever recorded, just passed away a couple of weeks ago as I write this. Ironically, the only time I’ve ever used his voice on a recording is at the start of Tomorrow’s Clown, when he hits the record button on the Studer tape machine and says ”we’re rolling”. It’s something he said to me hundreds of times in my headphones over the years and I have it for posterity now.

Tommy & Robert

The other person who’s no longer with us is the drummer on the track, Tommy Mastro. Tomorrow’s Clown is the last track we ever recorded together. Once again, it turned out to be a totally unique experience. We had started that last session around 1 pm and it was now 1 am. Tommy was set up in the studio and I was set up in front of the mixing console with my acoustic guitar miked in front of the floor to ceiling studio glass so that we could see each other. It was the only time that I ever did this working at Showplace Studios with Ben. The basic track was cut live as you hear it. Ben says “we’re rolling”, I start the count and then start fingerpicking my acoustic in the control room looking at Tommy playing in the studio, just the 3 of us. I’m forever grateful to have it on tape. As I said earlier, Tomorrow’s Clown is the most unique song I ever wrote or recorded and I’m lucky enough to owe it all to one man. Thank you John Prine!! 🙂

To be continued…

DownTown Blog – Better Day Part 2

As you will see, the making of the Better Day album would become an adventure. 2 weeks before going in the studio to start recording, I had done a photoshoot in NYC with LA photographer Mark Maryanovich, which I considered to be part of the project. I had never released any DownTown Mystic recording with my face on the cover and I intended that to change with Better Day.

The following week after the photoshoot, Mark got back to LA and sent me the photos. I hate to take photos of myself but Mark had done an incredible job. Even I was really impressed. There were so many great shots to choose from. Mark had given me everything I needed to get the project rolling. With my head filled with good vibes, I entered the studio ready to rock!

courtesy of @markmaryanovich

The tracking sessions took place at Showplace Studios with my engineer of 20 years Ben Elliott and then recording moved to Sound Spa here in NJ, helmed by Stephen DeAcutis, also known as Stevie D. I had worked with Steve before and knew he was also a great guitar player. Given that DownTown Mystic is primarily all guitars, I figured Steve would be the best man to work with on the new songs. Steve was still in the process of finishing his own album Torn From The Pages with Cory Glover, of Living Colour fame, on vocals. So I was in very good hands.

Steve Holley, Robert & Paul Page

The sessions were a blast. Steve Holley and Paul Page provided the backing as the rhythm section (which they also do for Ian Hunter’s Rant Band) and the end result was some of the best music I had ever recorded, including some of my best guitar solos. From the Tom Petty inspired 12-string solo on Better Day to the ripping guitar on Modern Ways. One of the more memorable moments came one night when I was trying to flesh out the solo on The Wish. I had asked Lance Doss to put down a guitar part for me just before he was to pack up and go home. He laid down a part in one pass. Some of it worked and some of it needed some improvement. So for about 30 minutes I toiled trying to piece something together with what Lance had played and it wasn’t working.

Lance & Robert

Now sitting next to me punching in my takes is Steve. I’m looking at him and thinking, “what am I doing here”? I handed him my Les Paul and asked him to have a try and just play whatever he wanted. I think he had the solo finished and recorded within 10 minutes and it was perfect! These are the moments, as a producer, that I live for. It was truly magical! Lance and I never stood a chance. So my intuition to work with Steve had already paid a big dividend.

At The Spa

We finished the sessions in early October and it would be another month before I could get more studio time. 2 weeks later I went for my annual physical with my primary doctor, Dr. Edward Gold. When the doctor called a few days later with the results, I was not really surprised by what he said. For the past 2 years Dr. Gold had been trying to find out the cause of my hemoglobin dropping. His diagnosis had been Chronic Anemia, which I was never really satisfied with. Now he told me my hemoglobin had dropped from 9.2 to 7.2 in the last 6 months (normal hemoglobin range is 14-18). He said we needed to do another bone marrow test to see what was going on.

I went for the bone marrow test and got the results from Dr. Gold on Halloween before I left for the studio to continue recording. The doctor said I had what they used to call “pre-leukemia”, now called MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome). Actually, in an odd way, I took this as kind of good news because there was finally an explanation for what I was going through in the last 2 years. The doctor wanted me to see a specialist, Dr. James McCloskey at HUMC. I called and made an appointment and then headed out the door for Sound Spa. I was not going to let anything deter me from finishing the album, especially now. Who knew what was ahead of me? The main thing was to stay in the moment and make music.

Steve & Rob

I remember walking into the studio and talking to Stephen. We would usually chat before a session about what was going on since we had seen each other last and I told him my news. I could see the concern on his face and I told him I would be ok. In previous conversations I had with Steve, I told him about my sessions with Dr. Peebles and Natalie Gianelli, who channels the good doctor (this would make for another post). The main teachings of Dr. Peebles are to take responsibility for your life and to connect with your heart, which will connect you to your Higher Self and who you really are. The mind (ego) will always try to get involved and micro-manage everything, which makes it hard for us to get out of our own way. Dr. Peebles told me that everything in my life was always working for me and never against me. So I was now applying that to the MDS and looking at how it was going to benefit me. Little did I know how much this new mindset would help me in the days to come.

courtesy of @markmaryanovich

With the discussion over, I changed my focus back to the music and spent the next week recording and mixing. Song titles like Better Day, The Wish, One More Chance, Love Light, One Step Closer, Read The Signs and Lost & Found took on very different meanings then they had just a few days before and the irony wasn’t lost on me. The positive vibes that started with the photoshoot had continued with the recording sessions and helped me to keep my attention in the present moment. What was about to occur was not something I was giving a lot of thought to and this will be the 1st time I’ve ever talked about it at any length, so please keep that in mind.

courtesy of @markmaryanovich

I continued recording and mixing the Better Day album in the first week of November 2018. The following week I met with Dr. James McCloskey, the head of the Leukemia Dept. at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center here in NJ. Dr. McCloskey had looked at my bone marrow test and told me that the test revealed I was making these irregular cells called “blasts” at 12% of my cells. He said that at 20% it’s considered to be Leukemia. At 12% I was in the high range and needed to be treated as soon as possible, because unchecked, the blasts would become Leukemia cells. He said that I was a good candidate for a new drug trial he was doing that was in its 3rd and final stage before getting approval by the FDA. It was a chemotherapy drug in pill form that took the place of the intravenous drug and with fewer side effects.

But the real news of my meeting was that there was a CURE for MDS, usually a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. I then met with the Transplant Team headed by Dr. Scott Rowley. The plan was for me to enter the drug trial, get as healthy as possible and then get a transplant. I started the chemo treatment in December for a full week and every month after until March, when I met with Dr. Rowley and was told that I was ready for the transplant. My hemoglobin was up to 13.2 and the blasts had been reduced down to 2%. I was feeling so good I asked them to put off the transplant until April. It seemed I was going to have a Better Day. 😎

To be continued…

DownTown Blog – Rock’n’Roll Romantic: Tommy Mastro

DownTown Mystic: Rock 'n' Roll Romantic

In the last blog entry I wrote about one of the musicians involved in the making of Rock’n’Roll Romantic who I owed a debt of gratitude—Garry Tallent from The E Street Band. In this blog entry I want to talk about someone not as famous as Garry, but just as important to the making of Rock’n’Roll Romantic—Tommy Mastro.

Tom& Rob

Tommy & Robert

I first met Tommy when he was playing drums for a band called The Discontent. This was in my previous life as a Manager. It was obvious from the get-go that Tommy was clearly the best musician in the band (I don’t think any of them would disagree) and he played a big part in my decision to manage them. It wasn’t just his muscular playing with “old school” feel that impressed me like Kenny Aronoff (drummer for John Mellencamp & John Fogerty), but perhaps even more importantly, his attitude and personality. He loved to laugh and kid around and was there to be a cheerleader when necessary. His positive vibes were very contagious and many times lifted the band up whenever challenges arose. As a manager, I can’t tell you how important it is to have a guy like that in a band!

Tom_Mastro_web

I was either lucky or dumb to have 2 bands recording their projects at the same time in different studios. It kept me busy shuffling between the 2 and it also got my juices flowing to record my own songs again. I had always wanted to produce and make records as an artist, but I let go of that dream to start my own company Sha-La Music. However, I started working more and more in the studio with The Discontent and that’s how I met studio engineer Ben Elliott, who the band was working with at Showplace Studios in Dover, New Jersey. Funny thing, the Showplace used to be a club and my band had played there 15 years earlier opening for acts like Robert Gordon and Elliott Murphy. Now it was cut in half, divided by a wall with a GoGo Bar on one side and the recording studio on other side, where the stage used to be. I could usually find the band in the bar when there was downtime in the studio. 🙂

societydidit05132017

Besides managing The Discontent, Sha-La became the band’s label, releasing their 1st cd societydidit. When it came time to work on new material, I decided to take the band into the studio to record some demos. It was also at this time that I decided to record some of my own songs. I’d been watching Tommy play drums and I could see how solid he was. I had recorded with some real pros like “Mighty” Max Weinberg. The drummer is the engine that drives a band, especially in the studio. The basic track is really all about the drums. A great drummer can make all the difference in recording a great track.

I could see that Tommy had that ability too. I saw and heard what he had done on societydidit. The Discontent played punk with a metal edge and Tommy would put a groove in that you don’t usually hear in those kinds of songs. I began to wonder what he could do with my more “old school” songs and was looking forward to making that happen. So when the time came to go back to Showplace Studios to cut some demos, I asked Tommy and the bass player Eric Hoagland, if they would be interested in cutting some of my songs before their session. Both were enthusiastic and one night after a Discontent rehearsal we ran down the songs and it was off to the studio.

Tommy & Eric

Tommy & Eric

It was very cool for me to be making music again and recording with Tommy and Eric made the experience even cooler. I could see Tommy was a bit of a “head case” when it came to playing in the studio. He would stress himself out. I told him not to over think it because he was a great drummer and just needed to let his intuition guide him when playing. He would start to relax and lock in the groove. When it came to playing rock’n’roll he was a natural. He kept it fairly straight but he played with such power locking in on the groove. It really allowed me to enhance the rhythm. I think the 1st track we cut was Turn Around And Go. You can hear how he attacks the track but keeps the groove together.

We cut 6 tracks in that session that I could work on at my leisure when I had some down time. I was also very impressed with what Tommy played. He knew who I had worked with and wanted to impress me. He also knew what I wanted and he knew how to make the songs rock. I started calling him “2 Take Tommy” because we would be doing the 1st take and at some point he would stop. Then he would nail the 2nd take! 🙂

Tom1

Little did I know at the time that these sessions would be the start of what would become DownTown Mystic. Looking back I have Tommy (with an assist from Eric) to thank for that. As I became more involved with working on the tracks, I decided I needed a name for my project. As it would turn out, The Discontent would indirectly help me find one. On a trip up to Providence, RI for a gig with the band I saw an old wooden sign on the side of the road that read “next exit Downtown Mystic”. Presto! I had my name for the project. On all our trips up to New England I’d never seen it before. Never saw it again. 🙂

Da_Boyz

Tommy would eventually leave The Discontent, but I stayed in touch and never hesitated to call him to play on my DownTown Mystic sessions. His playing is all over Rock’n’Roll Romantic, playing on half of the album. One of the tracks, Dead End Space, was written with The Discontent after he had left the band and we cut my version with just the 2 of us in the studio. I’ll always remember that session because it was late at night and the only time I was set up with my acoustic guitar in front of the mixing board in the Showplace control room. Tommy was set up with his drums in the studio so we could see each other through the control room glass as we cut the track live to tape. After the 2nd take Tommy was beaming. I could hear him say (in true Tommy fashion) through the glass, “that was so coool”!!

That was Tommy, a true Rock’n’Roll Romantic. 🙂