Thanks
Thanks to my daughter Rory, my niece and nephew Rosemary and Brennan, my family and friends that are always a great source of support. I also want to thank all the fans from the shows and everyone who bought the “Country Blues for Kids” record that got the whole thing started. Special thanks to musicians Kerry, Steve, Rick, Ben, Dennis, Cal and Tony. I am truly blessed to have such amazing artists along. More thanks to Dan and everyone at Columbia River Music, Paul and Susan at Arrow Guitar, Brook at Crowerks, Eric et al at Stumptown printers, Tony and Matt at Cravedog, Derek Sivers and the CD Baby family, BDC Distribution and JLK,
Most of the record was recorded in Portland Oregon by Mark Fretham at Doctor Digital Studios. Mark also mixed and edited the whole thing. Mark has worked on the last 4 projects I’ve done and has done a wonderful job. He records for Chamber Music Northwest, lots of classical projects as well as Portland Taiko and the late great Dave Carter.
Four tracks were recorded live in Hood River at Rick Hulett’s Bigfoot‘s Cave Studio. Rick is an amazing musician who laid down all the bass tracks you hear and the flatpick guitar solo for Arkansas Traveler.
David Glasser of Airshow Mastering Boulder Co mastered the record. He has mastered 50 GRAMMY-nominated records and has picked up a few wins. David has worked on projects for Dave Carter, Vassar Clements, Tim O’Brien, Bill Frisell, The Grateful Dead, Guy Davis, Bob Margolin, Chuck Pyle and one of my favorites Billy Jonas.
Tracks
#1 Barnyard Dance- Written by Carl Martin. My Aunt Dena used to sing this song when we were kids. I had forgotten about it and Paul Lestock said I should do it. Ben Bonham put a nice Hawaiian slide intro ala Looney Toons to start the record off. I thought it would be a good start transitioning from Country Blues for Kids which was just me and my guitar, to Kid at Heart which had other musicians with me.
#2 Ladybug picnics #12- When I was a kid this was one of my favorites off Sesame Street. Recorded live at Bigfoot’s cave and Bigfoot laid some bass tracks in later. Steve on Percussion, Kerry on Mandolin. Great for helping kids count to 12.
#3 Kid at Heart- Our anthem. I don’t care how old or young a person is.
Anyone young at heart will like our music. I open every show with this song. I always liked how Mr. Rogers opened up his show with the same song each time. It’s especially comforting for kids.
#4 Tale of the Three Little Pigs- Recorded live at Bigfoot’s. Some VJ twists on the classic tale. When you come see us live, I expect you to know your part! Owwwwwww.
#5 You Got it Going On- Big time dance tune. I love that kids don’t care what they look like when they are having fun and dancing. There is a lot to be learned or un-learned from kids. Ben Bonham plays some great silly stuff.
#6 Itsy Bitsy Spider- A country blues rendition on the classic song. When my daughter was young, she could hear Itsy Bitsy Spider 100 times in a row. I’m not sure why but it is a magic song.
#7 Which Came First? - Don’t look for any great meaning in this track. I’m just being weird.
#8 Chickens- There will be lots of chicken dancing going after this song gets out. This song came to me while stacking wood at a friend’s house.
The arrangement came when we were playing on Dan Ross’ live anniversary radio show with a bunch of songwriters. Dennis Williams and Cal Scott were there in the studio and were gracious enough to go on air and play it live with no rehearsal! Dennis’ clarinet and Cal’s Cornet started this Dixieland thing that was magic. It was so good I was forgetting my own words and chords because I was enjoying them so much. They both were kind enough to re-create in for the record. It may be the first cornet clucking ever caught on record anywhere!
#9 ABC song- I never want to forget the little, little fans. This is a simple, pure solo version for them.
#10 Comin’ Round the Mountain- Another Track from Bigfoot’s Cave. People always love this live so we tried it a bunch of different ways. Now you see why Kerry Williams is known as one of the hottest mandolin players in the west! Hope you like the nod to Bob. Respect.
#11 Don’t feed the Sea-Monkeys Bananas- A talking blues kids story song.
Did this in one take and yes even the ending.
#12 Take Me Out to the Ballgame/ New Ballgame- One of the best things about old songs is that everyone knows them. Another great thing is that once they are really old you can change them without getting in trouble. I think baseball is a great game but if you take a drive around and look for the kids today they aren’t playing pickup games in the fields or lots. I thought a different era needed a different song.
#13 This Old Man- Another great traditional song I took some liberty with.
I left the picking kinda loose intentionally.
#14 Arkansas Traveler- Recorded at Bigfoot’s. We actually had to put Steve in the other room because the sound of the drums was bleeding into all the other microphones. Good thing we play together so much, when you can’t see your drummer you better be able to feel him! Rick took the flatpick guitar solo on this one in addition to the bass. He is really good but didn’t play them at the same time. And of course Kerry ripping on the mandolin.
#15 This Little Light of Mine- This is one of the most beautiful songs ever. I played this one solo. Everyone should know this song and sing it once in a while. Especially when times look dark.
#16 When You’re Smiling (The whole world smiles with you)
L. Shay, M.Fisher, J. Goodwin.
I love this song. My favorite version of course is by Louis Armstrong.
Louis had it real, real hard as a kid and growing up. He never let it keep him down and stop him from bringing the greatest music ever to all people of the world.
On this version Ben Bonham plays Hawaiian Slide Guitar while I comp chords and sing. I wanted to put some soft-shoe dancing in the breaks but couldn’t work it out. My mom had an old Woodstock typewriter in the garage, which had a lovely tone so we used what we had. I still hear the soft-shoe in my head. Someday we will re-mix it. We just got to find the right person to dance the part. I think if you try, you can hear what I hear.
Players
These guys are so good. I am so grateful to them all. They all put such a fun, lively spirit into this record I can’t imagine these songs without them now.
Steve McLennon- Percussion
One of the founding members of Samba Hood Rio our local Brazilian drum group. Steve plays all kinds of drums including African, Brazilian and Middle Eastern. Steve is an actual MD and works at the Mind/Body center of Mid-Columbia Medical Center. He has done wonders with chronic pain patients using music therapy and guided imagery. We do lots of School assemblies and do music classes for little kids and their folks.
Kerry Williams- Mandolin
Kerry is widely know as one of the top mandolin players in the Northwest and is in high demand as a performer and session player. Originally from Bedford Penn. He relocated to the NW and currently plays with Django’s Cadillac, The Cascade Trio and of course Victor Johnson. Kerry is comfortable with all styles including Bluegrass, old time, Irish, Jazz, Swing, Latin, Chorro, Klezmer, and Middle Eastern music.
Ben Bonham- Hawaiian Slide
Ben is originally from Bristol England and relocated to the NW as well. He is a serious student of old blues and ragtime guitar as well as vintage hapa howlie tunes on the lap slide. Ben plays in several groups including, The Hapa Hillbillies, Trashcan Joe, Stillway and Bonham and the Red Haired Boys.
Rick Hulett-
Rick is originally from Lubbock TX where he says “There was nothing to do but play music. That’s why so many great musicians come out of there.”
Rick played guitar for Joe Ely after the Flatlanders went their own ways.
He was part of the Tommy Hancock family band and remembers when Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks) was running around in diapers at his friend Lloyd Maines’ house. Rick came to the Columbia River Gorge area of the Northwest for the windsurfing and never left. Rick is a prolific songwriter, an excellent musician and quickly becoming a great recording engineer. Rick is also part of Django’s Cadillac and the Cascade Trio with Kerry and together they share that elusive musical telepathy. Rick and Kerry have played together for so long that they now make the same mistakes in the exact same place. Rick’s main instrument is guitar but maintains he is really a bass player.
Dennis Williams-
Dennis has been playing clarinet for about five decades now and hails originally from Burbank, Ca. He is one of the most inspired musicians I have ever been around. He never ceases to amaze me when he performs. Just when I thought I had heard every musical idea he has. He plays something totally new to my ears. He laid down the “Chickens” track after just getting back from France. No rest for Dennis!
He comes from a very musical family. His Grandma played organ in the silent movie days and Dennis still has her music book that is arranged by how the music was supposed to make the audience feel. She would watch the film and decide what would be appropriate flip open that section of music and synch what she was playing with the action on the screen. No wonder Dennis is so good with connecting with audiences!
Cal Scott-
Cal is pretty famous in the Northwest. He is a composer for film / TV and performs with and is the musical director for the high profile Trail Band.
You can hardly turn on Oregon Public Broadcasting TV without hearing something Cal has written or produced. The first time I saw Cal play was at a Trail Band Christmas Concert. He was doing a holiday story monologue in the middle of the show and he started whistling a tune. Then he starts whistling another tune simultaneously with the first one. I have never seen anyone do this before or since. The clucking cornet on the “Chickens” song is that kind of Cal Scott magic. I’ve never heard anyone do this before. Not even from the greats including Louis Armstrong, who was certainly not above making a musical joke. Cal is amazing and I’m so happy to have his contribution to the kid’s music world on this record.
Tony Marcus-
Tony is one of my all time favorite musicians in the whole world. He is a great guitarist, violinist, vocalist, composer, arranger and purveyor of great vintage tunes. He has the best feel for swing of anyone I know. He performs with his lovely wife Patrice in the group Leftover Dreams and in endless other groups. including the Cheap Suit Serenaders and Cats’n’
Jammers. Tony is one of the top hired guns in the bay area and travels out all over the country and internationally. He is also on staff at National Guitar Workshops and Puget Sound Guitar Camp among others. Tony appears courtesy of Tuxedo Records www.tuxedorecords.com
Gear
I recorded everything playing on my new custom guitar built especially for me by Paul Lestock at Arrow Guitar. www.arrowguitars.com I only use J.
D’Adarrio J16 Phosphorus Bronze Strings and a Pink Keyser Capo for the cure! Oh yeah the guitar is the model VJ with mahogany back and side with a red Adirondak spruce top and an ebony fretboard.
At Doctor Digital we stereo “mic-ed” two Neumann TLM 190’s for the guitar.
On my voice we used a very amazing Neumann U87 custom tuned by Klaus Heine. We ran these through Grace pre-amps and into Pro Tools. Ben Bonham plays a lovely 1927 National Hawaiian Lap Slide Guitar. I’ll have to get back to you on what Clarinet Dennis uses and Cal’s Cornet.
At Bigfoot's cave we used a U87 on my voice with a Grace pre-amp and a Neumann KM140 on the guitar with a DBX preamp. Kerry Williams is playing a custom Sullivan mandolin with a KM 140. Steve McLennon is playing his trusty vintage snare with Carnival beads all over it with a SM 57 and a Surdu which is a big Brazilian Bass Drum for Carnival parades. We used a TLM 103 for the Surdu.
Rick played the Guitar solo on Ark Traveler on his Collings cutaway OM model.
The Package
As far as I know, I’m the first person to use this system for a Nationally released music CD. We custom designed the outer case with Stumptown Printers in Portland Or. We made it so you can slide out the inside case and see the mechanics of it. They tell me the cases are made of pure metocene polypropylene (whatever that is) and are 100% recyclable (I like that part) without any separation. They are still plastic but they are a more eco-friendly design that makes 50%-70% less pollution when created then the normal CD jewel cases. The outer case was offset printed with vegetable-based ink on partially recycled paper using alcohol-free dampening & environmentally friendly pressroom supplies at a worker owned and operated print shop.
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