These songs were recorded in Jo Ann-land Studio here at our house
on a Tascam 38 1/2” reel to reel tape machine with a Mackie 1604 mixing board.
After settling on tempos, basic guitar and vocal tracks laid out the songs to be colored in with the other instrument tracks.

First up was my friend and acoustic bass player, Pat Lawrence.
Several of Pat’s sessions were done during periods of inclement winter weather.
We both enjoyed having something to do that was out of the weather.
Pat’s studio work ethic was great and I really enjoyed his take on the various grooves we were working on. He is a talented and versatile musician.

Next I tried to schedule recording time with my long time drumming friend Gordon Smith. Gordon runs his own business, Farmville Wholesale Electric Co. in Farmville Va. and lets just say he has lots of irons in the fire. He is a great drummer and he is the reason I started playing bass years ago. My initial request was for Gordon to play a swing groove on “I Know Love”. He is the “King of Swing” in my book. After he nailed the first session, I realized how much better things would turn out if I had him help on several other tracks. This project was recorded on an 8-track recorder of which only 7 tracks would consistently output. This meant that drum and percussion parts would be mixed down to 1 or 2 tracks while being recorded and there would be no fixing individual parts later. I did have Gordon out several times to rerecord parts and to finally play the B3 organ part on “I Know Love”.
Gordon and I have been playing music for many years and I appreciate his talents and his tasteful contributions to the grooves on this recording.

Bill Gurley and I were thrown together as children because his father Rudy and my father Ben were business associates. Because of his attraction to the dark side (bluegrass) we didn’t play music together until after high school. Now we play together every chance we get. Bill made time in his busy schedule of performing, teaching private music lessons and major home improvements, to come and give me the 4 tracks I needed. Of all the people who help on this album, Bill has probably logged the most studio time. When we were done, I asked him for his take on what I was doing and how I was going about it. His response was as follows. “If you were recording a big studio, would it sound better? Probably. Would the grooves be better? No. They probably wouldn’t be as good. You’re having too much fun out here.” I’m very proud of my long time affiliation with Bill and Pam Gurley.
Check them out at www.billandpamgurley.com

Al Franklin has been rocking the central Va. area for longer than he would care for me to mention. Al and I have worked together in bands and have found our musical taste and styles go together very well. He came out twice to sing harmony parts and once to help me move the B3 and Leslie cabinet over from the Cowpalace.
Many thanks to Al for his great voice, his strength and years of camaraderie.

Sid and Cassie Hagan came out one afternoon to sing on Bamba Shack and Rocket Scientist. When we were done they said lets try something on Cookin with Fat. It was one of the coolest parts that happened on the album, a very nice harmony, which blended into the harmonica track like butter. I appreciate the time they spent working on these songs. Check them out at www.Purveyorstheband.com. Sid also did the audio mastering on this collection of songs at his studio in Lynchburg Va. O.K.then Records.
Sid has the attention to detail and the focus required to do this kind of work. I am very grateful for his contribution to the finished product and for encouraging me be a part of the mastering process.

Jo Ann Eppes last but not least. In early January this year, I asked Jo Ann what I should try to accomplish in 2005. She said,” Please record your songs”. I got started and couldn’t stop. I’m sure she got tired of hearing me talking about the tracks and recording problems. Towards the end of the recording project, she stepped up and started listening to mixes and offering her valued opinion. This really did work out well because she wasn’t as close or as burnt out on the songs as perhaps I was. Several times she suggested a finishing percussion part that I would immediately go do. While working out the bass drum and conga part on Mirror, which had to be played simultaneously, Jo Ann suggested an additional shaker part during the vocal. I set up a mike and handed her the shaker. We ran it down once or twice and had it. I am grateful for Jo Ann everyday.