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MP3 Downesy - Water From a Stone

This disc blends electric and acoustic rock with great hooks and melodies.

10 MP3 Songs
POP: Pop/Rock, ROCK: Acoustic

Details:
Downesy is a singer/songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts and has been an active in the northeast music scene for many years as front man for Zen Ten and Desmond.

Water From A Stone features classic-hook acoustic rock songs, and timeless, haunting melodies delivering to the listener a passion and expression that comes through on every cut. Downesy delivers masterful performances on this recording which makes these songs memorable and permanent. Water From A Stone brings to reality work that started some years ago between Downesy and song writers Richard Cowdrey and Michael Caisse. The following is from a sit down with Downesy.

Where was Water From A Stone recorded?

It was recorded primarily at Zen Studio beginning in the late 90’s. Zen Studio was located in an old building erected during the mill era in Lowell, MA. The recordings we made there is the sound of that big room. When I listen to the tracks “Perfect World,” “Some Days" and "Reason" I am immediately transported there and I hear the rich acoustics of that great, old space. The CD also contains tracks recorded and mixed at Blue Jay Recording Studio (just prior to it being sold to Marcus Siskind and group), and the great Megaphone Recording Studio in Portland, ME...talk about great sounding studios.

How did you decide on calling the CD “Water From A Stone”?

We had the framework of what I thought were some good songs but getting the players together to hone them was tricky. ...so we had this big rock that we wanted to shape into something special. Enter Richard Cowdrey. Rich was the catalyst and his production efforts really brought these raw tracks to another place. All in all it was a long, arduous process but in the end we got water from that stone.

Who else was involved in the studio sessions?

Richard Cowdrey was unquestionably the technical cornerstone of the project. He tirelessly sifted through hours of tape to recover the tracks that were ultimately used on this recording, most of which were scratch tracks from pre-production sessions. Rich played a ton on this recording as well as brother Elliott Cowdrey (bass) and our good friends David Redding (guitars), Michael Caisse (drums), Steve Thellen (keyboards) and Kuba "The Polish Bon Jovi" Majerczyk (drums).

How does it feel to have all of these songs, written across several years, finally released?

Very satisfying and it has been a long time coming. Songs like “All Of My Life,” and “One More Try” are songs written long ago by Richard and Michael but just now have found a platform for release.

How far back does your collaboration with Richard Cowdrey go?

At least 25 years. Back in the day we all hung around a n mutual friend''s house for weekend jam sessions. A number of bands spun off from those sessions and ultimately settled into Zen Ten which included Richard, his brother Elliott, David Redding, Steve Thellen and Dave LaTorre. Zen Ten had some serious guitar strength but logistically it was difficult to bring the group together with consistent results. It had always been a democratic arena but as time between sessions increased Richard and I assumed more of the writing duties. Some of which fell outside of the band''s circle of interest. Richard has always been the compass that got us to port. He delivers great performances throughout the recordings and navigated the ship in the studio. His co-writing on nearly every cut shows a classic sensibility with modern notions of arrangement and structure. I think his work is remarkable. And I believe that it is so not just within the narrower scope of independent music, but within the broader context of the music industry.

Richard''s brother, Elliott Cowdrey, is also a collaborator and performer on Water From A Stone?

Yes, Elliott has been key to virtually every project we done. He is a great musician who has been a tireless supporter of his band mates and collaborators over the years. He is also a co-writer on "Terrible Beauty" and "Reason." He''s an anchor. He is a great talent and has an upcoming release called "Metric Tensor" which is going to be fantastic, and I am looking forward to working with him to pay him back for all the support he has given me.

Michael Caisse also has co-writing credits on Water From A Stone. Do you remember the first time you performed with Michael Caisse?

Wow. It must have been the early 80''s when the line up included Richard, David Redding, Paul Bracken, Michael and I. I forget what we called ourselves then. We changed band names like we in the witness protection program! We rehearsed in a small house in Woburn, Massachusetts with a female group called "Lizzy Borden''s Axes". Anyway, I had known Mike through the weekend jam sessions and through the other guys since they had played together for a while. I was immediately impressed with his drumming. He was and still is a heavy hitter with impeccable timing. He was, and is, always looking for the next great thing in music. He really has a sixth sense about these things.

What was the first song you ever wrote?

I''ll take the 5th! I''m not really sure but I hope it''s been lost. One of the first recorded songs was "For My Lady" which was collaboration with David Redding, Richard Cowdrey and Michael Caisse.

Some tracks on Water From A Stone features the drumming of Amadeus Kuba Majerczyk?

Yes. He is an acquaintance of Richard''s. He is such great drummer; he has incredible instincts and is a world-class talent. I am thrilled to have him on the record. He is also doing some work on the CD Metric Tensor, Elliott Cowdrey’s upcoming effort as well.

The contrasting terms "Terrible Beauty" begs the question...what''s the deal?

Years ago a friend of Richard''s< Randi Gualteiri, was telling us about a concept from Russian literature where someone''s inner passions and pain is sealed off from the outer world and that this has a self-defeating, self-consuming result. The concept was called "Nadrayvat". The other part of it was that there was an ironic beauty to this affliction. Pretty heavy, huh? She wrote a poem called Terrible Beauty. Richard and Elliott put the music to it and I re-worked the lyric to make it fit the arrangement. It is a favorite of mine because it is delivered forcefully and clearly, but lingers and flirts just enough with the abstract.

Many of the guitar sounds on the CD are a remarkable in their reflection of the guitar sound of Dave Evans, a.k.a The Edge, of U2. I hear that influence on several of the tracks. How did that come about?

That''s Richard "Close to the Edge" Cowdrey! Great stuff, isn''t it? "Reflection of the guitar sound" is a nice phrase to use. You could have said ''shamelessly ripped-off The Edge!'' Yeah, I really love that textured sound. I think that Rich has captured his own version of the sound although it is "Edge-like" in spots. It is more than just echoes. The repeats are in time. Richard has made recordings with more traditional guitar solos and guitar work, including a chord-melody release of Joe Pass tunes several years ago. He was looking to make the electric guitars on Water From A Stone more airy and percussive.

What is up next for Downesy?

I''ve started writing again for the next recording. I am anxious to get Rich involved so we can start investigating new sounds and textures. I''m looking forward to Tom Elliot (bass) and Rod McCarthy (drums) joining me on the next project. We''ve been working on a side project together and hope that they will be available to come into the studio soon.

People who are interested in U2 The Beatles should consider this download.
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