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MP3 Steve Genereux - My Backyard
14 MP3 Songs in this album (58:53) !
Related styles: ROCK: Soft Rock, ROCK: Adult Contemporary
People who are interested in Pink Floyd Lifehouse should consider this download.
Details:
Welcome to My Backyard!
You’re probably here for some Bar-B-Q pork or baby back ribs, I can’t blame ya! My mouth is watering for the shrimp and lobster fresh off the grill. I know, now you’re hungry, but give the songs a listen and finish reading first.
I don’t know if you’ve heard my first two official CD releases, “Wired” in 2004 and my easy listening instrumental release “The Journey Home” in 2006. If you haven’t you may want to check them out at https://www.tradebit.com
This CD is my 3rd release and has kept me busy for almost a year now. Below you’ll read about some of what it took to get it done and who was involved.
I went through about 180 songs I had already recorded in the past few years that sat without vocals for some time. I narrowed them down to the choice tunes and then of course wrote more as I worked on the CD. Vocalists were chosen that I thought would fit each song the best. They were local and willing to work for free, just what I could afford. I play all the instruments on my CD’s so I record rather quickly most of the time. It can get involved and complicated when you add other people.
I started recording “One Machine” in mid October of 2007 and finally ended with a last minute writing addition “Thread the Needle Again” and my daughter’s song “Always Wanting More”
at about the same time in July of 2008.
The song “Rock Yours Tonight” was a demo from 2004 that I didn’t use for “Wired” and it was re-arranged and re-recorded for this CD. “Home I’ll Fly” is a really different type of song I wrote in 2005 and finally finished up in 2008, I really love the groove of this piece.
I worked diligently on this CD for months and I never seemed to leave my studio through the winter of 2007/08. It takes more time than you would think when you’re doing everything on your own, but that’s the way I like it.
Every time I wrote a song, I sang a scratch track vocal for whomever I had chosen to sing the lead vocal track. I would get them a basic mix copy so they could become familiar with the song and the melody I had written and be ready to sing it the next week. It was wild to hear a real vocalist take my words to the next level and beyond!
As any engineer would do through the recording process, I had basic mixes and EQ’s started as I was recording the separate tracks, it was still a daunting task to really start mixing all the songs. There was 36 tracks on some of the tunes!
From there it was on to mastering the CD myself on a program I had purchased online. It worked really well once I got into it, though it did take many hours of work to have masters I liked.
Mastering is kind of one of those mystery things you always hear about but don’t really know what it is. Suffice it to say that among other things, Mastering brings the music volume level up to commercial expectations, evens out the bumps in the road and adds some sparkle and polish to the finished mixes. Without it, you’re still recording in your garage.
A friend of mine, Clint Schoenthaler played some amazing drums and sang the title track “My Backyard”. Of all the songs on the CD it has a pretty raw drum sound and keeps the song on edge as the melody rolls around the airy background vocals I sang through the chorus and bridge. It’s a little on the raw side and less produced than I usually like my mixes, but it works!
Jeff Mooradian, lead vocalist for a local band sang on several tracks. From the hard edged “Shine On” to rappin’ in “Diggin’ Deeper” and giving it up for his girl on “Rock Yours Tonight” right through the heartfelt “Cry Another Tear”, his massive vocal energy is felt and stays with you long after the music has faded. Jeff also co-arranged “Diggin’ Deeper” with me.
Bonnie Peters tenure with this project was intended to be one song. From the haunting backing vocals on “Cry Another Tear” to her melodic rendition on “Never Say Goodbye I was hooked on her vocal prowess. I was overwhelmed by what I heard in the control room and I asked for more. She delivered with a hot performance on “Crazy in Love” backing me on “Thread the Needle Again” and an amazingly sultry vocal on “Love’s the Perfect Game”.
My daughter Kaitlyn Genereux came up with these great words and a basic melody for “Always Wanting More”. I told her I could write a really nice little country song around what she had, and off we were. She also sang the song “Life of Love” on my 2004 release “Wired”, a song that would be perfect for the right Disney movie. I appreciate her effort on this song and I really had fun working with her. Thanks Kait!
I rendered the lead guitar services of Rich Salm for 6 songs on the CD. He’s a local musician here in town and good friend of mine. I’m lucky he’s diverse in many genres because my varied song styles justified the need for a real lead player to add the right touch. In the studio, the lead guitar work was kind of off the top of our hats as I sang him lines and he took it from there or Rich came up with parts we both felt fit the song well. Either way, his playing was truly inspiring!
Everyone that accompanied me in the studio were all very open to what I needed to hear and ultimately feel from the songs and I appreciated that.
Thank you all for putting your hearts into this CD with me.
Overall I’m very excited about the work you’re listening to, it’s part of me and I hope it becomes part of you.
I’ve faced the fact that nobody will like everything on this CD, but I’m pretty sure everyone will like something.
Thanks for reading and lending me your ears for a bit, Steve
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