Trio Album in the Pipeline

Master engineer Gerry Putnam, working mix magic (with broken arm) at Cedarhouse Sound & Mastering, New London, NH. The Buskers recorded our first album at his original studio back in 1999, and he mastered our subsequent albums. But I've put myself completely in his hands–er, hand–for my debut trio album. Good move. Tim Gilmore, Brendan Dowd and I recorded multiple takes of eleven different tracks in two days. Yes, we were pretty tired at the end of the day. But no overdubs, baby. Piano (completely rebuilt 1898 Steinway B) and voice recorded together.

Today, on too little sleep after recording all day yesterday and then last night's show for a very lively, supportive audience in Center Sandwich, we (Gerry and I) began listening, sorting through the takes, and mixing. If you know me well, you know how deeply critical and prone to self-doubt I tend to be over my projects, but I am, as of today, beyond optimistic–actually excited at how these tracks are sounding. I got all verklempt at a couple of points, overcome with (exhaustion and) gratitude that I can do this project, that I get to work with such great musicians and great people, and that it is not a pointless exercise –it actually sounds worth a listen to me.

I hope to wrap it up this week. My dear friend Henry Beer, who designed the album cover for both The Buskers' first album and our 2013 release, "Every Day We Play A New Song," has agreed to design this one too. (Poor guy. With me looking over his shoulder..).