09/09/2022
21 minutes.
That's what I'm asking for, and I know it's a lot. Twenty-one uninterrupted, phoneless, distraction-free minutes.
Why am I asking for 21 minutes? Because after three years of development, my "Seven Long Days" EP is now DONE and live on the streams!
I'm really proud of this one. The songs are like a time capsule to me, reflecting the last few years of our bizarre lives. If there's a theme, it's "agency," or the lack thereof. From feeling helpless and anxious at the start of a pandemic, to watching an innocent man get senselessly murdered 5 miles away from you as he cries for his mother, to the liberation of escaping toxic situations, or acknowledging the pitfalls of living your life weighed down by feelings of inadequacy and the Disease to Please.
To pull this project off, I put together the best band you could ask for:
Andrea Lyn has a voice that can go from Dolly Parton to Brandi Carlile in a flash (pay particular attention to her performance on a song called "Mexico"), while Brian Larson can go from Neil Young to ... I want to say Jack Black?
Bill Rammer and Jeff Pfoser contribute bass lines that range from "tasty and restrained" to "Is that the guy from Primus?" Then there's my ever-trusty and self-deprecating drummer and percussionist friend Paul Loughridge, who I've been playing music with for almost 40 years. I could listen to an album of Paul playing nothing but high hat.
Rachel Felicia Calvert rips the strings off her fiddle on the title track and is one of the sweetest people I know. I was just plain lucky to enlist the talents of Nashville keyboard pro (and friend since our St. Joe Grade School days in South Bend, Indiana) De Marco Johnson. Jeremy Manier takes "Everything" to 11 with his tasty cello work (recorded at his home in Chicago). Soon-to-be famous Denny frontman Alexander Rollins contributed vintage synth arpeggios to make "Hard Times" a little easier.
On the sound front, Tom Forliti applied his sound design mastery to make the title track even more “live” than it actually was. And co-producer, sound engineer, mixer and all-around great guy Corey Hess hit it out of the park as usual by making this EP sound amazing. Seriously, Corey makes my $99 guitalele sound like a huge Spanish guitar on "Mexico," and I don't know how he does s**t like that.
Finally, my co-producer on this project and in life: Anne Kelley Conklin. Not only did Anne offer the invaluable feedback that led to these songs being chosen. Not only did she give me the "note" that led to the way the entire EP un-resolves on the very last chord. But she also gets a musical credit for "hand claps" on the song "Hard Times." Most people don't know that Anne earned her PhD in Comparative Hand Clap Studies from the University of Phoenix in the late '90s. I'm glad she finally got a chance to put her degree to work.
Here's the Spotify link to the record. Honestly, I'm happy if anyone reading this listens to any song at any time. But if you want the "Recommended Listening Experience," it's this:
Kick back with your favorite drink, gummy or whatever your thing is, and listen to Track 1, "An Incomplete Thought in 5 Acts." That track is all 5 songs the way they were meant to be heard, with the specific transitions between them that only a control freak like me would insist on.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0QjThzJhft7rEGHCdDpdBF...
P.S. The record is also on Apple Music, and the for-purchase/downloadable version — as well as a BONUS TRACK called "Seven Long Days (Live at Budokan) — is available at www.sevenlongdays.com.
Thanks for listening!
