This project started out simply enough, with Melynn playing drums, Lain on bass , and me playing my guitar and singing. Just “three nice girls, with a penchant for nasty grooves”…. But as the songs came into their own they became more and more insistant upon proper orchestration. I kept imagining how kool they would sound with some of my favorite musicians playing the various parts . I guess it started when I asked Heather Grayson to use her smokey, velvety voice on a backing vocal I was hearing. Then Sue Orfield added the most heart wrenching sax parts to Going Down, which actually made me weep, and wailed like a woman possesed on a couple others. Ken Stringfellow engineered a couple songs and he also added some awesome drum loopage, guitar, and bass bits, as well as lots of incredible production ideas . Keith Lowe brought the jaw dropping upright bass and Abby Grush, her transcendental clarinet, (a funny combination I know but soooo right) . Add Conner Burn and Bill Volmut on fiddle and violin and once again, I'm a believer. Kelly Minnis played lots and lots of great drum parts and Jon Ulrigg, some monster bass parts.
By the time it was over , John Bishop and Ben Smith had also added drum parts, Jeff Greinke conjured up some stunning soundscapes for Beyond The Gate and My Machine, from his ambient world. Mike Auchter unleashed his wailing guitar on Flight. Evan Schiller engineered some Jenny J vocals on Imitator, then played high hat and shaker on Work Song. Tim added sound effects and then joined Jude, Auburn and Magnus as they were pressed into service for manual reading. Arne Livingston and Scott Dallinger took on extra bass duties, while Jenny Jimenez and the “Ah Ha Boyz” (Michael Comiskey and Tim Hatch), Susan Mellow, Ava Chakravarti, Wendy Dunlop and Michael “Toast” O’Driscoll joined in on harmony vocals. Casey Peak brought the French horn, Sam Maynard played Keyboards and helped me with some computer madness. Scott Adams wrestled with his angular screaming guitar, Jim Knodle brought the trumpet parts home and Amy Denio came up with the most perfect accordion part ever . Then there was the magnificent Kaoru Carroll who, with her husband Rick, translated the lyrics to A Drive into Japanese. Then she read them, in spite of her nervousness, at P J (he of the infinite patience and serious engineering skills!) Newman’s Klingon Science Reading room. Is it hard to understand why I feel so lucky and happy about the whole thing ?!?!?! So, to everyone who helped me, my heartfelt thanks, and to anyone who's listening , enjoy....
xo
brenda
Questions/ comments: brenda@daughtersofjoy.com
