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Liquid Devil |
Release Date: 2023 Some friends and I went to see the Rick Rubin documentary about Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free - The Making of Wildflowers. I've always been a huge TP & THB fan, and after being soaked in his music at a theatre I came home and wrote The Path I Choose. It just plain seeped out of me. It's not the first song I've written that had Tom's thumbprint all over it, King of the World is another. With all the idiotic political bullshit happening in our country and around the world, two songs bubbled up through the hot liquid magma...It's A Revolution and When They Aim For You. She's On Fire Tonight was born from a riff that I've had a long time but just couldn't figure out how to turn it into a song. Then I heard Cream's Sunshine Of Your Love and bam! there it was. I'd rather hear Trace Adkins take on Livin' Large. Please have his people call my people and arrange it. C'mon man, it's got a frickin' cowbell in it! A long time ago I went whale watching off the coast of Provincetown. We had a mother and her calf cozy right up next to our boat. It was a life changing event for me. I really didn't have any expectations that day, but to see something so grand up close just blew my mind. And to know that people have been killing them off for so long is egregious. In The Whales I'm advocating for ways they can protect themselves from being hunted... In the final track of the album, Disgruntled Employee, I put myself in the heads of people working jobs they hate. Growing up I had a lot of jobs I didn't like; baling hey was the first. I weighed about as much as a bale, and wearing long-sleeve flannel shirts in the second floor of a barn in the heat of a muggy Ohio summer...let's just say it wasn't a good fit for me. Then I spent eight years at a grocery store, it kinda sucked too. But I still have friends from those days, and it paid for my college tuition, so it was worth it, but I watched that effing clock counting down the hours and minutes of each shift. Anyway, this song isn't an autobiographical story as much as it is a walk in another man's shoes. Hey bossman, if you think this song is about you, it's not. |
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Vacancy |
Release Date: 2015 A lot had to do with how advanced and more inexpensive the recording gear has become, but knowledge and experience also played a part. Having the luxury of recording whenever you want (in your underwear at 3 a.m. – yes, I have done it!), and as many takes as it takes to get it right without a costly studio clock ticking is liberating. We spent quite a bit of time positioning the Audix and Shure mics on the drum kit, until we really liked the sound. That was the foundation of our recordings, and then the rest of the instruments were tracked. Since we don’t have a separate sound booth – the Apple Macbook Pro computer loaded with Logic X is in the same room as the drums and amps – we kept recording and listening back until we landed on the best tone for every instrument. After countless mixes, tweaking every part until it all jived, we ended up happy with the production. The last step of the process was mastering. That is not something we can do on our own so we opted to hire to a seasoned pro. While in California prior to the recording process, I was turned onto Chris Unck, who used to be in Butch Walker’s Black Widows – a personal favorite of mine. Chris is a talented musician – slide, guitar, drums, voice, etc. His Country Roads & Love album is one of the best sounding albums I’ve ever heard. We sent him a tune to see what he could do with it. We were blown away with the results and delivered the remaining tracks for him to master. We’re in the recording phase of a follow up album to Vacancy. |
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Fifth of a Friend |
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Release Date: 2012 |
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| Release Date: 2008 "Welcome To Your Life" was recorded at Wolfe Studios in Columbus. Owner, engineer, and legendary slide guitar player Skeeter Wolfe did a great job capturing the songs. Sammy Hööff played drums, a bit of guitar, all the bass, and some outstanding backing vocals. When a drummer plays bass you know you'll have a locked in rhythm section. Sam is one of the most talented people I've come across. Every time we've recorded he's always nailed the drums on the first take. He's a songwrite too, so he understands the structure of the song and where to lay out. Great instincts and talent. Truly a pro and a great guy too. |
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| Release Date: 2003 My second album, "You Got Me", was recorded at my home studio except for the drum tracks, which were tracked at The Recording Workshop by Sammy Hööff. A friend and awesome musician, Mike Allen, played most of the lead guitar and bass, and backing vocals. A friend, Pete Way of the world-famous rock band UFO, played bass and sang backup on the title track. It was great fun and an inspirational lesson for me as well. Pete currently resides in England, still recording and touring with UFO, and his new band, Strangers In The Night. Check him out if you get a chance, he's the real deal. I enjoyed the freedom of being able to experiment without the pressure of a clock in the studio, but my skills as a recording engineer did not match my musical abilities. There are some good songs on that album that I would like to re-record, but there are too many new songs that I still need to get to. |
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Release Date: 1997 |
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All images, music, words and content copyright Don Argento 2023