Session date: 03/02/09
Artist: Richie McDonald
Producer: James Stroud
Label: Stroudavarious
Studio: Starstruck
Musicians: Shannon Forrest, Mike Brignardello, Steve Nathan, Brent Mason, Paul Franklin, Biff Watson
Engineer: Julian King (David Bryant assisting)
Richie is a great guy, and we got to meet his son today (sorry Richie, I don’t remember his name!). We had two sessions and recorded three of his songs, a nice pace. I like starting at noon and playing through - gives you the morning and the evening. I was one of the first to record in Starstruck. Reba did an album while they were still putting the finishing touches on the building. It was so elegant that it wasn’t comfortable, but now it is one of my favorite rooms to track. And Julian makes it sound fantastic. Plus, the headphone system really works… I used my trusty Collings on the first song, then had the pleasure of playing Brent’s strat through his rig to double the bass part on the choruses. Played my Martin 00-18 on the next two, plus some gut-string work with my A.A. Jones on the Latin-flavored second song.
This was the same band that I was with last Friday. Like I said - some of my favorite musicians on Earth. And speaking of Earth, Richie McDonald and his road manager Kevin will be travelling to China - the other side of Earth - in May, with Mike Brignardello, James Stroud, Doug Rich and your’s truly.
