Posts Tagged ‘Kelsey Quigley’
My First Experience as Producer
I first met Kelsey Quigley in 2004 through a musical associate of mine, Jeff Ginsburg.
Jeff informed me that one of his coworkers at United Way is a band manager, and she needed a band for an upcoming gig. So, I made a few calls and threw a band together for her.
The artists she was managing turned out to be Kelsey Quigley. She was still in high school, I believe, probably 18 or 19 years old. We learned a few sets worth of material and performed at The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, MA.
Kelsey had (and still has) a voice beyond her years! Though somewhat green and a little tentative at times, she had a wonderfully warm tone to her voice and a maturity about her stage performance that was evidence of her vast potential.
At the end of the day, a gig was a gig, and we thanked each other and went our separate ways.
Fall of 2006, Kelsey gave me a call and said she was ready to make an album. She had a vision: An album of old soul and blues tunes. Her goal was to capture that old soulful sound, but give it a modern spin. She wanted to know if I wanted to be involved.
I figured she just wanted me to play guitar, but in fact she wanted me to produce! At first I hesitated due to my lack of experience, but then I realized that I’ve been involved in a few recording sessions from my years playing with Sarah Brindell, and with my Toni Lynn Washington connections, I should have no problem finding great players.
Oh, AND I would be compensated! So, I agreed.
I knew enough to know that if you’re going to pay to go into the studio, you need to have a game plan. We probably spent 6 months in pre-production! Not because the album was a gigantic creative endeavor, but because I was just wanted to make sure every detail was covered and that the time and money spent in the studio was worth every penny. We narrowed 40 or so cover songs down to 9, and went shopping for an engineer.
Kelsey had previously worked with Tom Eaton, and recommended him highly. I only had a few engineers in mind, but upon doing my homework, it appeared Tom’s credentials far outweighed any of my recommendations. After meeting him and taking a tour of his beautiful studio, I knew we were in good hands.
I gathered the players together. We eventually came up with:
- Bruce Bears on piano/organ (Toni Lynn Washington, Duke Robillard)
- Randy Bramwell on electric bass (The Love Dogs)
- Sven Larson on upright bass (Bangalore, Liquid Life, Toni Lynn Washington)
- Justin Berthiaume on drums/percussion (The Chicken Slacks Soul Revue, The Howl)
- John Aruda on saxophone (Superhoney, The Soul Band, Toni Lynn Washington)
- Scott Aruda on trumpet
- Didi Stewart on backup vocal
- Yours truly on electric and acoustic guitar
One hell of a band, if you ask me.
These guys were so professional, they made my job easy. They handled arrangements on the fly, long session hours, and moments of indecision with true professional grace.
I was insecure going into my first session as producer. I was afraid that my inexperience would lead to hangups, bad sounding tracks and a slew of other “rookie” mistakes. But, one thing I took away from those sessions is that if you want to have a professional sounding album, surround yourself with professionals. It was all about the music.. they listened well. They respected my role as producer enough to give me the confidence to follow my instincts even though they all knew it was my first time in that position.
Once the initial tracking was complete, we focused on Kelsey’s vocals and laying down instrumental overdubs. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn’t work. All in all, everything went pretty smoothly.
Tom took over the mastering duties, while Kelsey and her manager, Leslie Cargill handled the design and admin side of the album.
Finally, a finished product! I have to say that I am pretty proud of how it turned out, though I believe it wouldn’t have been such a success without combined effort of many talented people. So, without further ado, I would like to present to you..
Click the link above to listen to or buy the album!
What do you think? Please leave a comment!
