Enjoying and Producing Music

The manufacturing task is finished; I now have boxes and boxes of CD’s! It’s pretty cool; there they are. They need to be heard!

The CD’s, with jewel case, 4-page insert, tray card, and CD label art, were replicated by the local firm New Cyberian. This company did a first-rate job, quickly, and at a great price. I highly recommend them. I expect to use them again.

I’ve been advised by Rachel’s mom that people are already buying the CD in advance. Cool! The manufacturing is due to be finished in a day or two, and since they’re local I’ll just drive over and pick them up. Then I’ll play a few to make sure they sound OK, and send a batch to CD Baby, and another batch to Amazon, and another batch to Rachel’s mom so she can deliver the CD to her customers.

In February of 2006 I released my first CD, “Find My Own Way”, with Bay Area vocalist Amy Holloway. This full-length CD features 11 of my compositions, which I wrote specifically for Amy’s sweet pop voice. It’s selling on iTunes, cdbaby.com, and amazon.com.

I started working with Amy in 2001, when one of the local rappers that I was recording brought her over to what would become AlsTunes studio to sing a few hooks. After I heard that wonderful voice, I started writing songs for her. By late 2005, we had 15 tracks, and we picked the best 11 for the CD.

I hope the publicity push for the May 2008 release of Rachel’s CD also brings attention to Amy’s CD. They are both gifted artists who deserve a lot of success,

We have a release date for “I Get It!”, the debut CD of Bay Area actress (and now, recording artist) Rachel Shapiro! Look for it on cdbaby.com on May 6, 2008. It will take a while to get to iTunes; watch this blog for news.

It was quite a journey recording this project. Rachel, her mom, and I started informal recording sessions in 2004 at what eventually became AlsTunes studio. I would prepare demos of my own compositions, or of the cover songs, with me singing, and then bring Rachel and her mom over for sessions. With me driving the computer and Rachel replacing my mundane vocal tracks with her artful interpretations, and Rachel’s mom present for moral support, we ended up with 11 tracks we all love.

One of those 11 tracks was written by Rachel. She brought the song over one day; I evolved a guitar/rock arrangement over the following weeks and we ended up with the version of “Tell Me You Love Me” you hear on the CD. It’s a pretty impressive songwriting achievement, especially when you consider that many teen-agers these days can’t even write a coherent text message.

It was quite a treat hearing Rachel’s voice get better and better over those few years. She now has a pretty strong pop/rock/theater voice with a wide range, and she can now belt the rock-and-roll phrasing with surprising maturity for her age. We hope you enjoy listening to the CD as much as we did making it.

Hello! This is where I document certain activities of independent record label AlsTunes, and things related to it such as reviews, opinions, or news of interest to fans of music.