Time permitting

Sometimes it takes me a while to get to listen to a new piece of music. Especially when I’m in the throws of writing a bunch of stuff and working with other artists. Such is the case of the past couple of months. First a candy bar commercial, then several movie trailers, a CD of music meant for a UK deal (still working on that one), and judging a music contest. Thus I don’t always get the time I’d like to write a song for me (though I am working on making more tunes) which spills over to listening to stuff presented to me.

Over the holidays my dad gave me a CD and has asked me several times to give it a listen. The CD sat on my desk for a while, then made it into my car. Damn, I’m beginning to sound like an A&R guy from a record label, or even a music supervisor. Ouch. Well, it finally made it into my car on Friday when I knew I’d be doing a fair amount of driving in traffic. Guitars came out the speaker followed by a voice that seemed nonchalant.

It felt like I was being transported back to childhood and listening to music my dad played around the house as a kid. In fact there’s even a song on the CD where there are kids singing the chorus. The whole production is steeped in old school vibe to me. But it’s obvious that it’s new school recording. I’m digging the air of the recording. They didn’t lose the sound of the room. Which means you can hear a quality in the recording that is often lost in a vast majority of today’s recorded music.

I can’t blame artists wanting to take recording matters into their own hands. I’ve done it myself. However, without learning the ropes its a huge waste of quality in most recordings. There’s an art to matching a voice with a microphone, or an instrument to a microphone. Sometimes it’s experimentation, other times it’s tried and true methods. The more you record, the more you learn. Of course the one thing that recording takes… Time.

Because of my dad’s perseverance to get me to listen, Chuck has a new fan for his music. Me.

Which means I’m passing him along to you. As you sit here listening wondering if I’m going batty, take a moment to steep yourself in what you’re hearing. It’s the first track on Chuck’s CD Soap and Water. I really dig the opening lines. It shows a unique view of how someone would think about someone they care about.

The guitars are good an raw. You can hear that room the amps are sitting in. The drums are nice tight and again you can hear that room they’re sitting in. The bass is pulsing right along, and also has that air about it that says, yes I’m live. I like how Chuck phrasing his lines as well. Cool changes from the verse to the chorus. It’s working. I might go so far out on a limb to maybe say he’s a modern type of Dylan without the political overtones.

It’s a case where he’s writing music that fits the voice he has for singing. I appreciate that.

Go explore Chuck and tell a friend.