A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THIS ALBUM: 

In late 2013 an old friend of mine, Tony Kienitz, contacted me to tell me he’d written a play. 
Well, a musical. 
Actually a musical based on my songs.
What?

​

Tony (who is a director, playwright, actor, producer, author, master gardener, and many other incredibly creative things), and his wife (and creative partner-in-crime), Tanna, had evidently been listening to my music for years. Tony took some of his favorite songs, wove them into a storyline and - voila! - a musical. 

I thought it was very flattering, but I also know how hard it is to get something like that off the ground and actually performed somewhere. A few months later though, the show was cast, being rehearsed, the venue was booked down in San Francisco, and the tickets were for sale.

Wow!

Kim and I went down to California for opening night. I was nervous, man.
The show features 15 of my original songs and the lyrics inspired the script. Or I guess they call it the BOOK in theater speak.
A couple of days before the show opened, I went to watch rehearsals and see if I could be of any use.

The venue was the Southside Theater (Sam Shepherd’s old theater, in fact) and walking into the place, I really had no idea what to expect.

There were Tony and Tanna, and boom - after 20 something years of not seeing each other, and we fell right back into that comfortable rhythm as if no time had passed, the way it happens with good friends.

The cast of the show were amazing - all teenagers between 13 and 18 - great singers, actors, and also dancers!

This show has a ton of choreography.

I don’t think of my music as dance music but apparently the choreographer sure did! Incredible to watch. 
There was also a live band playing the music.

Great!

Opening weekend was packed and got several rave reviews from respected Bay Area theater critics.

Here’s a nice blurb: 
“...very edgy with great music and excellent choreography. Sort of a Lord of the Flies on a teen age canvas"
Cool, yeah?

When Kim and I returned home, I got a call from Tony and Tanna.

They wanted to preserve the memory of the show by doing a record, and they wanted me to produce it. Technology being what it is now allowed the basic tracks (drums, guitar, and all the cast’s vocals) to be recorded in San Francisco, then uploaded to my FTP folder. I then took those tracks, loaded them into a Pro Tools session and did the rest of the overdubs at my studio. I mixed it as I went, then had it mastered by Ryan Foster over at Foster Mastering. 

And now, here it is.

Everybody involved in the show, and this record, worked very hard on this project.

I truly hope you like it.