Grow Or Pay: The Complete Story
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The Recording (Part I)
After contacting a few of his vocalist friends and getting their commitment to the project, it was time to get down to work. First, Dave would have to figure out which songs to cover for the album. Right off the bat, he decided he would try to choose songs that no one would expect. Songs that weren't being heard on the radio every five minutes. Not much point in covering songs that people hear all the time anyway. The songs would also be ones that had inspired him as he grew up, musically, or songs that just meant something special to him. He would also try to include songs by some of his musical idols. This actually wasn't quite as hard as it may at first seem, since most of the tunes that always seemed to mean the most to Dave weren't usually the overplayed hits. He had always seemed to lean more toward the more obscure gems by his favorite artists. Very early on, Dave decided he wanted to illicit one of two responses from people when they heard the album. He hoped to hear either "Wow! That's a cool song! I've never heard that before!" or "Holy Crap! I remember that song! I used to love it, but haven't heard it in forever!" Dave's wishes came true, almost immediately, when he started receiving those exact same responses from the very vocalists he had invited to sing on the album.
So, the songs were chosen and now it was time to start recording. Right from the start, Dave decided that he would record each song in it's entirety before moving on to the next. If for no other reason, then to keep his sanity. Drum programming being his least favorite part of the recording process, Dave just couldn't see himself doing the drums for 14 songs in a row without any kind of a break. Plus, recording the music, as he went, helped Dave's playing ability to continue improving through the entire recording process. At first, it was a little slow-going. Although his vision had for the most part returned to normal, staring at a computer for a few hours at a time, while recording, caused the double vision to return from time to time. Dave was also still dealing with the effects of the brain damage and was still required to wear the big, uncomfortable, and restrictive cervical collar which often hindered the process. But the more he went, the more his thinking and vision improved, the more he got used to dealing with the cervical collar, and the quicker things started to progress.
During the early stages of recording, Dave was contacted, via MySpace, by Rachel Rocks of PA Musician Magazine. When he informed Rachel on the project he was working on, she suggested writing an article about the project for the upcoming issue of the magazine. Although this seemed a tad premature to him, Dave leapt at the chance to get any publicity for the project that might help build some momentum. Plus, he wanted to get as much publicity as possible for the vocalists who had, so graciously, agreed to lend their talents to the project. He wanted to make it worth everyone's while. After being contacted by PA Musician, Dave decided to get in touch with his friend Amanda Christman, at The Hazleton Standard-Speaker newspaper, and ask her if the paper would be interested in doing a small piece on the project. After speaking with her editor, Amanda informed Dave that they would definitely be interested in doing something. So Amanda, along with a photographer, came to interview Dave and told him it would most likely be in the "Arts" section of the following Sunday's edition of the newspaper. So the following Sunday rolled around and, to his astonishment, there was Dave's picture and accompanying story right smack on the front page of the newspaper! All of a sudden, everyone was asking about the album and when it would be done. This was great, but also slightly unnerving. Now there would be no chance for any relaxation and, for the next several months, Dave would spend just about every waking moment trying to finish the album.
to be continued in the next installment:
The Legal Battle
