The Longest Time

“We tried hard not to write the same song twice,” said Beatle George Harrison, and once past their Mersey Beat era, they kept their word. I’ve modeled after writers who share this p.o.v., and have, with great intentionality, written in different genres throughout each album, because they represent much more bandwidth of the human and musical experiences.

Each of my previous albums did this, yet still had their own ‘flavor’ to the overall production of the record. Where Radio still has a folk-rock feel to it throughout, Jump! has more of a power-pop feel. The Longest Time, my newest, is no exception.

I’d originally intended to make an all acoustic record from the start. But the concept evolved and morphed into what you hear now, with much more Blues influences, and a definitive ‘Roots’ feel to it – influenced by the great group of players we engaged to help make this record happen – veteran musicians from the North San Francisco Bay Area around Petaluma.

We recorded in the wonderful historical environment of Cotati’s Prairie Sun Recording under the careful direction of film-maker/record producer Thom Butler (who produced my first album, released in 1993). With amazing players who turned out to be equally heavy-hitting arrangers (many of the gents from the-band-formerly-known-as-Cahoots) on everything from mando to banjo, from astonishingly bluesy gospel keys, to monster stand-up bass riffs, congas, cajon, full-kit drums, oud, and more, we were able to truly craft what I believe is my best recorded effort yet.