Monday, March 06, 2017

The Oppenheimer Report - 3/6/17

Last weekend was a memorable one for me. Friday, I headed down south to attend a recording session with the very talented producer Andre Wahl. My somewhat undefined goal for my next album is to include other local artists to cover a few of my songs. Andre graciously agreed to produce three of my songs, piggybacking my recording session with another he was scheduled to do at a studio in Washago. Last weekend marked my first experience in a proper recording studio, and it was something I've dreamed of doing for the past forty years.

I was nervous, because I did not know what would be expected of me, but I arrived in the Orillia studio, and was immediately greeted by four friendly musicians. Within ten minutes, my butterflies were gone and then it was down to business. We began with a love song I wrote for Shauna many years ago entitled “Time We Found”, which Andre and the band unanimously agreed should be the song I sing. I had given the crew a rough demo I’d made, and from that demo they charted and arranged the song. Performing with these obviously seasoned studio musicians was such a pleasure for me, because they are so intuitive and creative. As we ran through the song, I heard the arranging process unfold before me. Each successive take was a little more refined than the last, and it was fascinating to hear musicians and their producer interacting and discussing what worked and what did not. By the third or fourth take the song began to come together, and I could feel the energy in the room as we built an interesting arrangement from a rough demo. We ran through the song eight or nine times before it was the way they wanted it.  Fully rehearsed, the song was then recorded. There may be some minor overdubs, but the song will be essentially as it was recorded off the floor. I then went into a separate booth and recorded several takes of the vocals. Thankfully, I will have a chance to re-record those, because after an hour of singing the same song, my untrained voice was not at its best. Although he has his work cut out for him, I am confident Andre will extract an acceptable vocal from me.

My friend and country singer-songwriter Paul Lagandyk was up next to record a country ballad “Deeper I Go Into Blue” which I’d written over two decades ago. He has a little more experience in the studio, has recorded his own album with Andre Wahl, and is a far better singer than I. The song came together well, and the relaxed atmosphere in this private studio made the creative process all that much easier. Including two meals, which the owner of the studio graciously provided, we were in the session for almost ten hours. For me, the time flew by. My friend Jamie Clarke, band leader for a local band called Myrle, was in the studio Saturday to record my song “White Car”. While I was not in attendance for the Saturday sessions, I ran through the song with Jamie a week or so ago, and I am confident that he will knock that song out of the park. Jamie is a seasoned musician/songwriter as well, who most recently recorded an album with the uber-talented Ron Hawkins. I don’t know what will come of these sessions, but it was my dream come true to record with such a well-known producer and these skilled studio musicians (Tom Juhas on guitar, Rich Levesque on bass, Craig Harley on keyboards, and Ken Post on drums).  After recording in a vacuum for decades, I am finally giving life to some of my songs. Given the direction of the music business lately, I no longer aspire to any widespread recognition, but I have created good recordings of some of the songs which I am proud to have written. It has taken me almost thirty years to ignore the rejection I have experienced as a songwriter, and to prevail. No matter what anyone says now, I have established some credibility with the people I respect in the music business: songwriters, musicians, and producers.

Saturday morning, I met my friend Bob in Toronto, and he and I attended the RV show in Mississauga. We try to meet for one show per year, and it used to be the boat show. Then it was the auto show, and one year we attended a motorcycle show. As an amusing side note, when we arrived at the RV show, we noticed that there was another concurrent convention: “Sexapalooza”. Perhaps it is indicative of our advancing age, because, while we used to go out for a few drinks after the show, we neither of us drink anymore. Now, we simply go out for a nice dinner somewhere and complain about our degenerating health, followed by a marathon session of “IPod DJ”. It works for us. Old friends are the best.


Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED      

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