The Widetrack Chronicles 25: 'Widetrack III' (Part 2)

The Widetrack Chronicles 25: 'Widetrack III' (Part 2)

"Life, holding something more than all that was..."
-'Zero Hour' (from 'Widetrack III')

As previously stated, we have returned to the recording studio to resume the mixing of our third release, 'Widetrack III' (yes, this will be the last one to have a Roman numeral title; I promise!)...

As of this writing, the album is nearly halfway complete... As with our first two CDs, there will be 12 songs, all centering around a theme of "life's crossroads and the choices we make"...

Meanwhile, we have been trying to find a drummer to play this stuff... From day one, this has been a constant struggle, as I (Ron) have had to write and record all the drum parts for the albums... And so on the few occasions when the band has played live, we've had a few "hired gun" types on board, but no one who ended up being into it for the long haul...

But as of the last week or so, we are excited to announce that our search has come to an end...

Enter: Isaac Parsons...

I became aware of Isaac through our guitar player, Brian... Isaac was actually present for our first house concert show, which also happened to be my son Zach's first-ever show, as our bassist... 

I met Isaac that night, but had no idea at the time that he was a drummer... When we started getting serious about finding someone, Brian said, "Oh yeah, he's really good... he even has his own YouTube channel where he posts videos of himself playing songs."... I said that sounded intriguing, and so I gave Isaac a call and he agreed to come to my place for a try-out jam...

Once he arrived and we started talking, I was instantly taken by his demeanor... "Wow, this was a really nice guy!", I thought to myself... Then it was time to see how he sounded on the drumkit...

 As all of this happened rather quickly, our song Star-crossed was the only one he knew... But he did a fantastic job on it... And so I asked him to come out and play with the band the next chance we could get everyone together...

A few days later, Isaac tagged me in a Facebook post... I clicked on the link and was led to this video:

 

OK, now my excitement level was really though the roof! We scheduled a rehearsal for the next day...

Once everyone was in the room together, I was relieved to find that there was a really laid back, easy-going vibe in the air... No egos whatsoever; just 4 music lovers meeting up to play some original music and embark upon a new chapter in this ongoing story...

We focused primarily on only a couple songs: a new one called The Other and our cover of Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine...

Wow, what a rush to finally hear all four members playing this stuff! 

After playing, we sat down and discussed our goals as a band and individuals, and our plans for the future... It was wonderful to hear that everyone was on the same page in terms of attitude, hopes and dreams... 

I thought to myself, "Surely things couldn't be coming together this painlessly easy..."

And then I began remembering all the hard times, setbacks and disappointments that I'd gone through to get this far... Through that perspective, I realized what a miracle it is that Widetrack even exists at all... I've been doing this a long time... I'd almost given up... The death of my father... Divorce... hardship after hardship... Setback after setback... It's often seemed that life never lets up... 

And I'm under no illusions that it will be all inspiring, good times from here... As the ebb and flow of history has certainly assured us all, anything can happen at any time...

But one thing I have learned is that when inspiration comes, one must grab it and savor it for all it's worth... And maybe, just maybe it'll get us through the next wave of hardship that life will most surely bring...

Having my son Zach choose to take this journey with Brian and I has been such a blessing... His youthful energy and perspective is a constant source of motivation for us... Seeing the world and hearing music through fresh young eyes and ears is a vital asset to our moving forward in a positive direction...

Likewise, at the young age of 19, Isaac is just beginning to come into his own as a musician, and is completely committed to making a positive impact on the world with his talent...

As we get closer and closer to the completion of this new album, we are solidifying plans for bringing our music to anywhere and everywhere there is a demand for it... Having two under-21 band members might seem like a limitation to some, but we view it as an asset that is giving us some really cool ideas, in terms of the types of live presentations we can put together...

More on that to come... ;)

For now, onward!

Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond: Ron@widetrackmusic.com 

And if you’d like to join our Facebook group, we’d love to have you: 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Widetrackband/ 

Other links: 

YouTube channel 
https://www.youtube.com/Widetrack 

Twitter 
@Widetrackband 

Instagram 
https://www.Instagram.com/Widetrackband

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