The Widetrack Chronicles 47: New song announcement and backstory
It is not even halfway through January, and I can already tell that 2019 is going to be a monumental year for the band...
As stated in a previous blog, Widetrack is now the partnership of my son Zach and I, and, beginning in just a couple days, we are going to be recording and releasing one brand-new song per month…
Then, at the end of the year, we will compile all the songs for our complete fourth album...
We already have roughly 15-20 tunes to choose from that we are extremely excited about...
Anyway, as of today, I am pleased to announce that we have finished the first one, and, to show our appreciation for your support and encouragement, we will be releasing it to you first on Tuesday, January 15th (at which time, we will also be sending it out to be posted on all the streaming platforms; will let you know when it is available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc., etc)…
This marks the very first Widetrack song I’ve ever co-written with another person… 2 years ago, I never would have imagined I’d be doing this with my son… Kind of surreal, actually… lol
All through Zach’s life, he never really showed much interest in music, and I never wanted to push him into it… I always thought that was a bit creepy when I’d see parents trying to force their children to follow in their footsteps… I just wanted him to be happy and find purpose in his life that he was passionate about…
But then, about two or so years ago, he convinced his mother and I that he wanted to be a musician… He even paid for half of his first bass…
Over the course of the next year, he developed as a musician at an incredibly fast rate… Faster than any young person I’d ever seen in all my years as a musician/music instructor…
By this time last year, in addition to finalizing the recording of Widetrack III, he and I began writing and recording songs together…
It became immediately apparent that he was serious about music… He even took out a loan t(which he’s already paid off through playing shows with our cover band, The Vintage) to get all the professional recording equipment he needed so he could learn how to record and mix music on his own…
Fast-forward to January 2019, he’s not only developed insane skills as a bassist, guitarist, and even a pretty darn good drummer, he’s also become quite proficient at recording and mixing music…
This is wonderfully convenient, as it will allow us to pretty much write and record a song - typically with him playing guitar and bass, and myself on vocals and drums - and then mix it and release it practically immediately thereafter…
So, in other words, expect a lot more music to be released from Widetrack on a pretty regular basis…
Now, I know we have been talking about playing live for a while now, and that is definitely in the works… We already have a drummer and guitarist/bassist who we will be hiring to play shows with us when we finally get out on the road (more on this to be announced very soon!)...
The hope is that these two individuals will eventually become permanent members of the band… We will see how things develop… But for now, the songs on the new album will be written and recorded by just Zach and I…
Since starting Widetrack back in 2007, I have been pretty much a solo artist in search of a real band situation… Finding the right musicians has been incredibly difficult, but I felt that if I just kept going, writing and recording albums, I’d eventually get good enough to attract the rich people to lock down with…
Now that Zach is in the picture, I am gladly following his lead… He wanted to play all the guitar and bass on the songs… I told him it was totally cool by me if this was what he truly was passionate about…
One fringe benefit of having a partner in Widetrack was that it has enabled me to focus more on my vocals and lyrics… Not to mention, the things he’s coming up with on the guitar and bass have inspired some new approaches and ideas in my own ideas…
Not to mention, as indicated above, this new process has streamlined our writing method, and songs are coming together much fast now…
Anyway, then Zach told me that he wanted to record and mix the new songs… I was at first slightly skeptical about this, as I’ve been pleased with the way the first three Widetrack albums sounded, due to my good friend Andy Patalan and his excellent recording/mixing skills…
But then he played me the mix of this first song, and I was completely blown away…
I am still pinching myself, to be honest… How on earth did this all happen so fast?
Well, no time for thinking about all that… Much work to be done…
Stay tuned for the new song, coming your way Tuesday, January 15th…
Onward...
Always love hearing from you! Feel free to respond:
Ron@Widetrackmusic.com
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