Family Affair

One of the things I most looked forward to when recording my "solo" material was the chance to work with a variety of musicians whose talents I respect and admire. Among those are members of my immediate and extended family.

So far, my brother, Chuck, has played lead guitar on "No Simple Task," and my sister's husband, Charlie Moller, has played piano on "Mikey's Lament." Both were rightly singled out in Mike Greenblatt's gratifying review of "The Cosmic Adventures of ManBoy" in The Aquarian Weekly on Jan. 12, 2011. And both of those tracks have now been played on the Plástico Elástico radio show in Madrid, Spain.

In addition, the regular members of my live band (Tim Gillespie, Jim Van Sickle and Jim "Smitty" Smith) are my "brothers from other mothers." So far, Tim has played lead guitar on the studio version of "Mikey's Lament." And, in keeping with the "family" trend, Smitty's daughter, Amy, played acoustic guitar on "No Simple Task" and violin on "Follow You."

I plan to include other family members on the material we're recording now. I have string parts in mind for my nephew, Emmet, and my niece, Kelsey. And Chuck and Charlie will hopefully lend their talents to one or more of the newer songs.

Meanwhile, a couple of good friends have recorded with us over the past couple of months. Jim Higgins (Whatnots, Skanatra) has provided lead guitar on "Shot of Confidence" and a harmonica solo on "Star". while Bobby Butchka (Whatnots, Fear of Falling) added a guitar solo to "Hero's Trial".

For the most part, I've asked each of the "guest" musicians to play a part I've heard in my head since I wrote the song in question, and then offered a spot where each can do his or her own thing. I find that where I might have had a preconceived notion of what those improvised parts would sound like, all of the players have exceeded my expectations with what they've contributed to these recordings.

I like the diversity of sounds and styles that my latest recordings have produced. I feel very fortunate to have such a large group of talented family members and friends, and I'm happy to be able to involve them in my recent projects. It's really been a lot of fun so far.