Hand Picked/Long Ride Home by John Williams

I ordered his CD. I'm happy to report that I detected no wanking whatsoever. Anybody who thinks otherwise is... well, an idiot.

Sean Hart

_____

A bit about me:

I'm a guitar player, mostly electric, steel string acoustic too. I do session work, songwriting, and production projects. I have a well-outfitted home studio for songwriting and some production, and I also work with a nationally acclaimed pro studio here in Seattle. I cover country, country/rock, blues and jazz, both acoustic and electric, solo guitar and full-band arrangements.

I like working with songwriters and can take almost any songwriter's demo (even face-to-face), turn it into a full-blown arrangement suitable for any studio in Nashville, select and hire appropriate instrumentation, produce the project, assist with artwork and duplication, and assist with marketing. If you're interested, drop me some email.

I am a tone fanatic. I love Teles and Strats - have several. My main guitar is a late-model Telecaster that has been modified with a humbucker in the neck, a Duncan Nashville Strat pickup in the middle, and a Joe Barden Tele pickup in the bridge.

I'm also using a late-model Dobro (for slide and fretted), a Larrivee C-19, a Martin OM28V, a Music Man 6 string bass, an early '60s ES-175, a Music Man ASAT, a Deering 6 string banjo, a Ramirez classical, and a Tacoma Papoose. I have several other guitars but these are the ones that get used the most.

I own about 25 amps of both vintage and modern design. I frequently use a Groove Tubes Soul-O 75, 1x12 combo and an early '60s Fender Princeton Reverb. I'm pretty much a "straight into the amp" kinda guy (with high-quality cable, of course).

The studio is also equipped with many, high quality vintage and modern microphones.

_____

History

I've performed with Charlie Pride, Willie Nelson, Conway Twitty, and the Jack Jones big band. Based out of Dallas, Texas in the '70s, I played sessions for films, commercials, and theatre productions and toured extensively throughout the south.

I'm currently living in Seattle, Washington, collaborating with songwriters, arranging and playing sessions for demos, commercials, and full-length CD projects. I have production credits on several successful regional projects and I try to play out, both solo and with others, whenever there is time. I also work with a very gifted producer/engineer, Darin DiPietro (of Uncle Salty's fame) who himself has many impressive regional projects to his credit.

_____

Hand Picked started out as a demo for a project that I was going to do with a live band in a "real" studio but I decided that if I wanted to get it done in any realistic amount of time I would have to make it work at home. All tracks were recorded on a Roland VS-840 and monitored on a pair of Alesis Monitor Ones. I mastered through a TC Electronics Finalizer into Sound Forge running on a PC. I used Sonic Foundry's Acoustic Modeler plug-in for smoothing out the highs (the analog tape modeling is great).

I used a Roland R8 and a Roland DR-660 drum machine for drum tracks. Electric guitars were recorded directly into the VS-840 using the 840's built-in amplifier modeling. Acoustic guitars were recorded with either one or two AKG C411 contact micropones through a JoeMeek VC3 or a pair of ART Tube PACs. The Heritage Eagle was recorded with a Rode NT-1 through the VC3. All bass tracks were cut with a Music Man Silhouette 6-string bass plugged directly into the VS-840. I hooked up everything with George-L's cable.

_____

Track Notes for Hand Picked:

Hand Picked - Hot country twang and snarl. Both electric guitars are a Fender B-Bender Tele fitted with Duncan Nashville Studio pickups.

Afternoon in The Sun - A bit like the Allman Brothers' Melissa. Rhythm guitar is a Larivee C-19. Lead guitar is the B-Bender Tele. I wrote and recorded part of this sitting on the back porch at my father-in-law's cabin on Mason Lake in Washington state.

Southern Flyer - Upbeat country rock with twin lead guitars. Rhythm and first solo guitar is the Larivee, second solo is the B-Bender Tele.

Red Georgia Clay - Very pretty acoustic guitar ballad. I'm from the southeast US, Florida and Georgia. The red clay in Georgia brings back very fond childhood memories of going to visit my grandparents in Wrens, Georgia. Both guitars are the Larivee using two C411s, one at each end of the bridge, through a pair of Tube PACs. (There are notes on my website about this technique.)

Anything at All - Upbeat country-rock with twin lead guitars. Rhythm guitar is the Larivee. Both electric guitars are the B-Bender Tele.

Nothing Lost - Solo, acoustic, blues guitar. The Larivee with one C411 through the JoeMeek. I just sat down and felt like playing the blues

Off The Road - Country rock with slide guitar (Duane Allman's playing just slayed me). Rhythm guitar is the Larivee. Slide guitar is a Gibson Les Paul DC Standard tuned to standard tuning. Lead guitar is the B-Bender Tele.

Always On Time - Smokey blues with an acoustic feel. Rhythm guitar is a 1961 Gibson ES-175. Lead guitar is a Heritage Eagle.

She Walks - Swinging steel guitar on a six-string. Rhythm guitar is the Larivee. Lead guitar is a Fender California Fat Tele with a Duncan Seth Lover in the neck, a Duncan Nashville Studio Strat pickup in the middle, and a Joe Barden Tele bridge pickup in the bridge.

Admit One - Acoustic jazz duet. Both guitars are the Heritage Eagle. This just came to me one night. Both tracks are first-takes and, in fact, the only time I played through the song. It just wrote itself as I played it the first time.

Coast Highway - Happy, Latin-jazz. Twin acoustic lead guitars. Rhythm guitar is the Larivee. Both lead guitars are a Ramirez R3 cutaway.

Lake County (Prayer For My Father) - Country blues ballad. I grew up in Lake County (Eustis), Florida and my mom and dad still live there. I live about as far away from there as possible in Seattle but I really miss it. My father recently underwent successful treatment for cancer and they are both in pretty good heath, thank you God. Rhythm and first lead guitar is the Larivee. Second lead guitar is the B-Bender Tele.

The whole setup to record this CD cost way under $1500, not including the guitars or the mastering setup (the Finalizer and the PC). I encourage everyone to record their own project - it is well within reach both finacially and technically and the internet has opened up some very good opportunities to get songs out into the public. Popular music can sure use a shot of good new material. Feel free to email me for advice and encouragement.

_____

Visit my website (http://www.johnwms.com) for more articles on recording and mastering.

Average Customer Review: