A RECORDING SESSION

Last night we recorded one more song for "The Traveling Companion" called "It Must Be Destiny" sung by the characters of Princess Evermore and Prince Sterling in order to compete and follow the rules for The Richard Rodgers Academy of Fine Arts Musical competition. The contest's VERY specific rules require forty-five minutes of music and within that forty-five minutes of music there must be a minimum of eight consecutive songs as they appear in lyric form in the libretto. Tim and I were one song short for this requirement and beyond that we would be required to add the overture to come any where close to 45 continuous minutes. The recording got done with difficulty because the singers lacked some training, but certainly had the proper attitude and spirit. So I do thank Jenny and Eric. Robert (our engineer at Smooth Sounds Studios) was kind enough to knock off one hour of recording time cost--($40) what a sweet gesture! There is certainly an argument into the hiring of pro singers (and we certainly have before) But singers come at a minimum of $100 apiece and a more professional studio is at least $85 an hour plus gasoline costs, but "blue sky" ambition does not fund your checking account. We got a song recorded, got a $40 credit, and while it was not the very best result, the recording in my current budget crunch will satisfy the contest requirements. I had two others singers scheduled but they never showed because they were involved in a fender bender. But Jeremy and Natalie who was coming by pure surprise hit another car-- and well, fate and God had another plan. But the great singers have agreed to come back and Jeremy (who called me this morning early) wants to give ME $40 for "being at fault"-- that's what I call classy. Someone pro offers to sing for free and has a fender bender that's his fault. He tries to call but has a cell phone that goes straight to recording. Then he calls to apologize this morning and wants to give ME at least one hour of recording time because he has had a fender bender with minor injuries that was his fault. So we've agreed to another date. We also recorded the first two songs from "SEVEN"-- the musical romp that I've co-written with John Nugent. Brian Martin was brilliant and did both songs in ONE TAKE plus recorded some narration-- wow! Both songs sound great and Tim's accompaniment was right on the money for the type of situation the show called for. Thank you, Tim. Well, now I must get these contest materials together for a November 1st deadline. But if we can win this contest, Tim and I will have made it-- a fully subsidized production of the musical in NYC for about twenty shows and a cash prize. Not bad for something without an entry fee. Keep your fingers and toes crossed, friends. This is one beautiful show: Hans Christian Andersen would have loved it!