The Journey, Part 3

Rain, really!! I decided to drive to Nashville. However, I never imagined driving all the way in rain. By the time I arrived in Memphis I was getting pretty tired battling the elements, so in Germantown I called it a day and spent the night. You would think the next day would be better but it wasn't. I have never driven in such a torrential downpour of rain as I did in day two. But, finally I arrived and found my hotel quite easily. Larry had been out of town and was arriving the next morning then it was off to the studio. But the morning of his arrival I drove around downtown and found someone to give me a massage. I needed it really bad. So studio day comes and I had no idea what I was in store for. Studio's I suppose can be small or large. I'd been in one studio in Tulsa that was in a guy's converted garage so I was really sure what would happen. We drove through a neighborhood in Brentwood and drove up a steep drive to a house - that half had been converted into a studio. This would be my home for the next two days. The rhythm players were already setting up and it was almost show time. Wildwood Studios is owned and operated by Brandon Harkin, a very wonderful sound-man and one man show. His rooms were small, yet comfortable. The setup was guitar in one room, drums in another, the keyboard player and piano together and the bass player sat in the mix-room since he went direct into the system. The keyboard player could have too but the mix-room was too small for all those people plus the producer. From the git go Larry oversaw everything but referred every decision by me. I felt like a king yet knew I was an amatuer among professionals. Not one time did the band members make me feel less talented or less than valuable. In fact, they made me their friend. Let me tell you I never met anyone in Nashville in the music business that made me feel inadequate. Most of the time they (the professionals) were complimenting me on the arrangements. Two day of recording we were done with a rough mix of the rhythm. Larry would take this now and write the orchestrations and we would schedule the final session in July. We broke for dinner the first night and we all went to Barbara's. Anybody who lives in Nashville knows Barbara's. It is a small dinner almost on the outskirts of a country road where the stars eat. Home cooking and it was awesome comfort food. For my first trip to Nashville I gotta tell you I had the time of my life. I've actually kept in touch with John Hammond the drummer. John was awesome. I would start a song - John would find the tempo, lock it into the click and away we would go. We did very, very little fixing. These guys were top notch and I found that getting the best isn't anymore expensive than getting lesser players. Now I had the long, long trip home. Fortunately it didn't rain on the way home.