Closing April 2012 - April 30, 2012
Thanks to my fans.Sticking onboard through the ups and downs of rock and roll.
RENE LABRE: TODAY'S NEWS
Sucessful People Work With Sucessful People. - April 7, 2012
Yes that has got to be so because you are not going to make it with a loser,this gane is too rough,they are going to drag you down and then let you down.It also requires that you are working a plan.The first thing any business must be able to do is have a business plan before they can approach anyone about serious financing in a project.The plan,if you follow it helps to take your emotions out of the equation.Your emotions ill-used can sink you.You can take a moment to see how well your impulsive outburst is going to fit into the plan.Losers have impulsive outbursts all the time.You have to be able to rely on people when things get tight.Not co-dependency,reliability.
Your New Producer,Who Is He? - April 6, 2012
Kenny Veenstra from Progressive CD's.Recording at his studio, Abbey Road South.This was a great find for me.A great musician,producer,engineer videographer and film editor/producer.Has owned for 30 odd years one of the worlds finest CD duplication and creation houses.Progressive CD'S.A very long track record of honest success.A very fine example of a human being as well.If you desire to be successful it makes sense to associate with those that are successful.It is a good aura and a synergy.People that are committed to see a thing through,sharing and complementing your vision.It serves to put you on your good foot too.So you come with your best.And this is the music biz you understand,it is easy to fall in with about any kind of loser you can think of.Who will ALWAYS let you down at the crucial moment.The pro's are different.It makes the work fun and the struggles not so important,um...you are working with a higher level of intellect.The great majority of musicians live in fantasy land.For the pro's it is how the rent is paid and dinner is put upon the table.If you cannot hustle you better get out of here!And it's okay you know,you can still play music with a band on the weekend and have some good fun.Or just hang out and jam.You can quit anytime you want to,it is not your life mission so to speak.If it is then you have got to make some contacts with like-minded individuals.You have to stay on course.Persistence is what pays off.That and learning how to duck!This goes through all levels,who is the local band that is always working?I want to play with them.They are motivated and hustling.They draw a consistent following to their gigs.it is a different thing to have all of your high school buddies show up for a gig.One night,or to have them follow you for 30 years.That is the group I will be working with.And still come to cause you have got to be doing your own thing.You can't lay back on them.You have to make time for what YOU do.Plus deal with everything else that comes to you in life.After all of that if you can do anything substantial that is pretty remarkable.
What Would you Wish For Today? - March 31, 2012
That my producer Tom Morris would have his black Les Paul returned to him.it is a part of the items stolen in a massive heist Of Morrisound studios In Tampa bay.Tom is such a wonderful human being and it would make him so happy!Whoever your are that is holding it please give it back.Tom has done a lot of miracles for a lot of people.Make a miracle happen for him.Thank you!
Do You Sell Your mailing Listt? - March 31, 2012
No,I have a large one yet even I don't want to bug anybody until I have a project ready.On blogs and stuff that is okay,lettin' you know what up.But as far as addressing you with an e-mail,or sharing your info without your permission,never done.When I have a project finished I will let all of you know.I had a very swell month of great responses,Thank you so much!...Ren
What Is Up Today? - March 30, 2012
I am rehearsing the slide guitar solo for the current project.Prob I will go over it a couple thousand times before I cut it.Breaking it down to say what I mean with the fewest notes possible.And a wicked trick to boot!I want to just focus upon that.The solo may just make the whole tune.I choose not to think to much more beyond that right now.I think I am going to pull out my multi-vox little David on it. on it.Now where did I put my slide?I know it is here somewhere.
Recording Session April 5,2012 Abbey Road South - March 29, 2012
Moving in to the finish line on this tune.Set the drums and do percussion tracks plus a slide guitar solo.very busy day.This leaves one more session for the chillin' harmonies.One year and five months,it's the lead single for the new album and a film soundtrack.It became way more complex with multiple versions being done at the same time.And as an indie in tough times you have got to scrimp and save your little pennies to keep a project as a reality.It is so easy to lose your focus with all of the info flying around.I am not into home recording per se,in the penthouse I use two reel to reel vintage tape decks to lay out ideas,a teac and an akai and just record straight into them.I prefer the warmth of analog to thin digital.The original engineers had it right the first time.Digitally you have to compensate,for guitar work it is a must to use an Avalon pre amp,even for the acoustic work.This pumps you up a big fat signal that re formats for pro-tools.Oh man! Such a clean machine!Now your guitars are analog thick,especially the lows and mids which you are going to lose without an Avalon when you move to post production.Yes in the big studio monitors it will all be there yet when you switch to the small average speakers of the typical listener it goes way thin.The guitars are very subject to phase cancellation,other things going on in the tracks in terms of digital,which is anti-ambiance will override and cancel out guitar frequencies.Thus you want to have a very high gain signal that you can back off.A properly formatted signal that pro-tools will read to specification.Then you mix it down till it fits.You can't boost a weak signal.All you can boost is how thin it is.It sounds cheap and clinical.
Get Your Song On Top 40 Broadcast Radio! - March 21, 2012
I can show you how to do this as an Indie,and if your material is judged as up to standards by my promoters I can Guarantee you results.I will put you on the road to getting your song to radio,across the nation.Charting you up with the biggest acts in the business.It is very possible that this could lead to a big score for you.And I can tell you that you cannot do it yourself,sending your song to radio stations without the correct channels is a waste of your time and money,your CD is going to be thrown in the trash.It is not going to be listened to,it is not going to make airplay.
There are a lot of people that are going to make you promises on this yet not deliver you the results you need.You ought to be receiving weekly reports on Tuesday's,which is add days for all stations.and you ought to be able to speak on the phone with your promoter to discuss strategy's for promotion.You ought to have a list of the stations giving you spins and the contact info for the program director.After you press your Cd you need to have someone do your mailings for you.You send the bulk Cd's to them and they do the mailing.When THEY do the mailing it is recognized by the stations that this is a serious project.If you are that serious and have the means together contact me,my fee as a consultant is contingent upon the fact that the radio promoters accept your project as commercially valid.In that event I charge you a one time fee of 200 dollars.
There are a lot of people that are going to make you promises on this yet not deliver you the results you need.You ought to be receiving weekly reports on Tuesday's,which is add days for all stations.and you ought to be able to speak on the phone with your promoter to discuss strategy's for promotion.You ought to have a list of the stations giving you spins and the contact info for the program director.After you press your Cd you need to have someone do your mailings for you.You send the bulk Cd's to them and they do the mailing.When THEY do the mailing it is recognized by the stations that this is a serious project.If you are that serious and have the means together contact me,my fee as a consultant is contingent upon the fact that the radio promoters accept your project as commercially valid.In that event I charge you a one time fee of 200 dollars.
Do You Use Capo's? - March 8, 2012
Yes but it is kind of funny because when I was younger I would never use them,I would do it the hard way.I though capo's were for pussies.After I hit Nashville and your playing with a banjo in an open G tuning you are kind of dead in the water without a capo.As you transpose keys you still get that wide open chime sound better than a closed barre chord.Plus for vocals an A flat/or sharp may be a better key,I may have a better range on that tune there but the guitar may not sound it's best because that is a weird key,B flat too... I mean I could do it yet it would be all closed chords.So you transpose it real easy with a capo.A Good example would be "The Sinners Prayer" which is in the key of C,for the acoustic slide part I tuned the guitar to an open C in the first position,In the first position the strings were so loose it barely made any sound at all but I wanted the slide to be an open tuning,that part was a straight up improvisation and I thought "oh dear what to do?" So I took out my capo and clamped it at the octave C,second position, and it fit perfectly.I could whizz around all that I wanted and it all worked.
How Would You Rate Yourself As A Guitarist? - March 8, 2012
I have my own style I think and can hold my own pretty well.I did All of the guitar work on my records except for (oo) (oo) which had Andre Mack And Gary Lefkowith performing on it also,and they were a blast to work with.Yet other than that all of that guitar work belongs to me.So that is to speak for itself.And I prefer it to be that way.So I am confident,yes I have become multi-instrumental.First by necessity and later by choice.Yet instrumentally the guitar is my home base.I can sit down and play it for twelve hours.As far as ratings against other guitarists that is kind of silly.I appreciate and enjoy other great guitar players,there are guys I know that you have never heard of that are just out of this world with it.You hear them on film scores and such and they command 3 thousand dollar session fee's.I will listen to Joe Pass and just go WTF? I dig jazz (real Jazz) a lot yet never explored that style so I don,t know what those guys are doing,I just listen and dig it.I don't bother to try and figure it out.I just appreciate it.I am happy and confident in what I do and will deliver the goods.
Do You Regret Your Time With Chip And Marvin? - February 23, 2012
What do you mean,I auditioned them and I hired them.And I was very happy with my decision.I am Rene Labre yet the three of us are The Rene Labre group.Nobody has quit,nobody has been fired.We do not always see eye to eye on everything,sometimes we have horrible fights even.Yet they are for the purpose of the big picture you see.I write a tune even yet they tell me the best way I ought to play it.Both of them are world class musicians and singers,as well as writers and arrangers..We may go from one minute of a very nasty dispute to laughing and joking around.And you would to listen to it think we were going to kill each other.Chip was the most downplayed part because Marvin and I are so outrageous.Chip too onstage,a master showman yet in rehearsal he wanted it played and sung just like that.So Marvin and I were going to learn today.We would go out on the road and do our show and that lynch mob stuff is for real.I will post you some pics of the bus,we had to get back to T-Town.We wanted to head out on the road and end up in Chicago.We really wanted to re-locate there.We did not have a good manager.We did have good agents.Right now I am solo.
You Are Much More Into Singing Than Before - February 9, 2012
Yes,concentrating more upon it,having much more fun with it.I spend much more time working on it though,in my spare time if I ever have any I am usually hanging out with singers from other bands and we are always strumming up a sing-song to have some fun.Usually rolling into the wee hours on the morning.Meeting up after shows or going to eachother's shows if we get done early.I am always working upon it though,whatever I may be doing I am singing.You might think that getting together with a bunch of singers would be a huge ego problem but it is not and everyone is stretching it out as far as it can go and you appreciate and admire what everyone can do.You harmonize together and all kinds of stuff.You have to because you can get real rusty in a hurry if you are not working it.I still am doing the lion's share of the music on the recordings.Always have yet the decisions in the earlier recording were more based on what music was to be done and the vocals fell into line with that.Now it is what is going to be sung and the music falls in line with that.I do commercial jingles at a low watt FM station,that music is already done and I just walk in and sing.It is a real fun thing and pretty challenging because i don't have an arrangement per say to sing,just the written script to sell tiles or cars or whatever.The 20 bucks an hour goes a long way to help with the bills but the program director wants two jingles done an hour.One day I may release an album called "The greatest jingles album" based on the sales results.It is most of all a really fun and sincere radio crew to hang with.And this is regional,not global work at least at this time.But it is real prostuff nonetheless.In my life I have in certain sold several multiple millons tons of liquor and beer singing in the clubs.Sometimes you may only play to six or seven people and the clubowner is still pretty happy 30 people came in at midnight after the bowling league let out and stayed until closing.Oh thank you Lord,and the original six or seven people stayed all night too!If you are working a club playing your music what you are really doing is selling booze.That determines whether you are going to be paid without complaint or stiffed.And perhaps asked for a return engagement.So if I sing to sell booze and sell millions of tons of it,why not tires,ect...And it was not work to me,well,yes it was because you have to be a pro,you must show up on time and be in shape to deliver the goods.Being able to adapt yourself so you can pull in the same direction with everybody else on a given project,that makes things go smooth.Success requires synergy, a weak link is of no help to anyone,and if you just want to walk around an be an asshole to everybody,times are rough,How many of you know that you do not stop working until the day is over?You can only make hay whilst the sun is shining,while it is day in your life you have got to work because nightime is coming to your life.It might not be this saturday night or this year,but it IS COMING.You young folks may not understand what the grown-ups are not telling you,that you to one day before you know it are going to grow old.you are going to become if you are blessed that geezer that you once scoffed at.The beautiful thing about being young,if you are blessed and healthy is the amount of time that you view that you still have.As your body hold up you will begin to think that you are always going to remain young and honey you ain't going to do that.Your wonderful and fresh young friends are also going to grow up with you.How we all stuck together when we were young,were able to rely and depend upon eachtother,how easy we could share our empathy with eachother.Then one by one we became adults with different priorities,I want to place my family first.And then people we knew began to die.And oh how we miss them when they are gone.How we wished they were still alive just to call on the phone or send an e-mail to say Hi,I miss you!Then have them write back.That is what the grown ups are not telling you.It is hard for them to handle it too becuase when you are young you think you're going to escape it yet you are not.and you will be very fortunate to even find one good friend to be there and relate to you.you have to forgive the grown ups and your parents,we observe the fire of your youth and remember when you know?the thing we lost you see was the empathy that we once had for eachother when we felt we had to become adults with FEARS of what might happen.Pretty good post tonight huh?Thank you for hanging with me tonight,I know that you are out there and I love and miss you.Try if you can not to look down to much on someone that is struggling,tomorrow that may be you.The more that we can do a little bit even to lift eachother up the better.I told you oh so the truth tonight my brothers and sisters,my beloved.if you want to test me go to a local edlerly nursing home and take a look.And every ancient culture had respect for their elders.The one's that cleaned you butt and poopy diaper everyday.Ahh...it ain't so bad really to change your baby.You clean them up and polish and powder their little fanny and they are so comfortable and happy.Probably hungry too..I am very happy,my son has come back around to being my tightest pal.I don't know even if you can imagine Dad your son son coming around as a man to knock on your door because he missed you and wanted to just have a chat with you.I speak to my son and he speaks to me,with me hanging on his every word and the sparks of the words are like that when a hammer makes a perfect strike upon an anvil.(The American Impact Logo).It causes a spark.TO START ANYTHING YOU FIRST MUST HAVE A SPARK!Boom,Boom,Boom,Boom/Thank you!I was always into the singing yet as time goes on you get more and more into it.
The Mastering Lab - January 27, 2012
After you have done all that you can do in the production of a recording session,it has been concieved,it has been recorded,it has been mixed,you turn up the studio moniters to hear the tune in it's premier state but you are not quite finished.You have got to master it.The final and permanent tweak.some studios may house mastering labs,most do not.If you have come this far does it not make sense to go a couple of extra hundred bucks to etch the tune,to capture that final mix forever?The object you want to send to the pressing plant is not a cd of the final mix to duplicate,or to make available for download sales or streaming,you want to etch it on pure crystal glass.A single speed glass master.Aw sure I know you may scoff at your humble good teacher about this.When I ought to be charging you for this knowledge.I am a very respected scientist in many quarters,this process makes your session "industry standard."this does not mean that it is a major label high dollar session,what it means is no matter how it is heard,through whatever medium known or to become known,it is going to reproduce faithfully the final mix.The final mix enhanced by the maximum EQ levels.The icing upon the wonderful cake.Sure,a great song is a great song but how do you want it to be interpretated by the listener?I am deadly serious about what I do,I don't fuck around with anything.That stuff has got to be right.Even the outakes are mastered.You have already bet your ass on it.For a couple of extra bucks you buy insurance to hedge your bet.The final mix was pumping,champagne flowed in the control room,you had the world by the ass.In the mastering lab you are sitting very quietly,not rocking your head back and forth,the room is sonically designed to the highest spec for listening.Your tech has perfect pristeen hearing and a very strong engineering backround."Creme de la creme."Specialists.They hear everything going down on your final mix.you are hushed,you dare not make a sound.The adjustments to the EQ are milli-second tweaks.You can hear everything that was done on your session.The whole is greater than the sum of all of it's parts.Say for instance on the web,wherever you hear it however it sounds the same.Real bad-ass just like you want it.It jumps up off the tracks!If you do not master your final mix may sound horrific to you on internet radio.If you are really into recording arts and science you find out about "formatting."Now it is mathmatic in three ways,algebraic,plane geometry,and physics.Algebriac in terms of whatever you do to one side of the given equasion you have to equally do to the other.(Stereophonic).Plane geometry,you must set up the appropriate space for what is called "Headroom" plus the ambience of all of the parts.Some frequencies can only hold a limited amount of sound,if you have to many things hogging one frequency "phase cancellation" will occur,the mixing board and recording machine will decide that,which frequency from what it shall pick.And then physics, which is mathematical balance of opposing elements in relation to time and space.For example the setting of the intonation of your guitar is pure physics.why is my instrument in tune in this position and out of tune up an octave?I master my recordings.You ought to do that too.
Current Sessions - January 27, 2012
The lead single has taken quite a bit of time to come together,it was suppose to be finished by 2011 yet the production went through so many changes and personally it was a very challenging year.Not to say it was all bad,I got stabalized in a lot of areas.The recorded work I turned in on the project is some of my best coming up as a soundtrack to a film project.My preference is turning more towards behind the scenes work in the areas of production and publishing.More rewarding and less hectic.
Most Of The Session Musicians Were Symphonically Trained - January 21, 2012
I searched them out from all over the place.They were the outstanding ones.They all wanted to record serious.To do something original.
Who Do You Thank - January 19, 2012
God forgive me,I first have to to thank my Mother.My best soldier.I have to do that because it would not have happened without her.This was how she wanted it to be.She insisted from my childhood that I be a serious musician,later on my sister insisted that I become a serious singer.On her deathbed I played my Mom my rock and Roll and she started dancing,how shw loved it! And she laughed and said "It is going to take a miracle for you to make it."m good with that,I know it is true.I did my best and I stand upon it.It is my works.It all has been very hard to do.I was not a pleasure cruise,I got my share of kicks to the face but I came through.You can't just play this at your desk,you have got to live it.You must be up for the hunt to do what thou whilst.You must show up on time and deliver it.God understood all of this but my Mother was just a human being.She put off her dream,which she could have done for mine.Yet she demanded excellence.My dearest sister was all on to me about being a singer.Which later became where it was at.I was the top pupil in my voice classes I tell you.That was after 12 years on the road by the way.People wanted to hear me sing more than anything else I could.At first it was all original meterial.Then came the covers but we own the copyrights of those cover versions.Dig that if you can,And the covers were done the same as the originals.Just as much time and attention was put into it.But I holthe exclusive rights of my cover versions.Yes I still have to pay the original writers and their publishers their royalties yet if my version of the cover is used they have got to pay me.It is of no matter legally who wrote and published the original tune.
You Do A Lot Of Symphonic Double Bass On Your Recorded Work? - January 18, 2012
Yes.More and more,Colorama has one in the studio which is great,Sam Ash,actually the warehouse helped me out on "American Idol" with an under the table rental,An even decent one is a three to five thousand dollar instrument.I would not want to use one outside of the studio enviornment,I live in a very humid place most of the year so tuning is a nightmare cause the fretboard is going to sweat and to carry one around man you need a whole minivan just for the bass.I got into it when my son was a philharmonic student and had his school one at home so I got familiar with it.In the studio I will do on a tune 3 to 4 composite bass tracks with one on double bass complete.Then pick and choose with my producer.Through years of roadwork I really got into the bass.Guitar players do not play bass very well,they play it like a guitar which it is not.
My Heart Is in My hands Tonight,Michelle Parisianne Is Dead from Breast Cancer At Age 28 - January 8, 2012
I am devasted to have learned tonight of the passing Of Michelle Parisianne (Michelle Rene Lanham) at age 28 from breast cancer.She was the sweetest kid you could imagine her mother introduced her to me through a friend with a desire for me to break her into the music business.She was 16 at the time.At 17 she was working regularly onstage with us as a featured perfomer,the guys all loved her,her talent on many occaisions reduced the audience to tears.We have several impromptu recordings of her onstage with us,She was only featured on one master session "American Idol Audition."That song went number one one the american idol underground radio show.2 weeks after our backers pulled the plug on our first national tour.Her mother then died a very tragic death which she took very hard.She disappeared after that.We searched yet could not find her.How she loved to sing and perform,it was everything to her.Very professional even at 17,tea-total,did not smoke nor do drugs,that makes it even sadder for me to think about.I am in the process of assembling all of the material that I can on her.There is a video of her final recording session shortly before her death.Her spirit departed this world on July 15,2011.Rest in peace Dear Princess.
Florida Embraced And Fell Hopelessly In Love With me - December 31, 2011
She is my baby,she is my mom,and she is my beautiful girl.I always know that when I get home I am gonna be okay.I am her artist.She is not going to permit me to fail.How my heart leaps for joy when I see her again out of a plane window.She missed me so much and was worried about me.I have to tell her"Mommy it's okay,I am home."I don't worry to much about anything when I get home.I am her artist,I belong to her.I will never stray.I am "Frenchy" they holler out my name everywhere I go.From St Augustine to Key West all the way over to Pensacola.Everyone knows or has heard about who "Frenchy" is.I tried to escape and flee to Nashville but even they sent me home."You are a Florida artist.Go home."That is why I sound different,why I am different.
If You Study It There Are many Reasons To Not Produce Yourself - December 10, 2011
Most artists do not, a rare few do.The two reasons that rate the highest,Quality and the depth of your production.The scope of it.And I was quite determined to produce myself,enjoyed the expierence tremendously yet came to find out very clearly,my shortcomings and wealnesses.Things that I needed to work on.Through this though I learned a lot.I do so much on my records that it is hard for me to be honestly objective about them.I love all my children as they say.I have to put on so many different identitties.Classic and wonderful MPD.I want to savor the expierence of every cut to the fullest,The world may not choose to ever hear it no matter of what I can deliver as an artist,so I have to dig it as I may be the only one that ever does.What an irony to release a thing that the world loves and you detest?You don't want to perform it nor ever listen to it.Your big hit is a bastard step-child to you.Some feel I felt this way about (oo)(oo) and I did not.I was in the end most fortunate to have such a fine producer.I consider it to be a great wisdom on my part to have given him almost and completely total control.To have the honor to work with this guy,the master and go-to guy for digital recording shortcuts,the expierence of doing a totally major label style of production.The demos had two other marvelous writers join in before we even began to record.The tune was upon completion decidedly different from our original idea.We were tapped to do our best,perfection.Mike agreed to do the session because he knew he was going to have a fun time doing it.And he did.Gary Lefkowith is also producing for the same reason.We walked away with a fifty-sixty thousand dollar production for 5 grand.Plus the expenses of taking the band to NYC and put them up.So sadly,the band was very pissey about it,resistant to it in every way,thinking they could cop his genius and do it on a home studio.Good Luck with that.Yes the totally sound,idea,and concept of the tune was changed in every way.Which is what I was paying for and expected.And was hand delivered.I had such an awesome time doing it.They loved the awesome talent of my fantastic band understanding their feelings as well and I was very proud of my boys.Despite all they came through like top LA session men.Yet you know poo-poo on all of that shit.I wish somebody would have paid my way to NYC to do a session like this.This was the right guy for what the project needed to have and also the way it needed to be done.We had to adapt to that no matter of the sacrifices we would have to temporarily make.What an awesome tune!A perfect combination of R&B and hard rock.What we would sound like as a major label heavy hitter.at the end of the day if i walked into a Bar and it was playing on the jukebox I would say "Turn it up please" not "Turn it off."Does it not register with you the genius producers,certified,love to work with me and do so at rates way far reduced from their normal rates.They are rough boys too,they do not go in for any bullshit.They if necessary, even dress me down so that I get humble and real.I don't respond with an ego trip,I fall into my place.They all have different approaches and so I choose the best guy for a project. Making me not a beggar but a chooser,yet I will beg to get the right cat on board.I pleaded in tears to Tom Morris.Oh thank you God,I was a completely broken human being.My stuff just jumps right off the tracks out at you.He set the volume and tone knobs on the guitar as well as the amp.It is the work in my life that was better even then the pleasure.In recording you may set up a sound that is kind of weird,but after mixing you are going to go to mastering.You get to the final mixdown and you think that that is it and it is not,and that shit is jammin' yet if you do not master it can be subject to a lot of interpretation.Cause it will not always play the same way.You may go from the final mix to setting up mp3's,why did you go this far and not finish it off?You have already forked out the money.If your producer can not matser for you you can with ease find a good lab to do it for less than 5 hundred bucks.I ought to be charging you money to even tell you this.When your tune is mastered it plays out the same way every time no matter of what device is reproducing it.You have someone with perfect pitch hearing fine-tuning the highs,mids,and lows,separating and panning it.Single glass mastering,yes you are cutting upon the finest grade of glass.Laboratory spec stuff.At high speed.Blowing up the wonderful final mix you so loved and making it forever this way.If you do not do this final step you may hear your tune online and go "where is the guitar solo?I cannot hear the drums,what happened to the five part harmony voices?I only hear two parts!This is how my friends,the big dogs run."If you can't run with the big dogs you have to stay on the porch with the puppies!" What is the motto of the big dogs? "We live to play,and we play to live!"I am giving away vital secrets here.so you may learn from them.I love my work and all of the challenges that go along with it,all of the sacrifices.If you are dedicated in this way you will find that you are somehow working with good and brilliant people that you can place your trust in.You went in thinking about it like this,but came out sounding like that.Fully developed.You have got to leave the fantasy people behind you.When you most need them they will not be there and this is only human.It ain't a thing that is for everybody.For musicians,you want to hook up with the killers.Full time players who have dedicated their lives to playing music.Quite different from the life of glamour that you may have imagined it to be,much dedicated hard work,tons of never ending long travels.But the minute you hit the stage you let them know what you are all about.Harder and so much harder as you grow older,you have got to begin to take really good care of yourself.Yet that is another story for my book.I am writing to you right now from the road actually.In my hotel room waiting to go on tonight.I am going to go for a swim and get ready to go on.
It Is A Question Of Perfection - December 3, 2011
My producers are very hard upon me about this.That is what they expect me to deliver as an artist.Some artists can clown around in the studio a lot and they get away with it because that is how they work.Which is all good.I do not get away with any of that with my producers.Oh man it is so serious-they expect perfection and pull that out of me.I am fearful to arrive at a session not warmed up and versed on what I am going to do.I can get loose and joke around a lot until that red recording light goes on.If I get funny then I get a strong repremand."This is not fun and games Rene,this is your life."As an artist I love it.I am shown possibilities and directions I may not have concieved.The guys I work with are always to cut it down to the least possible amount of notes to get the fullest and most impacting expression.I asked for it,I am not a fool,I begged them to produce me.I sat in tears at Tom Morris's desk asking him,pleading with him to produce my sessions."Rene,you don't have to cry,I will be happy to produce you." Then they crack the whip,they expect nothing less than perfection from me.That is the given precept.Oh man...what fun that is for me!I only can work with good people.I do not have any time for losers.There is no reason for me to be dragged down by that.I am sorry to have to say that.Yet people who are not driven to succeed in their vision are going to drag you down to their level.I am a pefectionist " I can't be fucking around with any bullshit."I cannot cater to petty "star trips."Ego trips are just not tolerable."A small leak can sink a great ship.
Oh How I love You=We Were All behind Susan Mejeras - December 2, 2011
She ran the drumlines for three local area high schools.She had very little time to spare.And when I called her to do a session she was going to be the arranger.She was leading three high school drum lines plus being a full time music teacher and performer.The only way that she would work with us was that we read the sessions that she arranged.She would fall asleep with her head on my lap writing arrangements.In the studio she had her glasses on and was all business.Calling all of the shots.A take would fly by and she would say "where are we?"That is why our records are so tight.
Much More Than The Silly Things Of Life...I Got To What Is Real - December 2, 2011
I am an artist,yanking good tones out of my guitar is more important to me than meaningless sex.I guess I must have missed in my life a large amount of meaningless sex.I know that I did.Yet in yanking good tones out of my guitar I missed none of that.Yet I have to make love with someone that I love,and what a beautiful expression of that.I have to work full time just to get to the work I really want to do.And then I have got to sing.
The Sessions Are Heating Up - November 22, 2011
We are booked to go in and do the drums for the session the first friday after Thanksgiving.I wasn't going to use the if Davy Boy wasn't available,he is so much fun to work with and is a fantastic talent and thus he is very busy.He desires to move to Nashville.I look forward to catching him on the next round.Made it to a production meeting with my producer Ken Veenstra.He is admant on making high quality films of the album sessions.Thus the audio has to be excellent also.It was very intense for me to do the grand piano sessions for him as he is a master pianist,(the trick will be getting him to go on the road!)he is very buzzed on it and it is always best to have your producer at the inception of the concept.As apposed to having them come in later on.Reason of that being it is much more fun for them that way,they are so much closer to it.As friends and business associates we go back a long way.progressive cd's.com.I am so delighted that he agreed to produce and it is such fun.Today's tidbit is that I have contracted a drummer for the session,a twenty year old youngblood,Harry Potter.THE HARRY POTTER????!!!!yes of course,Harry Potter....pretty cool eh?.......He has been my pal for a long time.He shall be kicking it on the drums and smiling for the camera.We are cutting the lead single to the album plus a film.Much more than a music video.