Albums
Ajalon - This Good Place
Release Date: September 2009
Label: Prog Rock Records
Track Listing
1. Love is a Dream
2. Nickels and Dimes, Marbles and Stones
3. Not Man
4. Abstract Malady
5. Lullaby of Bedlam
6. Redemption
I. So Many Roads
II. Star for a Day
III. The Humdrum Life
7. This Good Place
I was excited when, in June 2008, I got an e-mail from Randy George (the bass player on Neal Morse’s albums) saying that he’d liked what I’d done on Neal’s last album, Lifeline, and asking me to contribute a few parts and solos towards his band’s coming album.
Randy asked me to record parts, fills and solos for 3 songs on the album. The material I recorded for 2 of the 3 songs got used on the album - click the underlined tracks above to have a listen.
Lifeline
Release Date: 2008
Label: Radiant Records
Track Listing
1. Lifeline - 13:28
2. The Way Home - 4:20
3. Leviathan - 6:04
4. God’s Love - 5:28
5. So Many Roads - 28:43
* I. So Many Roads
* II. Star for a Day
* III. The Humdrum Life
* IV. All the Way to the Grave
* V. The Eyes of the Saviour
* VI. So Many Roads Reprise
6. Fly High - 6:31
Bonus Disc
1. Crazy Horses - 3:40
2. Lemons Never Do Forget - 6:36
3. The Letter - 4:17
4. (What’s So Funny Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding - 4:44
5. Sometimes He Waits - 5:21
6. Set To The Kingdom - 11:00
On Wednesday 12th of March, 2008, I received an e-mail from Neal asking me if I could record a few guitar solos for him by the coming Saturday. I was due to be marking some guitar practical exams at BIMM on Thursday and Friday (the following 2 days) and so, within minutes of getting Neal’s e-mail, I set about phoning every other guitar teacher I knew to see if I could get someone to cover the exams for me! When I’d gone through all the guitar teachers with no luck, I tried a bass teacher (well, it’s only 2 less strings – how different can it be?!!)… thankfully he agreed to cover for me on both days.
The next day (Thursday), Neal e-mailed me 3 backing tracks over which he wanted me to record guitar parts.
The first was an original track; ‘Fly High’ and the other two were cover versions for the album’s bonus disc; ‘Lemon’s Never Do Forget’, by the Bee Gees and ‘Crazy Horses’ by The Osmonds!
I recorded a full guitar solo for ‘Fly High’, but Neal decided to only use the last ‘Shred’ part of the solo (the rest of the original solo built steadily to the ‘shred’ climax that appears on the album).
For ‘Lemon’s Never Do Forget’ I recorded fills throughout the duration of the song, a Beatles-esque (as requested) guitar solo and a guitar orchestra harmony section at the end of the piece.
For ‘Crazy Horses’ I recorded a harmony guitar solo and horse noises! I later learned that Paul Gilbert had also recorded guitar parts for the track and Neal, not knowing that Gilbert had done parts before asking me, opted to use his instead of mine (who wouldn’t want to have Paul Gilbert play on their album?!!).
Soul Sister - Precious
Soul Sister – Precious
Release Date: 20 Feb 2004
Label: KINGSWAY
Track Listing
1 - Heaven Rejoices
2 - Lifted up
3 - Deeper Than I’ve Ever Known
4 - O God Of Love
5 - Extravagant Worship
6 - I’ve Had Questions
7 - The Name Of The Lord Is To Be Praised
I played electric and acoustic guitars on tracks 1 and 6. No flashy solo stuff here – just solid pop rhythm playing.
I remember recording the acoustic guitar part for ‘Heaven Rejoices’ in a church in Brighton. The studio control room was set up in a separate room and I recorded my guitar parts, alone, in the main room of the church. Somebody had set fire to a patch of wasteland behind the church… now, whenever I listen to my acoustic guitar part in the first verse and bridge of this song, I’m transported back to the magical atmosphere of that night; the room lit by the glow of the out-of-control fire and the flashing of the fire engines’ blue lights – all in the perfect still and silence of the inside of the church building.