Wow.  Last Sunday afternoon I was at Alfresco Place Recording Studio in Louisville surrounded by surreal talent on both sides of the glass.  I can’t thank the guys enough.  It was a blessing and a pleasure to listen as songs that started in my head and then were written on a piece of paper and played out in original form with simple chords and melodies that forged themselves into a song.

We recorded a song called Long Way Home.  I wrote that one recently.  The first line of the song hit me and I repeated it over and over.  I knew I had touched on something and I ran downstairs and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper.  The final recorded result is as close to what started in my head as anything I have ever recorded.

Songs change and take on a life of their own when you get four or five or, in our case Sunday, six guys playing instruments at once.  Some songs are unrecognizable to their origins and sometimes that is a-okay.  We recorded one of those Sunday too and it worked out fine.  Dan Trisko heard something in a slow, lonely sad ballad that I would have never considered cos I did not hear it.  He took that song and we made it into an uptempo number.  The contrast of the dark lyrics with the peppy tune is awesome.  I thank him.

I thank all of them.  I am so blessed.

Of course I have mentioned Jeff Carpenter here before.  He is a gem.  He gives us enough rope to hang our musical selves and pulls it back when he knows we are in trouble.  He is an musician’s engineer.  He knows what he is doing.  They all do.  And , after twenty years of doing this, I think I have finally found my musical way home.  It has been a long way home.

It starts and ends right here under the careful watch and ear of Jefferson Carpenter, my dear friend.

For me, this is my most comfortable space in the studio.  My Seagull at hand, a music stand full of songs, and mic to sing away.  I feel right at home in this space.

Playing through a tune for Dan Trisko, the one he changed the course of.

Keeping this lot together, Gene Wickliffe on drums.  Solid as a rock.

Gene, Dan on guitar, and Jason Sturgill on bass.

Play it once for Jason Sturgill and you have money.  An awesome bass player. Thank you, Jason.

Dan Trisko did great guitar work and help produce the tunes to give them a distinct flavor to add to the whole album.

Jeff Guernsey and me in the background.

This is the third album I have made.  Rod Wurtele on keyboard and Jeff Guernsey on fiddle and guitar have been on all of them.  First recording with them was 2001.  They have only gotten better.

If you think you can find a better fiddle player than Jeff Guernsey, I will shake my head as you walk away.  He is the best.

And so it goes.  We are working on the finished product.  I am proud of this work.  I could not have accomplished it without these guys, along with the other gents who worked the 2016 sessions John Burgard, Barry King, and John Hayes.  I wrote about those sessions too.

Thank you, once more, Jefferson Carpenter.  Without you, I don’t have a chance to talk to these guys let alone have them bring my songs to better life.  You’re the man.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson