Yours truly plays acoustic and slide guitar, mandolins, flutes, drums, piano, kazoo, a few midi instruments and about half of the vocals.
Guest singers on TALES OF THE INSECT WOMEN include: JB WHITE, SEAN INGOLDSBY, ROBBIE SHEPPARD, DAVE SHEPPARD, SMITTY WEST & CLIFTON GORE. Musicians: Neil McFadden on trombone, Sean Ingoldsby on bass and drums, Yue Deng and John Zeretzke on fiddle, Karen Orser on banjo and Tom Ball on harmonica.
Guest singers on THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE include: RAIN PERRY, KERRI CLIMER, VIRGINIA LEE, JENNIFER HILL, ROBBIE SHAPPARD, PATRICIA CARDINALI, LULIJA ZONIC & LISA MANGIONE Musicians: Bruce Walker on oboe, Deirdre Wood on fiddle, Yue Deng on violin and Neil McFadden on stand up bass.
They are all terrific!
Influences
Guitar teachers Keith Richman and Kenny Sultan, Scott Smith and the Ojai Songwriters Anonymous group, the fantastic INVASION OF THE MONSTER WOMEN figurines made by Accoutrements (and sadly no longer available), the Buddha.
A few years ago I was on a turbulent airplane ride and had one of those white-knuckle moments when two thoughts spontaneously flashed through my mind: 1) I’m not nearly as equanimous as I had fancied myself to be and 2) I wish I had shared my songs with my friends. Well the plane safely landed and I felt compelled to start recording the songs, thinking it would be a short and simple task, even though I knew absolutely nothing about multitrack recording. Hah! One thing led to another, my standards kept raising and two years later I’ve got 30 original songs on 2 completed CDs in the can. I separated the funny songs from the serious ones, thinking they might appeal to different audiences. TALES OF THE INSECT WOMEN has hilarious, lighthearted, folksy bluesy songs with clever lyrics bordering on risque - truly original and guaranteed to make you smile. A variety of vocalists sing about dancing centipedes, bikini waxes, prozac, Lorena Bobbitt and more! On the MySpace sample clips here, that's DAVE SHEPPARD doing vocals on Lizzie the Lizard, JB WHITE on Cinnamon Buns, PATRICIA CARDINALI on Aint it the Life , and me on Passion of the Drama and No Trim. The OTHER SIDE OF HOPE has 16 originals that are not hilarious, but instead will warm your heart with songs about love, life and death. Acoustic, mellow, meaningful. Also featuring a host of Ojai's best singers.
All (except for several tracks) were recording at home and Mixed and Mastered by Sean Ingoldsby at RealTime Studios here in Ojai, CA.
Welcome to the land of My Space! Congratulations, Laurie, on your CD. I love the Passion of the Drama. All the best to you with your music! Cheers, Toni Jannotta Is It Magic?
