Oh boy, $20,000 sounds like a lot doesn't it? Believe it or not though, this is just a portion of what a professional studio album costs.

From the song's inception it is scribbled onto a $3.95 writing pad with a .95 cent pencil and then the costs go up astronomically as it evolves into a completed, awesome sounding production. Prior to the digital revolution we were able to record and release our own albums on a fairly regular basis. With our own little record lable and music loving fans buying CDs direct from the artist (thankfully some of you still do), releasing a new batch of songs on an annual basis was not unusual. Sales of recorded music has helped to keep us performing gigs, going on tour and managing funds to finance the next project. It's a very different world now. Everyone knows that downloading & streaming music is just awesome! Except that my last opportunity to make a full studio album was back in 2008. (ouch!)

That was called 'One Ticket, One Ride' and it did great for us. Still, the sales eventually slow down to a trickle and the recording & touring funds begin to dry up. (gulp) We've kept it all going with some great live albums that we're really proud of but they are generally new versions of older materiel. These days I seem to have a bunch of new songs that haven't seen the light of day. The few that I have inserted into the live sets have all been well received when performed at gigs. I'm just thrilled when folks ask me if they can get a recording of those songs but then I'm reminded that I'll need at least $20,000 to make a new album! Twenty G's ... How can that be?

Well, it's actually a pretty conservative figure.

First and foremost is the hours upon hours devoted to song-writing, home demos, rehearsals, more demos. That's our pre-production and it mostly just takes time. Next, it's time to rent a recording studio. They have the space, equipment and professional know-how so it's not cheap.

We also have to pay our top session musicians followed by mix-down, mastering, graphic art, manufacturing and publicity. Not to mention travel, meals, test pressings, hours of listening, hours of note taking, days on end away from family and well, you get the picture. Everybody's time is precious and everybody's skill is valuable. So, we'd all love there to be a great sounding new album of terrific new songs, but at this stage, we could sure use some help!

I actually got the ball rolling back in October of 2015. I got serious about completing my demos, got the band together for rehearsals and booked us into HS45 Studio in Melbourne to begin the recording process in January. We've selected 13 new original songs including several which have been played at gigs. Some of you may have heard High Wire (a philisophical rocker), Delta Dave (the ballad of a beloved Melbourne busker), A New Bad Habit (a fun song about self-improvement) and Make No Mistake (the tale of a terrible sinner who repents too late). We've also included a re-make of an old southern soul style tune called Baby Come Back. I popped it back into the set recently and we had so many folks asking for it at the merchandise counter that we decided it might be time to give it a new life.

Of course I wanted to have the best musicians for the job. That's why I called on Roger McLachlan & Gerry Pantazis for bass and drums. They're simply the best and they prove it every time that they play. Our new keyboardist Richard Tankard is cut from the same cloth and he is really making a statement on this recording. Then I signed up some guests. Not just to include my pals, but because they each have a unique musical voice and I could already hear their contributions to this music in my head. Chris Wilson will be blowing blues-harp on 'I'm Gonna Ride', we'll have Lloyd Speigel singing the lead vocal in 'I Wish You Were Mine', the great guitarist Shannon Bourne has recorded an insane outro solo for 'Make No Mistake' and Mal Logan helps out on keys as does my old pal Keith Nolan. Susie Ahern, Steve Romig & Hannah Harwood will be supplying heavenly backing vocals we'll be having a horn section on some songs too with Paul Williamson & Jack Howard.

I'm doing my best to pay for things as I go but that is making for a very long process with lots of stops and starts.
So here we are on Pozible folks. I know a lot of you have supported us in the past being at our gigs and purchasing my music. Here at Pozible you have the opportunity to actively get involved in the process of making this next album happen. In return for your contribution, we have come up with a fine choice of rewards. Whether it is pre-purchasing a copy of the new CD, booking a guitar lesson, organizing a house concert or becoming a life time supporter any involvement from you is valuable. Also on offer is my lovely wife Michelle's beautiful new children's picture book 'Bruno's Blues'. This is also an independent project (Michelle made this happen without a publisher) and we are making the first copies available in this campaign. Whether for your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews or just big kids, it's a unique little story about discovering music and particularly the blues ... and you might even recognise some of the characters!

The new album, when completed is to be named 'Another Mile, Another Minute' which we think carries on nicely from 'One Ticket, One Ride'. It's not straight ahead blues (although there are some rippin' blues riffs in there) and it's not just a guitar album (although there is plenty of guitar work) It's 14 original songs and I hope y'all like 'em.

Thanks so much for dropping by and checking us out on Pozible.

The work has begun, it's coming together beautifully and I can't wait for you to hear it!

As an established independent act, we have had a lot of experience in putting these sorts of projects together. Our challenge is not in the making of the product, the challenge is in raising sufficient funds to do the music justice and then to recoup those costs. Happily though, our commitment to creating new music has been enthusiastically supported in the past. It is our hope that those same wonderful people will get on board with this project too, albeit at an earlier stage of the process. It will certainly help to lessen the stress we put ourselves under when we make these things. 

Thanks so much for checking out this, our latest recording project.

We're striving to make the best product we can and we really appreciate your support!