Sparks from the Fire

What Is It With ‘Short’?

Peter Link — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:03:08 +0000

Yeah, like the title says, what is it these days with culture’s new direction (probably spawned by the Internet) that short, short, short is better, better, mo’ better. As a human race, our attention span is getting less and less. Our ability to pay attention now seems down to mere seconds.

There’s so much jockeying for our attention out there that we bounce from one thing to another skipping along the top of life, clicking madly on – to what? More stuff, more facts, more trivial pursuit. All in the name of the information age.

I think it’s a dangerous trend for humanity and one that I’m witnessing grabbing a hold of our culture and chancing generations of mediocrity and, yes, (egads!) shallow thinking.

Certainly television brought that on. Pitched admittedly to the twelve year old mind, it spawned generations of couch potatoes and people who accomplish little in their off hours.

It used to be that people used their off hours for hobbies, for giving, for further life investigation. Television ruined that for millions, usurping their time in waves of commercials and repeat plots and worst of all, prime time humor where laugh tracks taught us when we should laugh.

I absolutely refuse to watch anything on TV that has a laugh track. Think about it. It’s simply brain washing.

Oh dear, I’m getting off the point. I gotta make this short.

Seth Godin, a wise man whose blog I read daily, said this morning, “Should I write blog posts that increase my traffic or that help change the way (a few) people think?

Good question. Made me think.

I’ve tried to write a shorter blog post, but I guess I’m just too long winded. Actually I like to think I’ve got something to say on certain subjects that I think about a lot. The whole process is done as much for me as it is for you. It’s a chance to sit and talk in depth about the things that count, about life and Inspiration on a deeper level than the Internet seems to be heading.

Now you know I’m not anti-internet; this is just one of its dangers.

The whole idea of this blog is to take a quiet moment out of our lives and sit down and think deeply about a subject, not to skip merrily on by, but to actually stop the hectic 21^st century flow of our lives and go a little deeper on a subject.

I watch the people around me run the mad race, never stopping for anything, trying to accomplish far too much in life and living life constantly in the fair city of Angst. It does not make for a happy existence, people. It makes for stressed out souls who lead unhappy lives. It’s a madness.

I get caught up in it myself at times and it’s only these nightly mullings on the subject of Inspiration that keep me sane. Each night I sit and think, “Now what should I write about tonight?” but what I’m really doing is thinking, “What should I think about right now that can help me reconnect with myself the best?

Then I spend a couple of hours in thought – as deep a thought as I can muster – and try to come up with something original to say, a point of view, a story that might relate to the times, a particular reminiscence. When I do this, I am free. Free of the stress and city of Angst that often govern my life.

I’ve often thought that if I found out that no one read my blog, I’d still write it. I’d write it for me. It’s a chance to be me. It’s like starting fresh.

It’s clearly not for everyone. If it were, I’d have millions of readers. Besides, who has the time? Who has the time to stop and think?

I can’t stand cocktail parties. People stand around and drink and do small talk. For me, gatherings of over 6 people I try to miss. What’s the point? It’s all small talk. I want to sink my teeth into something, sink my mind into something. Otherwise, like I said, what’s the point?

Life’s too short.

For more inspiring music you can download
and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.

Even More Inspiration

A Master’s Words

Peter Link — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:31:03 +0000

I read these truths yesterday morning. This morning I woke up very early from an end-of-the-world dream where I was stuck in LA after a massive world earthquake and a resulting war with deranged people. I couldn’t get home. I couldn’t find anyone I knew.

I woke up in a sweat. Disturbed deeply. Frightened by the seeming reality that had just engulfed my life. Wondering immediately what that was all about. Carrying forward the feelings of the dream into my waking consciousness. As I crawled out of bed, the Missus moaned and thrashed about lost in the throes of her own nightmare…

“Whoa! What’s happening here”, I thought to myself. I steadied the Missus in her sleep with the words, “Everything’s all right. It’s only a dream.” She calmed and slept on… peacefully, but I was not yet at peace.

I sat down at my desk and grabbed one of my morning readers for some bit of solace, and then remembered the words that I had marveled at the previous morning. I turned to them and, as I read, the negativity vanished like a dream.

Know all things to be like this:

A mirage, a cloud castle,

A dream, an apparition,

Without essence, but with qualities that can be seen.

Know all things to be like this:

As the moon in a bright sky

In some clear lake reflected,

Though to that lake the moon has never moved.

Know all things to be like this:

As an echo that derives

From music, sounds, and weeping,

Yet in that echo is no melody.

Know all things to be like this:

As a magician makes illusions

Of horses, oxen carts, and other things,

Nothing is as it appears.

Buddha

We Christians do not have a corner on truth.

There is truth in all of the great religions.

Only language separates us all.

Each interpretation of a Master’s words gets a little confused by the followers as they scramble for power, but the master’s words stand the test of time and thought.

Follow your Master.

My dream an hour ago was my reality. I woke from it perplexed and frightened and carried it forward into this reality, but then overcame my suffering with simple truths.

My reality that I experience now, my waking reality, is still a dream. I shall wake up from all this one day to my spiritual reality and perhaps carry this confusion forward until that too is healed by the same truths as presented above. Perhaps the truths in the words of the Christ. Perhaps Lao-Tzu.

Each step is a step forward to a greater sense of the true reality. Each level of consciousness, a dream to overcome.

“Nothing is as it appears.”

Buddha

For more inspiring music you can download
and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.

Even More Inspiration

On And Off The Pedestal

Peter Link — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:42:40 +0000

Well, the Oscars are over, the Grammys are over and it’s already started. We put ‘em up there. Now it’s time to knock ‘em off. Just watch. It happens every year.

What is it with our country this penchant to lift these people up onto the world pedestal, usually because of their good work, and then as soon as they’re up there, we do everything we can to pull ‘em back down?

It’s an American tradition – and not a very pleasant one. Is it jealousy on our parts? Is it that once up there most people don’t know how to handle it and so they sabotage themselves? Is it the press and their ever-growing need for drama whether it’s truthful or not? Or is it just that once up there, you get your 15 minutes and then it’s time to get off?

Probably all of the above.

Sadly, on our end, I think it’s a weird kind of perverted jealousy that we display when we, usually as fans, finally see our hopes personified up there, they just don’t look as good as we thought they should have, so we’re instantly disappointed and lose faith. Turns out they’re human after all and after they played that great role in that movie, when they did their acceptance speech at the Oscars, their ego spilled out all over the stage and they just weren’t a heroic or noble as they were in that award-winning film.

In real life they just weren’t quite the person that they were in that scripted movie. This is not their fault; this is ours. We make gods out of these people and then are crushed when they turn out to be human beings. How dumb is that on our part? Sometimes we get what we deserve.

We make far too much of our actors and celebrities in this country anyway. As if they all were more important than schoolteachers or nurses or good mothers.

They also are often pretty good at shooting themselves in the foot once they’re up there. And it’s usually the ego that makes them miss the target. Ego is a really dangerous foe when you’re on the pedestal. Most people have no idea how hard it is to control when you’re the object of hysterical adoration. It’s tough being idolized and staying centered in reality.

The temptation to buy into your great reviews is overwhelming and the seduction of the ego can become unmanageable. When that happens, one is bound to make huge mistakes and instantly reverse the adoration, turning it into shock, loss of faith and then great disappointment of character.

In short, we try to make them gods, but they’re just not gods. They can’t stand the heat and so we throw them out of the kitchen.

And then there’s the press. Egads, what a mess! Is there any news that we trust anymore? If there is, I can’t seem to find it. Whatever happened to the days of Walter Cronkite? Newsmen and women were supposed to be unbiased. They were supposed to present the facts, mam, just the facts.

Today, you don’t know what you’re getting except that you know you’re getting a particular person’s personal opinion. Personally, I’d rather develop my own opinion out of the true facts rather than being fed an opinion by one of our nation’s famous interrupters.

And the press is the worst culprit of the rampant American ego. Think paparazzi, think red carpet and the embarrassing moments that come one right after another, think ‘worst dressed actress’ and the catty-cutty stupidity of Oscar and Grammy post mortem.

People! Don’t we have anything better to do with our time than to worry about Sally Wannabee’s ridiculous choice of dress last night?

Like I said, we get what we deserve.

Also, come to think of it, they, the people on the pedestal, get what they deserve as well. They get their moment in the sun. How they then handle it, is their problem. Some are graceful and humbly climb down quickly knowing that they can’t possibly move in and live there. These are often the ones who find their way up there again. Think Morgan Freeman. Think Meryl Streep. Think Robert Duvall.

Then there are the others who believe the accolades and suddenly see themselves in this Hollywood produced starlight as people who control some important aspect of the world – world changers, destiny makers, saving graces. They lose the subtle differences of who their characters were in the movies and who they are as people. They buy into their reviews and lose their centers of reality. Ego overwhelmed, it spills out in embarrassing ways that for some odd reason we find all too fascinating to watch.

But I can’t watch and so I don’t. I’d rather watch football. At least that’s real. Oh, I want to know who won best this or that. I love the movies as much as the next guy. I’m moved to tears by great performances and deeply respect the art of great acting. It’s just that I don’t care to watch them all wallow in it. It’s just way too over the top.

So I’m a bit wary of the pedestal. I’m not sure I would want to give it a try. It looks like solid marble, but I know it’s really made of cream cheese. It will only support one’s weight for a few lofty moments. Think Andy Warhol and his definitive statement, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”

I think Andy was saying that everybody will have a chance. I think it also says that after 15 minutes, you’d be wise to get off that ol’ pedestal before we knock you off. Let the next person up. Those who try to hold on to the pinnacle will be the biggest losers. That’s the way it works.

That’s the way of the world.

For more inspiring music you can download
and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.

Even More Inspiration

Am I In There?

Peter Link — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:37:31 +0000

Picture of Peter Link???

Yesterday I contemplated the bone head of a skeleton. I thought to myself, “Is that what I look like inside?” Pretty weird. Then I thought of my pancreas. I don’t think of my pancreas very often. In fact, I don’t even know where it is.

It’s mine. I’ve carried it around for over 5 decades and I don’t even know where it is. I mean, I know where my shoes are and I’ve only had them for about 3 months now. But my pancreas! Come to think of it, I don’t even know why I have it! I mean I guess I’m glad I do, but why? What’s it for?

Worst of all (or maybe best of all) I don’t even care to learn about it. So don’t write in and explain all you know about a pancreas. Mine works fine. How do I know? I don’t. I’m just going to assume.

In fact that’s what we all do about most all of the rest of those organs and veins and body parts that we don’t see. We assume that they all work and go on living without any thought while they continue to do their job second after second, day after day, year after year.

Pretty cool.

Then, of course, there’s my heart. What a concept! Why does it keep on beating? How do it know? Here’s another thing I’ve carried around all these years and yet go through life mostly unawares. It’s a world totally foreign to me and yet a lot of you out there want to tell me that that’s me. That I live in there. That this is what I’m made of.

Hah!

You think I’m dumb enough to fall for that? A little child wouldn’t fall for that! I’m not in there. It’s just the pump house. It’s mine, but I don’t even keep it all running. Somebody else does. And I’ve never even met that somebody else.

You’re thinking, “Oh Peter, that’s God”. I doubt it. He or She or It has better things to do. I’m sure that if He’s in charge of that, He’s at least farmed it out. But to whom? An assistant? One of the disciples?

Perhaps it’s automated. Now there’s an idea I can live with. It’s automated to run perfectly. I’m going to go with this concept and hold to it. My body is automated to run perfectly and, by God, I’m going to let it do its thing.

I’m not going to worry about it, I’m not going to think about it and I’m especially not going to pay the slightest bit of attention to the myriad of television commercials that try to teach me ghastly things about it so they can get me “educated and scared you-know-what-less”. All in the name of selling a product to me that I can’t even pronounce.

This is a world I’m going to stay far away from. This is a world that’s really screwed up. This is progress at its worst.

Bottom line: I’m not in there. I don’t even think it’s really mine. It’s just rented. It’s like a rental car. We know how to drive it, but we never even look in the trunk, under the hood. We just use it, give it a lot of gas and then turn it back in.

Here’s the real truth: When I’m gone, after a while all that’s left back here will look somewhat like that picture at the top of the post. If any of you have the misfortune of seeing “what’s left of me” in that unfortunate state, I very much doubt that any of you will say, “Ah, that’s Peter!”

The real truth here is in the words, “When I’m gone…” Point is, the I of me will be gone, somewhere else, not in that hunk of bone.

I’m also convinced that I was never in there in the first place.

I don’t know about you, but I live in Mind. Why did I capitalize that word some of you might ask? Because I want to differentiate it from ‘brain’. I don’t live in my brain either. That’s just part of the rental car – perhaps part of the GPS system. It’s the automated logic.

Right now, I just sat here for about an hour. I thought pretty deeply about all this. I investigated my innards like I seldom do. But I realize now that I never once thought about breathing. Never once did I think, “Oh yes, I should breathe.”

But breathe I did. And thank God. We all know what would happen if I stopped. But I never even thought about it.

I was somewhere else – writing this blog. Lost in thought. Spinning through life in conscious contemplation of this mortal dream. Looking down on these fingers typing out the symbols of my thoughts trying desperately to communicate with you the mysteries of my world.

What do you think about all this? I’m really interested. Not in what some human system taught you, but what you originally think about this weirdo experience called Life On Planet Earth.

Write in. Take a chance. Say something truly original about your experience. Perhaps we can get to something here.

Whatever we get to has got to be better than the present perception.

For more inspiring music you can download
and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.

Even More Inspiration

A Change Is Gonna Come

Peter Link — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:26:45 +0000

Why do we resist change – especially as we get older? Admit it. It seems to be the way of the world.

But the other way of the world is that a change is gonna come. It’s inevitable. Today, in this next hour, things will change in your and my life. My day will not go as planned. This year will not shake out the way I now want it to. Our company, Watchfire Music, will, of necessity, change its direction or fail. Yours will too.

The world will change. Haitis will happen. Somebody, some thing will come along and the course of history will meander off in another direction or sudden and monumental change will affect us all suddenly and monumentally. The unexpected will happen.

Are we ready for it? Never. It comes with the territory. That’s the nature of change. We’re never fully ready. Oh we can plan, but plan for what? If we plan for it, it will change. Then we’ll have to change our plans.

We’ll have to punt. The punter on a football team is usually the least respected player – after all, he just kicks the ball. He doesn’t score points; he’s rarely the best athlete on the team. A punter has never made it to the NFL Hall of Fame.

The punter comes in when the team has to change direction. They’ve run out of time, out of yards, out of plays. They have to give up momentarily and punt – agree to switch from offense to defense, to revamp their plans because it wasn’t going like they thought it should.

Without a good punter a team is doomed. In the moments of change, of the major turning points, he’s The One. Yet he’s never the star of the team. Most normal fans don’t even know who their team’s punter is. You might go as far as saying he’s not very popular.

Let’s face it. Punting is not popular. We resist it.

Why do we resist change? We spend our whole lives trying to get in control of our lives. Control our schedules, our food intake, our exercise output, our energies, our destinies, our relationships, even our rest and relaxation.

We feel better when we’re in control. Nothing so wrong with that. I’m not talking about being a control freak here – just setting up life so that we can live the expected.

As we get older and figure things out a little better, most of us get better at controlling our destinies. We buy a house – a more permanent place to come home to. We buy a car – a more dependable ride through life. We get married – theoretically a settling influence in our relationships. We earn more money – so we can plan ahead. We buy insurance – a bet against ourselves in case drastic change comes.

In short, we become complacent – and work very hard to do so.

We slide into our routines and balance the boredom with what? Think about it. We balance the boredom with change.

A change is gonna come. When I started writing this post a half hour ago, I had no idea I was going to write about punting. I had outlined the post in my mind earlier, but hadn’t really considered the punt, but knew I needed a good example so I trusted that I would come up with one in the course of the writing experience. I trusted that things would change.

When punting came along, I eagerly went off in that direction to see where that would take me and now I’m trying to wind this to a close so that I’m not too long winded.

A change is gonna come – in the next 3 seconds, in the next hour, today, tomorrow. I won’t be ready for it. It’ll catch me by surprise.

But I shall try to embrace it. Embrace the unexpected. Stay open to it. Watch for where God wants me to go.

I shall try to embrace the change, and not resist it.

Let’s give it a shot.

For more inspiring music you can download
and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.

Even More Inspiration

Cream Of The Crop – Part 2

Peter Link — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:23:10 +0000

I’m a much better singer in my head than in actuality. Most of us are. I guess I’m beyond being a shower singer, but not too far beyond it. And working with the people that I have the chance to work with nearly every day is an experience that would make just about anyone who can carry a tune clam up and keep silent.

I guess you might say I have the passion for singing and the ability to carry a song as an actor, but just don’t have the instrument. Also I don’t exercise my voice on a daily level.

So I have such a deep respect for anyone who can sing consistently on pitch, with great rhythm, emotion and control. Also the ability to control one’s vibrato is a mystery to me. My studio singer friends can sing with a straight tone, a wide vibrato, a narrow one (or fast vibrato) or a note that starts with a straight tone and emerges into the vibrato of choice.

They can also match vibratos when singing together. They have that kind of control over their instruments.

They are also, most importantly great blenders. Their voices are gorgeous individually, but when they sing in a group of two and up they know how to create a sound so that none of them stick out above the rest and are able to sacrifice their individuality for that of a group sound whether it be R&B, pop, Rock or classical.

One particular vocalist that I work with all the time, Margaret Dorn, is known as “the glue”. She makes any group sound better because she is able to glue them together with her own voice into a unified sound.

Not all Studio Singers are great sight-readers. Some don’t read at all, but have such amazing ears for harmonies that they can either make up the appropriate one on the spot or learn it from the vocal arranger immediately upon first or second hearing.

The cream of the crop are all vocalists who are fast as lightening at learning their parts, amalgamating them then instantly into a sound and then double tracking, triple tracking and sometimes repeating the same homogenized performance again and again as they build up a choir of sound. They can also switch parts instantly in the vocal booth enabling the choir sound to sound like more people. They all have more than 3 octave ranges and are usually proficient in all octaves.

These are people at the top of their craft – often the people that add gloriously to a star’s sound and blending into that particular lead voice. Every star has their favorite back-up singers and the best of the best simply work with the best of the stars because they are the most versatile and have the ability to create the sound of choice. They are also usually smashing looking people who can instantly fall into the right look and feel in a performance.

They are also on time. Unfortunately, about half the singers in NYC I can’t work with because they can’t seem to make it to the studio on time, so I simply go with the pros – the ones who are dependable, who show up on time, sing beautifully, work hard, don’t make the kinds of mistakes that drag a session down and bring with them the proper joy of singing and professional vibe that makes them a pleasure to work with.

After all, they’re there to make music. It ain’t just about how good your voice is; it’s about the inspiration that you bring to the music. If you bring technically proficient abilities and great inspiration to the sessions, you get hired a lot. If you get hired a lot, you get known as one of the cream of the crop and then you gain the necessary experience over time to move into the higher circles of music and work with the best.

This past weekend I had yet another rich opportunity to work with this special group of people as we built a 50-voice gospel choir with 6 people – 3 men and 3 women.

We stacked part after part on top of one another repeating and changing parts to create a choral sound of many people. We did a 6:45 in length opus from my new CD repeating each part six times or more building up track after track of vocal harmonies. They learned a very difficult vocal chart arranged by superb vocal arranger Margaret Dorn and recorded and multi-tracked their voices all in a four-hour session working non-stop, recording the song section by section.

Only one time in the course of probably hundreds of takes did I have to stop them and re-do a take because there was a pitch problem. Once they had their individual parts down, they sang them in perfect pitch every time only re-taking the take to get the rhythms right, to get the nuances right, to give Margaret and I what we wanted to hear.

I watched and listened to my song come alive and soar. They arrived on time, finished on time and absolutely thrilled me with their sound, abilities as vocalists and brought all their own expertise to the session in terms of their own creativity. Often one of them would make subtle suggestions of how to sing a word to make it better – slide it, crescendo it, grease it, funk it up. They brought great attitude and style to the song.

It was a gospel song that we recorded so they all brought their own impressions of “church” to the session and added those colors to the music. Simply put, they brought their passion for singing into my studio and gave me my money’s worth.

And they were not cheap! The sessions cost me a bundle, but they were worth every penny because they came with their deep professional experience and gave of their talents freely above and beyond the call of duty.

I’ll hock my soul to have them back again. Those four-hour sessions have stayed with me for days – they were that engrossing, that productive.

And, best of all, I have it all recorded in 24 bit pristine digital fidelity.

I can’t wait for each of you dear readers to hear their work. Look for this album, Goin’ Home, to hit the street runnin’ sometime this late spring. In the meantime I’ll be savin’ my pennies to get ‘em all in here again soon to record the next song.

Stay tuned.

For more inspiring music you can download
and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.

Even More Inspiration

Cream Of The Crop

Peter Link — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:23:13 +0000

As I sit here this morning high up on the 38^th floor, I look out my window at New York City, 5:30 AM, just barely coming awake – the city that never sleeps. From my perch here high up over the city I have a spectacular view all the way south from 42^nd street to the Statue of Liberty and beyond New York Harbor to Staten Island. If you’re gonna live in NYC, live above it all if at all possible.

I’ve been fortunate. I’ve watched the city grow and change from this perch for over 25 years. I love NY. It’s been a lifetime sittin’ on top of the world watchin’ 10 million people go by, but I’d leave now if I could. 40 years of concrete and glass can wear you out on certain levels and sometimes the Missus and I just want to take a walk in the woods.

But I can’t leave this wondrous city – at least not yet. Most of it I’ve seen now and certainly experienced, but there’s one thing that still keeps me here.

The talent.

There is no group of singers and musicians anywhere in the world quite like this one and I am most fortunate to be able to work with the cream of the crop.

My last few days have been just that. I just finished building a choir with 6 of the world’s finest – the NY studio singer. These are people you’ve probably never heard of but often heard. They are the people who back up the stars, sing on the commercials, and fill the albums you listen to with their rich and wonderful voices.

The list of their personal accomplishments runs like a Who’s Who in world-class entertainment. Here’s just a smidgen of the people they have supported in their rich and varied careers.

Angela Clemmons

Angela Clemmons – She has sung with such stars as Celine Dion, Cyndi Lauper, Donald Fagan (of Steely Dan), Jewel, Vanessa Williams and George Benson. She also performed in the Elton John/Tim Rice Broadway musical Aida.

Margaret Dorn

Margaret Dorn – She has sung with many artists, including Celine Dion, Bette Midler, Jennifer Lopez, Carly Simon, Lionel Ritchie, Donald Fagen, Michael Bolton, Boz Scaggs, Willie Nelson, Barry Manilow, Jessica Simpson, Michael McDonald, Garth Brooks, The Chieftans, and Diana Ross. She is the leader of The Accidentals. With their original songs and distinctive arrangements, this 8 voice a cappella group won many awards, including MAC Awards and Back Stage Bistro Awards, all awards for Best Vocal Group, and were the 1995 National Champions of the Harmony Sweepstakes.

Kevin Osborne

Kevin Osborne – Kevin is a virtuoso trombonist as well as a backup vocalist with an impressive group of recording artists including David Bowie, Bobby McFerrin, Carly Simon, Aretha Franklin, Bon Jovi, 10,000 Maniacs, and reunion tours of the classic rockers The Rascals & The Monkees. Kevin also was an original cast member in the on-stage band of the Tony Award winning musical Movin’ Out – music by Billy Joel.

Vaneese Thomas

Vaneese Thomas has worked with an array of internationally known performers including Luciano Pavarotti, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson, Chaka Kahn, Joe Cocker, Celine Dion, Annie Lennox, Patti LaBelle and many others. In 1987 Geffen Records released Vaneese, which included the Top Ten R&B hit, “Let’s Talk it Over.”

John James

John James has performed and recorded with some of the music industry’s greats such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Ashford & Simpson, Dr. Maya Angelou, Bette Midler and Patti LaBelle. For six years, John toured and recorded with five-time Grammy Award winning band “TOTO”. John was hired by Maurice White and Maurice Hines to cover the lead vocal parts for both Maurice White and Philip Bailey in the “Earth, Wind and Fire” Broadway Musical “Hot Feet”. Other artists John has worked with include Michael McDonald, Olivia Newton-John, Lionel Richie, Melissa Etheridge, BeBe Winans, David Byrne, Yolanda Adams, Boz Scaggs, and Phoebe Snow.

Darryl Tookes

Darryl Tookes – He began his career working with Roberta Flack on a world tour that included performances on three continents, and a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, where he received a standing ovation for his duet with Ms. Flack.

Since that time Mr. Tookes has continued to work with some of the most notable entertainers in the world. A partial list of his credits includes the Grammy Award-winning “West Side Story” CD and Great Performance television special with Leonard Bernstein; “A Soulful Messiah” with Quincy Jones; The Radio City Music Hall performance of “Man In The Mirror” with Michael Jackson; and a multiple Grammy winning recording – “Brand New Day” – and tour with Sting.

They, of course, all have their own solo careers as well.

This last weekend I got them all in one room together and we churned out some music that promises to knock your sox off.

More on this amazing session in my next post.

For more inspiring music you can download
and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.

Even More Inspiration

Stressed Out

Peter Link — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:41:54 +0000

Lately I’ve been feeling an inordinate amount of stress before vocal sessions in the recording studio. As a music producer, I have spent years in the NY studios producing thousands of sessions and producing vocal sessions is one of my fortes, so why this would now happen after all these years of experience was a mystery to me.

Yesterday when I woke up and knew I had a large, important and long session before me, as I lay in bed and tried to wake up, I realized that I was totally stressed out over the coming session. I saw it as a recent pattern that I had developed and, quite frankly, did not like it.

Here I was, about to record one of my biggest songs on my new CD with three of the top studio singers in the world, doing something that I had done over and over again for the past 35 years and I felt stressed. I should have felt excited and impatient to start, but really wished the whole thing would just go away.

I recognized the earmarks of stress. I mentioned my misgivings to the Missus and her reply was something she had just read and learned from reading Eckart Tolle’s The New Earth. She quickly said, “Just accept it. That’s what Eckart says.”

Since I’d read this amazing book 4-5 times, her comment registered profoundly to me. Accept the fact that you have stress and then get busy handling it. See it for what it is – a false sense of insecurity. Look clearly at it. Stop. Take a moment. Investigate it. See how it is being manifested in your life. Look and find the cause. Eliminate the cause.

Eliminate the cause and you eliminate the effect. So I lay there some more (luckily I had set my alarm several hours before the session was to begin). In looking back over previous recent sessions, I remembered having the same feelings (though not to such a great degree) as I was now experiencing.

I realized that I had been rushing into sessions from an all too busy life not as well prepared as I normally had been. If there’s anything I’ve learned in life, it’s that preparation is the cure-all for stress. Most of the time when we feel stressed, it’s a pretty good indication that we’re simply ill-prepared. Want to alleviate the stress? Prepare better.

I’ve learned this lesson hundreds of times – or should I say I’ve had to learn this lesson hundreds of times – or perhaps I should say, “When will I ever learn?” Duh.

I jumped out of bed, rushed through my shower, skipped breakfast and went immediately into the studio. Rushing about, of course, only maximized the stress so that by the time I got into the studio I was really stressed out.

I had set up the studio for the session the night before, but had done it very late at night after a dinner party and had been tired and ornery at having to do so at such a late hour. I started again.

I rechecked the mics, the headphones, the cabling, the preamps, the tracking, the headphone mix, the water for the singers, the number of open tracks, etc., etc. I sat there until I was absolutely sure that I had thought of everything and that there was not a detail missed. Then I checked it all again. It took me an hour.

I had an hour left before the session was to start, so I decided to go over the musical arrangement and make sure I knew where everything was and that all the verses were marked and that I was totally clear about where to put everything and what was needed. I opened up extra tracks just in case so I wouldn’t have to do it in the middle of a busy session while the singers stood around and waited.

I listened to the song again just to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything. And in the middle of listening I realized that I was tapping my foot, totally involved with the music and as excited as hell about starting the session and getting it on.

No stress whatsoever – only enthusiastic excitement and anticipation about the entire creative process.

I now had a half hour before the singers were to arrive. I ate a leisurely breakfast with the Missus feeling free.

The singers all arrived on time. The song turned out to be a bear. We all worked for 4 hours straight doing part after part, take after take. No one even took a pee break. The experience was intense, the session expensive, the work demanding.

I had a ball. My dream of this song came to fruition. The ladies blew me out with their abilities, interpretations and amazing voices. When the session was over and everyone had left I sank down in my big chair with a big smile on my face – completely satisfied with the day.

Mission accomplished. Lesson learned — at least until Monday morning when the three men come in to put their parts down.

But I’m looking forward to that. We’re gonna have a ball.

You can bet I’ll be prepared.

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and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.