A little backstory on my very first album, Wishbone. Warning: digressions ahead!
When I was about 21 years old and attending UC Berkeley as an Art Major, I had an epiphany that I was going to be a musician. I wanted to drop out of college but, luckily, my parents said no way and I graduated. By the end of my 20s, I had recorded and self-released Wishbone.
I had been dating a guy in my mid-20s, also a musician, who had a show at the now-legendary club, @largolosangeles . He canceled at the last minute and asked if I could fill in for him. I think I had about 5 people in attendance (there’s a photo of me that night taken by Tommy Lewis. Playing viola with me was Stephen Mirrione who became a big film editor and even won an Academy Award). One person at the show was the owner, Flanagan. This led to me being regularly booked at Largo, which is where I met Jon Brion. Eventually, I asked him to produce my record, and he agreed, bringing along Ethan Johns to engineer and play drums. We worked at a studio in North Hollywood that was co-owned by Brian Kehew. Jon and Ethan both left my project before it was finished, sadly, but luckily, Brian Kehew and I had become fast friends, and he promised to help me get it done. It took 2 years.
@autumndewilde and I had a lot of fun sneaking around the Grand Central Library downtown taking pictures. The photo she took for the cover is still one of my favorites of all time. She also had a guest role on the song, “Nickel Plated Man,” which was inspired by Tommy always talking about nickel plating his motorcycle tank.
I have so many fond memories of making the record and of the songs, some that I still perform regularly and some that I may revive. Each song is a memory and it’s fun to revisit those stories from my life. I’ve been talking to my buddy, Dan Cote, about maybe reissuing this record on vinyl. It was only ever pressed on CD. What do you think? Should I? I think it sure would be fun to see it spinning on my turntable. One of my favorite things Brian and I did was fade out the song, “Wishbone,” and then fade it back in. That really gave us a laugh! Please, stream the heck out of it wherever you like to do so!