This week the band got a producer.
For as long as I can remember, my dad and I have always shared the bond of music. Some of my earliest memories are of him playing vinyl on the turntable. As I grew up, we made a point to listen to an album or two together most weekends. It wasn’t a formal ritual. It just happened. He would come home after a long week, and I would be eager to spend some quality time with him. He would pick a record out of his collection and tell me to listen close. Oftentimes, I would sit with the dusty album cover in my hands, reading lyrics and liner notes while he told me to listen to particular notes, melodies, rhythms, and turns of phrase.
This was the start of my musical education.
When I started playing music, I think a piece of me was hoping to emulate the artists my dad showed me. I vividly remember weeks after my dad first showed me The Who’s Tommy, I abruptly pronounced to him that I too was going to write a rock opera. I didn’t follow through, but I did start trying to figure out how to put chords and melodies together.
In high school and college, I would show my dad the music I wrote. I knew he supported what I was doing, but I could also tell it wasn’t quite landing. So, I kept trying to improve.
When John and I came to him with Tree Streets, he heard those early songwriting efforts in his head. But, he approached our project with all the interest you would hope for from a loving parent. And when he listened to “Heal” and “Breaking Out,” our first two demos, his reaction was different than what I had seen in the past. This music spoke to him. I felt waves of satisfaction.
This past weekend, John, my father, and I sat around a fire in my parents’ back yard. We listened to music, joked, and talked long into the evening. At some point, the conversation turned towards Tree Streets. My dad started playing songs from our website. He was humming along and nodding his head. But, more than that, at breaks in the songs, he started to offer critiques. He suggested alternative lyrics and offered suggestions for how I might alter my singing.
John and I took his suggestions to heart. To be honest, I disagreed in certain instances. But, in many cases, I found his criticism to be valid and well placed. And, as a result, we have made some changes.
In time, new versions of some songs will come out. The changes will likely be too minor to notice, but I will know. I will always know that my dad was a producer of Tree Streets’ first album. And that is pretty cool.
-O