Winter Fires
Although the roots of this project are firmly embedded in the soil of support from his family and friends, the impetus can be attributed to his daughter-in-law, Marie. The idea of performing again and leading an old-fashioned “hootenanny” at a large gathering to celebrate his grandson’s university graduation came from her.
Encouraged by the warmth of the reception to his performance, Don was inspired to delve into his old cassettes (saved from extinction by his youngest daughter, Shari), write a couple of new songs, and record them.
This led to Diamond Gem Studios in Houston and Jimm Davis, who supported the project through to completion.
Jimm is the main man when it comes to the musical and technical aspects of putting a CD together. A talented musician in his own right, he also guides with a firm hand and candid comments. Some of the great ones:
“Don. Music has an infinite variety of tempos and speeds but not normally in the same song. Pick one!” ~ In trying to get the “click track” suitable for other musicians.
“Are we exploring new harmonic possibilities here?” ~ OK. Maybe I was a little pitchy right there.
“Hey! That didn’t even suck!” ~ Jimm’s strongest praise.
“We want some NICK NICK NOW’s and some ERNIE ERNIE ERNIE’s.” ~ Total instruction to Don Hutchko on the electric guitar for Better Every Time!
Speaking of Don Hutchko (I’m sure he will provide a link to our site)! A total madman with a guitar in his hands. But he has a heart of pure gold and is one of the most encouraging individuals I have ever met. Don did all the electric and most of the acoustic guitar on this album. He also did the sheet music, the charting and came up with some brilliant suggestions through the whole thing.
Susan Wolfford-Jackson did the haunting violin work on Candle’s End, Winter Fires and Once Over Lightly. Susan did a great job even if she couldn’t always see where we were going with it! By the time she came along we were used to using shorthand instructions and (unfairly) we didn’t do a great job of explaining it to her. Didn’t faze her a bit. She just made some fantastic music.
Max Dyer is a sweet man with a sweet sound. Came in with a real understanding of what we trying to do and did it! The cello work stands out as a real contribution to the sound we were after on A Sometimes Wish, Winter Fires and Cold November Wind. Did I mention that he’s one of the most sought after musicians? No surprise there.
Rusty Curtis (left in photo). No website. (That figures – this guy is totally without ego!) Rusty did the bass and background vocals (we called it “the Rusty Choir”). To watch him develop a three part harmony backup in the booth non-stop was nothing short of breathtaking. All in his head with no sheet music or charts. Oh yeah, and he also did the harmonica on Cinderella’s Shoes – sheesh, I hope I didn’t forget anything!
Brian Thomas. Brian’s unique 14 string pedal steel (there are, like, three of these things in all the USA) and his vintage 1941 dobro turn into sheer magic in his hands. We didn’t even try to tell him what to play because we were speechless from the first bar. Brian also provided light banjo lick on Please Wait For Me.
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