Half-baked

This is the initial recording of The Blue Ridge Bakery Boys and it's purpose, content and style is probably best expressed by the band members themselves... Don Burger (dulcimer, guitar, harmonica, vocals) John Carter and I've enjoyed friendship and musical collaboration since 2004 or so, when we met at the Essence of Thyme Caf in Brevard, NC. A couple of years later, I produced John's solo album, Song Catcher, on the label of the same name. When the Essence closed, we found a warm welcome from John and Katina Hansen at the Blue Ridge Bakery, where John Rollins and John Austin eventually joined the mix. One day, a customer said, Does your group have a name? I looked up at the sign on the wall and said, How about The Blue Ridge Bakery Boys? The guys nodded, and that was it. I can't say it's lead to a lot of dough, but it has provided lots of good times, regular customers who sing (and dance), and a zillion mugs of coffee. I now drive from East Tennessee each Friday to play with them, and it's worth every mile. Though I've played everything from piano bars to contra dances to art galleries, my musical passion is preserving fine folk music, especially that composed by artists hardly known to the general public, so that their work might be appreciated and not lost. This CD is dedicated to that pursuit. John Carter (autoharp, guitar, vocals) John, Don and I are, first and foremost, good friends and musical partners. We're less a trio than an 'ensemble of three' in which each supports the others in various ways - contributing vocal support and/or additional instrumentation. It was a pleasure to record this music with my fellow 'Bakery Boys' who energize you and complement what you hear in a song. The musical journey for the Bakery Boys began in the halcyon years of the 60's and continues: an informal, non-competitive, affectionate sharing of music with others who had similar musical values. The songs and tunes are both traditional and contemporary, the approach is thoughtful, and the performances are without pretension or the obvious devices of commercial intent. The focal point here is the music, the songs, and we hope the spirit lives on. John Rollins (guitars, autoharp, banjo, octave mandolin, harmonica, vocals) This project was a true melding of tunes and techniques. Coming from a technical background and having done demo recordings in the 70s for Boston-area musicians, I was most concerned about recording the individual instruments and vocals in an 'isolated' manner so that those tracks could be adjusted in terms of EQ and volume without affecting the other tracks. In a perfect world that would have been done but in practical terms, it was impossible. The instruments themselves posed challenges with their relatively low natural sound levels; contact pickups helped isolate the sound but presented other issues which produced a more 'unnatural sound' and, in some cases, noise and signal breakup issues. In the end, we tried to simply use microphones to record the instruments to preserve their natural tonal qualities. The end result is somewhat a compromise between a true, live recording of the group and a more, polished studio production. I like to think of it as what we 'could' sound like 'live' with a good sound system and engineer at the controls. There are, of course, a few exceptions to this statement where one of the members plays more than one instrument or sings more than one vocal part but I hope you'll forgive this anomaly and enjoy the end result - after all, it's all about the music...