About
Long story short… We set out to record just one song.
Not to start a band or even record a full album. But both those things happened, and I’m very glad they did.
You see, Brad is a blues man who plays vintage guitars, and I am a keyboard player who enjoys exploring synthesizer sounds. In many ways, we live in two different worlds musically. But we both share a passion for recording.
A few years back, after the repair shop fixed my Roland Juno-106 — my first keyboard, which my parents bought me for my 14th birthday — I convinced Brad to record a song together using only the Juno, guitars and drums.
What started as a recording project for that one song (“The Stargazer”) blossomed into a bunch of songs, a full band, and now a debut record called Distant Voyage.
A limited number of the first 300 vinyl copies of Distant Voyage — mastered by Philly legend Phil Nicolo and pressed at his Studio 4 Vinyl — will be available in 180-gram, translucent space-blue LP format, each numbered according to purchase order.
It’s first come, first served starting at noon on Tuesday, November 15 at Region.Bandcamp.com.
All proceeds from the sale of these first 300 albums will go to the Christian Salcedo Music Scholarship program, a program aligned and affiliated with the music-education goals of the Shine A Light fund-raising concert series (which is how Brad and I met).
The fund is named after a great guy: fellow Shine A Light musician and music teacher, Christian Salcedo, who left this Earth too soon. Specifically, the CSMS fund provides music lessons and equipment to young students who live in our area’s underserved communities.
If you buy this record, thank you! Please also know how much time, effort and love went into it. We are grateful for and humbled by the willingness of all the musicians who added their talents to this record (all listed below). Tony, in particular, should get extra credit for continually pushing us forward and expanding the scope of it all.
Brad Newsom – guitar & lead vocals
Tony Cappella – bass & vocals
Dan Long – keyboards
Ritchie Rubini – drums, percussion & vocals
Jim Miller – keyboards & vocals
Nikhee Bleu – vocals (tracks 2 & 7)
Monika Bullette – vocals (tracks 6 & 8)
Chris Duncan – vocals (track 4)
Tim Kelly – percussion (tracks 2 & 4)
Kevin McCabe – drums (track 1)
Larry Scotton – additional keys (track 2)
David Silva – drums (track 3)
If you like the record, drop us a line and stay in touch!
Cheers! - Jim