{"id":663,"date":"2020-04-04T01:28:01","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T01:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joeviglione.com\/?page_id=663"},"modified":"2021-07-12T05:51:44","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T05:51:44","slug":"going-track-by-track","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/joeviglione.com\/?page_id=663","title":{"rendered":"Going Track by Track"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Joe Viglione is GOING TRACK BY TRACK WITH THE RAGIN’ CONTAGION …featuring David Godbey of Fox Pass<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

 See the music pages on The Ragin’ Contagion at HearNow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Title: Everybody Has a Story (CD-RP)
Artist: The Ragin` Contagion
Catalogue Number: e5alb02411478
Barcode: 0195269077167
Format: CD <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEAR NOW:<\/strong>https:\/\/ragin-contagion.hearnow.com\/?fbclid=IwAR22xwmeL-AGdFQBD_7TUt1FTs06JAmSZ1S7oISQTgX4Ee_ohoGsrZoBnCY<\/a>
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GOING TRACK BY TRACK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Viglione speaks to Dave Godbey and Ragin’ Contagion
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Dave, who is the Ragin\u2019 Contagion? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave: It\u2019s clear that this CD was created by you during lockdown. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the album mean to you, and do you care to take us track by track through the CD?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave Godbey:Thank you, Joe, yes, thank you for the opportunity! When the  lockdown kicked in March of 2020 due to covid 19, all of us were left with a lot of extra time on our hands, weren\u2019t we? My personal path since I played bass in Fox Pass (1975-1977) and with The Rubies (with Wally Jay in 1978, aka Wally Baier of the Road Apples), led me to college in Berkeley California. While there I played acoustic guitar recreationally, and bass briefly in a surf music band known as Two Peters and a Dick. Many years later, 2015-ish here I am, with a family and two kids, and playing my Martin guitar once in a while to maintain my sanity. My youngest was leaving home for college, leaving me time, and a desire to get back into music. And I even remember the moment. The movie Hunger Games came out, and there is a brilliant song at the end by Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars called Safe and Sound. And I thought, \u201cI want to play that guitar part.\u201d So I started practicing my guitar daily for an hour or more. In 2016 I started playing open mics in Baltimore and Bel Air. Baltimore and surrounding areas have a very active music scene. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teavolve in Fells Point was a real hotbed of acoustic musical activity, led by Rob Hinkal who was the master open mic host and leader of the band ilyAIMY. He also was a rich source of inspiration for me. As I got more comfortable playing out, playing finger style and other guitar techniques, I started collaborating with other artists. I played bass with a local song writer and guitarist Derrick Credito, and I started to get my writing juices flowing again. A song here, a song there. I even had a minor hit in the Baltimore area called Alternative Facts inspired by Kellyanne Conway. The song was recorded and can be found on my youtube channel. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Now, back to your questions. So the lockdown came, and I thought about all the songs I had penned over the years and realized that I had enough material for a full CD, and I now had the time to pull it all together. It was a confusing time, wasn\u2019t it? Some people were pissed about the lockdown, calling our governor Lockdown Larry (Hogan). Others were concerned about this unknown disease and taking all the precautions, and pissed at those who refused to take the pandemic seriously. And I was thinking about the rage. And the confusion and the contagion. And I was thinking about Hamlet talking to Yorick (don\u2019t ask me why on that one, lol). And so the project jelled around me as The Ragin\u2019 Contagion and the cartoon me talking to a virus particle as Hamlet spoke to Yorick\u2019s skull. My daughter Mia created the graphic and did the lettering for the album. Steve Levin provided the colorful backgrounds artwork.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Let\u2019s talk about the tracks:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1)Cloudburst <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted a song that reflected best the body of music on the CD to lead off, the lead song being so important to an album. This one I selected because it had a nice rif, was me singing, and Rob Hinkal told me it was dope. It had an interesting lead break, kind of electronic and ambient. The break is only 8 bars long on the CD, but in performances I elaborate considerably. The song itself was written on my 21st<\/sup> birthday, and reflected my anxiety finding myself laid off and without a job after enjoying a secure position with pay. It was a couple of months later when I joined Fox Pass. I rediscovered the song in 2018, and finished its development so it might see the light of day.
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2<\/strong>)Adulting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nice lighthearted pop, this song is sung beautifully by soprano Elena Gray who I met through Rob Hinkal at a Teavolve open mic. Check out her high harmonies: so sweet! The song itself was born in the early days of the lockdown when my daughter Mia was a senior in college, getting ready to graduate. Mia is an organized  person, and her apartment near the University of Maryland campus was supposed to be secure until July, at which time she had another apartment lined up and a job to work. Well, March 2020 came. College classes became all virtual. Graduation ceremony became all virtual. And they closed her apartment building so she unexpectedly had to move back in with her parents (us). The lyrics of the song came from Mia\u2019s frustration trying to start her life and cope, stressful for any young person in the best of times. But for her, here in the midst of the pandemic when her post college life was turned upside down, it was much harder indeed. Still she kept the lyrics light and fun. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


3)I Hope You Click Send<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a bass player at heart as I am, this song is bass driven with a bass solo in the middle. You know how when you set up arrangements with other people, and when it is time for the event, they leave you hanging; they don\u2019t show or they don\u2019t reply to your messages? I hate that, don\u2019t you? Yeah, I better not get too high on my horse unless I\u2019ve never done this myself! Anyway, instead of letting the song get all whiney, I made it a fun affair about love interests in dog parks, karaoke bars, and Trader Joes, yet to be consummated with lots of pop culture references incorporated.
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4)Only You<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pure radio playing pop, this one! The lyrics for Only You were written by Bianca Sky. Bianca is also an accomplished singer, but due to the miles between us and other commitments, she was unable to sing for the CD. At the time when I was in high gear working on the album, I met alto Carolyn Wilson who was available to sing the song on the album. She did a brilliant job singing this one, as well as two other songs on the CD. I also want to shout out Mr. Curt for his wonderful keyboard work on Only You.
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5)Advise and Resent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This song is an instrumental EDM\/progressive rock offering from me. EDM is a direction I have been cultivating for a little while now, inspired by such artists as Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Lanz and Speer. I had a great time with the lead guitar work, and i was happy how it developed.
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6)Blood Sport<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know politics has always been about metaphorically bloodying up your political opponent instead of just arguing on the merits of the ideas. But it seems to have gotten particularly ugly in the past few years with the metaphor sometimes leaking into reality.
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7)Careful With That Sax, Jeanine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another instrumental, this one. The synthesizer work was inspired by the old Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd song \u201cCareful With That Axe, Eugene.\u201d I almost ended up playing synthesizer sampled saxophone on the song, but then I was able to engage Chris Spagnolo to play saxophones. A brilliant job he did, and captured perfectly what I was hoping for: a domestic violence episode.
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8)You\u2019re Not My Enemy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A real rocker! Our politics. Our political leaders practice divide and conquer far too often. Why do we let them?
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9)Conspirator\u2019s Delight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This song is a rap, choral piece that could only be pulled off by someone like Carolyn Wilson who co-wrote the song. It pokes a little fun at conspiracy types! Very fun and danceable!
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10)Perspicacious<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elena Gray and I had a couple of paying gigs together lined up for significant money when the lockdown came. And when the lockdown came, the gigs vanished. But we penned and recorded this song together remotely using Dropbox. Elena, who wrote the lyrics, melody, and sang the track says about the song: Perspicacious is a song about the discordance between the self as the self perceives it and with the image others see. How even when one\u2019s worldview has crumbled, the world itself stays on to be lived in.
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11)Runnin\u2019 Runnin\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pure radio playing pop, another one! I knew I had a good one here when I saddled up to the bar one night after playing and overheard the bartender singing Runnin\u2019 Runnin\u2019 to herself. I wrote the song when MeToo and TimesUp was a major news item. How does it feel when you realize you\u2019ve been a jerk sometimes and suddenly shunned by people you care about, like what happened to Al Franken?
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12)Everybody Has A Story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah, the title song, and perhaps my personal favorite on the CD. This was the last song I wrote, and I wasn\u2019t even sure it would make the album. Mr. Curt and I exchange ideas and songs together sometimes. And when I presented this song to him for a quick listen, he replied with a (paraphrasing) \u201chere it is, this is your title song. It pulls all the other songs together perfectly.\u201d I took his advice, and made it the last song, the best song, and title song, on the CD. Carolyn sang brilliantly on this one, and Thillman Benham filled out the sound with a beautiful crescendoing cello string section.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

to reach the writer  http:\/\/www.joeviglione.com<\/a>   demodeal@yahoo.com \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GOING TRACK BY TRACK on Old Man Dreamin’ with John Batdorf
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Written by Joe Viglione
Friday, 28 August 2009 22:18
John Batdorf’s Old Man Dreamin’ album gets the Track By Track treatment as Joe Viglione asks John about the creation of this music. Click onto the CD cover to find John Batdorf, Batdorf & Rodney, Batdorf & McLean CDs on http:\/\/www.gemm.com<\/strong>
Check out the video to “Will I Love You Forever” linked below.

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1)Why did you decide to record the songs on Old Man Dreamin?
John Batdorf<\/strong>: Old Man Dreamin\u2019 is kind of a tongue in cheek autobiography about my career which really sets up the CD. There are some very clever and funny lines in between the serious hook, \u201cMy dreams are bittersweet \u2018cos I\u2019m an Old Man Dreamin\u2019 in a Young Mans\u2019 World\u201d which is how I feel at times as I plod ahead in the music business some forty years now. I love the verse, \u201cThrough the years I made some fans, Then I struck gold with the Silver band…Wham Bam\u201d, which refers to the big hit Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang I had in 1976 with the band Silver.
The following line,\u201dFour decades later and, that one big hit I still can\u2019t stand\u201d is true! Clive Davis made us do that song or we didn\u2019t get to make an album!
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2)Were all these songs recorded and mixed at the same studio?
John Batdorf<\/strong>: All of the songs on this CD were recorded in my studio. The great thing about recording today, other than not having a record company own and control your stuff, is the fact that you can record with guys all over the world exchanging files via the internet. Harry Stinson was the drummer and one of the singers in the band Silver. He lives in Nashville and has had a very successful career. I asked him if he would sing with me on a song or two and got him to sing on \u201cI Fall To Pieces\u201d which he did splendidly as I knew he would. Many of the players on this
CD recorded like this. It\u2019s really great fun and sometimes quite surprising to hear what others are inspired to play or sing when not under the pressure of having to do it quickly like the old days!
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3)Did the inspiration for this work come all at once, during a fixed period in time, or was it spread out over many years…or longer?

John Batdorf: <\/strong>The inspiration came suddenly for many of the songs like, \u201cThat Don\u2019t Seem Right To Me\u201d for instance. I set aside June and July of 2008 to just write songs. Right before I started my wife and I went on a fishing trip in Northern California unfortunately at the height of the gas price ordeal. Unfortunately we were low on gas and the little town of Lee Vining was our last hope. I pulled up to the gas pump and to my surprise, gas was a whopping 4.99 per gallon. All I could think of after all of the swearing was, That Don\u2019t Seem Right To Me! This experience
inspired the first verse, \u201cWork two jobs just to buy gas to get to one, Takes three cars just to guarantee that one will run\u201d, and on and on it went. My song writing partner, Michael McLean and I had fun thinking of things that didn\u2019t seem right and this song was born! 9 of the 11 songs were written in those two months and the last, \u201cAin\u2019t No Way\u201d was written in December as Bush was getting ready to leave office.

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4)Are all the tracks by the same musicians and, if so, how long has this particular group been together?
John Batdorf<\/strong>: I usually use the same guys on my projects but this time I really wanted to reach out to some new people that I hadn\u2019t ever worked with on a record before. On \u201cWhat D\u2019 Ya Got\u201d for instance, I used Luke Halpin on mandolin and Kevin Dukes on the electric guitar and Gary Falcone on background vocals. I wanted to keep
the songs fresh sounding and only used each person excluding the drummer Tom Walsh on about three songs each. All the players brought something special to the project and I thank them all for their incredible contributions.
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5)Who are all the songwriters on this album?
John Batdorf:<\/strong> Michael McLean and myself wrote all the songs from June to December. We have been writing songs together off and on for almost twenty years. This batch may be our best yet which is always what you strive for. The reviews have been phenomenal so far. We had eleven songs written by the end of July but two of the songs weren\u2019t holding up to the other nine. I always hate giving up songs but clearly two better songs needed to be written. I started recording the album and one day started playing a riff in a new tuning and got inspired. I wrote, \u201cDon\u2019t Tell
Me Goodbye\u201d and is clearly one of my favorite cuts on the CD wit some stellar BGs by George Merrill and pedal steel by Greg Leisz.
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6)Any anecdotes about live performances of this song?
John Batdorf:<\/strong> Other than struggling in the beginning to learn all of the lyrics, all the songs but one translate beautifully live. I built the CD around acoustic guitar and voice and always made sure they led the train. \u201cSixteen\u201d is one of those studio songs that I never planned or meant to do live for many reasons. The song was inspired by a
TV special about Fundamentalists that somehow have gotten themselves in a position to have multiple wives at his choosing. Many of the woman are young girls in their early teens and have no choice in the matter. If he wants them, he gets them using religion to hide behind. I got so upset by the segment I got up and wrote the chorus,\u201dSixteen\u2019s all I wanna be, not a wife not a mother to be, How can he take me in the name of the lord. Says he knows what\u2019s best for me, but all I see is misery, Dirty Secrets, Dirty Lies\u201d. The chorus was written from the young
girls\u2019 perspective and the verses had to set that up and they do just that. I won\u2019t play it live because of the subject matter and it was all built on me tuning my guitar to an open chord and pounding and muting the strings to create a dark musical bed.


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7)Was there anything out of the ordinary while recording a video of one or more songs from this album? And if not, how did the director of the video work with the original storyline? To your satisfaction?
John Batdorf:<\/strong> I had never shot a music video before. Most guys that are 57 years old don\u2019t get that many calls for that! My co-songwriter, Michael McLean produced and directed commercials and films for years in the 80s and 90s and suggested we try and get some videos made for the CD. we got a really sweet deal and set out to shoot some music videos. The setting was in the mountains of Malibu and I loved doing the song, \u201cWill I Love You Forever\u201d<\/strong>. It\u2019s the only song I recorded and wrote on the piano. We dragged a piano out on a deck which overlooked the beautiful
mountains with the sun hitting them as it was setting. The song is a melancholy look at a couple who are committed to each other for life but struggle at times to find the strength to continue on thus the chorus, \u201cWill I Love You Forever? It\u2019s a promise I made and will not be betrayed, though I\u2019ll love you forever, It\u2019s so hard today\u201d. The videos were shot in Hi-Def by Miguel Siqueiros. The first line of the song is, \u201dWe were the story and audience loves, Violins played when we kissed, we fit the casting of love everlasting so how has it come down to this\u201d. The opening of the video looks like a count in to a movie with a projector sound and the video looks like an old movie. It was great fun! You can check it out on the link below.
WILL I LOVE YOU FOREVER
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http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xcKYT4_YXCs&feature=channel_page<\/a>
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8)Was this song effectively captured in the studio or would you change something in the future or on stage?

John Batdorf:<\/strong> Because of having my own studio, I don\u2019t release anything until it\u2019s right. One of the songs, \u201cI Thought I\u2019d Try A Love Song\u201d was written many times over a few months and almost got tossed out. It always felt like it was trying to hard until Michael McLean came up with this brilliantly hilarious song concept. This song is set up to be about a guy who is way more interested in the girl he met and dated for a while than she is of him but he just can\u2019t take the hint. He figures he\u2019d write her a love song and that would make everything just work out perfectly which really never happens. It actually is a song within a song. The verses are about his struggle to get the girl and the chorus is him singing her his hot love song. It has a very funny ending and I am so glad that we didn\u2019t give up on this song!
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9)How difficult was it getting this composition from your mind to the recording session and onto the disc?
John Batdorf:<\/strong> \u201cAin\u2019t No Way\u201d was the last song written for the CD and it wasn\u2019t hard to write at all. This song was written around the time Bush was getting ready to leave office. The country was left in such a mess and The President didn\u2019t seem compelled to say much about it. I know it\u2019s a tough gig and I wouldn\u2019t want it but I thought he
owed the country an apology that never came. The chorus goes, \u201cThat ain\u2019t no way to say you\u2019re sorry, Don\u2019t blame the fools that you misled, At least pretend to see way I\u2019m so angry, With my eyes wide open, I been buried left for dead\u201d. This song really gets the crowd fired up at my shows.
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10)Did you attend the mastering session and how important was the mastering to the overall sound of the album?

John Batdorf<\/strong>: I have to be at the mastering session. Every producer does. Mastering is the last thing to be done to the project that artists\/producers spend months and sometimes years creating. Even a simply produced song like,\u201dLove: All I Really Know About It\u201d can be made better or ruined in mastering. A song as simple as this needs room to breathe and the wrong EQ or too much compression can make it sound harsh to the listener. I always master with Ron McMaster at Capitol Records studio in Hollywood. It\u2019s worth the money!
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11)Pick any one, two or three songs to essay about, giving the reader more perspective on what you wanted to say… lyrically, musically or both.
John Batdorf:<\/strong> \u201cI Will Rise This song came to me in a dead sleep during an afternoon nap. I woke up in a
start and all the lyrics, melody, and chords were clearly formed in my mind. The subject matter was a reflection of my life and marriage to my wife, Melanie. It was so powerful that I was afraid to go back to sleep, so I jumped up and recorded it immediately in fear that this was maybe the last song I would ever write. I later asked Michael to help me with some of the problem areas that needed more clarity, and this is what we came up with. Most of the original lyrics that came to me in that moment are still in the song. It was truly one of the more powerful moments I have ever experienced as a songwriter.
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Last Updated on Friday, 28 August 2009 22:33
http:\/\/storiesmbm.blogspot.com\/2010\/01\/velvet-underground-singles.html<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Going Track by Track with John Batdorf <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GOING TRACK BY TRACK WITH GREG PAQUETTE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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http:\/\/musicbusinessmonthly.blogspot.com\/2019\/02\/greg-paquette-absolute-crime-from-disc.html?m=0<\/a><\/strong>Going Track by Track with Greg Paquette<\/strong>The albums Single Stone <\/strong>and<\/strong>Retro Active <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Greg, when did you release Single Stone and how long between the follow-up, Retro Active

A: Single Stone was released on April 20, 1918, and Retro Active was released two and a half years later on 12\/1\/20.

Q: Please tell us your thoughts about each track on both albums.


1
    Absolute Crime    6:06   

Originally\n written for my musical, \u201cThe World in Blue.\u201d It is a fan favorite that \nwill soon be licensed to Twenty Two – Zero, and organization dedicated \nto stopping veteran suicide.

2
    Nobody Tries    5:05   

Another song taken from \u201cThe World in Blue.\u201d It feature Benny Hill on sax, and was a great time to mix the sax and guitar duals.

3
    A Farewell to Lovers    4:25   

Also taken from \u201cThe World in Blue.\u201d Cool progression and solos. Jake Miracle did a particularly great job on vocals here.

4
    Steppin’ Out    3:42   

Written\n by David Hinds of Steele Pulse. The only cover I\u2019ve released, and \nlikely the last. But I love how the three guitars play off each other.

5
    Talk to Me Soon    4:36   

Fun\n to record. The cynical lyrics are juxtaposed by the party atmosphere of\n the song. Billy Schneider played the synch guitar, which really pulled \nit together.

6
    You Don’t Call Me No More    3:39   

An\n old Option One favorite that my old band members loved and wanted to \ninclude. Joey Hovey, my drummer and Engineer from that album did a great\n job dialing in the guitar amps for this recording.

7
    How Many Worlds Do We Need    4:34   

Yet another tune from \u201cThe World in Blue.\u201d Cool groove between drums and bass, and some hot guitar licks.

8
    Setting Sun    4:46   

This\n one also features Benny Hill on sax. It is simply about the damage drug\n and alcohol abuse can do to a relationship. Strong images of nature, \nand my personal favorite from the album.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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9
    Into the Sunset<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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