Well...2006 was an interesting year! I finally released my new album "East Side Soul". It was almost 2 years in the making–and Charlie and I spent a lot of time fine tuning everything. We did a lot of new things for this record, for the first time, I had a real horn section (performed by Tony K) for 2 of the songs, more string arrangements (featuring Martha Larson on cello)–and recorded 4 songs with a real grand piano (Leslie Semmel's–at her home) played by Casey McDonough.Casey also provided bass and keyboards on many songs,with the always rock steady efforts of George Kralj on drums (4 tracks had Frank Canino on drums,who also did a superb job)–There were more guitar and vocal overdubs this time, which I love doing anyway,including a few songs I played bass on), which was fun especially after having made Juliette Foster -which was intentionally a bare bones production. I really had a good feeling about this album,and wanted to really get everything just right. The title is of course, a nod to my hometown. I used a photo of myself and my dad from way back, a very nostalgic thing, and in the liner notes and back cover incorporated scenes from the old east side. The cd really caught the attention of fans and critics alike, Richard Milne,who has always been a staunch supporter of my music has played East Side Soul numerous times on his show (WXRT's Local Anesthetic) and is even featuring me and the new cd on a full length Sunday show (Jan 28th). I am soon planning on re-releasing the song "Too Late Tomorrow" as a single-completely re-recorded in full glory (real horns, strings, piano and guest backing vocals TBA) and a new Idea EP for this years Chicago IPO–followed by another solo acoustic album, probably for fall release. Also stay tuned for the long talked about re-release of "Songs Without Riffs". Keep an eye on 2007, as its gonna be a very busy year for me musically! I am also excited about the new acoustic group I am now assembling, featuring myself, Martha Larson (cello/vocals), Ellis Clark (piano/banjo/vocals) and Steven Becker (guitar/vocals). Thanks for listening all these years, I appreciate it very much.
Phil