My new album, White Rock Lake, is set to be released on February 16th! It is an album born from hard work and at times, literal pain. My friend Chirag Gokani plays the Fender Precision bass and takes six of the songs to a whole new level. Four of these are instrumentals. He often uses the bass as a lead instrument, playing solos that beautifully fit the chord progressions. Sooo talented! Makes me cry to listen to him. Michelle Stroescu, my church-singing buddy, sings beautifully on two of the tracks. I have always wanted to record with her, and it was an honor to be able to do it. I wrote all the music on the album and the lyrics for four of the songs. The poet Todd Jeffries wrote the lyrics for two of the songs. I play a Tony Francis Weissenborn on five of the songs and a 1927 Weissenborn on the other five songs. Both instruments play with great beauty and depth of emotion. Tony Francis is a luthier from New Zealand. His instruments are respected world wide.
The 10 original songs were recorded and mixed over 5 or 6 sessions at Audio Dallas. Thanks to Paul Osborn for his incredible work. The first of these sessions occurred when I was still in pain from my hernia operation. Two songs got tossed out along the way, those that remained are all good!
Mastering comes after mixing, and that means a little more work for me, listening carefully and spotting problems. George Guerin at DES Mastering did a terrific job on this album.
Then the CD's are produced at Disc Makers. This means that art work has to be done. The pictures on this album were all taken by Sherry Houpt. She also helped with the layout and design. My friend Scott Hunt helped edit the photo for the jacket cover.
The album release party will be at the Wine Therapist on March 17th from 4:00-6:00 in the afternoon. See the calendar at www.stephenhoupt.com for all the details. I hope you can be there!