FRANK GUINNESS RECORDS THIRD ALBUM
Published in Reel Chicago, May 2015
Over the last weekend in April, BBDO executive producer Kevin James and dozens of musicians spent three days and nights in Streeterville’s Eko Studios, recording original songs that will be edited, mixed and released onto a full length album by a band named Frank Guinness.
The session marks the third celebration of an annual tradition that began in 2013 when James, who spent most of the 80’s playing bass in LA with the Modern Day Saints, decided that he wanted to turn his birthday into a collective binge of musical inspiration named after a beer he enjoys.
“It’s the best excuse for everyone to get together in a recording studio and bring original songs and have friends play on it,” he explains.
All weekend long, groups of various sizes assembled and recorded in Eko’s live room while collaborators worked on ideas throughout the rest of the studio, which was strewn with guitar cases, percussion instruments, ethnic food and cans of Guinness.
Besides James, who got serious about the bass guitar after seeing how cool The Pretenders’ Chris Farndon looked while playing it, an impressive roster of current and former professional players dropped in on the session.
CRC new business director Dave Dakich, whose resume includes bass duties for Lucky Jackson and gigs everywhere from Lounge Axe to the Mutiny, laid down a handful of slide guitar leads on Saturday afternoon.
Keyboardist Chris Neville, whose group Tributasaurus is arguably the most talented and disciplined cover band in the country, arrived early in the day and stayed all night.
Manning the controls was Idig Music’s Ron Steele, who James refers to as “the conductor of this train.” In addition to handling the production and engineering responsibilities until the wee hours of every session, he helped arrange and, on at least one track, played drums.
“There was this Grateful Dead kinda thing around four o’clock in the morning that I think sounded pretty good,” he recalled Sunday afternoon.
Then he got back on the board to record the harmony for “My First True Love,” a touching acoustic tune that James wrote in honor of his mother.
Select tracks from the first two jams can be heard on 2013’s “Frank Guinness” and 2014’s “Let It Breathe,” both albums available at CDBaby.com. The release of this year’s efforts will be announced in a future issue of Reel Chicago.
Send your music notes to Dan@reelchicago.com or phone 312/969-2600.
Photos by Dan Patton