Larry A. Smail's Blog

Keeper Of The Stars

Well it is complete. My fourth CD called, “KEEPER OF THE STARS” has finally been arranged and placed onto a CD. I have about  nine months of time utilized for this endeavor. The first step was to find songs to place onto the CD. They need to be songs that my feeble voice can succeed with. I breathe very shallow so my lung capacity isn’t the best. Add asthma issues so singing can be challenging at times due to running out of air at the end of a line.

Once the songs were decided upon,  I needed to find out what key works best for that particular song.  I typed the words and determined the chords and plan an arrangement. Then the recording process begins, track by track!

The digital recorder I have has seven individual tracks. I then take various tracks and bounce them onto two tracks. I, at this time, can add more tracks. However, I will need to erase the bounced tracks. This isn’t the ideal way to record, but that is my current capabilities. Sometimes I wish I still had an erased track to increase volume if needed.  Like I said this isn’t the very best way to record. I have had songs with as many as fifteen individual tracks.

Eventually, the tracks have been completed and bounced onto a special track used to do the final CD. My sister Ruthie Smail Wolfe did the CD designs for me. She did a great job and my friend, mark Hamilton did some steel work on seven of the fourteen songs. Mark is a great friend and fellow musician. I did all vocals and all other instruments…guitars, bass guitar, banjo, keyboards…

This CD is available for a donation of ten dollars for pick up. Add five dollars for shipping if I need to mail. Send check to: Larry A. Smail, 481 Butler Road Kittanning, PA 16201.

On a sad note and after many hours I lost two songs and had recorder issues while trying to redo. Those songs were, Wagon Wheel and Lord Send Me Your Angels.

The songs on this CD include:

1. Blue Ridge Mountain Blues -This is an old bluegrass number and I do play the 5-string banjo on this song. I used an upbeat arrangement style closer to the John Fogerty arrangement. Fogerty was of the Creedence Clearwater Revival days. he, later, was the band Blue Ridge Rangers where he did all instruments and vocals.
2.  Keeper Of The Stars– Sung by Tracey Byrd. Laurie, my wife, liked the words and requested I do the song.
3.  How’s The World Treating You was recorded by many over the years. James Taylor and Alison Kraus may have been the most recent duet to record the song.
4. Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye has been recorded by many singers over the last decades.
5.  A Way To Survive was recorded by Ray Price. I loved how is voice worked and I worked to copy his style.
6. Here Comes My Baby Back Again was written and recorded by Dottie West back in the sixties.
7. The Little Girl was recorded by John Michael Montgomery and has a powerful Christian message at the end.
8.  Peaceful Easy Feelings was recorded in the seventies by the Eagles. I worked a long time perfecting the instrumental.
9.  Life Turned Her That Way was recorded by Ricky Van Shelton.
10. Some Call It Heaven came about in an interesting way. A friend wanted to do the song for her future. I did the musical tracks in the key of F. She couldn’t do it in that key so I tried it and used it. I redid the song for her in the key of E.
11. Tulsa Time was recorded by many singers. Don Williams and Eric Clapton made it famous.
12. Help Me Make It through the Night was another song requested by my wife.
13.  All I Have To Offer You Is Me was recorded by Charley Pride.
14.  Take Your Memory With You was recorded by Vince Gill.

The other three CDS are: Songs For My Mother; No Rhyme Or Reason and I Believe. (Gospel music)