Wild Sound by John Schroeder

This is an EP I recorded on January 7th, 2014 at Wild Sound Studios in Minneapolis. I've always wanted to make a record in a day and always wanted to do a solo acoustic guitar record so this project killed those two birds with one stone.

I recorded the whole thing (except Back to Earth) on a beautiful Hoffman guitar built by Ron Tracy. Back to Earth was done on an old Ibanez nylon string guitar.

The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Steve Kaul. Huge thanks goes out to Steve for working so hard to get this project done in a day (no lunch breaks were taken) and for being such good company in the studio.

I'd also like to thank Jim "Redford" Sanders for painting the album art.

"Damage the Highs" is dedicated to Redford. Here's the story behind the tune (written in January of 2014)

Damage the Highs: This song was written for a dear friend of mine - Jim "Redford" Sanders. Redford and I have worked together in Frankie Valli's band for the last four years - I play guitar and he is the front of house sound engineer.

During the sound checks before our concerts I usually play the Leo Kottke song "William Powell" to check the acoustic guitar. The first time I played it Redford instantly recognized the tune as Leo's and I found out that he used to mix Mr. Kottke back when he opened for Crosby, Stills and Nash. We bonded over our mutual love for Leo's music - Red has a few good stories about him too.

Now in addition to being an exceptional sound engineer Redford is also quite a good painter. He showed me a few of the works he'd made and I loved them so I asked if I could commission a painting. We made a deal: one song for one painting. The song would be Leo Kottke-esque and the painting would feature my favorite guitar (a National Resonator). The artwork for this song is Redford's painting.

This recording was done on a beautiful Hoffman guitar built by Ron Tracy. I met Ron at Hoffman's shop in Minneapolis about a week before doing the recording and he was kind enough to lend me this fantastic instrument for the session. I'm extremely grateful to him, I don't think I've ever played a finer acoustic guitar. Incidentally, Ron does repair work on Leo Kottke's instruments when he is in town.

There it is - the story of the tune.

Love you Redford!

John Schroeder is a musician based in Los Angeles. He makes solo music on six and twelve string guitar and with bands the Sheriffs of Schroedingham and John & Ross. He also works as a producer, session musician and sideman with many artists/projects ranging from indie band Pomplamoose to rock and roll hall of famer Frankie Valli to hit TV show Dancing With the Stars.
www.johnschroedermusic.com