Weekend Recording Report

The place was set, the gear was loaded in and set up, the guitars were tuned, and the coffee was brewing. All we needed was the people.

And the audience didn’t disappoint.

Friday and Saturday nights were packed out at The Lyric in Clayton! People came from all over the county, largely because of the amazing front page story the Watertown Daily Times did on the event in Thursday’s paper. And what a crowd! Everyone was so enthusiastic and appreciative. And the feedback from the night was very encouraging.

In response to the Lord’s instruction, I laid down “story/artistic song writing” in 2001 for all-worship oriented music. But three months ago I was released to begin writing in this genre again. It has not only been a joy, personally, to write such works, but to see the response from the audience.

Mr. Paul Rohling really made the two nights special. We’d been practicing everyday of the preceding week. He is a fast student. And a fast player! He was the perfect addition to the pieces, really bringing the work to life. His masterful flourishes and punchy rhythms couldn’t have been more wonderfully executed. I’m extremely grateful for his mark on this record.

My wonderful father, Peter Hopper, was present for recording, marking our 9th full-length CD together. Just the unmixed playback from each evening was remarkable; I think people are going to be very pleased with the result.

Dudley Danielson and John Brennan both showed up to shoot pitures of the evening, and Kathy Danielson’s wonderful staff at The Lyric were outstanding.

The project, tentatively named The Art of Conversation, will be released sometime later this summer. We’ll keep you posted for sure.

Thanks to all those who came out for this special event!

CH