I'd like to take this opportunity to call to the world's attention the death of my dearest friend, Patricia Anne Mooney. A Nashville native, Pat was on her first record as a baby. Her father, deceased for some years, was a recording engineer and record producer, who among other things produced David Alan Coe's first record. I met Pat in 1972; she was the first friend I made after leaving home. She moved from Nashville to Heaven on Wednesday, January 2, 2002, of asbestos-related lung cancer, and was cared for at the end by Michele Myers, her closest friend and companion. There's no words to describe Pat, a unique and wonderful human being. I'll just say Rest in Peace.
mp3 downloads
"Sky on Sky" This is a somewhat philosophical piece about modern life, not exactly a love song or anything..."Into the Clouds" This is an ambient electronic piece- no synthesizers, this is an electric guitar (believe it or not) and bass. Obviously we're on a sky motif here; these are both from an unfinished independent film entitled "The Opening Sky".
"Wayfaring Stranger" A traditional Southern spiritual.
"Girl in the Moon" Soft acoustic guitar solo; a tribute to Pat Mooney.
The first two pieces were originally recorded on a 1967 Ampex 8-track one-inch tape machine, then a basic mix was done with all analog gear. The mix was cleaned up in the digital environment using Cool Edit Pro at 32-bit resolution at 96 kH, at Purple Productions in Asheville, NC. Final mixing (and the Roland V-drums percussion track on "Sky on Sky") was done at Click Productions, in Crossville, TN.
The others were recorded at Purple Productions, using only a large diaphragm vocal mic about four feet away from where I sat with a guitar. I used an Ovation Elite, and the old spiritual is just the guitar and my appropriately flat, nasal Appalachian voice. "Girl in the Moon" features the Ovation.
"Wayfaring Stranger" is public domain, but this version is copyright 2001 Hi Newman/Smiling Raven Music. The others are:
"Sky on Sky", copyright 200l, Hi Newman/Smiling Raven Music;
and "Into the Clouds", copyright 2001, Hi Newman/Smiling Raven Music and Randy Freeman/ Purple Productions;
and "Girl in the Moon", copyright 2002, Hi Newman/Smiling Raven Music.
