Recordings

Graphic Artist: John Rummen
Multi-Juno award winning artist with NettwerkRecords

 John has won 4 Juno awards for his cd artwork. 
I especially like the way the lyric booklet changes the clocks into frames which hold pictures of me which date from my first teen band up to and including Brutus etc.
Words can't adequately express my gratitude to John for his time and talent spent on the artwork for the cd and jacket.

The Musicians on "It's About Time"
The Newer Stuff:

David Sinclair:guitars
David is one of the top session guitarists working out of Vancouver. David Sinclair toured with Sarah McLachlan from 1993-2003 as her guitarist on the Lillith Fair, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy and Surfacing tours. Prior to working with McLachlan, he toured with K.D.Lang on her Ingenue tour. He has appeared on David Letterman as a member of both acts. His "Acoustic Christmas" again listed in the top best Christmas Cd's of all time. I was privileged to get an Executive Producer credit on this cd. David is a long-time friend.

  
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear excerpt

David and I met in first year music at U.B.C. and have been friends ever since, playing together in bands over the years, including "Body Electric" which was on Attic Records, Canada. The "Stop the Music" video was on Much Music back in the day when they actually played music/videos. For more on David, please visit his website http://www.davidsinclairmusic.com

Gary Grace: drums

Gary has toured with a number of bands including "Loverboy" (when Matt isn't available) and recently the re-formed "Prism" We met when he did a percussion workshop at Prince of Wales Secondary. Not only was he rock solid, but could play any style of music.  What impressed me most, however, was when a student asked a question about cymbals, he gave a demonstration that was like listening to a symphonic tone poem..I thought that anyone who can make music with cymbals is a truely artistic musician not just a banger (with mash?).  Also, like David, a really nice guy (I consider this important).

Tom Colclough: alto saxophone

Again, one of the nicest guys you can know, Tom once was asked to send a photo of himself to Tina Turner as he was being considered for her band.. Unfortunately his sense of humour got the best of him and he sent a photo of a family gathering and circled the tiny shot of himself in the photo...he didn't get the job, but I consider that Tom is world-class with a sound that is so smooth and expressive..on It's About Time, the sessions were effortless and first-take wonderful.  Available info at his website

Ray Kirkham: Piccolo trumpet and Bb Trumpet

Ray is a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.  When it came time to do the solo on Humour Me, Ray commented that the chart included the highest and lowest notes possible on a piccolo trumpet, all in 4 bars..because it was summer he had to clean off the cobwebs before playing it perfectly.  Apparently he only practices a couple of hours a day in the summer..what a slacker!...You might also want to check out his son's bands: Vincent Black Shadow & Nimvind.

The Frank Ludwig Band:

Four songs on the cd date back to the band I assembled after working with Randy Bachman's Ironhorse and Union. The songs had held up over the years but when I tried to re-capture the magic, nothing matched the original demo session. after hunting for the original 2" 24 track tapes for over a year, I found them in my entrance hall clothes closet where they had been all along (duh!). I had them de-humidified and digitized at Hippodrome studios and was able to add overdubs missing due to time on the original demos. I also replace the piano as my nine footer sounds better. I also replace most of one lead vocal due to recording quality (it was student engineers) but was thrilled to find that my voice sounded exactly the same after all these years and I didn't have to eq or mess with the sounds. Of course, if you hate my voice, then this is not a good thing, but I was pleased. My range is greatly increased but my overall sound remains the same.

Scotty Hall: guitar

Scotty worked with me in the Frank Ludwig Band. We used to end the show with "Beam Me Up Scotty" which I thought was appropriate (see Time Capsule). Later, Scotty recorded with Idle Eyes on the 1986 "Love's Imperfection" album. When I told David that he wasn't the only guitar on this cd (I didn't want him to feel slighted) he asked who the other guitarist was. When I told him it was Scotti, he informed me that Scotti has passed away a few months before. I was stunned as I hadn't heard, but on reflecting, felt it was even more important to include the 4 songs which he had played on. David agreed that more people needed to know of Scotti's legacy and what a great player he was.  It makes the whole "It's About Time" concept more poignant.

Rick Enns: Bass Guitar and background vocals

Rick is still doing gigs, has very long hair and still sports that infectious smile...I forgot to ask if he still is surfing...

John Cody: drums

Mike Rheault: keyboards and background vocals

I first met Mike when I used to do vocal sessions at Wave Productions, a company that Mike was one of the partners in. He introduced me to Scotty. Mike had toured as 2nd keyboardist with Burton Cummings after the breakup of the Guess Who.  I just spoke to Mike regarding the new cd and the first song he mentioned as remembering from those times was not one of the 4 on this cd, so I guess I'll have to dig it out and make it available here on-site. Stay tuned for "Held Up at the Border"...Update!...here it is..recorded live-off-the-floor

Held Up At The Border

Held up was inspired by 2 events: the first be ing when Crosstown Bus arrived at the Blaine Wash. crossing at 3:00 a.m. after a gig in Portland and were told to empty our entire truck of equipment including taking the back off the Hammond B3. Apparently another band had been caught with drugs so there was a crackdown. After they found nothing, we were left to put our equipment back together and reload the truck...we were not amused as it was now aft 6:00 a.m. in the morning..the other event happened in Fresno with Trooper. We'd been on the road forever and had a chance to fly home for a couple of days. At the airport, One particular agent was grilling Tommy..what's that? my Deoderant...what's that? my socks...what's that?..my underwear...after listening to Tommy answer a million questions, when he was asked what his collection of knick-knacks attached to his key chain was, I blurted, Oh My! It looks like a bloody time-bomb!...Remember this was decades before 9-11... I was pushed against the wall at gun-point and placed under arrest...after waiting 1/2 an hour for the "heavies" to come from downtown and after our road manager begged, pleaded, offered to deposit our entire road earnings, and because I had H1 status, I ran accross the tarmack and was allowed on the plane..I thought I would be booed for holding everyone up, but they gave me a big cheer...I guess they were relieved to finally be able to take off...anyway, now I keep my big mouth shut when dealing with authorities.

 There was also a song which was inspired by David-Clayton-Thomas' "Brainwashed" (has the greatest keyboard solo of all time). It is called "Shell-shocked" but I never did finish the lyrics...Maybe now I'll have to.

Additional Engineers:

The original tracks by the Frank Ludwig Band were engineered by students under the guidance of long-time co-worker Paul MacDonald.  The tracks were initially done at Water St. Sound as part of the recording school there.  Paul and I worked for years together at Studio 1200 where we produced tv music, commercials, and radio series including those for David Suzuki. Paul also co-wrote the Urban Peasant Theme.

Andrew Huzyk engineered the early sessions with Janice Lozano. I ended up including two of the songs on "It's About Time" (Forever Ended Yesterday and You Better Stop) obviously re-recording the lead vocals, some overdubs, and then re-mixing.  Andrew was a former music student who is a talented vocalist, keyboard and saxophone player who has become a top-ranked computer technician currently residing in L.A. after stops in Dubai, Whistler, and Hong Kong.