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From
"My Dream is You" Recording date July 17th, 1995 Groundstar
Studio, Nashville. From L-R: Andy Reiss, David Hungate,
Chris Brown, Denis Solee, Roy Huskey, George Tidwell.
Comment from April: "I moved to Nashville in 1979 as a working
musician (Bass player) and in 1985 began writing songs full
time and retired as a "side-man". I've always tried to surround
myself with talented musicans I admire. Around 1989, I began
playing out again with a band of my favorite musicians but
we mostly performed songs I wrote or co-wrote. At first
I was stylistically 'all over the map' playing country,
swing, western swing, blues etc but I soon began to sharpen
the bands focus and only played swing and jazz songs I wrote
as well as a few standards and favorites. As my writing
developed, I realized I had a flair for writing swing tunes
that sounded like they fit right in with classic standards
of the 1930s-1940s. This was a great turning point for me
and as we played out in nashville, we began to attract a
following. Musicians sometimes passed through the band and
moved on or away as you will see by the photos. I'd always
loved swing and jazz and one thing that attracted me to
that idiom was the fact that "Swing" is a music full of
joy and getting to listen to my fellow musicians play and
improvise over songs old and new was an absolute delight." |
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Roy
Huskey. Roy
was a giant of a musician. A world class genius who was known and
admired around the world. I first met Roy when I moved to Nashville
in March 1979. He was just a kid but already had the reputation
as a brilliant and unique musician. Roy began recording with me
in 1985 when I began recording demos of songs I'd written. I've
always had strong ideas of musicians I wanted to work with,and of
course, when I began to play out-he was the only choice! I adored
him and we had a wonderful friendship. In 1996, Roy was diagnosed
with lung cancer. It shocked the entire town, and people rallied
around Roy and his family with support and caring. Roy fought valiently
and despite every effort to save him, he passed away a scant 14
months later. It was a loss of immense proportions. To lose a one
of a kind person like Roy was heartbreaking. He passed away on September
7th, 1997 at age 41. Not a day goes by that I don't think of Roy.
We miss him so much. To read more about Roy, go to www.bassplayer.com.
Jan.1998 issue has 2 articles on Roy and I believe there was an
entire article on Roy in an earlier issue. |
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David
Hungate is another world class musician who I have been very
lucky to work with. He is a well-known studio musician with more
credits to his name than I can possibly list. Dave also has produced
many wonderful artists including Chet Atkins, Brenda Lee, Martin
Taylor, to name a few and of course was writer/co-producer and bass
player with Toto. In 1989, I was working with A&R legend, Mary Martin
at RCA records and I got the chance to record 4 sides for them.
I had a short list of people I was interested in working with and
when I met with Dave, we hit it off right away. We co-produced four
of my songs with all top session players, including Roy, Andy and
Dave as well as Johnny Gimble, Buddy Emmons, Eddie Bayers and an
incredible piano player named Matt Rollings. Matt has since played
on almost everything I've ever recorded. Dave and I have been musical
partners ever since. He taught me an awful lot about music and I
grew musically because of his influence and friendship. From the
beginning, I encouraged him to play guitar and horns as we had Roy
on the band and we both thought Roy was the greatest! Together,
Dave and I have co-lead our band, written and recorded music as
well as toured the country in support of our two records. To learn
more about the talented people I've gotten to work with: search
the web or try www.allmusic.com
(All Music Guide) |
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From
L-R: Matt Rollings, Neil Rosengarden and Denis Solee. Photo is from
Jazz on the River Festival in Nashville June 1998. |
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Copyright
© 2006, April Barrows
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