RENE LABRE

I read about Jimi' homecoming to Seattle.They were dying to hear him play purple haze and he would not do it.Yes he had moved on to other things at that point yet to take four minutes or so to play purple haze,what is the big deal?If I am asked to play Johnny B Good I am more than happy to play it.It ruined the concert,which ought to have been a very special thing.I don't know,if I went home they would not buy Rene Labre Superstar.They would rather see me play in the livingroom or a cookout.They would of course realize I am and respect me for it.I am just Rene to them.

I know that,you have to kick ass with a tune.You have got to have a hit.You only need to have one.More than one is even better.You have to have a good hit,one that you like and enjoy to play.I mean if you go onstage and people want to hear you do your hit and you do not do it.Why are you in this crazy business?After you do the hit you can do anything you want.

Yes,I have been for as long as I can remember.I like other things,love the strat.But get bored with it.And I lost my collection of guitars.That has changed.From an SJ200/12 to an L-5,to "Mudbug." My 345.I am very thankful about that.

Thank you for being there.Have got to back to the studio to do an original.I have one more film on the line,A tribute to Bob Dylan.Everybody finds it so easy to knock him.Oh he can't sing.He is not a good guitar player so forth and so on.I thought his singing is good.That he is a great songwriter.A couple of times he got caught drunk onstage,that is not a good thing.for the last little while I have had to do a capella in the studio.I enjoy it very much.I have had to rebuild every thing.Had a lot of growing up to do.

To really cross over you have to stop holding onto your past.Bringing back people that you know are going to let you down.They always have and they always will.And they are not shit.They are parasites on you

True to a point.The smaller Vox may deliver better in the studio.yet what about onstage?So far it is all good.

"Well I was itchy to get a new 12 string.An acoustic and started shopping.my original collection which was to die for was stolen from me.And I looked at the prices which had tripled,and set out going to music stores to go out and play some and it was a far thing from the old days.Some were interesting yet I did not really like any of them.Well no I did really like a Gibson B.B. King Model.It was selling for 3 grand,it was so sweet and beautiful I was thinking about walking out the door with it as mine.Then this snooty guy walks up and puts his hands on the fingerboard and tells me"You have a lot of nerve to pick up the most expensive guitar here,that you could never afford and sit here and put smudges on it.I was on a break from my regular job and had my work uniform on.And could have bought the guitar on that day,wrapped her up and took her back to work with me.He was not a Sam Ash employee he was just an effin prick.He killed the sale.I have ups and downs in my career pursuit yet I have done a lot of good business with sam Ash.I unplugged the guitar and walked out the door.I ended up striking up a friendship with a luthier who's family has been making guitars for three generations.A southern backwoods guy who has made boutique guitars for the biggest rock,jazz,classical,stars in the world.He really liked my Hofner.He spat out some tobacco and said "come out to the farm this Sunday and bring 500 dollars,I will build you any guitar you want or could dream up.That will get us started,I do the build yet send it out to my partner who does the inlay work.it is not going to be cheap,yet I will work with you.Figure it to be about two grand.You will be very happy.If anything goes wrong it will be fixed."He is also a master winemaker and bass fisherman.I am not leaving his place without a couple of bottles of tangerine or grapefruit wine.If I were going to buy a Gibson it would be one of the classics.Far and away I would rather support a master luthier and fellow countryman than a corporate executive.

New Band,New thing.WOW!

Lots of New beginnings coming your way! Too cool bleeding my fingers!

Yes,in fact supercomputers!It is all still just a tape machine to me.One heck of a tape machine!I wish I had a Scully in that mix.To record my acoustic guitar the studio went out and bought a fourteen hundred dollar mic.Just for a rhythm track!That is being serious about something.Making it bound to last.I feel very blessed to have met with wonderful good people to work with.One of the finest producers in the world,Kenny Veenstra.

At this point I never released an album.Only singles.I don't really like CD's.An album to me really is a big vinyl disc that sounds thick and heavy along with a cover that has large wonderful artwork with news and liner notes or printed lyrics large enough to read.Wow!That was how we grew up,get together with yer mates and trip out to the album.in favor of CD's they are compact,easy and pretty cheap and fast to burn, and sound decent.I sold a ton of them right from the stage.In fact most nights I would make more money from CD sales then what I got paid for the gig!Yet I knew all of this was the interlude to what we are now in,the digital age.Once you have a barcode on an album release you have a street date that sticks forever.To you that may not matter yet to me it does.I want to release a finely aged bordeaux,not a "Boones Farm."

Very sad to hear of his recent passing,my condolences to his wife,loved ones and many,many sad fans!

It made the grade to become a soundtrack for a film!I am pretty happy about it!

Hands down the bullshit version of us.It is such a great production and such a great lie.We wanted to record it the way we did it onstage but we would have to be changed into a thing that we were not.We would have to accept that too,and go along with it.For the money.Instead we broke up.For now.It hurt man,I lost my niggers.They for a time lost their nig.

For a film soundtrack by request.A long session,a full day.1 day is set for it,it must be complete,I have agreed to the terms.The Beatles cut their first album in one full day,all of it complete.Nothing was ever added to what was done on that day.Yes it was digitally re-mastered but it was those same tracks the way they were cut on that day,that ruled once and ruled again.In these days of all this phoney cut and paste music,where it ends up being a computer,not you,not the genuine inspiration flowing through you being captured by a magnetic field that freezes not only the fixed sounds but the time itself as well.One experience in New York,I took the whole band up there to cut it and we left the studio with no idea what it would sound like.It was a year and a half overdue,It as not us playing together,it was snippets of us playing little snippets individually.The final production was as great and slick as they come,yet it was not us,it was not our song,it is a computer sample of us doing little snippets.The thing that really made that tune for us was chip's bassline,which was totally ignored for a "Pocket" track.I don't think he will ever forgive me for that.I do not blame him either,yet he does not understand I lost my beautiful guitar solo that I worked for months on.And my piccolo and piano tracks. After all we had been through he quit the band over this record."This is not us,this is not our sound at all,you know I would have stuck with you through anything,but not this.We never had money and we always struggled just to make our little pay,yet we would kick down the fence.I would walk through hell with you,I always have,do you remember when people wanted to hang us in a lynch mob for playing our stuff?I will not play that shit onstage to get rich,I don't know who the fuck that is,yet it ain't us.This was a huge loss in my life,not just my favorite bassist,when we would write many times he would be the leader and the coach,Marvin and I listening to him putting our vocal harmonies together and the music parts.All of the fun we had onstage,I remember one time a white guys chick was digging him,and the guy spit on Chip and threw his drink on him,I danced over to and we together danced up and kicked they guy in his face,shouting one,two,three...Kick!Alas,there would be no "Black Beatles" without him.Yet worry not my friend,I still have them for you.I learned the final lesson from him too,Be yourself.Now I shall post rare of "The Black Beatles,"The Rene Labre Group final edition doing our world cast concert for Iradiola live,and the puke record attempting to give you the mass media idea of who we were.He said "Rene you may not understand how I feel but if we allow them to do this to us,it is just going to get worse and worse.We are going to have less and less say until we have no say at all.We just play for the money and suck dick. I can't do that man,you know that it is not us."

Smaller amps work better in the studio,to me they both work the same,if you are gonna use a big rig,crank the sucker,in terms of a heavy rock solo.The pinnacle I reached with that on my material was the guitar solo on "American Idol Audition."Two classic Marshall plexies,without master volumes,with four 4x12 speakers cabinets.The amps were in the control room,the speaker cabs in the recording room.All sixteen speakers were miked plus four overhead mics in the corners."Lead guitar heaven "as it were."I played the solo from the control room,you would surely go deaf to be in the recording room.The decibels being equal to an f-14 at mach 9,ear splitten loud and boomer as the Germans would say.Well this is recording with Tom Morris as my producer.We are going for mach ten.I had my guitar with me,my SG,yet Tom told me he felt he could control this insanity better if I used his Black Les Paul Custom."ok" was my response,it is a very melodic solo that I had rehearsed thousands of times.Done in two tracks octaves.He tweaked the knobs on the amps,the guitar,and the SSL console.I sat in a comfy chair and played.The result speaks for itself.In it is Michelle Rene's dream that I helped her with.It is not a free download my little music pirate.The little new world order creeps,they fear most of all free thinking,especially artist wise,they want to lock you up into their little one size fits all box.The most important gift you have to share in your life is your free will.I am now going to put the lovely Michelle Rene first in the playback box of my site,with her dream coming true.Then I am going to play my guitar solo for her.I do not forget these things man,she was only 17 years old at this time.

You will not be able to buy it nor stream it.I will no longer perform it,no matter the price.The video will stay up though.

That is the final step and is a must.It is much cheaper than recording/mixing time.It unifies and tweaks your final sound so no matter what it playing it it sounds it's best.You want to have a single speed glass master.Now it is time to write your next tune bro...

In the studio the less you do the more you can do with it.You must record with a metronome,not a problem when you get used to it.Acoustic,organic instruments naturally record better.Without the metronome,for your music to be further produced,perhaps as a soundtrack or an advert,in the digital age another producer is unlikely to pick up on it.An artist covering it may want to use the original rhythm track,yet mix it differently.Saving them time and money in the studio.If it is not digitally formatted correctly they can't use it.That being said, you want your demo recording to be as high quality as possible.You want to save it in three different formats,vox and music,vox up,vox down.You copyright it,cddb it,and register it with your PRO.Plus you own and/or control the masters.If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me,I will be glad to help you out.

All of my recorded work was originally drafted on a simple acoustic guitar and then built up from there,the acoustic built the road and then the hot rods would ride it.At the time it was good yet that little organic track would end up lost in the mix.Now you can really hear it,and the vocals.Instead of filling up the space I am leaving it open.It would be great if another artist covered me and they could expand it from there.They could have the fame and all of the hoopla and I get a little check in the mail.I don't have to deal with all of the showbiz stuff,the images and the eminence front.I just love what I do,that's all.

I don't think so,there was a brief time when you could "Piggyback" as they say,but that is just crammed up to the gills with any good song.And then you have to deal with a legitimate third party interest.Thus you are not free to use it as you please.Getting a mechanical license is fairly easy,but a sync license,which you really need is a real hassle to work out.So "Poor Side Of Town" is the end of the line.That was a great one for me,I can feel that one so well and have always been a fan of Johnny Rivers.I could do a tremendous version because I did not have to fake it.That it got to be a video was an accident,I had some extra studio time left and just did an acoustic take with a voice just for grins and giggles.A great producer picked up on it,next thing I know I am blowing a solo on the oboe, and starring in a fantastic video.Yet it ain't my toy to play with.I don't want to do an album with covers on it.

My silly dream coat I wore as a younger man.The self destructive lifestyle which almost did self destruct me a few times.I prefer "Artist" and would rather work behind the scenes in composition and production Then the limelight.Would like to write a tune that would be covered by someone in that kind of position.Let them have the glory an fame and all of the crap that goes with it and I get a nice check for my efforts,meet up and work with some good people.I still perform onstage,yet my life does not depend upon it as it did for so many years.The world changed.The younger generation has their own style of music.I have my own style of music.There is an audience for it.That would be what I asked for.The audience would support my work.Of course I want you to hear it and choose to play it.You have heard the streams of it for no charge.Thus you know what you are buying.Some folks even lift it,but you lose so much of the quality of it that way it ain't even worth it.Give it to them and let it be heard.Leave them wanting more of it!

No,not really,too many changes were going down in the business and I did not want to have a street date.I was strongly advised to avoid digital distribution.I would have wanted to set it up so you could buy individual tracks.Plus all original material so I wouldn't have to screw around with licensing issues.My producer really put his foot down on that."No More cover songs."

No,I did not.I was offered and I was tempted,I have friends that are wiccan and casting that thing is very easy.The price you will pay is another thing,to be tormented your whole natural life,which you can extend to 300 years yet when you die also you do not rest in peace.I believe in hard work and developing your skills.Being coached by good people.Always learning.so everyone that made it had to sell their soul,I do not think so.They worked hard at it.They did not cave in.They waited tables and attended classes and workshops.Honed their skills.why would Satan be interested in you if you had no talent when he could find so many with talent?Can you believe that Elvis got robbed of his Joy?Tormented,drug addicted..all alone.Slept pretty much with any woman he wanted.1000's of them.Had anything he wanted Carte Blanche.Died miserable very possibly suicide.Couldn't face the next tour.Yet with his millions he was being pressured for money by his manager, who would easy blow 80,grand at the poker table in Vegas.with all of the bread that he made did he not make enough stable investments that he could not be pressured to tour until he was ready to do so? Got off the drugs,he was hooked on heavy drugs,equal to a mercy cocktail they give terminal patients.For breakfast,lunch,and dinner.I can't even imagine being that stoned!I would not even be able to get out of bed.And he would walk out onstage and perform and not miss a tick!Not this time though.The day before he was to go on this tour he died.

I bet you hate it as much as I do.And it is all worthless!No they don't want your $997 dollars,not even your $199,Just for today before their site goes down forever you only have to give them $47 dollars and in return you will receive nothing.Nothing of any real world value.Yes, after you go through some hoops you may get your money back.You may as well delete your inbox because all of their assholes friends are going to buy the list with your name on it. And then those videos,that total crap that is such a waste of your time.Same story over and over,lost my job,down to my last can of beans,my wife is sick,and just when I was about to pimp my daughter,an old friend from high school called,a programmer,called me to meet him for coffee.He told me of a secret formula he invented and he wrote on his napkin and passed it over to me,it said,mvspo.."Wow! what does that mean Joe!"He leaned over and whispered.."Make a video and screw people over."Today take a look at the phony bank statement I cut and pasted to the web,last week I grossed $198,028.42 while I was masturbating,completely on auto pilot!I have three dream homes and a different color Porche for every day of the week.(Never mind that they broke into some rich guys home while he was away to do the filming.He gets back and wonders why there is a screwdriver in the ignition of his yacht.)"But hey man,it is not about the money,I am tired of being ripped off by all of those phony guru's out there,now that I have made it,I want to give back and help people.For this one day only I want to help you to send me some of your hard earned money." So what to do? For free you can set up a junk e-mail address,jsmith@whatever.com.Every now and then you visit it and delete all or just let it bog up with 4599 worthless e-mails,then when you go to your personal e-mail it is all clean and tidy.nice!

I have stored my treasures in a place where they will not rust.I have the masters.I am deeply indebted to many friends,I do not forget these things.

We were censored from the public.

On the next record I will.

A slip in the shower and two resulting broken ribs have slowed down Rene's latest recording project. "Ow,oh boy!Out all the way for this month!"

I had to take a few weeks off to recover from eye surgery.It was successful and I am no longer blind in my left eye,I am 20/20!My left eyelid drooped to the point of making me blind.That is all fixed now.I had to hide behind sunglasses for many years.that's all over now!

I had to do something I wanted and loved to do.Yet most of time it was out of my control beyond the execution of it.

Making the next recording session official!This is part of the fun of making a record.I run all of the details of a production.The dub has already been cut the acoustic guitar and bass with a guide vocal.Cut using a click track.It is about as close in as you can hem it.The next session is simply to tweak the two parts in perfectly,clean them all up magnetically and then to mix them somewhat more.pump them up a bit since they are both ending as predominate parts.So then as we move forward that is a lock reference.4 backups will also be done.One of the back ups will be a cassette dump.You never know what could happen.A lot of new toys to play with in the studio,a mellotron,yet the trick of it is being able to make it sound good onstage,even if I have to do it myself.Or ya know,take it way far out.I have been working very hard on my regular job to pay for it.The style is very different,or is it?It is Americana/arcadian.I am going to take New Orleans out with this tune.You can laugh if you want,I don't care what you think.So I can do what I want.I work for my living man.I live an honest life,a good life.My car may be tacky but she runs good and is all paid for.If I had a car payment I could not afford the studio.And the engine is perfectly tuned,I would drive it to California if I have too.Peace out from yer pal Frenchy!

Note from my publishing desk to indie artists.I got a call from my attorney telling me she was contacted by Sound Exchange that i had some fairly substantial royalty payments standing unclaimed from digital and broadcast performances.You as an indie artist may have the same thing going for you,if your tune is streamed you get paid.Now trying to track this all down yourself is a daunting task because remember this is global.Collecting your bread from overseas PRO's is tough.If you have as us Performing rights organization,unless you are a major artist that is not going to be a big help to you.sound exchange will get that together for you and get your bread to you.even if it is only 40 dollars if you don't collect it it will go to the majors.Two other people now offer that service,CD Baby ans Jango or radio airplay or what ever they are called this week.Yet their costs are high in my opinion,a one time only set up fee of 100 bucks or so but then they dip in for 20% of what they collect leaving you of course to foot the tax bill.How did they get this service together,all of these important connections?Why silly they use sound exchange and rep you.This is not to say they are ripping you off,they will pay up yet you will wait longer to get paid and pay a fee that you do not have to.If you are a recording artist or sound recording copyright owner there may be royalties waiting for you to collect.WORD MAN!

No I can't,the type of thing that I do is made to be live on stage.Plus for a performer that is where your money is.And where your life is reallythat crazy guy onstage is who I really am.My so-called real life is the put on.Yet I draw the inspiration for my writing from real life,yet I am a fish out of water so-to speak.This is the first time in my life that I haven't had a van.Which is a must for a musician.And for the last 22 years I was a single parent,I had to be there for my son first.Plus work a regular job as a truck driver.With the baby now dinner had to be on the table every night.Diapers had to be changed,the pediatrician,You can't be off hangin'out all crazy hours doing crazy things.You have been voted by the Mom's of the block to take the kids to the park this week.And these are all real good things.so for my music I got much more heavily into writing and recording in the studio.live I was playing Gospel music in church.The last music video was fantastic and the next session/film is underway.My boy is grown up now and on his way.He is going to produce my next record.Well,have a very strong say in how it is done.As long as I have to work a regular job I can't go on the road.I would lose my job.I do not have the fan support to help me out.It would cost them next to nothing to help me out.So who pays the studio bill?Me,the artist.Yet I also own it free and clear.I work in state of the art studios with fantastic producers.

A lot of my website,right now points to the story of Michelle Rene."I met a young girl who gave me a rainbow."We wanted her to do the lead vocal on "Poor Side."When we found her we found she had passed on at age 23 from breast cancer.She lived her life to do two things,to sing and to ride greyhound buses.She would work as a hotel maid save up some money and get on a hound to ride to sing at blues jams in different cities.I captured her legend here,as much as you will ever know.she would work with the band live,we would bring her out to do on or two tunes every set.She brought entire audiences to tears.

"It appears in the new music you are doing that you have all but abandoned the guitar." "Not so sayeth me,the songs are all built on the guitar,it is the silver needle.Yet the voice is the golden cord. Yet the use of the guitar is now much more subtle.On the album,yes that is being done, there is more than plenty of guitar,yet in the studio has been a lot of growth and expansion,instead of a guitar solo that would have sounded like millions of other guitar solo's I played an oboe for the solo section.I had recorded a guitar solo,and it was sweet yet my producer and I looked at each other,it just clicked man and he said "can you do a different instrument there for the solo.it just sounds to typecast."Zing! right away I knew the oboe was perfect.It fit the stripper much better in the film. I record in part at Colorama Studios for the reason that I can choose from 200 vintage guitars which one would be the best sound.Plus my double bass is there."Poor Side" was done on a 1963 Rickenbacker 360,all of the electric guitar parts.I don't choose the guitar either,they choose the best one for me.What do I care,they are all vintage not re-makes in show room condition.Les spent a lot of bread and traveled the world to get his collection.Myself,I don't want to carry a bunch of guitars around,I suffered a devastating guitar heist.The collection I had was perfect for me.The foul bastards did not get my Les Paul Custom because she was with me.Right away I had a friend of mine put her into a vault.Then I got an amazing deal on a little German made Hofner Colorama."Plain Jane."I got her refinished and rebuilt by the factory in Germany.Set up for my gauges of 0.12 to 0.56,with 8 coats of the finest black lacquer,Her name is now "Berquis."You will hear her on the next tune..

Houston,Texas,The Gumbo king.Only one item on the menu,gumbo with french bread.All you can eat for $5.95.You will cruise the first bowl an order the second.Everybody in the restaurant is sweating bullets.Ordering,pearl,Jax, or Lone Star beer by the pitcher.

Yes.I mean I can always play live.Yet in the studio I can lay down my trip just the way I want it.I have an excellent recording engineer and producer so it is going to sound top shelf.With a single speed glass mastering lab onsite.I do most all of the music and I do that better than anyone.Just myself I am The Doors or what have you.and it lasts for as eternity.That great show I did at Tom and Sonny's steakhouse in Wichita,is lost forever.Wichita is a good town by the by,San Antonio too,not big cities like ny/la yet very cool people.Rapid City,I left there with 7 girls wanting to have sex with me as I packed my bags.My wife at that time was with me.And she said "honey these girls want to do you.If you want to go with that I will step aside and it is okay.surely the offer was tempting but I whispered to her,"I only want you babe."Wise choice for a married guy.The Hotel St.Gregory was such a cool plaee,the band would go down to dinner and the waitress would be rubbing her leg all over me.My wife saw that and kept her mouth shut.She knew that she would be sleeping with me tonight.

Every inbox I have is crammed with this shit.Once you release your e-mail look out.You spend many wasteful hours unsubscribing and deleting and another hoard arrives.From affiliates living in bungalows.Barely able to pay the rent facing eviction.Sending you this fucked up non-entertaining non-educational video.all based from P.T. Barnum's great truth "there is a sucker born every minute.WASTING YOUR TIME MATE!The most boring film project you have ever seen,the same old worn out plot every time.The fancy house,the fancy cars,the sexy chicks,there is not even any imagination to it,it is the same plot and storyline.Most of the time is downloads off of a cheapie server so it stops and starts.Americans especially are suckers for film sets and photo sets,they think is is real.More real than life itself.All of that shit is either rented, borrowed, or broken into while the owner is away.Trust me on that.The storyline is always the same,check me on this,"I lost my job,my wife and kids were very unhappy that we were not going to eat today,and the dog was upset because we were going to dine today on milkbones and alpo.But I was determined to find a way to make money online.As my family was eating dogfood I tapped out all of my credit cards to spend 30,000 dollars I did not have to take every online course offer by the "Gurus" and attend every seminar I could.My wife was on the verge of becoming a prostitute,she told me I had two more days before she was going to go to the truckstop and blow every trucker she could to feed the family,this really hurt me bad,I had to find a way to make easy money online.so i called and old friend from High school Ed who I had asked to develop me some software.I met Ed for coffee and told him what a fuck up I was and he took a napkin and scrolled the "top secret formula to me.IfIC?Hv/a wit/w y=gt=it!" 'what does that mean Ed?" He took a drink of coffee and whispered to me,If I can have anal with your wife,you get it." My hands trembled,the whole world shook! I told my pal Ed "she is asleep at the crummy motel but I will wake her up for you>"Now I have the secret to being an online millionaire.Look at the fake screen snapshots of somebody else's account the next day after Fred had my wife.Now I work three minutes a day and jump up and down on the beach as the money flows in on autopilot.My wife is so happy,an so is Ed and I can spend time all of my time with my family.when i am not vacationing all over the world anytime I want.But my mission in life is to help you beat all of these so called "Fake Guru's"what would it be worth for you to have have this?"to hear your wife say "Oh Ed,do me harder,'I ought to charge you 3 grand for that video alone,but no,not even half that,not even 200 dollars,if you act right now and give me your name and e-mail address you can have this life changing software for only 97 dollars if you act right now and click the sucker button below.Try it free for sixty days and if you are not completely satisfied look at the phoney sticker I downloaded for a certified money back guarantee.Of course for the low price of 97 dollars,when you opt in I will immediately begin to up sell you for hundreds of more dollars,and if you click away I will immediately offer just a special deal to you.if you do not go with this I am sorry for you loser.That is how deep they are cheap and phony.They will rake you for every penny you have 99.9% of them.No originality to any any of it,an old repeat.They live in a bungalow in San Bernadino.You keep your hard earned cash and save it up to go to school and learn how to write html code or write a book or something.Or just keep your money.These videos are the dreck of artistic expression.They all have the same theme and storyline in one way or the other and will leave you sad and more broke than you were before.Check me and see if I am lying to you.

Have started work recording,laid rhythm tracks for an original,going to do the same for a cover.Have a huge problem amongst other huge prob's,the drummer I want to use has to undergo serious carpal tunnel surgery in his left wrist..Davy Boy,(David Hughes.)

"But it's been hard eh?" "Shite mate I knew going in that is was not going to be exactly a walk in the pretty park, if you want anything ye have to apply yourself to it.I have to thank many people for allowing me to crash on their couch or spare room,studio,laundromat,state park picnic tables and not toss me out into the cold.As an artist I never compromised.'Sigh,It's lookin' much like I ought to get a real job.or survive on dog food." I would have to admit,if ye be hungry enough a can of alpo with lamb and rice would become very tasty.With potato chips.A gypsy once to me about "wallpaper soup" from the old wheat paste wall paper.100% organic,no chemicals.No I never ate dog food,Gebers baby food was cheap and plentiful enough thank you very much.now they have raman noodles for starving artists.'Tis like eating at the ritz it is.3 for a buck laddie.You can get your single and film done and still enjoy three squares a day.in a crisis situation,those 49 cent "Vienna" sausages will become a delicacy.

In Memory of the recent passing of my dear friend and excellent session drummer/percussionist Bill Bland' I an for 48hours releasing two free downloads which feature his genius, "Teen America Theme" And Crawdaddy County 911." Bill is featured on drums and all things percussion on may of my tracks.Today I sadly mourn the loss of a dear friend and professional associate.

I thought I was going to fail,I tried so hard and failed so many times,I let down a lot of people that I love so much.Sally Robinson,surfer girl.My Nevada agent.She has got to say to you that Iam a motherfucker

My canvas,my playground,my asylum.It became the only place left where I could create.I had gotten much better on many more instruments than just the guitar,very competent on the piano and organs because that was what I was playing all of the time in church.The club scene and keeping a band together had played out for me.I had done that for such a long time dragging up a new band,rehearsing it up and takin' it out.When that group bummed out I would play for somebody Else's thing.Chat up some new people and get another band together.After a few months of work the band would get tight and then go up in smoke.In those days also there were a lot of places to play.Folks had jobs and had money so they would get out and about.Before the internet they would follow a band around.The tip jar was always full,that money was set aside for repairing and replacing equipment or an emergency,and we got paid without complaint,the club owners or restaurant,or pub...bottle club was banking big cash every night.Then the legal drinking age got spiked to 21 and the DUI thing spun out of control.The big money was now going to attorneys and judges and civic governments.After working your job all week you want to go out and relax,listen to a band,dance on the dance floor and have a few drinks,maybe get lucky with a girl.So you are going to get busted for dui on the way home and you drank four beers.No point to even discuss this,it is the way it is.You drink more than three beers and get stopped you are toast!I drink coca cola at gigs man.A good thing to do if you are going out to party is to order a pitcher of water.So you are not drinking alcohol all of the time.Saving you a lot of money and alcohol is water soluble,as in pissing the night away.And you will not smell like you have been drinking.Anyway after how many years on the road and whatever fun and craziness.I was now a single parent.I had to change.I could no way be out and about like I used to,I had to have a real home and live a real life.I had a baby to raise.I wanted out anyway,I do not want to be known for singing rolling stones songs on stage,I wanted to sing my songs.And when the baby is hungry you have to feed them,if sick they have got to go to the pediatrician,you have to play with and love them and take them to the park.Yet I still had to create.So in the studio I do not need to carry a band,I could do it all.I finally bought an acoustic guitar and wrote all of the songs on that,so I could do them onstage that way.Because one day I am going to have to sing and play for my supper.You do not buy my records and why should you,you can get them for free if you like them.I am happy that you like and listen to them.A nd with your support I could once again get a bad ass band together and do it all right.It is embarrassing to me yes,I think I have sold 20 songs on the internet.5000+ direct from the stage.My best sale was a yardnote for the last one I had,I was only charging a fiverr but the guy handed me a yard and said "Keep the change."I realized I had made it.One hundred bucks for one of my obscure cd's.I split that between the band that night.Oh if only they had held on for 6 more months.We would have been on a major label.But why would you want to be on a major label when you can have full control of your destiny?Own your own stuff to pass down to your children.If you are here right now you are my fan,I am your artist.thank you so much!

I have a great crew.Positive communication on ALL levels.No time for losers man.No head games,no ego trips,no star trips.No auto tuner.No expectations.No compromises,we play it straight and by the book,textbook.I have every reason to be very thankful about that,especially that it is full throttle,not watered down by compromise nor ass-kiss.it is so tasty.No shortcuts,It must be the highest.world class quality,the same a major label would deliver.Me as a star?Far from that matey,we are all just the crew here.We all eat at the taco wagon man.The project is a celebration of life.Oh yes I know your draggy thing,that I am supposed to fail.I have heard that time after time.It just bores me so."I am not with the right people here,it is close yet it ain't the right people."That is not to be bitter about about it,that also is a waste of time.and it will destroy you,make you get hung up in one place one the journey so you do not make the next move out ahead of the crowd.you are going to drink it,or drug it,or smoke your life away.Yer gonna fall down man.what the fuck happened to you,and you will have every excuse about it.'My people let me down,my wife left me,It is your life man,get over that shit and move on!Move ahead.Did you finally learn how to spot a phoney,how good is your drummer?"He blows my fucking face off,I thought that with my producer we had total control over a session until he walks in.All business man.

We are most probably talking a four track recording machine.At best an 8 track at RCA Hollywood,or some huge major label studio.A 16 track was surely unheard of.The trick of the trade for engineers in that day was "ping-ponging," recording and then stacking tracks on top of each other.Mixing the tracks down at the same time.All analog.Editing with a razor blade and scotch tape.No compression,noise reduction or "tape hiss" was in it's infancy,no dolby nor dbx.When you popped your fresh bought single or album,brand new onto the record player when the needle hit the grooves it would go snap,crackle, pop.And then the tune would play.Most records were in what they would call mono or single track playback between all speakers,mixed down to one channel.Or you could spend a few extra pennies and get a stereo two track mix which you could pan from left to right.With The Beatles all of the singing would be in the left channel and all of the music in the right.and you would receive a stern warning not to play a stereo record on a mono machine,"you would do irreparable damage to both the record and your machine."In truth it would just playback in mono.which was soon to be phased out,yet some of the greatest record producers like Phil Spector would only record in mono. A full orchestra in the studio under one overhead mic.The players provided the dynamics.Pretty cool man.

It's the same old song yet sung to a much different world with a much different meaning. The original "Poor Side Of Town" co-written By Johnny Rivers and Lou Alder almost did not see the light of day as the record label,Imperial,did not want to release it.Johnny Rivers success was based on him being a simple straight ahead rocker,this love ballad thing was to big of a change,"they won't buy it Johnny," Yet Mr.Rivers and Alder stuck to their guns and it went to Billboard #1 with a bullet in the midst of "The British Invasion." The production was a huge full monty with a full orchestra,back round chorus and the top LA session men of the day.All designed to fit into the tiny speakers of a transistor radio that blasted the tune on am to the summer beach people.A huge winner straight up from the opening sweet R&B guitar lick. So I am working with one hell of a great tune! Forward to the future-2012,I am sitting at Colorama Studio way out in the woods with a Rickenbacker 330 in my hands and a vocal mic leaning down on me.The engineer Les,says "Play something Frenchy" and I hit that lick.Just that,the same one you hear on the record.I sat there with my phones on waiting for a playback while Les And Kevin Knoll were talking and then in came the playback buzz 'Frenchy do you know that whole tune?Can you play and sing an acoustic track to it?""Yes." "ok lets go man!"Next thing I know I have a Gibson Hummingbird in my hand doing the rest of the tune,based upon that first lick,singing the lead vocal."Cool Frenchy,let's get some bass on that!Two parts went down,an electric five string and an acoustic upright double bass."We are really cooking Frenchy,go back to the Ric and do one more electric guitar."That's all that is happening is two guitar parts.Sometimes on my previous records there are 20 to 30 guitar parts.The bass is just super thick and that is what I brought to my producer Kenny @ progressive music to work with.There I laid the piano track and chorus vocals,Kenny did the Hammond organ and I blew the oboe solo.We had a very hard time with the live drums,the session guys just could not put the right feel on the tune.David Hughes took time out from his grinding schedule an set all straight.What a relief!And then Kenny,very quietly said,"We need to make a film of this, the shit state that the world is in today." So much different than 1966, and the world of security,2013 is a world of uncertainty.The survival of our free system is based upon a strong middle class and a strong labor force doing the work.A strong family structure.Family picnics.Not to just slide by,to enjoy the fruits of your hard work.You can take the handout that ain't going to get you anyplace but perm poor or you can take the step out and do something.I personally feel that it is the artists who have to step up.Maybe for a minute forget about the money.And just do it man!

Hitting you top dead center,all 24 valves kicking!Just a monster video going,and thanks so much for not letting me down.And just a flat out kick ass single.I owe many thanks to my cool friend Johnny Rivers.As well as quite a few spag dinners.I was really feelin' pretty hog -to -the -draws,like I was going to give up music and let what stands speak for itself.Just do some gigs every now and then,hit up some blues jams and blow the roof off of the place!Yet I thought,"kenny is so perfect to produce me.don'tI will go down to Abbey Road South and beg him to produce me,Beg him,not blow him.He would not allow me to beg,And I don't blow dudes,we are very longtime friends and business associates,So he sat down and started talking to me about his life.You know you have a dear friend when you don't see them for years and just pick up where you left off.Eventually I got to the point,"I want you to produce both my music and films."If you commit to doing a full album I will cut you a rate,but I have got to have fun doing this or all bets are off.He wrote the rate on a piece of paper.Putting a finger to his lips he said."I better have fun with this,I expect you to be at all times on top of your fucking game.I am not going to cut you any slack in both your performance and your acting.You have to come with your best man."He is the sole proprietor of Progressive Music And Media.I don't have a label deal I have a designer obsessed with quality.I reside in the company of brilliance.A child prodigy as a pianist,he also is now my pianist.Normally on my records I have always done the piano,yet to hear him play I forget all about playing the piano,I strum and whip up on my guitar and listen to him play the piano.For which he is going to have to go out on the road.Cause if you have got something going you are going to have to go out and play it live.If you were going to download the tune to your iPod and pay a buck for it that would be of such help.Then you would be a real fan.Our client if you will.Part of the team."In from the ground floor" if you will.So my producer has these qualities,he is a certified recording engineer and a musician.He has perfect hearing and pitch.He is buzzed on the project,he knows more than me what I sound like.He is also a film producer,he is going to draw out of me the best that I can do.Sometimes he can be so hard,yet sometimes so gentle,come out from the control room and sit on the floor and say "could you try it like this?Other times very harsh "come on reneboy,let's get in focus,where is the damn low e note,you call that scene intense,you look as fatal as last week's lettuce!"As long as he is not saying anything from the control room I am dropping a serious track.Yet he,more then me, knows what I sound like.How I sound.Wow! how lucky I scored!

The thing that had to be done was a banging acoustic track,playing lead and rhythm guitar at the same time to a click.That was done,it took two hours because of some changes to the arrangement my producer suggested.and he was expecting I would add more guitars,I felt that way too,until I heard the track.And how it mastered the click.I beat the living shit out of that box really bad.There isn't any room left for any other guitars,And that was just today's business you know?We had time left for me to drop the bass,just on my five string,no upright this time.Oh man he jumped down on my shit So bad,"here is where you ruin the song,busy,busy filling every hole.please give me that bass and let me show you how to play whole notes."And it clicked with me, I ought to know that."Where is the drummer going to play while you are doing all of that wasteful shit?Playing the bass like a guitar player ?I do not hear that shit at all dude!"This is the way a great producer speaks to you,you are dropping your part as he is getting together your sound.That big ass stuff that sounds nothing like the demo.He does get really pissed of when i go off the drift.I do not take it personally,I play it they way he wants to hear it.I smoke his fucking ass!The guitar track is out of this world.

My guitar is re-strung and being whopped up on in advance.I have to pound out a hard core 12 hour night shift and be in the studio first thing in the AM.It's tough yes but it is the only way it can be done.Buddy Guy would say "I did that for years man" and he did.My producer will be ready to stomp on me,this is a huge follow up,and it is original..."My Life Story."It's more important for this time for me to cut this track than anything.How good do you have to be?I have 3 seconds to capture your attention,that is what it is down to man,then you have to hold up that kind of quality all the way through,thread the needle as they say.Pay up the dues my friend.

"I don't think changed as much as more developed.It has grown.Spiking the R&B with a little bit of country rock has granted me a much younger group of listeners.My singing is more showcased than before.I still do 98% of all the music in the studio.So I am expressing myself in a lot of ways.And every completed project represents the overcoming of many hurdles.I have been around a long time yet I am not a big star nor a household name with big machinery and promotion.It's a struggle to stay in focus and get things accomplished.You have to produce a high level of quality to capture the attention of people for more than three seconds.This requires both persistence and tenacity with your skills at their highest levels.Then you also have to get lucky.

The film,"The Real Poor Side Of Town,"has smashed through to over 100,000 views!No part of it is anything short of awesome!The song or the scenes.The song is available for download here:https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/poor-side-of-town.../id626332610‎ You can watch this amazing film here:

No.let someone else do that.I do not think it would translate properly.There would be to many verbs.

Rocking to almost 9000 views! Check in here to check it out! http://youtu.be/QWjqOjDZZE4 Please like if you like it,vote and comment if you can! thank you

The indie thing is really starting to blossom.Artists can really do their own thing and make a way for themselves.It has to be quality though because you have to stand out in the crowd.

The last tune worked out very well and married a film.Yet it was a cover song.One likes to really stay away from those yet the concept of the film demanded it.Sometimes I just go to the studio to hang out and in doing some stuff on the piano my producer insisted on an original and that I get back into writing.I insisted that he take over on piano.So we did a run through last Thursday.Again the creative juices mustered up.I am quite competent as a pianist,he was reluctant to take over but I insisted he did.He is a genius,his work just blows me away!And frankly I am more into the guitar,singing,bass,and all of the other instruments.It is of good fortune to have a talent such as his on my recordings.And makes it much more fun and rewarding for him.Yes we have to create product and it is so hard to get anything across these days so I have got to have fun doing it or I would not bother.And the new tune is the story of my life.Stay with us my friends,the best is yet to come!Thank You!

This track was selected as a film soundtrack.Watch here for details on the film release.

My style is Rene Labre music.If you are my fan you know and understand that,and thank you.If you are not yet my fan you may learn something today.By and large I am a recording artist/new media artist.A songwriter from way back when.A product of the old school.A guitar hero back in the day.Yet I like to do more than that,I love to sing and play bass.Play my guitar to the moonlight.Play live in honky-tonks way out in the woods.Or by the swimming pool of some rich guy.Sing a special song at a wedding."What vein are you in?"I hate to answer that question because I can't answer it,what if I said Gershwin?Rogers and Hammerstein....CCR?Charley Daniels,Willie Nelson.Monk...Charlie Parker..The Rolling stones,Supertramp?Eric Brewer?All of the above!The Doors.Why do I have to pick a slot?Do me a favor,you pick the slot.My original music is gulf coast,beach boy.I write about what goes on here.So in comes that country,I just got to make that guitar twang!G-d help me please!

I apologize,I am supposed to be doing an album,it just doesn't work out that way.Anyone on the inside would not deny that I put an album's worth of work into the single,easily.you have to remember that I am playing and singing all of it.As an indie it is to my advantage to have to wait for studio availability,so I get discounted rates and can go in a work under less pressure.And one tune to the next could be a complete change of style and approach.Most of the time it is.And that is a chancy thing to do.Yet I get influenced by everything.And I don't want to just get stuck in one thing.Ahh,maybe,if you wanted to hear me play a thing live,I would play it for you,you are my audience who pays my bills.Buys my crazy little singles.On the clock I will sing to you any song you want to hear and thank you!

"What Is Holding Up The Film release?" Licensing issues that have to be dealt with in advance.The soundtrack is a new media version of a cover song.As executive producer I have to handle the administrative "mundane" publishing duties.If you are releasing a vid with a cover you haven't cleared you can really get zapped.So if you release to quick you can find yourself going "Whoops! I ought to have thought of that!"rolling out a film of your fave local band doing a cover I don't think you much have to worry about that.The venue has already paid the royalties to ASCAP/BMI,but a production is a different animal.You have to credit and pay royalties to the songwriter and publisher.That is how the thing works so your channel does not get shut down and you can keep your fanny out of court.It is much cheaper to pay up and credit.Then the sync license,the grail if you will,HFA will not even deal with it,you have to contact the publisher and tell them what you are doing and why.They cannot refuse a mechanical license,they can refuse a sync,or charge you any fee they want to.They may want to preview it before you release to make sure it is in good taste.Perhaps the songwriter does not want their material shown in a bad light and they can say no.As a songwriter myself I would like that option.The best way to approach a publisher is to have the mechanical in place.You have bought them a grand spag dinner,Their tune is going to live one more life.I only cover the best.In my country in a copyright infringement lawsuit,you will be facing down The United States Attorney.I do not want to do that.I should not have to,I paid Johnny Rivers and his publishers his royalties to date.It is all good.

"What Is Holding Up The Film release?" Licensing issues that have to be dealt with in advance.The soundtrack is a new media version of a cover song.As executive producer I have to handle the administrative "mundane" publishing duties.If you are releasing a vid with a cover you haven't cleared you can really get zapped.So if you release to quick you can find yourself going "Whoops! I ought to have thought of that!"rolling out a film of your fave local band doing a cover I don't think you much have to worry about that.The venue has already paid the royalties to ASCAP/BMI,but a production is a different animal.You have to credit and pay royalties to the songwriter and publisher.That is how the thing works so your channel does not get shut down and you can keep your fanny out of court.It is much cheaper to pay up and credit.Then the sync license,the grail if you will,HFA will not even deal with it,you have to contact the publisher and tell them what you are doing and why.They cannot refuse a mechanical license,they can refuse a sync,or charge you any fee they want to.They may want to preview it before you release to make sure it is in good taste.Perhaps the songwriter does not want their material shown in a bad light and they can say no.As a songwriter myself I would like that option.The best way to approach a publisher is to have the mechanical in place.You have bought them a grand spag dinner,Their tune is going to live one more life.I only cover the best.In my country in a copyright infringement lawsuit,you will be facing down The United States Attorney.I do not want to do that.I should not have to,I paid Johnny Rivers and his publishers his royalties to date.It is all good.

So now What?...The final details are going on the current film,licenses,ect,it is almost ready to release plus I am composing the soundtrack to the next project.My producer eased me away from doing other people's material right now.There is talk of the film becoming a series yet it is too early to tell about that.some healthy live dates are coming in from The Blue man kicking up the pace around here a bit.The creative sparks are good,it's all on a clean new slate.For a long time I was dragging around a bunch of shit with me,personally and professionally.A huge tax bill was hanging over my head as well.so now I am not coming down from the clouds as a rockstar but coming out of the same life as you,as everyman.A normal everyday working class Joe.So I can write related to that.I am going to turn on the tape machine and do a few more passes of the tune.I will be releasing soon,I hope that you enjoy it.

This is the professional way to do it.If you are going to sell the song you need a mechanical.If you are producing a video you need a sync.Your bases are covered.You have taken the time and effort to produce a thing you want to release.You are putting out a couple of extra bucks to INSURE that your own interests are covered.Perhaps your thing is really taking off well and it gets pulled or you get sued.A copyright infringement suit is a nasty piece of business.It’s your life and you can do whatever you want,yet ignorance of the law is not a defense in a courtroom.And I am talking a professional project here.If you are just doing stuff for fun or shot a video of a band you really liked at a club doing a cover song and you posted it,your not hoping to monetize it,I don’t think you would have to worry to much,If it takes off you just may have to sign some papers giving the rights and credits to the actual owners.They get the free advertisement! Yet for a project that is commercial,the licensing fees are pennies on the dollar you make.You have to buy the songwriter and publisher a very nice spag dinner and they will toast you instead of roast you! I hopes this helps you and good luck! Read more: Wait! Don’t post that music video on YouTube without a sync license! – Comments Page 1 http://blog.discmakers.com/2012/04/wait-dont-post-that-music-video-on-youtube-without-a-sync-license/comment-page-1/#comment-12357#ixzz2JZINV8N2

That is my current recording agreement with my producer.12 tracks.I have been trained as a singles artist,now I can expand some,broaden the depth of it.Not having to conform to the standard of a broadcast radio hit.Do what I want to do.So far so good.I am going to drop 12 hits.No limitations,state of the art recording science.Bring into it some other artists I admire and let you get to know them.A brand new canvas.

I stayed after my shift to make a very simple request to my supervisor,a thing for her to please consider,I have what would would considered a good job in America today,far below my skill level and education yet I need to have it and am thankful for it.Am very adept at it too.My son as well is on board as a major player.The main objective that my supervisor wanted to relate to me was that I was an idiot,although my company makes major use of my ideas at many turns,of course not giving me credit for them yet I was spoken to like I was a baboon that had not reached the same level of evolution,as though I walked into the office on my knuckles.I posses a bachelors degree in business management,that was my major.I minored in English for 4 years plus my regular schooling,I have a very strong command of the English language as well as French,Spanish,and German.More important than that I am an adroit gentlemen and a skilled artist and respected scientist in the recording arts.Completely condescended upon.Spoken to as though I was a feeble idiot,just a simple "yes Rene, I will consider your request" would have been fine yet it was not that, I had to consider that I was a low watt idiot which I will by no means consider.I would consider my treatment to be very gauche actually.The request I had submitted had already been granted to another employee that was worthy of it and I am happy for them,that  was all that had to be said,I have got my spot,I was simply making an inquiry.For that I was spoken to as though I were a dolt,an imbecile if you will and all of this silly false intrigue and drama had to be kicked into it.And I was to except the fact that I am a dolt and leave the office walking upon my knuckles."be gone dolt,leave imbecile!"Let us take a look at the core character I find @my company,just this local division is going to top out this year at seven mil after taxes and expenses.The profit margin.My final essay and college term paper was about "The Social Responsibility Of A Successful Business in It's community."In savouring it's success what did it return to it's community in terms of any form of social advancement? A new little league ball park,College sponsorship,YMCA memberships for needy kids,a community theater,even simply to just adopt  the roads around it to pick up the trash everyday,assist in funding free meals for the unfortunate, support the local symphony orchestra,contributed to St Judes Hospital for children??No....not one damn penny,they took the money and ran.And at the same time laid the footprint of the character of their business.For all to see.Me..me...and all me.Gimme mines,"I am a pillar of integrity."Really?Enjoy your day today because it is all you have..."There are no golf courses in Hell

Doing Background voxes and an oboe solo.

Yes.Right now the soundtrack.We are building the storyboard around the soundtrack.Most times the film is done and then they place the music to it.

Yes sir!My session drummer pounding it out!The Rene Labre Group oh so alive and well!"I want you to beat the living shit out of that kit!"IDK,the home studio thing is just not the same as a live session in a major recording studio with a brilliant producer!A professional engineer,a quarter of a million dollars of sonic spaceship equipment.The finest money can buy.Setting off with soft explosions!I want the shit beaten out of that kit.

Back in the day most groups started off doing cover material.When you are just starting out playing clubs and dances you need to play the songs people want to hear unless you have one hell of a trick going.This holds true even in the digital age where a real kick ass cover will place you online in front of the original artists audience.Yet you better have your tack on full because there are going to be 3000 gleeps covering it,2 or 3 of them may be worth a mention.Johnny Gleep was more than happy that he got 300 views.Hey "go johnny go!"

Lazy people,especially the one's who come forth with a very showy half effort.It is like smoke in my eyes!If I want to check out an actor I watch a film or get a date and go to a play.Oh they lean so hard on that half effort and you are busy doing what you do completing tasks and you also have to pick up on this halfass thing and complete that too.They drop something and you come over to help them pick it up and they walk away.To the next project they will complete halfway.Oh and they appear busy busy,this is not teamwork it is co-dependency.They do half of the job and then goof off whilst you are finishing the task.It buys them time to drink on the clock and whatever..I say leave all of their half assed shit to sit.Their name is on it.do not finish it for them.

It is one of my oils,a female nude.The Mona Lisa now has a rival.It was submitted to me by the creative department as an album cover.Yes I understand that those of you who are of lewd bass will misinterpret it.This is not a whore,simply a beautiful woman,this ought to hang in the Louve! Today it hangs here.

Yes.but I did not want to release it.I am right now recording another.The business right now is in too much of a state of flux.Once you release you are tagged with a street date like it or not,and in the free music culture you are going to get ripped off at every turn anyway.So instead of releasing it on the net I would prefer to sell a limited number of copies right from my website ONLY!I live within 3 miles of an excellent CD Manufacturer who does mastering and high speed glass on site.Thus I can do "Made to order replication" personally sign them and the office will mail them out to you,we will pay for the shipping in orders from the US.3 to 5 days unless you want it expedited all the way to overnight.For overseas orders paypal will calculate your shipping costs.stuff of mine that gets downloaded from the net for free or through a service is not the highest quality,it is mp3 files or some conversion of it and even with the conversion it is an mp3 compressed file being converted.You want a physical copy complete with original artwork direct from the glass master.It is automatic 2 for one,you will receive the signed copy with a personal sticky note from me,this version has been listened to by a staff member to make sure it plays right and then you get your free back up copy in the shrink wrap,untouched.We are going to use paypal for this,that way you know we do not have your credit/debit cards on our files.And the whole thing is real smooth.a stolen download does not have the same quality because it is a fake.it is compressed.you cannot take that compression off of it either.Or do you want the blow up version?Just as we heard it when we finished mastering it?Test me on this buy the CD and then download a stolen copy of it and you will see the stolen copy is Lo-fi,especially in surround,it will drop in and drop out.then load up the single speed glass master you bought for ten bucks and hear all of it the way my most excellent producers intended it to be heard!When you crank it up it goes,no voltage drop occurs.No phase shifting.At max volume it rings just as clear as a bell.Your free mp3 download could not handle this kind of stress.A little piece of 128 kPS?That ain't what we were hearing at the final mix.

Thanks to my fans.Sticking onboard through the ups and downs of rock and roll.

Yes that has got to be so because you are not going to make it with a loser,this gane is too rough,they are going to drag you down and then let you down.It also requires that you are working a plan.The first thing any business must be able to do is have a business plan before they can approach anyone about serious financing in a project.The plan,if you follow it helps to take your emotions out of the equation.Your emotions ill-used can sink you.You can take a moment to see how well your impulsive outburst is going to fit into the plan.Losers have impulsive outbursts all the time.You have to be able to rely on people when things get tight.Not co-dependency,reliability.

Kenny Veenstra from Progressive CD's.Recording at his studio, Abbey Road South.This was a great find for me.A great musician,producer,engineer videographer and film editor/producer.Has owned for 30 odd years one of the worlds finest CD duplication and creation houses.Progressive CD'S.A very long track record of honest success.A very fine example of a human being as well.If you desire to be successful it makes sense to associate with those that are successful.It is a good aura and a synergy.People that are committed to see a thing through,sharing and complementing your vision.It serves to put you on your good foot too.So you come with your best.And this is the music biz you understand,it is easy to fall in with about any kind of loser you can think of.Who will ALWAYS let you down at the crucial moment.The pro's are different.It makes the work fun and the struggles not so important,um...you are working with a higher level of intellect.The great majority of musicians live in fantasy land.For the pro's it is how the rent is paid and dinner is put upon the table.If you cannot hustle you better get out of here!And it's okay you know,you can still play music with a band on the weekend and have some good fun.Or just hang out and jam.You can quit anytime you want to,it is not your life mission so to speak.If it is then you have got to make some contacts with like-minded individuals.You have to stay on course.Persistence is what pays off.That and learning how to duck!This goes through all levels,who is the local band that is always working?I want to play with them.They are motivated and hustling.They draw a consistent following to their gigs.it is a different thing to have all of your high school buddies show up for a gig.One night,or to have them follow you for 30 years.That is the group I will be working with.And still come to cause you have got to be doing your own thing.You can't lay back on them.You have to make time for what YOU do.Plus deal with everything else that comes to you in life.After all of that if you can do anything substantial that is pretty remarkable.

That my producer Tom Morris would have his black Les Paul returned to him.it is a part of the items stolen in a massive heist Of Morrisound studios In Tampa bay.Tom is such a wonderful human being and it would make him so happy!Whoever your are that is holding it please give it back.Tom has done a lot of miracles for a lot of people.Make a miracle happen for him.Thank you!

No,I have a large one yet even I don't want to bug anybody until I have a project ready.On blogs and stuff that is okay,lettin' you know what up.But as far as addressing you with an e-mail,or sharing your info without your permission,never done.When I have a project finished I will let all of you know.I had a very swell month of great responses,Thank you so much!...Ren

I am rehearsing the slide guitar solo for the current project.Prob I will go over it a couple thousand times before I cut it.Breaking it down to say what I mean with the fewest notes possible.And a wicked trick to boot!I want to just focus upon that.The solo may just make the whole tune.I choose not to think to much more beyond that right now.I think I am going to pull out my multi-vox little David on it. on it.Now where did I put my slide?I know it is here somewhere.

Moving in to the finish line on this tune.Set the drums and do percussion tracks plus a slide guitar solo.very busy day.This leaves one more session for the chillin' harmonies.One year and five months,it's the lead single for the new album and a film soundtrack.It became way more complex with multiple versions being done at the same time.And as an indie in tough times you have got to scrimp and save your little pennies to keep a project as a reality.It is so easy to lose your focus with all of the info flying around.I am not into home recording per se,in the penthouse I use two reel to reel vintage tape decks to lay out ideas,a teac and an akai and just record straight into them.I prefer the warmth of analog to thin digital.The original engineers had it right the first time.Digitally you have to compensate,for guitar work it is a must to use an Avalon pre amp,even for the acoustic work.This pumps you up a big fat signal that re formats for pro-tools.Oh man! Such a clean machine!Now your guitars are analog thick,especially the lows and mids which you are going to lose without an Avalon when you move to post production.Yes in the big studio monitors it will all be there yet when you switch to the small average speakers of the typical listener it goes way thin.The guitars are very subject to phase cancellation,other things going on in the tracks in terms of digital,which is anti-ambiance will override and cancel out guitar frequencies.Thus you want to have a very high gain signal that you can back off.A properly formatted signal that pro-tools will read to specification.Then you mix it down till it fits.You can't boost a weak signal.All you can boost is how thin it is.It sounds cheap and clinical.

I can show you how to do this as an Indie,and if your material is judged as up to standards by my promoters I can Guarantee you results.I will put you on the road to getting your song to radio,across the nation.Charting you up with the biggest acts in the business.It is very possible that this could lead to a big score for you.And I can tell you that you cannot do it yourself,sending your song to radio stations without the correct channels is a waste of your time and money,your CD is going to be thrown in the trash.It is not going to be listened to,it is not going to make airplay. There are a lot of people that are going to make you promises on this yet not deliver you the results you need.You ought to be receiving weekly reports on Tuesday's,which is add days for all stations.and you ought to be able to speak on the phone with your promoter to discuss strategy's for promotion.You ought to have a list of the stations giving you spins and the contact info for the program director.After you press your Cd you need to have someone do your mailings for you.You send the bulk Cd's to them and they do the mailing.When THEY do the mailing it is recognized by the stations that this is a serious project.If you are that serious and have the means together contact me,my fee as a consultant is contingent upon the fact that the radio promoters accept your project as commercially valid.In that event I charge you a one time fee of 200 dollars.

Yes but it is kind of funny because when I was younger I would never use them,I would do it the hard way.I though capo's were for pussies.After I hit Nashville and your playing with a banjo in an open G tuning you are kind of dead in the water without a capo.As you transpose keys you still get that wide open chime sound better than a closed barre chord.Plus for vocals an A flat/or sharp may be a better key,I may have a better range on that tune there but the guitar may not sound it's best because that is a weird key,B flat too... I mean I could do it yet it would be all closed chords.So you transpose it real easy with a capo.A Good example would be "The Sinners Prayer" which is in the key of C,for the acoustic slide part I tuned the guitar to an open C in the first position,In the first position the strings were so loose it barely made any sound at all but I wanted the slide to be an open tuning,that part was a straight up improvisation and I thought "oh dear what to do?" So I took out my capo and clamped it at the octave C,second position, and it fit perfectly.I could whizz around all that I wanted and it all worked.

I have my own style I think and can hold my own pretty well.I did All of the guitar work on my records except for (oo) (oo) which had Andre Mack And Gary Lefkowith performing on it also,and they were a blast to work with.Yet other than that all of that guitar work belongs to me.So that is to speak for itself.And I prefer it to be that way.So I am confident,yes I have become multi-instrumental.First by necessity and later by choice.Yet instrumentally the guitar is my home base.I can sit down and play it for twelve hours.As far as ratings against other guitarists that is kind of silly.I appreciate and enjoy other great guitar players,there are guys I know that you have never heard of that are just out of this world with it.You hear them on film scores and such and they command 3 thousand dollar session fee's.I will listen to Joe Pass and just go WTF? I dig jazz (real Jazz) a lot yet never explored that style so I don,t know what those guys are doing,I just listen and dig it.I don't bother to try and figure it out.I just appreciate it.I am happy and confident in what I do and will deliver the goods.

What do you mean,I auditioned them and I hired them.And I was very happy with my decision.I am Rene Labre yet the three of us are The Rene Labre group.Nobody has quit,nobody has been fired.We do not always see eye to eye on everything,sometimes we have horrible fights even.Yet they are for the purpose of the big picture you see.I write a tune even yet they tell me the best way I ought to play it.Both of them are world class musicians and singers,as well as writers and arrangers..We may go from one minute of a very nasty dispute to laughing and joking around.And you would to listen to it think we were going to kill each other.Chip was the most downplayed part because Marvin and I are so outrageous.Chip too onstage,a master showman yet in rehearsal he wanted it played and sung just like that.So Marvin and I were going to learn today.We would go out on the road and do our show and that lynch mob stuff is for real.I will post you some pics of the bus,we had to get back to T-Town.We wanted to head out on the road and end up in Chicago.We really wanted to re-locate there.We did not have a good manager.We did have good agents.Right now I am solo.

Yes,concentrating more upon it,having much more fun with it.I spend much more time working on it though,in my spare time if I ever have any I am usually hanging out with singers from other bands and we are always strumming up a sing-song to have some fun.Usually rolling into the wee hours on the morning.Meeting up after shows or going to eachother's shows if we get done early.I am always working upon it though,whatever I may be doing I am singing.You might think that getting together with a bunch of singers would be a huge ego problem but it is not and everyone is stretching it out as far as it can go and you appreciate and admire what everyone can do.You harmonize together and all kinds of stuff.You have to because you can get real rusty in a hurry if you are not working it.I still am doing the lion's share of the music on the recordings.Always have yet the decisions in the earlier recording were more based on what music was to be done and the vocals fell into line with that.Now it is what is going to be sung and the music falls in line with that.I do commercial jingles at a low watt FM station,that music is already done and I just walk in and sing.It is a real fun thing and pretty challenging because i don't have an arrangement per say to sing,just the written script to sell tiles or cars or whatever.The 20 bucks an hour goes a long way to help with the bills but the program director wants two jingles done an hour.One day I may release an album called "The greatest jingles album" based on the sales results.It is most of all a really fun and sincere radio crew to hang with.And this is regional,not global work at least at this time.But it is real prostuff nonetheless.In my life I have in certain sold several multiple millons tons of liquor and beer singing in the clubs.Sometimes you may only play to six or seven people and the clubowner is still pretty happy 30 people came in at midnight after the bowling league let out and stayed until closing.Oh thank you Lord,and the original six or seven people stayed all night too!If you are working a club playing your music what you are really doing is selling booze.That determines whether you are going to be paid without complaint or stiffed.And perhaps asked for a return engagement.So if I sing to sell booze and sell millions of tons of it,why not tires,ect...And it was not work to me,well,yes it was because you have to be a pro,you must show up on time and be in shape to deliver the goods.Being able to adapt yourself so you can pull in the same direction with everybody else on a given project,that makes things go smooth.Success requires synergy, a weak link is of no help to anyone,and if you just want to walk around an be an asshole to everybody,times are rough,How many of you know that you do not stop working until the day is over?You can only make hay whilst the sun is shining,while it is day in your life you have got to work because nightime is coming to your life.It might not be this saturday night or this year,but it IS COMING.You young folks may not understand what the grown-ups are not telling you,that you to one day before you know it are going to grow old.you are going to become if you are blessed that geezer that you once scoffed at.The beautiful thing about being young,if you are blessed and healthy is the amount of time that you view that you still have.As your body hold up you will begin to think that you are always going to remain young and honey you ain't going to do that.Your wonderful and fresh young friends are also going to grow up with you.How we all stuck together when we were young,were able to rely and depend upon eachtother,how easy we could share our empathy with eachother.Then one by one we became adults with different priorities,I want to place my family first.And then people we knew began to die.And oh how we miss them when they are gone.How we wished they were still alive just to call on the phone or send an e-mail to say Hi,I miss you!Then have them write back.That is what the grown ups are not telling you.It is hard for them to handle it too becuase when you are young you think you're going to escape it yet you are not.and you will be very fortunate to even find one good friend to be there and relate to you.you have to forgive the grown ups and your parents,we observe the fire of your youth and remember when you know?the thing we lost you see was the empathy that we once had for eachother when we felt we had to become adults with FEARS of what might happen.Pretty good post tonight huh?Thank you for hanging with me tonight,I know that you are out there and I love and miss you.Try if you can not to look down to much on someone that is struggling,tomorrow that may be you.The more that we can do a little bit even to lift eachother up the better.I told you oh so the truth tonight my brothers and sisters,my beloved.if you want to test me go to a local edlerly nursing home and take a look.And every ancient culture had respect for their elders.The one's that cleaned you butt and poopy diaper everyday.Ahh...it ain't so bad really to change your baby.You clean them up and polish and powder their little fanny and they are so comfortable and happy.Probably hungry too..I am very happy,my son has come back around to being my tightest pal.I don't know even if you can imagine Dad your son son coming around as a man to knock on your door because he missed you and wanted to just have a chat with you.I speak to my son and he speaks to me,with me hanging on his every word and the sparks of the words are like that when a hammer makes a perfect strike upon an anvil.(The American Impact Logo).It causes a spark.TO START ANYTHING YOU FIRST MUST HAVE A SPARK!Boom,Boom,Boom,Boom/Thank you!I was always into the singing yet as time goes on you get more and more into it.

After you have done all that you can do in the production of a recording session,it has been concieved,it has been recorded,it has been mixed,you turn up the studio moniters to hear the tune in it's premier state but you are not quite finished.You have got to master it.The final and permanent tweak.some studios may house mastering labs,most do not.If you have come this far does it not make sense to go a couple of extra hundred bucks to etch the tune,to capture that final mix forever?The object you want to send to the pressing plant is not a cd of the final mix to duplicate,or to make available for download sales or streaming,you want to etch it on pure crystal glass.A single speed glass master.Aw sure I know you may scoff at your humble good teacher about this.When I ought to be charging you for this knowledge.I am a very respected scientist in many quarters,this process makes your session "industry standard."this does not mean that it is a major label high dollar session,what it means is no matter how it is heard,through whatever medium known or to become known,it is going to reproduce faithfully the final mix.The final mix enhanced by the maximum EQ levels.The icing upon the wonderful cake.Sure,a great song is a great song but how do you want it to be interpretated by the listener?I am deadly serious about what I do,I don't fuck around with anything.That stuff has got to be right.Even the outakes are mastered.You have already bet your ass on it.For a couple of extra bucks you buy insurance to hedge your bet.The final mix was pumping,champagne flowed in the control room,you had the world by the ass.In the mastering lab you are sitting very quietly,not rocking your head back and forth,the room is sonically designed to the highest spec for listening.Your tech has perfect pristeen hearing and a very strong engineering backround."Creme de la creme."Specialists.They hear everything going down on your final mix.you are hushed,you dare not make a sound.The adjustments to the EQ are milli-second tweaks.You can hear everything that was done on your session.The whole is greater than the sum of all of it's parts.Say for instance on the web,wherever you hear it however it sounds the same.Real bad-ass just like you want it.It jumps up off the tracks!If you do not master your final mix may sound horrific to you on internet radio.If you are really into recording arts and science you find out about "formatting."Now it is mathmatic in three ways,algebraic,plane geometry,and physics.Algebriac in terms of whatever you do to one side of the given equasion you have to equally do to the other.(Stereophonic).Plane geometry,you must set up the appropriate space for what is called "Headroom" plus the ambience of all of the parts.Some frequencies can only hold a limited amount of sound,if you have to many things hogging one frequency "phase cancellation" will occur,the mixing board and recording machine will decide that,which frequency from what it shall pick.And then physics, which is mathematical balance of opposing elements in relation to time and space.For example the setting of the intonation of your guitar is pure physics.why is my instrument in tune in this position and out of tune up an octave?I master my recordings.You ought to do that too.

The lead single has taken quite a bit of time to come together,it was suppose to be finished by 2011 yet the production went through so many changes and personally it was a very challenging year.Not to say it was all bad,I got stabalized in a lot of areas.The recorded work I turned in on the project is some of my best coming up as a soundtrack to a film project.My preference is turning more towards behind the scenes work in the areas of production and publishing.More rewarding and less hectic.

I searched them out from all over the place.They were the outstanding ones.They all wanted to record serious.To do something original.

God forgive me,I first have to to thank my Mother.My best soldier.I have to do that because it would not have happened without her.This was how she wanted it to be.She insisted from my childhood that I be a serious musician,later on my sister insisted that I become a serious singer.On her deathbed I played my Mom my rock and Roll and she started dancing,how shw loved it! And she laughed and said "It is going to take a miracle for you to make it."m good with that,I know it is true.I did my best and I stand upon it.It is my works.It all has been very hard to do.I was not a pleasure cruise,I got my share of kicks to the face but I came through.You can't just play this at your desk,you have got to live it.You must be up for the hunt to do what thou whilst.You must show up on time and deliver it.God understood all of this but my Mother was just a human being.She put off her dream,which she could have done for mine.Yet she demanded excellence.My dearest sister was all on to me about being a singer.Which later became where it was at.I was the top pupil in my voice classes I tell you.That was after 12 years on the road by the way.People wanted to hear me sing more than anything else I could.At first it was all original meterial.Then came the covers but we own the copyrights of those cover versions.Dig that if you can,And the covers were done the same as the originals.Just as much time and attention was put into it.But I holthe exclusive rights of my cover versions.Yes I still have to pay the original writers and their publishers their royalties yet if my version of the cover is used they have got to pay me.It is of no matter legally who wrote and published the original tune.

Yes.More and more,Colorama has one in the studio which is great,Sam Ash,actually the warehouse helped me out on "American Idol" with an under the table rental,An even decent one is a three to five thousand dollar instrument.I would not want to use one outside of the studio enviornment,I live in a very humid place most of the year so tuning is a nightmare cause the fretboard is going to sweat and to carry one around man you need a whole minivan just for the bass.I got into it when my son was a philharmonic student and had his school one at home so I got familiar with it.In the studio I will do on a tune 3 to 4 composite bass tracks with one on double bass complete.Then pick and choose with my producer.Through years of roadwork I really got into the bass.Guitar players do not play bass very well,they play it like a guitar which it is not.

I am devasted to have learned tonight of the passing Of Michelle Parisianne (Michelle Rene Lanham) at age 28 from breast cancer.She was the sweetest kid you could imagine her mother introduced her to me through a friend with a desire for me to break her into the music business.She was 16 at the time.At 17 she was working regularly onstage with us as a featured perfomer,the guys all loved her,her talent on many occaisions reduced the audience to tears.We have several impromptu recordings of her onstage with us,She was only featured on one master session "American Idol Audition."That song went number one one the american idol underground radio show.2 weeks after our backers pulled the plug on our first national tour.Her mother then died a very tragic death which she took very hard.She disappeared after that.We searched yet could not find her.How she loved to sing and perform,it was everything to her.Very professional even at 17,tea-total,did not smoke nor do drugs,that makes it even sadder for me to think about.I am in the process of assembling all of the material that I can on her.There is a video of her final recording session shortly before her death.Her spirit departed this world on July 15,2011.Rest in peace Dear Princess.

She is my baby,she is my mom,and she is my beautiful girl.I always know that when I get home I am gonna be okay.I am her artist.She is not going to permit me to fail.How my heart leaps for joy when I see her again out of a plane window.She missed me so much and was worried about me.I have to tell her"Mommy it's okay,I am home."I don't worry to much about anything when I get home.I am her artist,I belong to her.I will never stray.I am "Frenchy" they holler out my name everywhere I go.From St Augustine to Key West all the way over to Pensacola.Everyone knows or has heard about who "Frenchy" is.I tried to escape and flee to Nashville but even they sent me home."You are a Florida artist.Go home."That is why I sound different,why I am different.

Most artists do not, a rare few do.The two reasons that rate the highest,Quality and the depth of your production.The scope of it.And I was quite determined to produce myself,enjoyed the expierence tremendously yet came to find out very clearly,my shortcomings and wealnesses.Things that I needed to work on.Through this though I learned a lot.I do so much on my records that it is hard for me to be honestly objective about them.I love all my children as they say.I have to put on so many different identitties.Classic and wonderful MPD.I want to savor the expierence of every cut to the fullest,The world may not choose to ever hear it no matter of what I can deliver as an artist,so I have to dig it as I may be the only one that ever does.What an irony to release a thing that the world loves and you detest?You don't want to perform it nor ever listen to it.Your big hit is a bastard step-child to you.Some feel I felt this way about (oo)(oo) and I did not.I was in the end most fortunate to have such a fine producer.I consider it to be a great wisdom on my part to have given him almost and completely total control.To have the honor to work with this guy,the master and go-to guy for digital recording shortcuts,the expierence of doing a totally major label style of production.The demos had two other marvelous writers join in before we even began to record.The tune was upon completion decidedly different from our original idea.We were tapped to do our best,perfection.Mike agreed to do the session because he knew he was going to have a fun time doing it.And he did.Gary Lefkowith is also producing for the same reason.We walked away with a fifty-sixty thousand dollar production for 5 grand.Plus the expenses of taking the band to NYC and put them up.So sadly,the band was very pissey about it,resistant to it in every way,thinking they could cop his genius and do it on a home studio.Good Luck with that.Yes the totally sound,idea,and concept of the tune was changed in every way.Which is what I was paying for and expected.And was hand delivered.I had such an awesome time doing it.They loved the awesome talent of my fantastic band understanding their feelings as well and I was very proud of my boys.Despite all they came through like top LA session men.Yet you know poo-poo on all of that shit.I wish somebody would have paid my way to NYC to do a session like this.This was the right guy for what the project needed to have and also the way it needed to be done.We had to adapt to that no matter of the sacrifices we would have to temporarily make.What an awesome tune!A perfect combination of R&B and hard rock.What we would sound like as a major label heavy hitter.at the end of the day if i walked into a Bar and it was playing on the jukebox I would say "Turn it up please" not "Turn it off."Does it not register with you the genius producers,certified,love to work with me and do so at rates way far reduced from their normal rates.They are rough boys too,they do not go in for any bullshit.They if necessary, even dress me down so that I get humble and real.I don't respond with an ego trip,I fall into my place.They all have different approaches and so I choose the best guy for a project. Making me not a beggar but a chooser,yet I will beg to get the right cat on board.I pleaded in tears to Tom Morris.Oh thank you God,I was a completely broken human being.My stuff just jumps right off the tracks out at you.He set the volume and tone knobs on the guitar as well as the amp.It is the work in my life that was better even then the pleasure.In recording you may set up a sound that is kind of weird,but after mixing you are going to go to mastering.You get to the final mixdown and you think that that is it and it is not,and that shit is jammin' yet if you do not master it can be subject to a lot of interpretation.Cause it will not always play the same way.You may go from the final mix to setting up mp3's,why did you go this far and not finish it off?You have already forked out the money.If your producer can not matser for you you can with ease find a good lab to do it for less than 5 hundred bucks.I ought to be charging you money to even tell you this.When your tune is mastered it plays out the same way every time no matter of what device is reproducing it.You have someone with perfect pitch hearing fine-tuning the highs,mids,and lows,separating and panning it.Single glass mastering,yes you are cutting upon the finest grade of glass.Laboratory spec stuff.At high speed.Blowing up the wonderful final mix you so loved and making it forever this way.If you do not do this final step you may hear your tune online and go "where is the guitar solo?I cannot hear the drums,what happened to the five part harmony voices?I only hear two parts!This is how my friends,the big dogs run."If you can't run with the big dogs you have to stay on the porch with the puppies!" What is the motto of the big dogs? "We live to play,and we play to live!"I am giving away vital secrets here.so you may learn from them.I love my work and all of the challenges that go along with it,all of the sacrifices.If you are dedicated in this way you will find that you are somehow working with good and brilliant people that you can place your trust in.You went in thinking about it like this,but came out sounding like that.Fully developed.You have got to leave the fantasy people behind you.When you most need them they will not be there and this is only human.It ain't a thing that is for everybody.For musicians,you want to hook up with the killers.Full time players who have dedicated their lives to playing music.Quite different from the life of glamour that you may have imagined it to be,much dedicated hard work,tons of never ending long travels.But the minute you hit the stage you let them know what you are all about.Harder and so much harder as you grow older,you have got to begin to take really good care of yourself.Yet that is another story for my book.I am writing to you right now from the road actually.In my hotel room waiting to go on tonight.I am going to go for a swim and get ready to go on.

My producers are very hard upon me about this.That is what they expect me to deliver as an artist.Some artists can clown around in the studio a lot and they get away with it because that is how they work.Which is all good.I do not get away with any of that with my producers.Oh man it is so serious-they expect perfection and pull that out of me.I am fearful to arrive at a session not warmed up and versed on what I am going to do.I can get loose and joke around a lot until that red recording light goes on.If I get funny then I get a strong repremand."This is not fun and games Rene,this is your life."As an artist I love it.I am shown possibilities and directions I may not have concieved.The guys I work with are always to cut it down to the least possible amount of notes to get the fullest and most impacting expression.I asked for it,I am not a fool,I begged them to produce me.I sat in tears at Tom Morris's desk asking him,pleading with him to produce my sessions."Rene,you don't have to cry,I will be happy to produce you." Then they crack the whip,they expect nothing less than perfection from me.That is the given precept.Oh man...what fun that is for me!I only can work with good people.I do not have any time for losers.There is no reason for me to be dragged down by that.I am sorry to have to say that.Yet people who are not driven to succeed in their vision are going to drag you down to their level.I am a pefectionist " I can't be fucking around with any bullshit."I cannot cater to petty "star trips."Ego trips are just not tolerable."A small leak can sink a great ship.

She ran the drumlines for three local area high schools.She had very little time to spare.And when I called her to do a session she was going to be the arranger.She was leading three high school drum lines plus being a full time music teacher and performer.The only way that she would work with us was that we read the sessions that she arranged.She would fall asleep with her head on my lap writing arrangements.In the studio she had her glasses on and was all business.Calling all of the shots.A take would fly by and she would say "where are we?"That is why our records are so tight.

I am an artist,yanking good tones out of my guitar is more important to me than meaningless sex.I guess I must have missed in my life a large amount of meaningless sex.I know that I did.Yet in yanking good tones out of my guitar I missed none of that.Yet I have to make love with someone that I love,and what a beautiful expression of that.I have to work full time just to get to the work I really want to do.And then I have got to sing.

We are booked to go in and do the drums for the session the first friday after Thanksgiving.I wasn't going to use the if Davy Boy wasn't available,he is so much fun to work with and is a fantastic talent and thus he is very busy.He desires to move to Nashville.I look forward to catching him on the next round.Made it to a production meeting with my producer Ken Veenstra.He is admant on making high quality films of the album sessions.Thus the audio has to be excellent also.It was very intense for me to do the grand piano sessions for him as he is a master pianist,(the trick will be getting him to go on the road!)he is very buzzed on it and it is always best to have your producer at the inception of the concept.As apposed to having them come in later on.Reason of that being it is much more fun for them that way,they are so much closer to it.As friends and business associates we go back a long way.progressive cd's.com.I am so delighted that he agreed to produce and it is such fun.Today's tidbit is that I have contracted a drummer for the session,a twenty year old youngblood,Harry Potter.THE HARRY POTTER????!!!!yes of course,Harry Potter....pretty cool eh?.......He has been my pal for a long time.He shall be kicking it on the drums and smiling for the camera.We are cutting the lead single to the album plus a film.Much more than a music video.

Solo acapella vocalist.

I think you will really feel me when it is done.My dog was recently run over by a car and killed.She was my happiness in life,of course my son also so major yet he is a man now on the road to taking care of himself.My dog was now my day to day companionship.Real simple and easy like.Her whole life was to be with me.A scant two months ago I was bedside in intensive care watching and waiting for my son to stop breathing so I could push the trauma button.So grateful I am that he made it.My puppy died very peacefully in my arms.Her final physical act was to nuzzle up next to me.Now I have been turned loose to do a film/music video project just around the tune I was working on.I had girlfriends who were jealous of how close I was to my son and my dog.Yet you know (or you may not) that as you grow older you lose a lot of romantic notions along the way.You become more and more careful about who you let into your life.They say you do not know someone until you live with them,oh how true.No better way to destroy a great friendship.You find yourself living in your own house under somebody else's rules.For some people they are going to accept that.I have got to have my freedom.When I walk in the door after the world has beat me up I want to relax,Not be concerned about "The plan."I already have that together.My plan is to score a hit.I figure the longer it takes the bigger the hit shall be.So I want it to be really good so I can ride the crest of it to the next thing.In the meantime I have got to pay the rent for my penthouse.Saving my pennies for studio time.When I flick the switch is is good when a light goes on.Especially the one in my head.

Susan Mejeras on drums,a drum line instructor for three local area high school drum lines.A teacher and a performing artist.She,oh gosh, getting her on the phone let alone find time for her to do a session was almost impossible.Once she committed to doing a session she insisted on doing the charts for it.She would not use the studio set as she had a brand new set of Slingerland Radio Kings she wanted to try.She insisted on the session being read.Forget about it if it was not going to be read.she even wrote in the dynamics."How can I drill my kids on this and than play with you guys and not do it that way?You guys all can read,what is the problem?"I had to smile because I was scoring a professional arranger as well,her hobby is chello.And it is not that she was a drag,far from it.She was a blast."I just want really Frenchy that when we have to stop all of us know where we are.I know it is gonna be good!But the boys went one further,they really read it.and it is so tight!

Definite that We both made a good choice here.We took a lot of time to talk about things and he blew up a concept.Go with a music vid right away.Yes openly that is quite sensible yet the farthest thing from one's mind.I had requested for the sessions to be filmed with a still but that is business as usual.You could hit on something good doing that.It was all very relaxed and very enjoyable.My hands and a beautiful instrument were filmed.In between takes and such we sat in the control room and chatted.Getting a focus upon the vibe.The purpose of a producer is to add value to something.Not to take it from you,to place the surgical cut on the jewel so that it always shines in it's best light.Ideally for a music producer you are looking for certain technical perameters,are they a quailified recording enginerr?Do they read the tech manuals of the onboard equipment?This way you can trust them to mix.You know your mix is going to sound better than if you did it yourself.They do not always have to have this tech skill if they know how to explain to an engineer what they are looking for.I am very picky about this to the point of being willing to humble myself (grovel even) to set up a professional association with the best person I can find.You as the artist though must be the one to light the fire in them.If they are a pro they have to do a lot of mundane things to pay the bills.They are having fun here,pushing their skills to the limit,coaching you to draw the best performance you can do out of you.Oh man,this is what I love about a session...you are so high.No drugs or anything,you don't need that shit and it ain't good for you.It is the performance you see that is the rush.The ultimate one should find in this life as we know it now.If you have really done it right you get the same rush when you hear it.That is due to the fact that because I was inspired by my producer I shined as an artist.For you it may not be that way,every artist comes up with their own spin on it.For me I feel that I have arrived at my destination.And at last also I am going to get some solid management interest behind me as well.I never has a manager before and think I am better off for it.I would prefer to wait to get a good manager than to go through a bunch of crappy ones.One's that you could still be paying to now do nothing.I have a fantistic music businees attorney.It is better to retain one of those when you are a nobody.And I said "a music business attorney,a specialist in music law.Not a criminal lawyer or family law attorney."You of course are free to sign anything you want.As an artist you want to know all of the long term ramifications involved with what you are signing.So you get the best deal that you can.If you are a florida artist and need a music biz attorney she is julie@emusiclaw,Julie Milham."Rene,you did not sign this did you? This is the worst contact I have ever seen!"

On my penthouse patio.How cool to sit at 2 in the mo' playing and developing this lick to know it is going to be immortalized on a recording.

Yes it is so and I want to finish the single first.I have been working on it since last November 2010,After it is completed I am ready to head in the new direction that I am going to travel.In as far as I know today anyway.I had never planned to do a full album and now I am.Prior to this I was a singles artist and yes one could pick a number of the singles and call it an album or LP although that really doesn't stick with me as I never operated under an album or LP concept.A single theme expressed by a group of songs relating to such a theme.Whatever that is to reflect.It was the only way the producer I wanted to work with would do it.

when I went to NYC to do my sessions I took my live crew with me.It was a stip in the contract that I do the lead vocal.But this is Marvin's tune.We all wrote it together,and it is marvin's tune.The real sacrifice on this session was Chip.My Nigger Rock And Roll Band.

You just play a tune all the way out.It is overlength yet it sets an audience into a groove.You invest what you would an album project into a single.And a single that is a hit is a powerful tool.Yet an artist and you are sponsoring me and paying my bills so I can achieve the next step?I apologize to you that it set off with a soft explosion instead of a big bang.What you want is a hard and careless fucking yet I want to love and be in love with you.I want to get into it.Just sometimes for someone to hold you,even just to hold your hand keeps you alive.You are so afraid and someone holds your hand and you fear nothing.Ain't that a good thing? I would love that.Just to hold the warm hand of someone I love close to my chest as I died?And death is a joke to me,I should fear that?No matter how great of a hit I score in my life I am going to have to die.To me it is to continue to live after I die.But it is unfair if I do not die a conclusive physical death.A hard one too....And you must know it is up your pip with a hot poker!

A lot that you do not understand.A lot that they do not understand,my position is much more simple,I held auditions and hired a live act that I wanted to play with the rest of my days.With the best muscians I could find.First I hired Chip as anyone would and had already hired a great drummer but Chip said "lets just jam with this one guy I know and you can decide as you will and so in came Marvin.As classic to all rock and roll bands we did a couple of jams and said "shit,we have got it!"The first tune we did was "High Society" Right away as much as the playing was also the stage presence and showmanship yet we also knew just as chillingly that the world was going to reject us.A black rock and roll band fronted by a white frenchman,what are the chances of that in 1984?In a world of so many copy cats and imitators we are a unique thing.Never before was their a band like us and never shall one like us be again.In the deep south people wanted to hear us play and then lynch us after the show.We did it anyway and it hurt all of us bad to do it.Yet we did the best that we could do in the time we had to do it.And who knows? We may return yet again!We blew away NYC,not as performers,just as people.Later as performers on the tune we wrote and did together.Here is the thing,after I took them to NYC they wanted to stay there."let's start all over again here,whatever we have to do we will do." They did not want to go back to Tampa and the low paying one nighters,the lynch mobs and all of that shit again,they wanted to be the stars that they are.And to me they shall always be so.Somehow we got along in very tight conditions,no sloppinees was tolerated in our performance

As a producer working digitally I will give you some good advice,at least three back ups of every session you do ,all of them independent.This may sound like overkill yet it is not,once a file is lost and that can happen for any crazy reason,it is lost forever.Yes you may be able to re-record for free but you lost a master track.The original inspired moment is gone forever.If you are going to use different studios be sure you have got one studio formatted correctly to the other.this may not seem real important to you yet it will be if you are doing this serious.It can cost you weeks of delays and a lot of frustrations.I was actually going to abandon this single I am doing.There were SO many things about it that rubbed me the wrong way.And as an artist I got to a point where I did not need anyone anymore.I could just go in and do it.I can't and I will not relate to "star Trips." Unless you are paying me a-plenty to do so.Most people that sing karoke are not as talented as they think.Thsy have no idea of what it is when it is under a magnifying glass instead of a roomful of happy drunks that you went to high school with.Yet I guess that is harmless enough,you have your little fantasy and life goes on.

A singles contract to do three singles a year.For an indie label,pretty much doomed from the start yet I did some great sessions for that company.As oopsed to working on my own records the first thing I got handed was a female vocalist to work with.(Oh Joy!)This of course had all of it's ups and downs to deal with yet I made a tremendous advantage of it when I agreed to be in charge of music publishing.I found that world to be much more intellectually stimulating than to hang out with a rock band.It served to keep me sane.I did cut one single for Wooden bowl which is pretty good for it's time but the whole scene was pretty miserable as a whole.

Well I was always that really.We all are.I was born to late,in the wrong place at the wrong time and all of it.Who is to take any kind of notice to a guy from Erie,Pa where I grew up.A good little artistic town but a million miles off the map of professional show business.So I had to quit my day job, pack up my guitar and kiss my mom and my wonderful girlfriend goodbye and head on out.I had a record deal together down in Tampa that I was going to go after.It would have made much more sense for me to go to NYC or LA.My brothers wife was all in for me to go to LA and persue acting as well as music,with the acting she could have been of much help to me.And not the big screen star sort of thing,a character actor to handle supporting roles for a big star.Yet I had this bad infection you see,the blues and rock and roll.All of this music was born in the south in the USA.I wanted to study and have that.It's tough in the south I was told when I arrived,"you have to stay and you have to play."Much more than a sardonic image you have got to form a legend.Then I fell in love with the gulfcoast lifestyle.

I never left that.But now I don't have a live band going of my own plus no mamagenent nor agent.the concentration is toward the studio and the much more mundane duties of music publishing.still I have been regular on the road as bassman/vocalist. For The T-Blue band.It is a real shot in the arm back to the beginnings of it when I was a high school kid.The break up of my live band was a very hard thing to take.After many years of being spit upon and disrespected because of the racial make-up of the group.Essentially two black brothers,Chip and Marvin and me.the major astonishment delivered to white southern audiences of black dudes doing very loud rock and roll music twisted and tainted by funk and r&b,the white bands could do the rock just great but they could not cut the funk and r&b like we did.Plus the stage show,that which was visible.Chip and I rocking out,we would do moves and look out and see the audience go into pandemonium,dancing all over the stage back and forth,never competing for attention-fluid and smooth separate lines.Being warned by local police that we would have to escape a lynch mob after the show all by ourselves.Not just once,many,many times.Perhaps in some ways we were at fault as we also lived the lifestyle of a rock and roll band on the road and away from home.Burning up famous highway 41.We never got out of the south and really I mean the deep south.We would still get booked although we were very blacklisted becuase we would draw and make money for the club owners as people really wanted to see "these three fucking niggers!"Myself of course included because they wanted to hang me too,probably first.Even in the big cities in America,nobody had anything like this going.We were living out in real life this incredible movie!Our agents fees were very fair 10% so we enjoyed a modest income of $250.00 a week most of the time.Well after so of the crazy stuff we would have dry periods,be blacklisted again and such it was always a resistance to us.how funny it is that we would be hated,loved when we did our show and then have to run for our fucking lives after it.We always got our pay though and we earned it too,we sold a lot of booze when we played.And we knew right at the start,the first rehearsal that the world was going to be against us.That we would for a long time be fighting rejection and all kinds of social racist attitudes.We would feel we were gaining ground when people talked to us to our face,local white bands were prominate to come and see us and re-affirm us to our presence but it is what is said behind your back that you must consider.Our attitude towards this was very hardcore publicly and very gentle realistically,we believed in a world coming where everyone was one day going to respect eachother so that we all could get along.We would talk about such things with bullets raining upon the armor of the schoolbus and I was driving rednecks off the road.At a point this kind of a thing makes you tired.More than physically tired that you can rest from,it begins to suck up your life energy.We just were born at the wrong time,we were in the wrong place.Everything was against us.Our main thing was to not allow the world to miss us,but they did.We sailed to far over their heads.Our small group of true fans called us "The Black Beatles." And how very true that is.We set all of that straight when we went to NYC to record the only thing that the world may ever hear of us.(oo) (oo)

Yes,very thankfully so.And I am a dedicated and loyal employee.The music biz is just so full of highs and lows,the way you become steady with it is to be adaptable to different situations,have a valid passport, and have hooked up with good associations.For a long,long time I ran wild and free all across the USA.Rode the blinds on trains,you name it.Today's Tom Sawyer is how I felt about it.My book alone is my retirement.Times were easy and then times got tight yet you could always find a paying gig and sing and play for your supper,drink a little whiskey and carry on!Especially when the legal drinking age was 18 years old,the clubs all had live music 7 nights a week.Plus the after hours bottle clubs and you are talking about a lot of money floating about.yet even then would comes times in which say,you are frozen out of the clic and thus you are eating baby food and cutting some grass for a time to get yourself a roof and a bit of dinner.Even to be welcomed to sleep on someone's couch.And you were the perfect lodger and perfect guest.I was all good with that if need be,you would not much even know I was there.if you inyour house accidently dropped a 20 dollar bill on the floor it would still be there when you came back.You could go to work and trust that I would not make a pass at your wife.Maybe I would flirt some but she timed it.As I said the next gig would always come,almost every Holiday Inn had a pub in it with live music.I thought it would always be this way until the baby came and now I was a single Dad/Mom parent profile.I prayed to God and said "who is going to raise him?"And God said "You Are!"So let us run that down for you real quick,the baby has to eat three times a day,wants to be held and loved all of the time,needs to be taught lots of little things like how to chew rice pudding,has to have poop and pee-pee all cleaned up at least twice a day,has to have a home to live in with utilities,needs to have new clothes and toys,you must have health insurance and a pediatrician on call.They have to go to the park (and at this point you do too...)they must be bathed every day,they get cholic,they throw up without notice anywhere.You as such a big a strong macho man now have got to always carry a purse with extra big boy pants,first aid kit,baby wipes,treats and that special stuffed animal.I was so blessed in that my son was a boy!Not that I would not have loved and cared for just as much and probably moreso in some ways as the protector a baby girl.If he had been a girl I certainly would have stopped playing music completely.It was so easy inso many ways with my son when he was a baby,I took him everywhere with me including to work,had a miracle day care worker who took him into private care and I would say he spent about three years of his infant life asleep on my shoulder."Hanging with Daddy!"The number one thing is for a baby to fell safe and protected,yes they fuss and all of that,they whine and howl for not even an apparent reason,at the grocery store.Well he got tired of the shopping basket seat and wanted me to pick him up and hold him so he could take a nap.And perhaps a little snack or some juice as well before the nap.So who was the first to fall between the cracks of society in the United States?The single father and the offspring.Oh there is no way that a man could raise,care for and nuture a child say the women.My country The United States Of America has gone from the land of the cowboy hero to the way and by far most effeminate nation on Earth.Every law on the books favors women and stands against men.So very few are the men that run their household,they are busy watching pro football on television in HD as though that has any kind of damn importance to anything.And it is a totally rigged game now,not like the old days,how much to bet that one of the two of usa's most economically beleagured cities are going to win the super bowl this year?Take your pick Detroit or Buffalo.Like how New Orleans won it after Katrina?Men instead of discussing what the federal reserve is trying to pull off illegally printing our money consider it more important if Tony Romo is actually any good as a quarterback.It is all a staged act.Getting back on subject here yes I do work full time and have done so since actually three years before the baby came.I was being preeped for a blessing I never thought was going to come.Showbiz is fantastic in so many ways.You get your joy doing what you love to do,and if you love your work that is quite a blessing,but the thing of it is you bring a joy to your audience that they need to have.In this particular area musical entertainment.The world would go mad so much faster then it already is doing without music.You take a feeling and spread it out to the whole audience and everyone is feeling the same thing the same way.That is when you are rocking!And it takes a lot 10 people who do not know you are not likely to jump up crazy one your first number or even your first set,you have to learn how to pace your show,for a big star of course this is different,your audience is familiar with what you do and have paid for a ticket to see you do it live.There are levels to all of it from an unknown to an emerging to a world famous performer.So what is the difference from an unknown and emerging to a world famous performer?Mostly the luck of the draw and the person fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time doing something people related to and want to hear.The unknown and emerging may have just as much talent,maybe even more because they are a bit more hungry yet the world famous performer has the advantage of the most resources at hand to work with and much stronger connections with those of high level exposure in the business.They have the talent and the look and the image and are riding that crest as strong as they can.I see nothing wrong with that,go for it baby.And at the same time they are in the most awkward position as just a little bit of carelessness can lead to bad press and then that whole media machine that built you up is now going to turn against you and bring you down.You have got to be very strong to survive this,very aware of all that is going on around you.Everything you do in your personal life is public knowledge and it's a long haul,you started very inspired and now are very tired,your hard earned money is being siphoned off by parasites at every turn.And it comes down to that you or your band is one day going to have to pay for everything and are going to be charged the highest price for it.10 million people want to be your friend and you trust no one.You have got to be prepared like a vaudeville artists to do the same thing over and over again everynight.The needs of your hangers on become more important than yours and you have a bad cold or the flu and have got to go on tonight.And for as famous as you are it could all end tomorrow,as soon as the plug is pulled on your promotion.down you fall.You did two albums that went triple platinum and still owe your record company 3 million dollars.And even if you choose to run away you are not equipped to do anything else,you have a six hundred dollar a day drug habit to deal with and no sound concept of reality.You don't own the rights to your own music,don't own your own masters that you paid for and are beginning to discover just how bad your management is ripping you off.Plus you are tired and world weary,unhealthy and you have obligations to keep on going even if you have to be propped up to do so.You have got a 3 million dollar mansion that you call home and you live in one room of it and wonder who's house is this anyway?The fact that some of these artists survive all of this and continue on is amazing to me.Willie nelson is amazing to me,one who has been through all of this and more,the IRS took away every worldly posession he had and worked so hard for taking the stage just as happy as a clam.And with such grace and ease does his thing.On all of the levels thgis is a tough biz,toughest racket of all of them,and with a baby to take care of I had to become a working class hero,you can't feed and take care of the baby from the gig you have got next week.I have a college degree too that took me 28 years to acquire,I promised my mother I would get it,a Bachelor of Business Administration.I studied long and hard too, but the purpose of that to me after keeping the promise to my mother was to have a thing that the world cannot take away from me,an education.I am an educated person.I may labor as a layman yet I still possess the knowledge i was seeking to have.The piece of paper is not that important to me,the capabilities I obtained in my lessons is what I value,the perspective that I attained.Not a day goes by that the lessons I learned do not come into play.

Character,ahh...eagle scouts as it is.When you embark on an adventure you need to go with people that you can trust.Otherwise you are going to have to suffer the consequences which shall be to be let down when you most needed someone the most to be in place, and find out that they never really cared any deeper than what was in it for them,no whining here by the way,that is how it goes.No need for bitterness either as this is showbusiness and the show has got to go on.Everyone thinks it is so easy that they will try it.The biggest trick you want to have together is good associations with good and strongly motivated people.I have to place a trust in my producer in that whatever I am cutting in stone is going to be brought to it's highest level.They are all inside and about the song,every sugesstion is carefully thought out and worthy of consideration.

The moat important thing is the vibe you are working with in the studio.The Creation of the strongest synergy possible.I am not a salesman selling you something I am an artist creating a message which someone may want to purchase allowing my to have a life and create the next work.And I am a commercail artist in terms that I get paid to perform.In whatever medium that now or may in the future exist.That means that I am playing and singing something that people want to hear.To touch their inner soul with a message.If it were just about the money or fame I would have stopped doing this a long time ago.There would have been much easier ways to make a lot of money.That to me would be selling out.Especially to go through the motions of a job that you hate and are totally uninspired by.And with the economy being now what it is one ought to be very grateful to even have work to put a roof over the heads of your family and a little food upon the table.And in all of this time I never stopped loading the equipment into a van and going off on the road to play a show.Showing up on time and taking the equipment out of the van and setting it all up.tuning up the instruments and performing the show.Getting paid and tearing down the show to load it back into the van and leave out to the next one.A lot of famous groups forget where they came from.I have been doing this from when I was in sixth grade of elementary school loading the stuff into Mom's station wagon with her driving.She was so happy for the band to get a paying gig after listening to all of you rehearse night after night in the basement,garage,bedroom,,,whatever and now here go my boy's just like the beatles.I really loved how cool this was,to sucessfully work a gig.Even when i was just a kid in junior high school nobody missed band practice.Nobody would dare to miss band practice.We were as serious as a heart attack!

Many thanks to Leslie Payne,studio owner at Colorama Studios for his help as he put it together himself for me.Now i can present my producer,ken Veenstra with all of the data for the original rhythm tracks so they can be mixed.Individually from square one.These tracks were recorded very well by producer/engineer Kevin Knoll who is a blast to work with yet they were never mixed you see other than a "spot"reference mix and such was the only file that I had.To begin laying more tracks on top of that would have seriously compromised the quality of the recording as 7 tracks were compressed to one file.So they could only be mixed as a whole you see and not seperate tracks.Now if they had been fully mixed and dumped down to one pro-tools file of high integrity that could have been seen to be workable but such was not the case,after the tracks were recorded maybe an hour was taken to build a good reference copy,and a very good one at that,one that I perhaps could have lived with but no,It is like secular life,it is ALMOST there yet not quite.Everytime i would hear it I would be aware that I compromised on the full sonic fidelity of the recording.Any other producer of any quality would know it too...I really appreciate that I am working with a high level producer and right away I am limiting his abilty to totally control the song as he hears it.I was booked to do the piano session on it and it would have become pasting a piano and all else that is forthcoming over it instead of integrating a piano performance into it and I know he would have stopped the session,it would not have even started.if I insisted it would have been done of course and I would have to accept the responsibility for the results which would have been a passe recording.Kenny would have very lucidly explained that to me and like him I want to get into it man,I want to have a lot of fun and dig the best quailty of sound that we can come up with.I love making records,I always have,it is thrilling to create something that is going to last forever and not just a one night stand.Something that my producer can just go to town with.It may somewhat sound as a sellout that I rely so heavily upon my producer in a session yet that is so to be sure but you see this allows me the entire freedom to be an artist which in terms of recording science is to produce the diamond in the rough.And then have the jewler cut the diamond to bring it forth to shine in it's optimal color spectrum.Much more important to me then selling out is to expierence growth...increase.The qualifications I have for my producer are of a very high standard,you first must be a certified recording engineer,at some point in time during a session I want the producer to assume total control of the onboard engineering process,to also be a musician and have perfect hearing.To be able to assist in creating and developing the project not be being bitchy and picky but showing me that you see my vision and now let's take it way up here.The ability to draw the best out of me in a way that is rewarding and fun as well as challenging.Not just some cold person/corporation with a big bank account paying for it and enslaving it.They have fully studied the demos and know every angel of what we are working with,and where we are with it in all ways at all times.It can be quite grueling to get just a small simple part together the right way.And it has got to be just right.I MAKE DAMN SURE I AM WELL REHEARSED ON IT IN.It is a creative and co-operative partnership.I get a phone call going "I have composed a new chorus or bridge that I would like you to try.and it is really good,a humdinger!When i find people like this I am prepared to humble myself and beg them to produce sessions for me.I am blessed that they would give me the time of day let alone agreed to produce the sessions.Then the give me their low down on it which is always the same,"Rene I will only do it if you and I are going to have fun doing it.That is the number one issue for me,that we have fantastic vibes doing it and good feelings about it when it is done." In kenny's case he went further to say that he would only work it if it was a full album project."I want to do something that is more expansive and expressive than a single."My entire recording career,in terms of my contract obligations has been as a singles only artist.I never went into a project with any kind of concept towards doing an album,let alone an EP.so his opening pawn to queen four was a welcome challenge.I agreed to an album minimum of eight songs.I had to emphasize though in saying "let's just get started with the work and then we will know where to go and how to do it.That makes it a reality for us then." That leaves me going into the mission with a very inspiring vibe as opposed to just being world-weary and tired.It is what I am living for.Everything I have to go through comes down to that in terms of my human expierence.It is tremendously focused,we get a lot of good work done in a short period of time.and this tune that you have been singing for months around campfires is becoming a work of art.This tune you have been humming in your head.I will sit out on my front porch strumming and singing it a thousand times,my neighbors say "He sounds real good but is that the only song he knows?"

It is going to happen whether you like it or not.You have just got to get over your selfish notion of me,me,me and material quickly passing things to realize that we are all one and that everything is one.The best way to keep what you have is to give it away.To be motivated by fear is unholy.It is a fantastic time to move from the physical and material to the spiritual.The material world as we have come to know it has come to it's end.You can in fear and panic try to hold onto it.Yet you see you are looking outward and not spiritually inward.All material wealth is no longer going to be of any value.Nor of any practical use.The illusion that you have created around your physical being,your human body and existance will quickly fade to nothing and only your spiritual existance shall remain.With ease they can kill your body yet not your spirit.The object of value now is your soul.We are all one and everything is one.And as such it is HOLY and eternal.Changes that are coming are of course to us in our human form quite alarming and thus you have your life to live today,that is all that you have is today,it goes no further than that.And you should embrace this day that you have and live it to the fullest.Every effort shall be made to hang on to the old way and if you want to stay here that is your choice.It is going to gain you nothing.Spiritually you will stay here,now as a slave to it,so many have already bought their ticket to it with no refund.Sold the ownership of their own soul to the pleasures and leisure of the passing world.And here shall they stay but not as the masters anymore but as the servants of it.They shall remain on this spiritual level,that is what they bought into,they bought into, almost there.Every ideal of the secular Planet Earth is ALMOST there and they have chosen to live in that guilded cage...forever.And it is NEVER enough,forever unsatisfied.Instead of to enjoy the plenty you have it is to persue to have more,whoever you have to step on and whatever you have got to do you will do it.You must own everything and toally control it.And in your spirit you are so miserable.Discontent and wanting more and more and so you need to stay here with that.Such has been your choice.With the old Earth and whatever may remain of it which shall not be one stone standing upon the other.Not one divot of sod shall you posess in the promised land.My beloved, fear not the terrible things that are going to happen soon...It has to be so.These things have got to happen.It is the only way.The holy city,the true Jerusalem is coming soon.We have got to finish the race all the way my beloved brothers and sisters.

To shine in a different light.I also want to do one of my best blues numbers on it.I really have never cut a good blues to date,something without the rock or pop influence,a thing reflecting where I would just walk into a smokey juke with my guitar and my voice and bring down the house and then just walk out the front door and leave.A thing that I was legendary for,It was a therapy for me,I was so angry at the world,thinking and feeling so evil

As Soon as you create works that are published.Which one should you join?That is up to you,either way there are pro's and con's.None of them are really geared towards indies yet if you are published you ought to be registered and have your creative works registered so that in the event you have monies due you you will be paid them.Years ago it did not make a lot of sense to do it until you were onder a contract to a major label or publisher and now the game has changed to a way that your tune may be being streamed on the net and you have mechs and perf royalties due you.It may only be 28 bucks and you can invite your friends over for a nice spag dinner and say "we got this from me writing a song!"If you are NOT registered you are NOT going to get paid by the by.I can't say for you but I want to be represented as baing professional at this fun little thing I do. And again you have got to be a published artist to apply,not just a composer/author.And you must have your copyrights in order as well.

Driven towards a big commercial strike,to do what we think would sell from that viewpoint.I just wanted to finish my single for the year and my producer said no way,"I want to get into it man!"You would think big corporate sponsorship would be the way to go.And they would ruin it,It would all be about money you see,a return with interest upon an investment.An enslavement as it were."A work made for hire" as they say.In which they own the legal rights and the master recordings too.And because you took that advance they own you too.You signed your name to it.Many times without legal council.I have a most excellent music biz attorney,Julie Milham and anything I may sign crosses her desk at 150 bucks and hour,money well spent,mind you.If I do decide to do a deal that she would approve I would be at best advantage you see,walking away still owning my rights and my masters.Yet here we want to do an album just for the fun of doing it.And to make it the best stuff also.Your illususions behind this are such a joke.Big images and distorted facts.Really silly facebook and my space endless kindergarden mentality stuff.My current crew is not behind this trivia at all.And will not cater to it.We are inspired to make a very profound album.And have a ball doing it!Major league producers love to work with me,I am so down with it.And there is a level of mutual respect there.They challange to bring out the best I can do up to a level I would consider impossible.Such is what this album is all about.When you have worked with genius and brilliance you do not walk away the same.You become even more critical of yourself as an artist yet you have grown to a point where you can absorb it.And knock them out with the tracks that you do first takes!You are confident in what they are looking for.It is mcre different to playing to a bunch of drunks live...which is alright also yet this is serious science...forever and ever.

I have been again working the tune up at this point from two different studios,Colorama and Progressive music.Both are pro tools 10 facilities so the formats are exact and I really enjoy to cut the rhythm tracks at Colorama.Yet in the process of moving I lost my data CD for the rhythm tracks and only had an mp3 file of them for listening purposes.In a panic I thought to do the piano tracks over the mp3 files,which is a plausable scheme if you want to sacrifice the integrity of the recording.Four guitars and two bass parts(double bass and five string) all trapped on a highly compressed mp3 file.That my producer would have to mix down as a whole instead of individual control.Everything thus far is very well recorded mind you to a point where one may even get away with pulling it off.Yet I am so fortunate to have a very fine producer working on my behalf.And would actually have him to re-mix the rhythm tracks before I even proceed.To set up the tune the way he needs to hear it.It is after all the lead single to the album project.The signature track if you will.The tracks themselves are very well done yet it would be so obvious after the mastering that the song ought to of had much more depth than it does.Considering a full year was spent to do it.I am pretty humbled by this as I have experienced lectured and blogged about format integrity between different studios.And both formats were pro tools 10!I did make a data cd and lost it whilst moving.It's all one grand lesson I say.When ZI do a tune i put everything into it,it is for that moment my whole existance.As it was with the great film directors of old I have to put aside my personal problems,depressions,self doubts,whatever.. and get on with making the best tune I can do under the circumstance.You have to convey real emotions from the heart and drama/dynamics.and you have to be having real fun loving to do it.You may consider me to be a sellout because I rely very heavily upon my producer for the highest sonic fidelity I can squeeze out of a tune.It is not really that difficult for me to be able to talk a major league producer to work with me as they know if they can get the time in it is going to be a fun project for them,experimental and very tight with a lot of laughs.I go in with the tune played a couple of thousand times so I have got my idea in focus.I know every twist and turn of it.I still rehearse it with a metronome as when I was a kid.This is what may very well seperate a great studio musician from a great live performer.And you can't get around this on a track.if you are off time it is going to show up on the track.Live you can get a bit more loose and it does not hurt the groove but in the studio you have got to be spot on.Everything again has got to be pulling in the same direction.This can get so intense and hairy,you think you have got it yet your producer is telling you "you can do better here,take a little break and then tune up and we will try it again."I would say "what is wrong"...."you are not playing as fully dynamic as I know you can." Mike Rodgers in NYC reduced me to tears on several sessions,I would just hold my head in my hands and cry saying what the fuck do you want of me?"He would say "the best that I think you are capable of doing,a top drawer LA session man!That is referred to as drawing your talent out of you to a higher level than you thought yourself capable of.I find that if it is just you doing it you are not capable of being objective enough."That will do." We were an idie fucking with the major labels,that will not do,you have to bring your skills up to the top level and beyond.And it is so ironic because you ultimately come to find that in the studio the less notes you play the better because it leaves room for the silence.and silence is golden as they say.It creates pressure and dynamics,emotion and drama.Onstage you can just blow it over the top in front of an audience that is into it,you are giving them more than their money's worth.Yet in session you will not even put this past the recording engineer who will say "What you are doing makes no sense to me,you are to loud,way out of time and out of tune as well.I can't record this bullshit!"Man in NYC or LA you are about two steps away at this point for a session guy to be called in to do your part.You know have the choice,to respond as an asshole or tighten up like a pro.Oh man i had such a hard lesson from my engineer and co-producer Rob Valdez cutting the solo for "Stagelight Lover."This gentle,beautiful,and brilliant cat got so pissed at me,I had a marshall jcm 2000 and was getting my distortion from the preamp stage and playing as fast as I could do,blowing way over the top."I cannot hear a single thing you are doing,I am coming out there.Oh God he was so angry at me,why did you buy this marshall to get your distortion from the pre-amp stage?You want to drive it from the output stage Frenchy,this is a marshall!"he had the assistant engineer solder together a special fifty foot cord for me and the amp was moved fifty feet away from me and then turned up,every place I touched my les paul custom it screamed and howled.And then he said now,slow it down,you have all of the sustain one could dream of

Your lasting record of your work in this life.I would guess that many indies would consider me to be a sellout in that as soon as I have determined a work to be done I seek the guidance of a producer.which in turn mens that major elements of the original compostion may be changed.

I shall be doing the piano track to the album's opener.My song to my country.A wake up call to my country.So gently posed as a love ballad.We cannot police the world and it is not our right to do so.Many people are very happy not to live in America.Every Canadian that I know.Mexico does not want to be the Southern tip of the USA.They marvel at Texas,and Texas is much to marvel at.It is like they say,everything is bigger in Texas,And they are the ONLY state in the union that can legally succeed and become an independent nation,and at tghis time the seventh richest independant nation in the world.I love the gulf but would move to Austin in a heartbeat.I think my music would catch on in Texas.I would play to both the hippies and the shit kicker cowboys.Thye would not want me to leave Texas,they would support me enough that I could make a living just as a Texas artist.It is like that in Louisiana too...But you have got to be born there.I am excited about hitting the studio right here at home in sunny Fla.At Abbey Road South.It is much more compact.Yet it is total state of the art recording.Acoustically engineered.I stand by my previous statement that to rightly do home studio you must have an intial 25 grand investment working.Then you are going to need an audio engineer to run it.A crew to hook it all up,and then you are going to need a producer to give value to what you have done as an artist,and you just never have enough on board equipment,you do not have a decent patchbay which is crucial to routing the signals of a recording.So after all is said and done you will go to a studio anyway to get a final production of your dream.and you could have done so much more just to lease a studio anyway.You listen to the pure shit that is on the radio and you will catch my drift.Pure shit.Useless music,not even good enough for a film or TV score.I have got a lot of work to do on the album.So I have got to go.

I have gt to cover it agaian as it was so fantastic,I called a week in advance to Morrisound Studios and tokld them How I wished it set up for the solos,two M arshall Plexis and four 4x12 cabs.Better it was stated by Tom Morris to run one plexie through two 4x12 single cabs.My counter to this was no master volumes and the amplification was to be run from the control room.Tom wanted me also to use his black les paul since he knew so well how to set the tones for it.I had rehearsed this solo 5000 times on my front porch.In fifths,thirds and octaves.As well as diminished sevenths.The axe was all tuned for me and all I had to do was plug and play.OMG!It was so loud it rattled the glass of the control room,I had headphones on so I could only see it.The DB of the solo in the room surpassed that of a 747 going into a slow roll!That plexie you see was not being run on alternating current.It was a british DC model powered by direct current.By a separate generator!I was not allowed to touch it though I could look at it yet the specs were set by Tom.I was calmly sitting in the control room in a chair and that LP would begin to whine and howl!.I took much more hand action than I would have though,it had to be played like a semi-hollowbody to mute the feedback and sustain because just sitting there holding it,it would take off!With something like a Gibson 335 not for jazz but high volume rock you have got to be always muting things with your plectrum hand.A straight factory model.It gets to be natural and a cool thing,you always have that big fat sustain which is not always true on say,a fender.It was like that on Tom's black Les.That guiter was howling fro the control room!

I can't be fucking around with no bullshit,These are serious recording sessions,mastersd if you will.I sat as the executive producer on all of them from inception to completion.I am smiling and very proud of it all.You could only wish that you could do this yet you could not,you do not have enough money to buy it,it is way out of your reach.You cannot afford it.

I put that together for a reason and a concept.I would not hear of a white player because I wanted a nigger on the bass and a nigger on the drums playing rock and roll music.And my guys are the best of the best.They challenge me to be my best.We performed to riots for the most part.We would be into the third song of the first set and the bomb would go off.We were hard dissed by so many as here I have two black musicians who would never see the light of day in most of the clubs we worked in.After a period of time the white musicians who use to be my buddies would show up and marvel at the skill of Chip and Marvin,sit in with us and we would have a fun time.Play all night have some drinks and talk about stuff.This would be the white guitar players total fantasy man,but it did not come easy as all of that.We had to be totally tight and Chip and Marvin were in charge of that.Every note played or sang had to have a reason.It had to fit in to the groove.And we knew from note one that we played together we were going to be dissed,that we were brazenly challenging the world.We so polluted Rock and Roll with funk and R&B.And once we had you we would not turn the temperature down.We would just start to jam out from our well learned arrangements.By the end of the night the audience would be up onstage with us and you could not even see us anymore and we would be getting ready to run for our lives.We would tear down so fast and put the equipment on the bus knowing we would be running for our lives in a few moments.And that bus,a 1958 Chevy bluebird with a 283 v-8 cross ram (two 2 barrel rodchester carbs with two nox tanks per side) would be ready to spit fire and leave your petty ass in the dust.no mufflers,headers that would chunk back fire 50 feet behind us,I am going to post pics of that old bus with all of the bullet holes in it.We would be crusing so calmly with Marvin fixing breakfast on the stove whilst I would be redneck knockin' from the steering wheel!oh yeah,I would run your pickup off the road handily!The local police had warned us not to go back to the hotel but to leave town ASAP from the show."We have received several threats about you boy's" There were no police to be found when we left town so the road was all mine to rock.if I could hold on until the next county or get to the interstate we were okay.From the start nobody expected such a big bus could move so fast from a standstill.Let big bad kid rock talk to you about this kind of stuff!My two niggers would tear his little shit all apart.Advanced from him by light years.The Black Beatles as we were so called.When we first went into it Chip and Marvin said "this is not possible."I said "If you are in with me on it you have got to go all th way with it."My much beloved wife was leaving me over it and told the boys "to never leave me" They didn't really get that but they were strong and loyal the best they could be and I can't tell you how hard it was to set my pretty little loving wife free,she understood the biz you know yet at this point she would have been my prisoner more than my wife.Such is the world of Rock And Roll.

There was a lot of pressure from The hill and hifi that I do the lead vocal to the point they would NOT produce us if I did not do it.From the start it was Marvin's feature,we all wrote it with him doing the lead vocal.And I told him "they want me to do the lead or the deal is off." Marvn said "you can do that but it is still my song onstage." He was crying and I was too.It was his feature and it might be our only hit.He was the one that did it onstage.and to be so very real with you I do not feel as though I could have done it as good as he did it.My ego was not going to stand in the way of making the best record we could do in NYC.So I called the producers back and said "the deal is off if Marvin is not on the lead vocal."They agreed and all was at peace with the band.Chip would not have gone for that in a second,"You are going to sing Marvins song?why?..We worked it all up for him."I sat in the control room in my role as executive producer elated to watch Marvin knock it all down.I was so proud of my band,they knocked it down as a major label act would have,responding to the requirements of a major label producer and doing a major label production.so many thanks going out to Gary Lefkowith,top drawer independent radio promotor.Who got this all together for us,we would have never even though to go to the Big Apple to record.He left his home and family and business to camp out with us in NYC to get this record done.Doing some very fine guitar parts on it along the way.

If I were to return to the stage serious I would have to be with my Niggers,Chip and Marvin.They are my band,I hired them.What fun we would have to really do it after being locked out for such a long time!I did not want a lame back upband.I wanted always to be challenged creativily by my group,we would colloborate and write together.Escape on the last night lynchmobs.When I brought my two black gentlemen to NYC to record that was to roll in with some awesome talent.and when there we had to fit into the program of the producer and record as a major label band would do.A lot of changes and unfamiliar territory for us.Our tune was now a colloboration with the producers,totally re-arranged from our very sucessful onstage version.And that is was I signed over in order to be produced by the best in the west.Creative control.My niggers were in an uproar over this.Every night in the hotel we had the worst sort of arguments,they wanted me to take control of the sessions but I would not.We were working with a top producer,the master of pro-tools 10 shortcuts.and he was very demanding himself of what we were going to do."Onstage you guys can do what ever you want to do,yet you also must re-learn this too.Mix them all up onstage!" I was so proud of my niggers,they came through all the way!You can hear it,we became NYC,and NYC became us!In our off time we were helping little old ladies across the street.Listen to the tune and decide for yourself.We were left to freak out over how long it took to complete the production with our first national tour awaiting us.A year and a half.Mike Rodgers was the producer and his normal charges to a major label are 25 grand an hour.Yet Mike was digging us and how we adapted our style to what he need to hear to produce it.He did as he agreed the whole session for 5 grand.He is the go to guy for all of the major producers because he is the world leader in the knowledge of shortcuts.I am sitting as the executive producer,I do call of of the shots,watching this fantastic synergy occur.My job was simply to have it delivered into my lap.

One day the stories will be told of my legend.And really,I got in with the pack of those wild eyed southern rock and rollers.Not big major label artists,working musicians full time.Wolf packs driving in vans all over everywhere to the next gig.If you are a UK or Greman artist who has not been here you have no idea of how vast and surreal my country is.I knew when I was 6 years old this was what I was going to do.Studying classical piano and ripping into the latest Motown hit.I would say I never got a major label deal because I was twenty towns ahead of them.Big town (Casper,Wy-The Hilton Hotel)small town,(Ely,Nv-The casino) I put on the same show.Knocking you out of your socks on saturday night!It was not wild child in terms of drugs and sex,my high is to make and create music you see.I do not need anything to motivate me to do that but itself.and the sex?I am a one woman kind of a guy,maybe I have missed a lot by that,I don't think so,I have had a very few casual affairs and well some were good and some I can't remember.I prefer to make love and be in love when I have sex and have a lot of time to devote to that.Even on a one night stand I want it to mean something.When I was married I wanted for my wife to be on the road with me at my side.So easy we could adapt to different motel rooms and to live out of a cooler.When we were home in Nashville we were scared because there was so much less money coming in.Remember,I was young way back then and a sexual knockout onstage.when we would leave out of town I would have a large number of beautiful honey's wanting me to clip them before I left town.And God love them and thank you so much yet I am in love with my wife.I can't let her down like that.I am sure that she would even forgive it because she would say "Can I pick one for you.?" She was never jealous about that,she knew that whatever I had to get through to get home I would be coming there.I have got to have a little corner I can go to to have my sanity people.I did not miss out on any great sex,I was making love to my woman.At every opportunity.She did not come to all of the shows as she would be busy making a very comfortable temporary home for us.Yet there were many shows that I did that I knew when I was finished I was going to be making some very fine love.She really cared about me as I did about her

I am glad I am not a member of this little club.I would have missed my son being born and the best sessions I ever was to do.I go more with B.B. King and Sir John Lee Hooker and like them have all of the roadmaps written on my once oh so pretty face.Was their deaths an illuminati sacifice?Nobody to this date has been able to legally prove that.Did they go along with it and fake their own death to get out of it and be free?The drugs thing is really hard to say because the majority of them were getting over that and beginning to look at how much money they were being ripped off for.27 is so young man.Still so much more living to be enjoyed,very much still daylight in your life.You have got to lose the stuff that is dragging you down.It is too heavy for your heart.It is not doing anything positive to your artistic statement.it is jading that.You become more famous for coming home and tripping over your guitar than playing it.And more important than that you have got to lose the people that are dragging you down.Good fucking bye to them is what I say.

Production begins with the germ,the essential idea,the essence of the art you desire to express.The composition and authorship (If it is not instrumental) of the song.This you really want to have ready before you hit the studio.Worked out and rehearsed in every which way.So you know the tune inside and out.Most producers want to be in on this and as executive producer I am.So they have their input into the tune and are aware of what they are going to be working with in the studio.And you should enjoy this part of it.It is only costing you your time,you get together with other artist friends and your producer and brew up some good coffee and cook up the tune.A great tune manifests itself out of this enviornment.Starting with the most basic structure of it with a piano or acoustic guitar.This part of it used to be hidden yet you should even film this part if you can as it will be of interest later on when compared with the final production and suprisingly,how close it really is to the final production.This gives you great advantage when you go into the studio.You are confident about what you are going to do.You have done a full pre-production.Because now it is all going to change the minute you put on a pair of headphones,what was all together is now going to be separated.it is crucial at this point that you understand how your headphone mixer works.Unless you are a bassist who can lay down a track without hearing the drums.Once you understand how this works you are okay.at this point it is not so much about the producer as it is the recording engineer.Who with their assistant is going to first set everything up and lay out the EQ on the console.The recording engineer is in charge of getting the production committed to a recording of it with the highest level of sonic fidelity possible.As dry and basic as possible also.This role is so crucial and this person is due much respect.I see a lot of musicians come in and start ragging on them which is a stupid thing to do.They have no concern at all for your petty bitches.They will not argue with you.They will go to the producer who will straighten you out.They are lifelong studied on things such as proper mic placement according to the room.Which type of mic has to go where and if they ask you to muffle the kick drum they have a reason.The kick may sound great on it's own but lousy on a recording because it is going to cause an annoying ring on a recording that is going to phase cancel something else going down.They will hear the little squeak on your pedal and send the assistant out to put WD-40 on it.That tiny squeak could ruin the entire recording.On the guitars you want a fresh set of new string streched out and in tune.Maybe you have gt a good set that is holding on but if you have funked over strings that are not producing frequencies that can be recorded it cannot be brought up at mixdown,it just is not there.It is both expensive and frustrating when you go into mixing and have to go back to re-record.Over a 15 dollar set of strings.Vocals,you MUST do a full half hour warm up before you begin to composite.This pays off in spades everytime.You can concentrate on putting your feeling into your singing and not be dragging flat or pulling sharp.It makes you to be relaxed.The reliance upon the autotuner to fix things is just ridiculous.that is a very fine device that was designed to trim in milli-seconds,millionths of a second,It is not going to make a crappy singer sound good,it is a device designed as a last resort to trim a small speck on a recording.

I suppose that I did.And all of it is the truth.But you are not the one left to rise again out of the quagmire,I am.And at this point we ought to have been riding the crest instead of starting over again.But that is okay with a brand new clean slate to work with.And now I only have to cover my own ass.Now I am just not a part of something I am something.I don't have to be the leader of a band.I am the band.I have a choice to sit and muse bitterly about what is past and gone or be optimistic about the future.And do something about it.Cut my best tracks.I can't let the world bring me down to where I am bitter and just give up.It is a much longer haul than I expected by way far.There was so much more that I had to learn.I have got to be happy and enjoy it or else I will not do it.Otherwise it is not worth it,to hate my works.My works ought to be a vacation to me from the reality of this life.I can't wait to go to work!To be in mind and spirit who I really am.The true identity the world denied me of.Thankfully I received enough bits and pieces of it to keep me going.I would play the humdrum gigs at the club and then be booked into a university that would riot from the moment I took the stage.I had a good local agent,Jay Brown and in Nashville Marv Dennis who kept me working and did not rip me off.But not William Morris or Johnny Wright who could have made me national.To be the warm up act for the boy bands.My black rock and roll band who now lives as only the legend.Which may be enough,we were so loved and so hated at the same time.Yet I was so proud to fly into NYC with the enormous load of talent that was my nigger rock and roll band.And I was the head nigger of it.It is so passe for white people to cop onto some little stuff and think they are expressing themselves as a black person,but it is all phoney,just an emminence front,a put on.A fake.I was not going to slide through this without taking on the identity of a black person.If we were cooking chittlin's I was expected to eat them.I was so hungry they tasted so good with the greens.After the first stage of the band I moved on into gospel music with the black church.Rocking riots at the revivals!I was accepted and did not have to do a put on.With my white skin I was fully considered and ordained a black man.Kid Rock can't say that,nor emininem nor mick jagger.They are all surface pretenders.

Whenever you have re-organized your life and are ready to take a new step an old association is going to appear.And you have got to drop it.It is an association with failure.Which will in turn cause you to fail.Better to make it all be brand new.You want to move,even fall forward if you can.Going backwards serves no purpose to a new life.Unless you just haven't wallowed in the muck enough.You have got to want to succeed.And work towards that.Your enthusiasm inspires other to do their best.

It was called for by the NYC producers for me to do it.That was expected to be the way it would go down and would have made a lot of things much easier for me had i of done that.And I would have done it well too...But it was Marvin's song.We all wrote it together as a collaboration yet he was the lead vocal onstage.And I had to tell him that when we went to New York I was going to do the lead vocal.He painfully agreed that if it was best for all he would go with it.Yet also stated that it was his lead and as well as I could ever do I would not do it as well as he did it."But if this is all just about money you do it and I will support you.And we will have that after all that we have been through and I will never forgive you."That was enough for me I got on the phone striaghtaway and told them Marvin was on lead vocal or all bets were off.I sat in the control with my son and watched him cut his lead vocal tracks.Drinking fine red wine.I was so happy and he was doing such a fantastic job.I did later some cool backing stuff with an additional backround vocalist Chris from NYC.I feel this reflects a very wise and crucial decision from me as the executive producer,to do what is best for the track and I could have trumped it all and done the lead vocal.On Marvin's tune.I had the great pleasure of sitting in the control room getting stoned on red wine and watch him lay it down to perfection.He did not disappoint anyone.He laid down a classic that shall live forever.I was so happy and totally tripping on it.I got all of my parts in bad to the bone later on.As always the world missed it and rejected it.And this was NYC for us.We had to completly change our sound to do it as a major label band,the group was all upset,they wanted me to step in and take control but I could not.I had signed that over to the producers.The band considered that I was selling us out,I considered it that we were growing.That we would show that we were capable to do a major label session.with ease.We did it so well but it left the band from that point onward second guessing everything we did.That we could do it all ourselves from a home studio.You have got to invest 25 grand into a functional home studio.And then need an engineer to run it.At least we did not break up in NYC as so many bands do.We delivered our stuff successfully.And then we broke up.Right before our first major USA club tour to promote the single which is awesome.But the band left me all alone to walk up onstage and perform.Just a small peeriod of hardship and we would step into the top seat.After all of our years of struggle we would become a big contender.We were rehearsing our concert set in a small club here drawing a large audience.To watch us rehearse and we were getting paid to rehearse.Two runs through the concert set.and it was fantastic.And it all died.And went down very hard.Physical fights onstage and everything,nobody showing up for regular rehearsals.Everyone wanted their "star trip" to be now.Yet you see we first had to tour behind the single and do it live.You have got to take the small steps first.And you have all got to be pulling in the same direction.100%.For such a long time we did this.Caused riots everywhere we would go.Yet after NYC something else was expected that was not there,we did not have an agent and we did not have financial backing.I was pleading for Johnny Wright in Orlando to take us on but he would not hear of it.The single was finished a year and a half overdue.The follow up demo was completed but never recorded."Your Too Cool" The tour dates were cancelled and it was all over before it even started.I walked out and did the final show all by myself.Very angry about it.To leave the stage and soon lose everything my home and all of such to go out and live on the beach with my son in our VW van.And then to rise up again and survive.So obviously I don't want to relate to anyone I knew in the past.I do not want to place a shovel in that old ditch.I am sorry,I don't have anytime left for losers.I am getting together now with winners.when yo do this you have got to leave the losers behind,you can't bring them into the new mix because they are losers and they will cause you to lose again.The biggest thing they can come up with is to quit when you need them.At a vital point,right when you are about to stop playing at the dump and work the nice clubs.Move up a step to gigs that pay a grand a night.The losers want to stay in the dump.And there they shall stay if they do anything at all.There will always be dumps to play in.Dirty filthy and boring joints.With 50 bands competing with you to get in there.They will play for 50 bucks and draft beer.As a teenager I did better than that.Thus I have opened a new door and am going to walk into it.By myself representing myself.

Yes,And the learning curve was huge to say the least.I have pulled off several miracles in format changes from one studio to the other.It can get very sticky importing tracks,American idol auditon and That Thing You Do! were dead in the water and now they live and breathe.The whole thing from a purely scientific aspect is just fantastic.This makes it for me able to walk in and concentrate upon being the artist.Which is to have a lot of fun you see.Yet at the same time I understand what is going on in the control room.I know what the EQ layout is on the mixing board,what is on track number 17,what patches are being used and why,what is a VSO and how does it work?When would you use it?Why would you use it?And you have got to know the tune inside out from every level,which is why I do the majority of the instrumental tracking even to the point of letting the band sit out so I know what and how it went down.I know where every lick sits.I was and am able to take advantage of the technology from the aspect of a major label production.That is why I returned to Tampa from Nashville,because of the great studios available at unreal rates.Full time 24/7 studios.It does not go down like you may think it does,a lead vocal track is not cut in one or three takes,well sometimes it is if the moment is right,most often the song is sung one line at at a time and you may have up to around 32 composite tracks that you are going to choose the best parts from.This is not to include the backing voxes.So you have this HUGE jigsaw puzzle that you have to put together before you go into mixing the recording.Everything seperate and independent and now you have got to put it all together as well as make it ambient which is the key to a great recording,the whole trick of it if you will...The mix!Stage two of making a record where you are no longer laying down track but listening to them and matching them up.Maxing out the EQ on everything,bringing in the judicious use of compression and effects and trimming.What you are going to put in and what you are going to leave out.This my friend is a surgical procedure.The very fine arena of production known as shortcuts.Why a top major producer makes 25 grand an hour.The sound from the final mix just pumps through the main studio moniters when this is done.This is the best it is ever going to sound.Whilst mixing you are always putting the sound through tiny speakers to set the levels for the average listener in their car or IPOD or what may be published to broadcast.But here and now in the studio you are going to hear the tune in it's purest form all pumped up through state of the art studio moniters within an enviornment acoustically engineered for this.The producer is running this and the original engineers want to be present for it if they can.Let us not take lightly the role of your recording engineer,the person cutting your tracks.They have to deal with "star trips" day in and out.They are not called engineers for nothing,they understand the properties of sonic fidelity and are due their respect.You may have cut a great track and the talkback comes on with them saying "Your B string is out of tune,"Whenever you are going to disconnect your guitar you announce it because it is going to make an obscene "click" when you pull it out so you want it turned down.All of this leads to the final stage of a recording,the mastering of the final mix.Anything serious you are doing you don't want to release until it is mastered on glass.This is the final preparation for your tune to be broadcast,the final mix great as it is may be will come out broadcast with the bass way to loud.Something uneven.If you have come this far with your project you will spend these last couple of little pennies to make sure it is mastered.It has gotten all of the final little tweaks to sound it's best under any circumstance.An extra couple hundred bucks to lock down your recording.To safeguard your hard work,anytime your tune is played it sounds the way you and your team wanted and worked hard at it for it to sound.When people crank it up it comes up uniform.Or if they just want to play it quiet they can hear everything you put on it.if it is not mastered when somebody cranks it up all of the levels are not going to rise the same and it is going to clip on some of the frequencies.And sound like shit.Same with low volume backround music,you can't hear everything that has been put on it.It has not been properly balanced.Ilike to know that when I am listening to and digging my own tune that it sounds the same for anyone else listening to it.and it is ready for any use,film score,advertisement,TV sound track.What have you?

That is true,I almost lost the session over it.Yet Marvin Is so fantastic on it!He would have backed of and let me do it but ya know that is his tune that we all composed and authored together.And he sang it the best.It was for me to do the supporting vocal parts.My jaw just dropped in awe when he was doing his tracks.The control.I was so riht to let him do it!I may cover it on my next album to confirm that.We were a rag tag semi-pro outfit runningfrom lynch mobs after every show.Yte when we went up to pointsetta dirt to NYC to haead in thew studio we became NYC and NYC became us.We sounded toally major label.And whilst we were doing it it bacame very shakey,as we were being produced.World class.State of the arts.!We were not calling the shots as we normally would.i had by contract surrendered production conttrol to go to The Big Apple and cut a very fine record.I gave u the lead vocal spot.Ad my niggers took down the fence in a big way.They copped all the way to being produced as successful.They read music you see.And we all played what Mike Rodgers wrote."In the hotel after hours Chip and Marvin laughed at me."He is going to bust down your little shit tomorrow too..."Which he did so hard.Broke me down hard to not even exist and then re-built me into a new form,major label contender.

Back to the drawing board again.Back again to the fun of it!Some hot new releases!A producer working it from start to finish.Producers dig to work with me as a recording artist.I have worked with some great ones who told me that they condidered working with me to be sort of a vacation for them.From the oh so mundane norm.I was always pressing in the studio that I wanted to get crazier and crazier.Yet the product of it had to be normal and sensible from a sales standpoint.and we had to have fun doing it!That was the prime really.Some of these cats charge 25 grand an hour plus 20% of ALL sales.Telling my to get out on the firescape on the 67th floor in a snowfall upon Riverside Drive in manhatten,to do a guiatr solo."Come on Jimi Hendrix,now is your time!" And it was not a free fall,I had to cut a very tight LA studio part in three takes or Gary Lefkowtih was going to do the lead guitar.And my baby son was with us frozen in fear that I was going to topple off that fire escape,from the open window he said "Dad please come in,I am afraid you are going to fall!"Cause I was dancing all around like a crazy man!and the snow was falling so hard but easy because the wind was still.So I said "put on your wolly touffles(warm slippers) and a jacket and come out here with me.And a hat..We will bulid a snowman!" He did and we built the snowman whilst Mike Rodgers,my producer, was setting levels.He was looking down at Riverside Park wanting to go for a walk there tomorrow and I said "look up to your right side!The skyline of Manhatten!"

No,there are a couple that I want to do for marketing purposes.Some new originals plus a couple of good tunes that I wrote years ago that never saw the light of day.One of the new tunes I wrote I feel would be good for a young boy rock group,a stone temple pilot type of tune.I have some killer live tracks from early shows I did when I was a young boy that have never been heard.At the same time I am looking for a much different approach then I did before.This is what turned the producer on.I want to enjoy it without a lot of concern for the commercial elements of it.At the end of the day it is my studio work that is going to remain as I shall fade from the live stage.With the live band I work with currently most of what I do onstage for my leads are rolling stones songs,which are fun and always popular yet I can do much more than that but that is what I get paid to do.Mick Jagger is an unreal phenomenon as a singer,no doubt but there are many I feel that there are much better singers than him.You know,more challenging to cover.I don't mean to slag Mick,I apologize,singing his stuff has put a lot of spaghetti dinners on my table but if that is the only mold you have got to work with it is quite limiting as an artist.

You are made out of gold and can't be sold.I am going to cut an album that is going to rip you apart.I have no interest in broadcast radio airplay in the USA.Fleeting somewhat and perhaps.I am going to tune into you.That which will not be denied.Not political.I am going to have some real fun creating and not being limited by a bunch of crap.High expectations abound with no expectations.I am even free to screw around.With the tighest onboard gear you could imagine.Any effect,total top of the line.Yet again the proof of the recording science is the dry recording.The internal modification of that.The EQ.The ambience,the separation.Like my producer,kenny Veenstra stated "I want to get into it man."After you have baked the cake on that you want to avoid the overuse of fx.They stick out loud and cram it.Cause compression problems and I want to avoid as much compression as possible.Drop the driest track possible.It can always be modified later by someone yet they will be driven to not overdue it.Auto-tuner will not be used at anytime.This is such a useful device for a milli-second cut.Yet nowadays producers rely uopn it and it is obvious to producers you are using it.And it's purpose was to be non-detectable.Just ever so slight of a trim.Digital delay...the same just an ever so small brush stroke to a tight track does wonders!Sitting in the control room amongst the highest quailty phasers and flangers,pre-amps,noise reduction.And all of this actually robs your recording of it's original fidelity.Every time you touch it you are losing the original state of the art.To say the least this is a very daring approach.And all of the fx are present to be used judicially.Nothing denied.all hoped for.

In it's astounding wisdom The ATF conducted a raid on the Gibson Guitar factories looking for illegal exotic woods used in the manufacture of fine guitars.This will go on into a farther reaching effect touching EVERY guitar ever manufactured. in if you are going to leave the country on tour with a guitar you are going to have to take it out of the case and show it to them and if you bought it new you had better have all of the sales documentation in the case or you are gonna lose your girl.If you have a rosewood or ebony fingerboard that guitar now belongs to President Obama.Strong I am to recommend that you leave your main squeeze at home and use a strat or a tele with a hard rock maple neck.This is nothing but pure madness in my opinion.

"Donna was produced and mastered there down in old Soho.The original tracking done at Colorama Studios with Kevin Knoll producing.I do not like to switch studios in the middle of a session project although sometimes it cannot be avoided.And Colorama was a lot of fun to work at,I will be back there again.But Abbey Road South is a spaceship.Compact yet technically advanced total state of the art.With a grand piano tuned after every session.Geared primarily as a mastering lab but functional as a studio.I am so elated,I started off so inspired later to become so tired,it is a really long haul.I have not been really active for quite a few years.I could not find anything I was comfortable to work with and I don't want to have a band anymore.Man I am just so over that shit.Any band is eventually a bad marriage,for a time it all pulls together and that is great but one day it is going to pull apart and you have to be ready to overcome that.Somehow,I don't know because you are so closely relying upon eachother and co-dependent to exist so when one decides to pull the other way it effects all.In a successful band everyone for a time is pulling in the same direction.That is the only way it works,I am speaking professionally...full time through all of the ups and downs.I did it as the leader of the band for years and years.I had no personal life to speak of.The group,whichever group, came always before that.And I was dedicated to that illusion.It made me very sick but I hung on until I had to walk onstage all by myself because everyone had walked.After they had done all that they could to wreck it.Obvious I did that show in very low spirit until I spoke with Candy the bartender who said "Do you own all of the copyrights to the original material?"I said "yes,I have got that."And she responded "Well then you should be happy tonight because you do not need them anymore and can freely do whatever you want to do without worrying about them."

Negotiations went down for me today to finish my single at Abbey Road South Studios (Progressive Music)but the producer I selected for the project was a hold out,Kenny Veenstra."Rene,I can relate to what you are doing and that you are a singles artist but I want to get into it man,I want to make a statement and have a lot of fun with it too.You can lease the studio time and I will give you my best rate but if you want me to produce it I will only do an album project,at minimum 8 tunes and you have got to commit to that.Whatever and however you want to do it I will make you sound better than you ever did right through to the mastering level."I pondered this for about ten seconds and said "you will produce it?" "Yes I will,sign here."I have been a recording artist for a few decades but have NEVER done an album project,ahh launched as such.Tom Morris came on as my producer more as a good friend bailing me out.I had already recorded the tracks,some with him but the bulk of it not so.It is a different thing to have a producer working from you all the way through the project.As an artist I would see no sense in doing a serious project without a good producer.It costs money to do this!Technically,as a recording scientist and executive producer I am aware of every detail going down and understand it or am studying it.Yet as an artist you want to be focused 100% on the art,interpretation,and expression.And here is my downfall as a producer,I have hearing loss in my high end from years onstage and in rehearsal studios.From cymbals actually.I cannot correctly mix a record because of this.I cannot hear the high frequencies well enough.So it is wise on my part to have a set of ears with perfect hearing to handle that.With an expert recording engineer to boot!So I am free to do what I love to do...CREATE!All that I have to get into is that.Which is enough believe me.I mean if you knew the real story behind a lot of things there are many fabulous live players with popular groups that are horrible to the point of useless in the studio.The producer has to bring in a session player to do their part.The regular guitar player sits in wonder as the session player knocks it out in a couple of beautiful takes.And the session player may suck onstage or be to ugly image wise but makes a good living as a guitar teacher and first call session man.This is how it goes down in the big city.This session guy brings a beat up Hagstrom guitar from 1960 whatever into the studio and makes it sound like a telecastor,strat,and a Les Paul or a 335.Blows an ice cold wind up your ass..Is totally unknown to the world yet on a session everyday with his/her playing heard all over the world.This of course would only be true in three cities in the USA,New York,Los Angeles,or Nashville.Anywhere else you would not make a living doing sessions.Don't even think about it,these type of players are musical assassins,they did not get to be major producers first call for nothing.You may fancy that you are a pretty hot guitar player but then let somebody lay down a score for you for a film and you have got three takes to get it right sight reading it.Better put your reading glasses on because that score is going to unfold before your eyes.

And there we were,the number one Band in NYC helping little old ladies crosbad astreet.I was so proud of my boy's,the awesomr talent that I took to NYC,My bad ass niggers in top form.Now you my friend have been left something to reckon with.After all that we have been through,and how we just came in and out of NYC so fast.And what we did when we went there which was to kick all ass...once and for all

And there we were,the number one Band in NYC helping little old ladies crosss astreet.I was so proud of my boy's,the awesomr talent that I took to NYC,My bad ass niggers in top form.Now you my friend have been left something to reckon with.After all that we have been through,and how we just came in and out of NYC so fast.And what we did when we went there which was to kick all ass...once and for all

Susan Mejeras on the drums.She would only do it if she had final approval of the rhythm tracks,the drum line coach for three high schools,we had to work charts in the studio (her arrangemant)Chip is on bass and we all were reading.Oh Man she was as serious as a heart attck!We would spend the night together charting the rhythm tracks.I played it as she wrots it.My son did the lyrics,the first time I saw her wear glasses was in the studio and we were reading so hard!She knew that we were and grooved with it.We do not normally read but today we did.,

Most of my blogs and stuff are answering e-mail questions from fans or up and comers who want to know.It would violate their privacy to publish their e-mail address so I don't and I have a very large now e-mail list that I do not spam ever,if I get some kind of a good break I will broadcast it at that point.Te questions I get asked inspire me.I have always been a dreamer,and I have tried and tried and failed and failed.If you do not try of course you will never fail.Umm...you have done nothing.I would prefer to try and fail then to do nothing and go nowhere.And this only works if when you try,you try your hardest.You put all that you have got into it.You give it your best when the odds are against you.If good fortune smiles upon you it is easy when you win yet when things don't work out the way you had planned how do you handle that? Do you blame everyone else or accept responsibility for your failure? And most important of all LEARN from it.This is not so easy when you have been knocked down into the dirt.Still you NEVER give up.And you have to believe in yourself here with this.You were right and they were wrong,all of the big winners expierenced defeat at some time or another this is what gave them DEPTH which enabled them to overcome their shortcomings.They learned to have a back up plan when things got dicey.Nobody is going to win all of the time anyway.For a season you may have to back off on the big plan and work your survival plan,the one that pays the rent.Things you plant take time to develope so you also haver to learn to be patient and not go around blowing your clues and burning bridges.This does not just apply to music,perhaps you love to bulid birdhouses....That you love to do it is the key to being sucessful at it because that is what you are projecting and what people catch onto,they notice that you love what you do.You are steady tweaking and refining it.I could go so selfish and bogue about it,right now I could set up an ad to get your music and your group on american broadcast radio for proven spins if you sign up and send me seven thousand dollars and a decently produced and mastered track,I know the two top and award winning independent radio promotors in the US,and they would have to approve your track before they charged you.6 grand for them and a grand for me and you will receive legitimate reports of your airplay on a weekly basis.Maybe you are only being played at 3 in the morning yet a spin is a spin and if somebody digs it they will call in to the station.I am busy with other things and don't care to work it,write me and I will give you their names for free.The course of your failure will lead you to your skills.which is what makes you happen.If you are a wrier you have got to stop being so lazy and keep on writing..when you give up you become a slave you see.I refuse to be that because I am not that.I shall never be a slave to anything.I swore that upon my Father's grave.You may even consider me to be that but I do not care what you think.I know who I am.Oh and also it is not aout the money,I know many totally incompetant human beings who make a lot of money.They pay a lot of taxes too...they have very clean hands but they still are slaves to the master.It is laying down a job professionally done that satisfies the dream.Then when you are going to hold the dream in your hands it moves on up a step ahead of you.

All of you have got to be pulling in the same direction.100% If you have got this down you have something good going.And you ought to not take that for granted.That is what makes the difference.It is a precious commodity that will lead you to a good agent and larger venues for better money and an increased fan base.In the new music world there are a zillion bands and that is okay yet most of them are not going to be around for six months.98% of them really.To be in a band is to survive through a bad marriage where at best you can still part as good friends.The end of a band that all pulls in the same direction is not even a death,it is an expansion of everyone's personal and successful expression.When even THE BEATLES broke up each member was ready to do great things as indivduals.And all of them as indiviuals charted to the top 10 in the old music world(billboard,cashbox) repeatedly.And all of them had great material on their own.What more can one say behind that? No other rock and roll band can even touch that kind of a claim.What an astounding testimony to the talent contained within this band!The Zenith of professionalism.It would be granted that John and Paul would be okay on their own but George and Ringo as solo artists came up to challenge them for chart position and both of them very strong.And this is in the big league major label world.The mastery of the game.I never understood why Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts did not do a solo project together.Well they did really.. they both backed up "Howlin Wolf" on "The London Sessions."Do you think dear and departed Brian Jones would have shit himself over that?"Wolf" certainly dug it, he had the tighest rock anf roll rhythm section in the world on his recording.One that in their position within The Rolling Stones had performed at every major venue in the world to a total riot.And did not miss a quarter note.The Chicago Blues found it's way to the UK-London and trust me on this that postwar London was not the best place to raise your children and to live your life.You looked out the window to check on your children and found them playing games in the rubble of bombed out buildings.Postwar life was much tougher in London than in Chicago.But Chicago,in the US,the jewel of the great lakes,"The Printing Capitol Of the Whole World"Embraced her fantatic artists,supported and cared for them.Not real huge money and in the clubs it was floating everywhere,that city runs 24/7 just like NYC does but she got hit by the blues by postwar black artists migrating from the slave plantations of the deep south to the two big cities up north,Chicago and Detroit...Forever The Motor City.But I would not want to move there.I would just move to CHI and hook up with a good booking agent.Yet if going that extreme I would be headed to San Fran.It is not about the money here people,If I can pay the rent and my little bills and carry on I am all good.I,by choice am a Florida Artist.And I love it!The minute I crossed that state line I said "I am so glad to be home tonight." Stank -ass Florida!"I hate you because you are filthy,I love you because you are my home."Deep South,The Airport from my city is so amazing..NYC-"the big apple" is a two hour flight.NYC really though, is it.And when I arrived on poinsetta dirt I took a good old whiff and got so stoned.As exec producer I had gone over it.it was so risky Yet I still said "let us get to work. I put up my home as collatoral

Exclusively now yes.I like a big fat bottom end and a huge neck to work with.My beloved fender jazz went into mothballs over it.And I think a seven string is out there waiting also as well as some electric fretless.Four strings is particular to the double bass acoustic and at first the four string electrics were modeled to that.But getting my hands on a five was such a trip,I had it all on the four then had these massive lower registers to work with.To the point where the blueman even had a custom 18" speaker cab built.He chose some exotic woods that delivered the tone but the cabinet is so light to pick up and move.If the venue has a house system I prefer to just go direct.Yet for the smaller venues the cabinet rocks it right from the stage so fine,the whole stage and dance floor is rumbling.Then you set the dynamics,you are not always just blasting after the solo you fall down again real cool and play behind the vocal.You let up on the power and stroke and people bend their ears to listen.And you are pulling them in with you.

Well spoken an how true!I feature some good singers that i have admiration for yet right here, I am the lead vocalist.And for all of my instrumental skills this is the bread and butter of it.And my intention is to move forward and prove that to you.To resolve forever any doubt.Every step is now closer to home.It has been a long journey.

Yes yet I did not find it to be a good book.The dynamics were certainly as boring as the characters.I feel Kurt Vonnegaut trumped the whole book with the last line in his paperback "Cat's Cradle" "make me young again." Old Rothschild in his later years with all of his wealth and power was miserable,he could not even enjoy a piece of buttered english muffin.And of course the world being implemented now out of the book is even worse than the book.The continuing failed saga of human history as a result of the oh so greedy few.It is going to carry on for a while but it is not going to work.And also it has to happen as it shall.On this course there shall be an intervention or no human flesh could survive it.This private heaven on earth for the wealthy and priveleged.The road leading to the Battle OF Armageddon.That great end time battle is not going to last to much more than five minutes, all of the mighty armies of the world are going to be in an instant smoked like mullet.As it was at the tower of babel,the whole thing was ultimately a collossal waste of time and resource.The elite rich and powerful do what they want,they always have.And their choice is their right.And for all the have they are not happy with it because the things they seek do not make a person whole,perfect,and complete.Enjoy what you have if you can today.It could be your last.Take care of yourself.I am not going to go on and on here about conspiracy theories,in as far as I can see the american public believes whatever it sees on television to be undisputed truth.I have warned you so I am no longer responsible,the "king Of Queens" sitcomis more imprtant to most than the the lwas being passed over our heards without our consent nor any say on our part.MSNBC did not inform you that your home can be searced without probable cause cause nor a warrant.The fourth amendment to our constitution has been overwritten,if a law enforcement officer has any reason to suspect that you are smoking pot in your house and perhaps flushing it down the tiolet they can enter your home,shoot your dog and haul you off.It is called "the no knock law."I really am not to worried about it myself.I have a doorbell and you are going to ring it if you are going to come and visit me.And if you are law enforcement you are going to have the proper papers and protocal to enter my home or you are going to enter at your own risk which could cost you your life.Somebody kicking down my door to enter my home put me in fear of my life and with a legal concealed weapons permit I have the right to defend myself.I spell critical defense 9MM you see.And I pay the rent,my home belongs to me.I am going to get back to what I do with the time I have to do it with.Which is creating music to be enjoyed which brings me happiness.I have the first round in my ammo clip racked.So who wants to be first to enter the kicked down door,I wouldn't cause I am about to send you into the promised land.I am a law abiding taxpaying citizen of the United States.I refuse to live in fearIf you are a law enforcement officer you can ring my doorbell,you don't have to knock present me with your identification and a search warrant signed by a judge to search my home we are not going to have any problem at all.I will invite you to come in as soon as my attorney arrives to observe your search of my home and you can do your job and go home to your wife and children after work,and I can sleep in my own bed...win win as they say. I am not rambo you see and I am not a criminal either,I am just a struggling artist.I have no motivation to be killed nor kill anyone in a police shoot out,yet this is my home you see,I am the king and the defender of this little castle,nobody tells me anything here as long as I am paying the bills.If you think you are going to kick down my door,shoot my dog and overule my authority in my own home then you are taking your chances.If you shot my wonderful and loyal loving dog I would prefer to tear you to pieces with my bare hands.So let's keep our heads on eh?Ring my doorbell please and don't kick down my door.I am not flushing drugs down the toilet,I am simply calling my attorney who will observe your search.The rule of the law and not the law of the jungle.It would appear to me that the judges were pressured into this decision.It is setting up a situation that has the potential of getting very chaotic and innocent people could be hurt and it ought to be repealed.But it is so much more important to know who won the world series or if Angelina is cheating on Brad.Or if Brad after having six kids with Angelina is going to go back with Jennifer,what other than an idiot would even give a flying fuck about that?If I were Brad I would be strongly working the Menage-A -Trois thing.God how american women would hate that!The greater majority anyway for sure.The controlled mass media would not cover that,not in the US anyway.I bet he had a wonderful fahters day and to the rest of us dad's it was just "The Day Of The Dog."Your present was a new set of tools or workboots."Just what I was deaming of-a new set of overalls!'Thank you honey, I Love you too.."Yeah,buy her a sewing/washing machine on mothers day and see if you are going to get laid by your wife tonight!.Tell her what you would love to get from her was a handbaked cherry pie-good luck on that shit eh?And you get to lick the spoon,She does not cook.She is high level management but your second wife loves to cook and clean too?That could be heaven on earth in a three bedroom trailer!"All of them are so happy today! together,and the children are so well adjusted.Someone is always there for them....Great publicity for them,Bradjenlina as it were, and it would sell a zillion supermarket rag publications and inspire a married man to intead of solicting a prostitute,judt to support two wives faithfully.In fact why even get married,to prove to God that you are legit?And pleasing two women would probably keeep a guy from getting into any more trouble then he is already dealing with.(if he wants to live a long time)In Scandinavia it would be rather passe but it would light up the US!I have a lot of work to do,I have a new producer that I am working with on a new song.Livng my life at peace and liberty.Today is your life,the one you have been granted.This afterlife thing is again totaly theory.Nobody who is alive today knows.Today is all that you have got and what you do with this day you have got.Have a great day and thanks for writing!I have a copy of "Huckleberry Finn" on my coffee table instead.The adventures of Tom Sawyer is an obvious classic yet Huckleberry Finn is even moreso decriptive,compared to this Atalas Sgrugged is a snooze to read,I had to force myself to pick it up.And it is the bible of the new world order,a boring book featuring lifeless boring characters./ Ren

I play both.Equally as well.The bass more onstage for the last couple of years as it provides the opportunity to work onstage as opposed to sitting at home.And I enjoy it tremendously.whilst you are sitting at home in front of your TV set growing old and groggy I am out and about on a youthful adventure.The girls all want to dance with me on my break.I am meeting cool people face to face and not on facebook.I am with a band that works all of the time.One that represents itself professionally.We are straight and no drugs.We go anywhere with no worries.Often times get paid just to rehearse on somebody's stage.An obvious rehearsal even doing ALL kinds of music.The buzz is all from just doing it.I would think that you would prefer to hear me play the guitar.Yet I am reduced to that fact that I am a musician and must work,I have got to play somewhere.I cannot live without that.My repetoire is an easy 60,000 songs.Transpose it any way you like.Any key sig that you like.

It is going to take some time to first finish the music track and BGV'S,and then find the correct vocalist for the trip.Amidst a couple of other projects on the table.It is a very complex project for many reasons.And when released it is going to blow down many doors, make up many times for any lost time.I can't act upon my impulsive emotions on this project,it has such a good flow.Yet the concept has to be complete.I am searching for fine wine and not soda pop.Even if you never buy any of my other songs you WILL buy this one.It is a tremendous hit in the making.which means it did not come easy,what came out of it was what was put into it.That is what a hit song is.It made a lot of people FEEL something.and then as we say in the biz...TA DA!Thanks so much!-Ren

Just to let the world go by with all of it's important nonsence.I chose to relax.

If the people that I love are living and I can call them up,what is it of a guitar?I can make a $30.00 Silvertone sound good.Do a session or walk onstage with it.Does it feel good to you to play it and does it sound good to me?I have had some beauties,Yet all of them came up short for one reason or the other.And I had a baby to take care of so what was it gonna be..the guitar or the baby?I have got guitar fever again (the baby is now 21 years old) and have already got a very lovely Hofner Colrama.But I so bad want to get another Epi,the best one they ever made,Lucille,The 355.Made in korea.I do not want one made in China.I have an estaphon Impala acoustic made in China that is wonderful but their epi's are very cheaply made.The USA Gibson I would dream only to have.I don't have that kind of bread to invest right now.Still this is the Epiphone top of the line model.Their best guitar!I would prob stick with the Epi(yet would not modify it) and forego the Gibson if I can find a good deal.I still have my Hofner and Estabon. Only musicians care about all of this anyway.If you are playing good your fans are into it and that is the only thing that counts.I am working with a budjet of 4 hundred bucks,it must be Korean,not Chinese,Get back with me if you can help.Thanks/Ren

We do a Memorial Day show every year for some close friends and fans of T-Blue.It was a bit harrowning of a trip because T's Van "Betsy" was in a bit of disrepair, a shot cv joint and some electrical wiring damamged from a previous fire.We did the show two-piece because not one of his drummers would travel to Ft.meyers for less money than two yardnotes."Betsy",wounded as she was with no A/C and man it was roasting out chugged along there and back with only minor problems.And cool as it was that T-blue and I both held the distinction of being "road Mechanics" for the band or band's we either played in or led.I only had flashlight duty as T configured the electrical connections.How fortunate we were because we had to book and The Blueman likes to drive reaaly fast,is temporarily blind in his left eye,and if that cv joint gave out we were doing 70 plus miles per hour weaving in and out of heavy traffic.And we were not thinking on it to much,at high speed it pretty much leveled out, it was when we had to slow down that it was really bad.We chated about other things as we drove along,God knows we have a lot of incredible memories to talk about.And surpisingly to most of you we were totally straight.For as "weird and wonderful" as we appear,surely you would think that we are smoking/sniffing something.I don't know really,working with him is a natural high,the buzz is the performance.It goes far beyond the normal parameters of playing with a rock band.I have got to be "up for te hunt."All of my bass and vocal skills in top shape."It was a wonderful show and such a wonderful party.The food was totally organic and the farm so relaxing.Way,way down deep south.Just the way that I like it,hanging out with backhoe riders and crosstown walkers.Barefoot girls,dancing in the sunlight.The show was saved by an eight year old girl doing the bongos for us.Later to become our go-go dancer.Eight years old she was and I went over to hug her and give her a kiss and she said,"Frenchy you know I am serious about this shit,I am going to be a famous rock and roll drummer! I will see you next year!"We are on babe.make it count!" Said I.

Yes...I "slap the bozz" with the blueman,my very near and dear friend and PA.Instrumentally my primaries are guitar and Piano/Hammond organ but I also have been playing bass since I was a teenager.I have even done upright on a couple of my sessions.It all started many years ago when I met him at a blues jam at The Green Iguana on Westshore Blvd.A world famous monday night blues jam.I was playing guitar and we did a couple of tunes together and then were sittning and talking together and he said "If I had a solid reliable bassist I have got plenty of work that could be done but they are so hard to find."And so I told him that I also was a bassist and would do the gigs.That was some odd twenty years ago and a couple of thousand clubs later.And a lot of hard work and a whole lot of fun!I LOVE my work you see.And he has everything very organized,when I get called out I am not wasting my time.I am working.the fact that I am playing bass instead of guitar is of little concern to me yet mind you this please,just because a guy is a good guitarist that does not qualify that person as a bassist.It is an entirely different instrument with an entirely different feel and perception.Much heavier on every aspect.And much lower holding down the bottom end of the EQ.This is where the thump arrives at the rump.Always and with every instrument lies the temptation to overplay.Or to play to loud.Music has got to breathe just like you and me,perhaps you can zip through scales at lightning speed and leaving no space for the ultimate dynamic of music....silence.We play in clubs with fantastic light shows and The Blueman says "turn them off,I don't need them."Mr. Boogie In The Dark"I cosider him very futuristic as a guitarist because he was the first one to fuse the blues with reggae music.And he wanted reggae bass lines from me.Too cool man!In the scope of the classic rock shows we do very original things,you would think it is the same thing everytime but it is not,it is all the moment in time."Look around and play the room" he would say.Our critics say that we never rehearse,not true..we get paid to rehearse in front of an audience.The Wednesday and Thursday night shows are a rehearsal for the weekend.Perhaps we came up with a whole new song in the meantime.Even in the midst of a major show he may drop down a little lick and we just go to town on it.I have got to hang with working musicians,I do not dig the garage band thing.A rock and roll fantasy,I want to hit the stage,right now,plug my 5-string bass(tuned up-I tuned his guitars as well) into my machine and fix my business straight.I can't be messing with any bullshit and I want to have fun working my ass off.It is a gas my friends.Sharing the love for music.I am booked and I have got to go,that is it for now.

You have a combination of things here from my solo recordings,recordings with my performing groups and recordings with people contracted specifically for particular sessions.And on a few occasions it would overlap where the performing band was also working in the studio with the session players.Or without.Or sessions that I did for other bands projects.And then of course the live recordings have different ensembles.The discography covers my 38 year independent recording career beginning in 1978 to the present day.For the most part I have labored in obscurity,I did not grow up in a showbusiness town like Ny,LA,or Nashville.I come from a small town out of the ashes of nothing.The internet was non-existant,the way to get noticed was from a knockout stage act playing the clubs.Grinding it out on the long road trying to hold the band together.Knocking them out night after night in town after town. and let me tell you America is one vast country.So full of beauty,and I did well..I always got the joint jumpin,!That big break was only just right around the corner.And over the next three mountain ranges.Followed by the next five.When you managed to climb a mountain when you got to the top your view was of all of the other mountains you had to cross.Crashing on people's couches,on picnic benches at the state parks with year turning over year and decade turning over decade.All of those towns looking just the same.and how amazing the kindness that people can show you helping you along to the next step."Don't pay for the motel,y'all can stay at my place while you are here."Singing and playing for money yes,I needed my modest income and still we were singing and playing by the campfires just for fun.That was the thing and still is the thing to play,play,and play.On breaks at the club we would go down the street to holler at the other band and strike up a friendship with them,sit in with them and they would come and sit in with us,we related to eachother cause we were all from out of town running from coast to coast and what a suprise to find both bands playing in different clubs on the same block a thousand miles away.The warm hugs and the smart ass remarks we would shoot off to eachother."Afer the show let's all go have breakfast together!"The locals just loved it!We were all so young,strong,pretty,and resilient.And so free!We flew like birds making our way playing music!"Hey,when we make it y'all are going to be our warmup act,but you will have to carry our equipment."And when both bands had the same night off we would(both bands) all go and see a local performer and have a dance party to their music.Same thing again we would all sit in with them and on their night off they would come and see us.All of us were on the far brink of insanity and needed eachother to keep all of us somehow sane!I appreciated then and now even moreso appreciate how footloose and free we were.All of us successful in avoiding day jobs!We were not famous yet we had the world by the tail!Yet he page has turned and all of that is gone now.I knew that the only place to carve it in stone was the recording studio.In this fuzzy feeling of goodwill that I carry tonight I am going to pass you big tip about the recording process That I ought to be charging you for yet here you go,,,record it totally dry. Thank you for tuning in and turning on,Best wishes Always/Ren

I Got Fish On The Head By Jay Mazza,a retrospective on the fabulous New Orleans band "The Radiators." It is a wonderfully easy and exciting read inspired by the fact that they are doing their fairwell tour right now.I do not think they are goig to stop personally,they have been grinding it out on the road old school style for many years.An incedible grass roots success story,yet incessnant touring is hard on the body.A bit of a rest is due.Some personal projects need to be done.I will do a review when I finish the book.Thank you for tuning in!/Ren

With the T-blue band,and it is a very nice club.Not a dive by any means.Paople do not have money to go out on a wednesday night anymore.We did a paid rehersal for our saturday night show in ybor city @ The Dopple Decker.We got charged for our chicken wings,unheard of for us but they were very tasty so to hell with it.We ran through the saturday night show paying I guess not a lot of notice to the audience.But we got pretty hot.Just running down the numbers one more time.Getting ready for saturday night.And I needed to buy dog food for my puppy.This club is owned by a very cool lady from louisiana.I hpoe to ply that club again and return her the favor.I still work dumps ya know and that is cool yet this was a very cool place serving excellent food.And The Blueman was playing hot guitar.

I have to get very serious in front of the microphone.For all of whatever I may have done I am going to be remembered as a singer.I have never felt so focused.It is so much more for me about the mic than it is the camera.The camera can film anything and deceive you,the mic is the plain truth.You have the gift or you do not. You have to drop it clean with no margin for error.You have got to drop it dry.Drop it straight.Your vocal skills must be impeecable!Unless i make you understand this you will not fully understand all of the rest of it.Thus I have got to shift it into overdrive and take it to a higher level.Now it is more about the skill level than even the originality of it.And I am the A&R guy here as well so I pick the material.For the most part great singers did not write the tune.They made the tune what it is.This is going to be fun.Every instrument seeks to be a human voice,did you know that?I can pick up most any instrument and in twenty minutes be playing you a song on it.Is that a gift,kind of yes although I turned in many years of study which you may view to be polluted.I was not a natural,I had to work at it!Tell you what all of my recording engineers enjoyed working with me.My beautiful artists gave their all,my producer was well pleased with what I presented him to work with...and I savoured the joy of making an experiment a success.Every one of them could have failed to return nothing.I would have accepted that,such was the chance I was taking.The studio that I was pouring all of this into was one of the highest level.(Morrisound)When I walked through that front door I was entering a space and timeship.As a scientist I could not have found a finer laboratory to work in.The pinnacle of recording technology.Hard wired.Huge like RCA Studios-Hollywood.$95.00 dollars an hour to expeirence this in studio A/$65.00 an hour in studio B-not a slouch room by the way,the same SSL console and software yet more of a working room a bit cheaper to roll with.Largely Studio A had the piano and the Hammond,a huge recording room excellent to film in and studio A was the mixing room with the guest quarters above it.So my son had a cool place to hang.I laid down my life and carrear here.And it came out perfect ,whole, and complete to me.I had so much fun doing it,I learned so much from it.The biggie as I said was how to hit the lead vocal mic.Just relax and drop it down to the track.Working it man,I believe it was a german Nueman and you would have to empty your pockets of keys and change because it would get picked up.

The original one that I started changed course radically yet as good fortune would have it I got some good instrumental tracks down.But I did not end up blowing studio time That would have been an expensive drag.You can't force people to do what they don't really want to do.They may go through the motions of doing it yet you can tell,they just are not into it.So you move on.The door is open to go back but it is better if you can be led by the real feeling.It doesn't have to be as big of a pain in the ass for you.It has got to be a groove!My idea of customizing something is not to add stuff on to it.But removing that which is unneccessary.True to that effect I have spent the whole year getting rid of things that I don't need.Here take it I don't want it!It makes my life easier and more calm every day.If I misplace my keys I can find them real quick!There ain't no clutter in the way!I hate it when you pick something up and something else fall to the floor.You cannot even stack it anymore.And one day you are going to let it all go anyway,you are no longer able to control it.Those chips shall fall wherever they may.If I can hit a groove I'll be okay!

Yes I am.I love my country and do not think I could have existed anywhere else.I followed my dreams totally.I expierenced the full freedom of being a crazy american.I worked hard too,it did not just fall into my lap.There is a bigger picture that you have to fall inline with.It can't always be just your way in your time expectation.You have to roll with the punches.My primary concern was to do the work.And I loved it.I have had to deal with a lot of funky trips.But you keep your eye on the prize.When you get a spot you do your best.Part of becoming mature is to realize you can pick your battles.You want to concentrate on what is important and discard what is trivial.It makes no sense to argue with a fool,who just rages and scoffs,people will begin to wonder who the fool is!A person can be considered to be wise just to keep their mouth shut.A lot of times I fell down,I am not a stranger to sadness,sorrow,nor apparent failure but I picked myself back up again.People you need to be there let you down at crucial moments,you have got to watch your own back you see.When I hit the stage I am ready to go.Straight and strong.No chemical dependencies.None of that shit.

A recording artist and scientist.Immortalized if you will.The sole owner of that which is my intellectual property.A songwriter,a singer,guitarist,multi-instrumentalist.Student of the mandolin.Arranger,executive producer.Seminar artist instructor-recording arts and science.Consultant.Publisher,article writer.Stage performer.All of this wrapped up into some large lessons to be learned.And often times led to many personal hardships and sacrifices as it entails a series of highs and lows.Every time I sit down and take stock of my life it still ends up as what I want to do.The public acclaim...that is a gamble of very high stakes with no guarantees.You have got to find your own path on the road unwinding.And my work is to play...digg that!My job is to have fun and make you forget about life for a moment.Oh yeah onstage I get uncut,very high energy,what am I playing..I don't care,I still love to sing "Hang On Sloopy" I have been singing that tune for 50 years!A great song is a great song period.

As an artst you drop it down.Your producer lifts it.

I have to give so many thanks to Tina,my dancing pal from CHI,and to Olga my Step Mom who functioned as my vocal coaches.Tina Novelo is perfect bi-lingual,and Olga has a masters in Spanish Language from the University Of Havana.(Cuba)Olga got so angry with me over the tense of my verbs and Tina did the whole layout perfectly.I would say so because when I did it I was not even thinking translation,I was doing spanish better than the english version."Lo Que" the same with Rpbert Ortiz as my vocal coach.

Is the lead singer from a competing group,Fourth Wish.Steve Robles.Tomorrow night we are both working in differnt groups six blocks away from eachother,I get off early at 1 Am so I am going to take my maracas over to join in with them until 3.My life and my art is Gulf Coast Style...Arcadian French.A people that escaped the guillotines in Paris after the so-called "democratic" revolution.We gravitated to the Gulf Coast,full of good hunting and fishing.And beautiful music!Some came as Pirates,looking to lay low,some as farmers,trappers,engineers if you will.I came as a recording artist on my first record contract.I love to visit and play at other places in the world yet when that plane is landing at TIA I know and am happy to be back home again.I can relax and be myself.TPA is so redneck working class,anti- culture if anything as well as the sex capital of the world.They threw the symphony orchestra out of town after building a performing arts center for them!GOD I hate it because it is so filthy yet I love it because it is my funky home.One thing they did right here is the airport,you can blast off out of here to anywhere with great ease and return in style.I am just itching for that plane to land,in 55 minutes I will have picked up my bags and be back home again.I have timed this four times.I have this town,it is all mine-of course I took it.Everywhere I go cars are honking and going "hey frenchy!" Sweet stank ass summers,paradice winters.Highly advanced Recording Studios.Fantastic award winning film crews,instant accomodations for any event.If my AC keeps running I am all good to go!

I am still to blown away to believe it yet I know it is true.And so saddened because these are two remarkable human beings,so first class.Had it not have been for this recording studio you would not have found me in TPA.Surely I would have taken my talents elsewhere.Yet there was this Recording Studio a couple of miles from me that was defined state -of -the -art-world class.John Tardy of Obituary suggested I should record there,we use to work together at the same day job.Tio walk in the door was to expierence being in the presence of greatness.Kharmically,not worldly.So many that appear to be so great in the world are Kharmic trash.And so for the very pricy rate of 75 dollars an hour for studio B or 95 an hour for studio A,a fee that remained the same for 19 years to this very day I could go to town at the pinnacle of recording art and science.Thus I decided to settle in TPA.And push that studio to it's limits.The question always at the end of the day was "did you have fun Rene?"Every time I did and was successful,not in the short run but long term it is laid out.I own the masters and they can be re-worked yet the essential thing is the original recording levels and how they were laid out, the applied technology as it is.For me to be set free as an artist to where that was what I was free to be,an artist where the best I present is a diamond in the rough, to a master jewler.Right away it comes to your mind trickery and studio effects which was far from the case here.A tight and totally dry direct to disc mix is was went down.And that is what an artist does.Production is another whole question,when you move into post you are no longer recording,you are listening.All of that auto-tune shit forget that,you were on pitch when you laid the tracks.Dry as a bone.Your producer may come time to discern a little adjustment on something with the autotuner.This device is more of a nightmare than you think when you trim a frequency a glitch is going to happen somewhere on another track and you have got to find it.This is for 15 milleseconds on a trim.You have to find it before you go to master.I have a 30% hearing loss in my high register.Normal for musicians but prohibitive to a producer.I am an executive producer.I had to ask Tom Morris to produce me on projects that were already in the works.I was weeping when I asked him."Rene,don't cry,if you can just pay the studio time I will do it,I will be glad to." He did a complete master for me.FOR A TOP LEVEL PRODUCER SUCH AS THIS YOU WILL FORK 5 GRAND AN HOUR.Because they know the shortcuts.Add to this my recording engineers.My co-producer Rob Valdez.My cast and crew.Again I stress to you,to savor the company of greatness!

I must have a producer,a great one to bring myself as an artist across to you.From years onstage I have hearing loss,most musicians do.And you see that makes it,when you are producing a recording a problem because at some frequencies you are difficient to descern the correct amount of silence needed.I was in the presence of greatness.Savoring it too..because his thing was about having good clean fun and in his personal life he was suffering greatly and concerned about the welfare of his children,Oh man,I met the wizard of OZ behind the curtian and he was bigger behind the curtain then his emminence front.A fearless man!"You don't have to cry Rene,I understand and will be there if you pay for the studio time."This was my biggest break...how can I explain it....an artist in the studio in terms of recording science, is a big gambler without a trusted producer.This sets you free to be an artist.At morrisound I was NOT permitted to not have fun,plus cause I was paying for the studio time I was the executive producer.In post I would just watch Tom go crazy with the gear that was stolen,and it did not take much as he told me that the thing to do was make a great dry recording.Then just ice the cake with the outboard gear,which is listed as stolen here.Marvel at that man because it is most flush!Rob Valdez co-produced with me what I gave him,and Iwas always off the wall,although rehearsed.Having the time of my life!

I was greatly saddened to hear of the heist of my dear friends and professional associates at Morrisound Studios Tampa and have hereby compiled a list of the stolen gear with serial numbers to aid in the recovery of the stolen items.Many people are on the lookout for this equipment,much of it cannot be replaced,Tom's Black Les Paul.(I played it on the American idol audition solo.)This is so heartbreaking to me because Tom and Jim are good men who did their dream the right way.Fiscally responsible,They paid the taxes and the bills,always re-invested into state of the art technology and enjoyed the rewards of totally honest success,the hard work that led to the fruits of their labors.And two of the most down to earth and friendly people you would ever meet.Technology wise this studio sat on a par with anything in the world.Much slow to pay major label work was done here yet their special buzz was the emerging artists they worked with and developed.Amid the gear was also taken personal treasures,Tom's Les Paul Custom.Probably it is all already out of the country.Many eyes are watching and I am adding mine and anything I can humbly do to help such fantastic friends.This had to be a MK Ultra Hit,they also got the hard drives and back-ups of all of the recorded material,leaving not one fingerprint.If you come across anything here at a dream price, please contact your local law enforcement authorities.Thank You! MORRISOUND RECORDING LIST OF STOLEN EQUIPMENT 2011.04.11 SSL PARTS SSL 4K G SERIES COMPUTER & POWER SUPPLIES 1 OUTBOARD GEAR NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER AUIDIMAX 4440A 4450A AUTOMATIC LEVEL CONTROL 2 APOGEE AD 8000 2 358 FURMAN SMP POWER CONVERTERS 7 EVENTIDE H3000 1 AMS RMX-16 Reverb 1 Lexicon PCM 41 Digital Delay 2 Lexicon PCM 42 Digital Delay 1 Lexicon PCM 70 Reverb 1 4136 Lexicon 224XL Reverb 1 With Out LARC UREI LA - 4 Compressor 2 3196 UREI 1176 Compressor 3 7652 BBE SONIC MAXIMIZER 422A 1 AUDIO ARTS EQ 1 KLARK TEKNIK EQ 1 DBX 166 Compressor 1 DBX 160 A Compressor 2 DBX 160 Compressor 1 DBX 165 Compressor 2 LANG EQ PEQ-2 EQ 1 UREI LA - 22 Compressor 1 TC ELECTRONIC 96K FINALIZER 2 TC ELECTRONIC 2290 Digital Delay 1 510855 HHB CD-R RACK BURNER 1 SSL FX G384 Compressor 1 SONTEC MASTERING EQ MES-432C 1 TUBETECH TWO CHANNEL COMPRESSOR LCA - 2A 1 3360 WAVES L2 1 MIC PRE RACK NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER VINTECH MIC PRE 1272 2 CW0048B121 CW0049B125 VINTECH MIC PRE X73 2 VA120700-1 VA120700-2 True Precision 8 Mic Pre 1 INSTRUMENTS NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER GUITARS GIBSON LES PAUL CUSTOM Black ('73) 1 FENDER TELECASTER'52 ReIssue Blonde 1 MARTIN D-28 1 GIBSON L-48 ARCH TOP 1 FENDER PRECISSION BASS 1 IBANEZ FRETLESS BASS 1 JERRY JONES ELECTRIC SITAR 1 TAYLOR 12-STRING JUMBO 455 1 20030311086 KEYBOARDS OBERHEIM OB8 KEYBOARD with Road Case 1 M-AUDIO Key Rig 49 1 3225-640F-1ABE-FBFE-3ACB-D9F0 DRUMS ZILDJIAN CHINA CYMBAL 1 ZILDJIAN CRASH 1 ACCESSORIES NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER PETERSON STROBE TUNER 1 BOSS TUNER 1 CRYBABY WAH PEDAL 1 AA52M880 DUNLOP 535Q WAH PEDAL 1 VOX WAH PEDAL 1 Roland Super Overdrive 1 Ratt Turbo Pedal 1 RATT PEDAL 1 FullTone Bass-Drive MosFET 1 Line 6 M13 Stomp Box Modeler 1 SMALL STONE PHASE SHIFTER 1 BIG MUFF PIE 1 GUITAR STAND 4 DI COUNTRYMAN TYPE 85 DI BOX 4 MICROPHONES NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER SM 58 4 SM 57 7 TELEFUNKEN U 47 1 NEUMANN U 87 2 38938 307718 NEUMANN TLM 103 1 NEUMANN M 147 1 201 RCA 44BX 1 EV RE 20 3 AKG 414 6 AKG C451E Plus CK1 1 509553 AKG C451E Plus CK1 1 111027 SENNHEISER 421 10 84333 49077 49075 SENNHEISER 441 4 Shure SM-7 Audix D6 ATM 31 ATM 11 MICROPHONE STANDS NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER REGULAR SIZE 10 STAGE STAND 1 SHORT STAND 3 DESK BOOM 2 AMPS & CABINETS NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER ENGL POWERBALL AMP HEAD 1 MARSHALL JCM 2000 TSL 100 1 M-2006-42-0940-B VOX AC 30 1 MESA DUAL TREMOVERB 1 AMPEG SVT 810 Speaker Cabinet 1 MARSHALL 4X12 CABINET 1960B 1 MARSHALL 4X12 1960A ANGLED CABINET with Greenbacks 1 LITTLE LABS PCP DISTRIBUTION BOX 1 LITTLE LABS ANALOGUE PHASE ALIGNMENT TOOL 1 Little Labs Signal Transmission Device 1 HEADPHONES NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER ULTRASONE SLOGIC 3 FOSTEX T20 15 SPEAKERS/MONITO RS NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER JBL EON PA SPEAKER -NON POWERED WITH STANDS 2 GENELEC 8050A SPEAKERS 2 PM2008036 PM2003505 GENELEC SUBWOOFER 7070A 1 PM2007786 CABLES NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER 96 PIN DL TO VARIOIUS XLR,1/4" AND TT CONNECTORS MANY COMPUTERRELATED NAME QUANTITY SERIAL NUMBER Apple G4 2 APPLE G5 2 Scepter X24WG Video Monitor 2 DIGIDESIGN PROCONTROL 2 KH0039900A KH0046700A HD Process DIGIDESIGN CARDS 4 HD 3 ACCEL System 1 UE20040 DIGIDESIGN HD 3 System 2 SG11339 SG10065 DIGIDESIGN SYNC I/O 2 SC0162400A DIGIDESIGN 192 I/O 9 RM0327400D RM0328500D RM0329200D AKD0747002Z RM3245400Y RM0836600L RM0013800A RM0328300D 192 D/A CARD 7 AGQ0475000J AGQ0473900J AGQ0471600J AGQ0444900J AGQ0444000J DELL 24” COMPUTER MONITOR 1 iMAC COMPUTER 4 MBOX2 MINI 2 AMX09183041E AMX09180835E

It was insisted by Rick,our producer/co-writer that I not use My Les Paul but a 1958 Tele Esquire.On a production level everything was so tight.They wanted such a pure and clean guitar sound that they had to put a lear in the air to get it.They flew me to Miami,but I had to catch a hound back to TPA after the session,out of my pocket.To record at Critera in MIA??? I am up for the hunt!I also was not flying alone,Gregg,the drummer was telling me what I was going to play, and some world class thugs.Everything was cool..Gregg was so fantastic in coaching me,,,this tune is so great and I am a part of it?As a white man I am sliding in like Hubert Sumlin? Oh man rock this!Shawn Brown at his best with Blackstar.

I had to turn to and still do to "Ye Mystic Krewe"when I get into a jam,and they always have my back,and the film crew,this stuff was not shot on a cellphone it was on a dvd camera.I traveled with the film crew and ate at the taco wagon with them. Largely they were taken for granted by the cast but not by me.All of them were very advanced and skilled as well as "Ye Mystic krewe" who are actually professional actors.It is such fun to work with cool people!Everyone showing up on time,no drama,stone pro's although much of their best work may be in advertising or ESPN.Yet they dig it when I call them about a project.I mean serious,they have got to come in and frame out the whole deal,build up a storyboard,the lighting and audio side of it.

Worland,Wyoming,I was on my first out west tour from Nashville with Vocalist/Great-Pattie Flores.J actually saved my ass because i was about to be fired and sent on a bus back to Nashville.Try as a may I could not play country music,I hated it!!!He had been in the club and I did not know who he was,did not know he was famous and we both were much younger and he said "I dig the way you play,let's have a bbq on sunday and jam a bit.I told him I was about to get fired because I can't play country and we ended up going through Patties set list and he showed me a bunch of fingerings and positions and how to play lead as simple as possible.We were drinking white wine and had purchased some really good meat that we were roasting and had fun playing long into the evening.I was surprised that he remembered and i was knocking the band out with my country lead guitar!Even the polkas I had down tight!That song was part of that night in Wyoming,at a state park pickin' and grinnin'You ain't ever gonna take that away from me and REMEMBER Duane Allman!

I say thee yay!It needs to take a breath though.I am going to do some acapella work.Yes...just the voice.The lead vocal mic in the studio.Bake the cake right then and there!I have been very underated as a vocalist for a long time.I am going to set you all straight about that.The main session has to sit for a minute,it can't be forced,it has got to be a flow.I am working some alternative ideas with it.That is the cool thing about recording arts,the work can just patiently sit in the can and with digital recording you can re-call the last mix in fifteen minutes.Of course an anaolog mix can be done that too but it has to be manually reset to the specs,say you are coming back in a year later with a different engineer and producer perhaps at a different studio.I just want to do some singing right now.Some very serious singing with all of the production concentrated on voice.Then music as desired can be added.The vocals are always the last thing to go on a track.And you have got to form fit via composites to the instrumental track.That is the natural progression of it.Thus I would consider the next session an experiment as I do not know if I am capable of it,but it sounds like a lot of fun to give it a shot!

Funk,dance music.Loose and crazy.Getting a groove together.I find it hard to explain about it because it is all about economy.I find fantastic guitar records to be very boring cause the guitar is just sailing over the top of it.Not locked into the pocket as it is suppose to be.You have got a bassit and drummer locked into a very basic thing and you walk over the top of it.Like Jeff Beck has got a band that challenges him to be his best.The other stuff is emotional gymnastics and technical prowess.Boring really.Masterful yes...but boring.Not going gold nor platinum.

Ruff???...are you kidding me? I am holding him to a promise he made me."The first one to score a major label deal will allow the other to do a collaboration."I joke with him telling him every tune he does is missing my guitar part.Just ask shawn Brown about it.James Peterson.I will fuck up a pocket really tight.Make you look your best.Look at James Brown and his guitarist.All of these cats,their producers do not want guitar on their records.I do not get that at all,maybe it is not a solo thing but just a tight pocket part.All that you need is a few very well played notes,for your platinum seller to go multi-platinum.And if I move up first in line I am not gonna forget Ruff.I am going to have him on the lead vocal mic doing a collab!Yes I am tight with ruff...you just ask him and he will tell you.

The voice is my principle followed by the guitar and then the piano.When I was a child my elder brother would kick my ass for not practicing 2 hours every night.And my sister would not allow me to rest until I learned how to sing.But if you ask me I am a singer and guitar player.Oh,and a bassist as well.The bass is gonna pay the electric bill this month.My 5 string.In the studio I developed heavily as a multi-instrumentalist,all of that piano practice in my early youth came to pay off in spades there.Plus being a deacon and music director in church really got my piano chops back up to speed.And I am doing all of the Hammond Organ tracks as well on M-3,B-3,and C-3 my preference is actually the C-3 with stereo leslies yet these are much older Hammond models,the newer one are mind-blowing yet you are talking 25 grand to buy one.And well worth it as well.Through the years their quality standards just got better and better,they refused to cut corners.Like my les paul custom is a 2000 SG type re-issue of the 1963 and it plays like a dream yet in 3 months the gold hardware faded.I paid over two grand for that guitar,I have a friend who has an authentic 63 and the gold hardware is perfect on it.Mine actually looks older than the "63".And in fairness to Gibson it plays and sounds just as good.I feel that branching out to do other instruments makes me love the guitar even moreso and makes me a better player.

I was introduced to that very fast,at My first record deal with Wooden Bowl.As listed in Billboard I accepted the postiton of Executive Vice President in charge of publishing operations,and Executive Producer in charge of production management.As well as a recording artist,a singles artist with a committment to do three singles a year four three years with a one year option.I had just finished college with a strong business backround.I had the great privilege of attendending a very fine school free of charge.Gannon University,a very old world Catholic University.Very strict and very preppy standards.Excellent business and engineering courses!Fascinating instructors!An expensive shcool too yet my scholarship was covered,all expenses paid, by the Upward Bound Program.I had a wonerful mentor,Dr.Frederick Douglass Thompson.He drilled me like a marine DI.I was unusual on campus because I was a wild child hippy artist and a mathematics tutor.(age 16)I recognized the grand opportunity I was given to obtain a good education,I am an a avid reader,I even find technical manuals to be excellent drama stories so I was cracking the books really hard.I was the only white dude in an all black program.I maen I was attending college courses when I was 16 years old and still in high school!My expenses offset by my tutoring.Especially to the basketball team!So the businees thing I am into from a level of the management and executive arena.I find it fascinating.And I am a talent scout.My wonderful artists demonstrate that for you.I would star by simply saying "would you do a recording session for me?"

There wasn't time available to do do something high production.I kind of like the raw stuff.It sounds 1940's the level of the SKILL is what is most important.Not the technology!

I have already escaped as I have moved.A change is as good as a rest.I will do the cruise after I finish the next recording session.I have to let things fall into place there without forcing it too much.Just a natural flow of events.I have to have to be able to implement/initiate a mindblowing concept.Stay tuned for the upcoming details.

She said,"If we are not reading,I am not performing."You can easily tell that "Closer And Closer"is a read.And "Tell Me" and "Oh,how I love you."No problem really if you are in my band you can read or you couldn't pass the audition.We don't always use it yet sometimes we do.For the most serious stuff we do.Exceptions can always be made for brilliance.Yet that is a word one does not like to just toss out.A dotted half note in 4/4 time,just how many beats is that?And you are playing how many?It is three beats by the way.

Not so I tell you.She is my dog.It is her place and I just live here and pay the bills.She is 100% in on every detail of my life.She lives with me.On the coldest nights I am warm and toasty.

To that effect I have booked passage on a short cruise.As a passenger,not as a performer.I am just to imprisoned by my work to a point where it is not healthy for me.I just have too much stuff ramping up my ass.And for a single person I am convinced that a cruise is the best get-a way.A way to meet and mingle with other SINGLE people that are way cool!That need to get away too.To me the bars are a major drag,I have been a liquor salesman since I was 14 years old,as a professional musician.It may or may not be good for a one night stand and that is not my primary interest as much as to relax and enjoy some intellectual stimulation.I love to dance and am looking forward to doing a lot of that.With pretty ladies that are wild and free,not fiances, or live in roomates, or married people, or those hanging over a divorce.I am a college grad,an educated person and avid reader.I do not watch TV..All ready for a real fun time and whever that may lead to.I have allowed my life to become too overcomplicated.I want to dance all night loose and light under the moonlight.Hold stimulating conversation with intellegent people.I need a break from the guys in the band.A break from working out tunes.I wish to savor the scent of sweet perfume.There are very few thrills like slow dancing with a lady having her head on your shoulder just pouring her scent and soul into you.She just feels so safe and secure in your arms she lets all of her guard drop and is having fun.I am not a predator.I do not have a secret agenda.I am a gentleman of the highest accord.A man of honor.At ease...I have got to get away from this for a minute or else I am going to burn it out.

You had all of heaven on Earth.The best of all of the low hanging fruit!You reaked of all the fine beef you ate!Yet as any Indian knows you have got Kharma waiting for you.No thing comes to you without the price of it.The price you are going to have to pay!

I love my country,in the entire history of the world nothing has existed like my country.I would not choose to live in france,that dinky little place full of snobs and imitators.I would rather go to San Francisco on vacation.We question the motives of our authority and get promoted as a police state,yet the police are americans and they understand.If you are not breaking the law you do not have to worry.They will defend your rights.I live in such a redneck town,total anti-culture!They threw the philharmonic symphony out of town!Even the wealthy are just rich rednecks!if I have got to step out and go someplace the airport is just the best!Easy parking and easy everything.BOOM...and I am there!

He was always backing me up on projects and as long as he got paid he was cool.I would walk in with him into all kinds of adventures and he would drop it behind me,it is a very impressive thing.He was taken back by the fact that I wanted to spotlight him and lay out HIS talent to the world.He had figured I could not lay down my own ego for that long.Yet he had something welling up inside of him.You can deny me my place,i guess you may think that you can.But I am not going to allow you to diss my beautiful artists.My bad ass band of talent.I live in like a TOTAL redneck town.A total anti-culture place.They threw the philharmonic symphony orchestra out of town!Even the extreme wealthy are rednecks!I despise it because it is filthy but I love it because it is home.It has the number one airport in the world!I can johnny off easy to any location in the world.This place just makes me sick so much but when I am flying back home I am so glad to get on back to T-Town!Yes,Tampa.That Old Whore.Home sweet home!

And that is what this is.I have been shipwrecked,deserted by those that I have dearly loved,left off,ripped over,ripped off,all of my guitars heisted,sponged of,sponged over,the usual tale of what it takes to make it in music.The performance has got to achieve madness if it is really going to make it,make it all the way!through it all I maintained coypyright.I own the exclusive rights to it.I hold all of the original masters and shall pass them on to my heir.He will be the judge and jury one day.I want you to know that I had myself a ball doing this work.I overlooked trends and contemporary passing styles to get down to the bone of rock and roll.I also have many dear friends and professional associates who stuck with me through thick and thin.Showed up on time and made it count.And made it fun to do.This is a tough racket and there is no simple solutio0n to it.You have a zillion bands and maybe a million very good ones.Ultimately you have got to do your own thing.You can cover somebody yet you can't just copy them.And you must license that.In my mind as an artist there ought to be room for everyone.You have got to make the best of what you have to work with in the time that you have.I have taken the liberty to savour and enjoy it.I had fun doing it,I framed it all as an adventure.A movie if you will and feel that I have pulled it off.Recording art and science taken to the extreme.A passion,my passion for living.Unlimited possibility.

I am totally moving literally,I need to get with a fresh start.I am a prisoner in too many ways.One thing in life put salt on my tail,I had to and wanted to raise a baby,as a single parent.Mission accomplished!Now I am free and going to persue that.Oh I was so told going through all of it that I needed to have a woman.Well largely I did have to have one,Mrs. Harris, who took care of the baby whilst I had to work.That was a professional relationship though.I could trust her to take care of the most important thing to me on this earth.My baby son.You young people you do not know yet what is coming to your life,but it is coming and you will find out.You are way back where the handsome prince carries off the fairytale princess and that is all good,probably the best thing about being young.Although you shall come to find also eventually that that is a joke.If you have found a good friend that you can trust and accept with all of the good and bad you are doing better than most.Tell me all about it a couple of kids later.Which reeks havoc upon her body by the way.That is not to say that mature women cannot be alluring and beautiful,so if you have got a good girl,give her all your spare time and love her and treat her right.For me that is not an option.I go beyond the limits any woman that I have met would tolerate.I am in love with the next song I am going to sing.That is my reward.that is why I am here now you see.

They are a much harder drill.And I am working with coaches here...Robert Ortiz on "Lo Que Tu Haces." Tina Novelo and Olga Forsythe on "Donna."Olga is my landlady and hangout buddy,84 years old and she wants to come out to the gigs.She has a degree in Spanish from the University Of Havana.All of the guys at the gigs want to dance with her!84 years old...does that tell you something?She was as mean as a snake coaching me on my verbs."Are you kissing every girl in town goodnight or just one?" pounding her fist on the table.My friend Tina did the whole layout of it.Then Olga tore me to pieces on the verbs.I am pretty well fluent in spanish yet I have an american accent you see.

"If it were the only one I ever did." I meant that too...This was the one session where I was really waving the conductor's wand as the executive producer.And well..what am I also playing and doing on this tune,all of the guitars,piano,Hammond C-3 organ(stereo leslies),backing vocals,and vibraslap.Just a monster percussion section here,The Reverand did the trap kit,Susan Mejeras on tympani,Bill Bland on oh man get this...conga's,bongos,swiss hand bells,triangle,maracas,castenets,tambourine,glockenspiel.Wally Bevins on Bass guitar.I knew wneh I called up Susan to participate what it was going to be,at that time she was the arranger and tech consultant for three high school drumlines.It was going to be CHARTS.She Said "I don't forsee a problem here,all of you are readers and I will chart the entire score,and you know me honey...if we are not reading I am not playing."With the little time she had to spare in her life when we got to the studio we had music stands with a score on it.Bill Bland,how fortunate that I scored him do do sessions for us!He would back up his van to the studio door and pull out any number of stuff that I required him to perform on.You can so plainly see he was having himself a ball! Walter on the bass who said "I will read the verses and chorus'but in the middle eight and coda I am going to improvise it or I am out and rene can play bass." The Reverand was on about cloud fifteen and we did not have to worry about him reading.Judd Packer engineered this session from start to finish.It was done up to a skully 2 1/2 inch through an SSL console.It was not transferred to digital,this is the analog mix.This is a song about loving your children.This is a song about what makes the world go around.

If this was the only thing I ever got to do,I would be so well pleased.I sent up the mean old Reverand do be whoppin' up some ass!Long and so long and through so much a supporting member of my cast.Total road big dog mate!I was on cloud nine when he agreed to join my band!at times I could lean all of my weight upon him and he would carry me through!He is not mean either,quite the contrair yet he would get very ugly with me if my skills were not in top shape.I believe this lead vocal has a special place of genius because it is NOT a composite.It is a performance from Alpha To Omega,Not the first take mind you when he went off we would not "Punch in" we would go back to the edge."I am singing this for my daughter Erica,you do not punch in a lullabye!" How great it is to have a cat like this in your band!

I had the best of the best.Gavin,Bill Jerome,Gary Lekowtih.Sarah doing the mailings.Professionally,this opened doors.These people delivered ontime and as expected.Behind the scenes of showbiz..movers and shakers!Respected from the highest levels.Fun to work with!I was the financier and I was never asked to cut a payola deal to have my record played.I spoke to many pd's and they never indicated to me that I had to bribe them to spin me.Radio people are very cool and friendly.I got lifted for my investment much farther than one may realize,and I did my thing with the help of my cool friends!So what if my records were only played at 3 in the morning....that is the BEST time to play them!

Yes,I have a year to do it and it is going to take most of a year to do it.Not because I am strung out,life is just so increasingly complicated.I do not even have to do it...who cares if I do or don't,well I do and that is what it is.Yet I need some time and some space to get it all together,other folks are involved with it and I cannot,just enforce my will upon it.Producing is a tricky thing of narrow time windows and getting everyone to do their best.Making them want to do their best and really have them get off on it! In the long run it has got to be that way,this is rock and roll and we do it because it is fun for us to do.That is gonna make the record be great.And every time we listen to it we dig it.Henchforth so shall the listener,our beloved audience that supports our efforts.It CAN"T BE DONE WITHOUT YOU!The rhythm track is laid in stone,I am not on the lead vocal this time on of the girls is gonna step up and be whoppin' up on your ass!Way R&B this time people,not to much rock and roll...we have to turn our boxes down just a little bit so you can hear the singers sing.And I have several bad ass singers jumpin up on this record,perhaps too much talent to be able to work together!It is a cover song also,a real old one.We stepped way back to reach out and grab it.We have got to license it and pay the songwriters and publishers teir fair share like Napster ought to have done.So the show would work overall.Only $37.50 per five hundred set up by Harry fox."Much cheaper," as the judge said,than an infirngement lawsuit.And the songwriters and publishers have got to pay their bills today just like you and me.And cook a nice spag dinner to shrare with their friends!Paid with a song....how sweet it is!May God bless you all....thanks!

No,I am a vital member of supporting cast.My role gets greatly downplayed in the public eye but not in the performance nor the backstage details that go in to making a show work.It goes back to my treatise on "club date" rock guitaring.Yes I am cut out of many of the highlights yet the show is not about me,it is about him.I deliver the fireworks when needed and then function as a sideman.I would suss I could let my little ego be bruised but I agreed to the terms of it and have my own original thing going very strong.I have got to get to a stage to play,let the other chips fall where they may.

Well how can I say,you may wish to beat around the bush a bit more...u you have not hit bottom yet.It is day in your life yet the night is coming.May be not tonight so we have got to work while it is day in our lives.Because the night is coming!

Yes,thanks to GOD!I was in the right place at the right time.I had so much fun doing it!And that is what Tom is all about.I had the racks recorded and called him and said,"It just is not there." and he said "you way overplayed!" The result of that was two years of stripping tracks in analog."Money well spent my son!"Robert Valdez was co-producing me at that vital point.And this may sound silly to you yet I was able to concentrate fully upon being an artist.I fell that the tribute in my recorded work lies in the lack of effects that had to be used.And the whole can be with ease set up to re-mix and re-master it all.I would not do that yet if you come at me with the money you can.I would suss that your balls don't hang that low.

They are the take on a rock and roll band.The highest class.Four extreme talented lads,four beloved tight friends,they even in death would never split from eachother.That they would support and encourage eachother,they fell out totally because they did not know just how hard it was gonna hit.A UK band!They have an advantage over us in that the uk is more consolodated.In six months you make or break,it is a much healthier artistic climate.The US is all about vast and let me tell you cause I drove and walked down those roads.The whole thing came out of imported US blues music performed by black artists.They were confounded because their recording engineers had no idea of how it was.nor how to record it.It was Chess Studios in Chicago that taught them how to do it.A wonderful peace time cultural exchange.The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds recorded there.And now English recording engineers knew how it was done.Oh Man In the US the black producers are still advanced way,way beyond that.So ya know,a rock band and we are going to stick it out 'till the end.John Bonham's death stopped the show.If Charlie Watts passed on today I would bet The Rolling Stones would cancel A tour."We are not The Rolling Stones without Charlie on drums.Why did Bill Wyman quit?Well..why not?He will be on the next tour and I think also Mick Taylor will too.I wont buy a ticket,I will pull up and park outside the stadium in my van,get out my acoustic and play along with them,I did that at four shows of their last tour.So yes,I have performed with The Rolling Stones.True success is a demonstration of loyalty.

On (oo) he's very tightly placed,He would think his stuff is removed but it is not.It is so very tightly placed with mine.There was a lot of politics to be dealt with in NYC,Gary Lefkowith was looking very strong to do the lead guitar solo.This on top of all else was the intensity I was facing In NYC.!I was staying at the riverside motel and had the 2nd chair violinist of the New York Phil,who was living on the same floor help me do a better solo.A la santana!In the communal kitchen!Yet Mike laid it out to me like this,if you cannot play Gary's solo better than he did you lose!That is the solo going down on this record.Even the band got cruel,"you can't touch gary's stuff!" Not Andre,He said as we waited for the train, "Just do it Rene,play whatever Mike wants you to play."This I might add threw Gary into a Manic Depression.Oh he was so moping around the studio,I thought he might have had a lot of joy in that I played his arrangement!And Mike was calling all of the shots anyway,I actually thought my solo was better.Yet I am happy with all of it.

The old stuff is great,no doubt.Yet who is writing anymore?I shall invest my efforts into "She's Alright."or "Messin' With The Kid."When I was asked to work with Blackstar I steppped all into it,cutting edge blues,inadvertently of course yet I thought I was the future Hubert Sumlin."Flown in a lear to do my ever so tight licks.Well that is true because I did it and flew in that lear.This was analog and not digital I had to play that lick the same way every time.You can get so lost in the old stuff that you lose sensitivity to the new.You become a Blues cover act.With nothing new to show.I shall tell you that James Peterson is way ahead of you.Yet I shall also tell you that he is not ahead of Shawn Brown.No way,Shawn sat down at an organ and played and sang the same way that he does today at the age of 4 he turned pro!The signature of God upon his work!Me? I am standing upon my balcony cheering him on!Funking up my guitar in all kinds of twisted blues for him to shine!Jeez,what a genious!

Producing and publishing.Live is great and I shall always do,and have done many riots...but I do not remember it at all.I don't have to,I did it!Escaped a lynch mob after doing it!Warned by The Georgia State Police "Do not return to the hotel,leave town right after the show."And they were so right.The old 1958 Chevy Bluebird Schoolbus we traveled in was out fitted with nitrous oxide (NOS) at Germantown Auto Service in Nashville,Tn.A Chevy 283 V8 under the hood,a cracked engine block repaired with JB weld.The drivers seat was not bolted to the floor and my Parakeet was dancing on the steering wheel and trouble was coming up fast!I had invested into six brand new tires and a hydrovac brake system.And a Music City Tag (MUS279) when I flipped the nox switch we became airborne.The front end would raise up and fire would shoot from the tailpipes as we were running headers without mufflers.(no back pressure!)Twenty or so odd years later I am no longer really up for that kind of a hunt!That bus was drilled and perhaps riveted together by bulletholes!You young folks have no idea of this freedom,YOU COULD NEVER PULL THIS OFF!The Music City Tag" I was trying to insure the bus and my State Farm Agent told me I must get A Music City Tag.$350.00!!! I about shat myself,he said "money well spent my dear son!"We broke down on the road from birmingham to mobile (I-65) and the tag was 2years expired.The Alabama State Police drove me to pick up gas.I said "are you going to ticket me for the out-of date tag?"She said "No sir,that bus is a historical site,a Music City Tag never goes out-of -date! We are assising you to get to your next show."I loved that adventure but do not wish to repeat it.We were not hassled any kind of way.The officers were friendly and assisted us to get on down the road.

Yes I do,I think she had a fantastic vocal coach,very early on.In all that she does you witness the training.And she is always pushing it to the limit.Some call that oversinging yet check that control.You wish you could belt out like that!People and the press are knocking her now Yet ummm...THEY ALWAYS HAVE!I would hitchhike to LA to play bass on one of her sessions!Brittany too...I met her and her sister at transcon,she is a very sweet and funny person,very kindhearted.Sheyrl crow,every time she comes through town I am at That show.Bonnie Raitt???I would WALK to New Orleans to play rhythm guitar for her.I may be so tired but I can't lose my stride!% more miles to go now.I have always been good to the girls on my site.I mean just to do a guy thing,and we do that,we lay it out with that.Yet ya see there is a thing called love that makes this world go 'round.Your joy,what makes you happy.My girls are hard hitters.They carry switchblades and know how to use them.They do not have to carry equipment,they are more than willng to pack up cords.They get insecure and sad,you hold their hand and kiss them on the forehead and say,"your the greatest."That is a good thing to hear.

Riverside drive Manhatten.It was lightly snowing and I was dancing around looking at the NY skyline at 1 am!My son was terrfied that I was going to fall!NYC,The Big Apple,and I held it in the palm of my hand!Best to believe that is true.

We are going to lead off today with a real slow-goin blues,With Ms. Ellis at the lead vocal mic.The recording is real raw and so were we.Chicago Style Blues At It's best!Mick Taylor dropping by to join us.An Unknown black guitarist stealing the show.A la Otis Rush.Well you see the thing about Dewy is that she is a blues singer,not a pop diva.Not a rocksinger.And we just handed her the stage.

He is doing the Telecastor on "Mean Woman Blues."Nobody knew who he was,he was very off in the corner.And he was obvious,running for his life.I got marvin to hook him up with a plate of food to take with him."Bro,you have got to eat something every day if you can,"Wow it was sad to see him like that!He was very cool and held his own,yet you can also see he was in great difficulty.I think It is due The Rolling Stones to pony up his money fair and square,and allow him to rejoin the band for their Farewell America Tour.He is a rollin' stone.A blues guitarist on a par with Hubert Sumlin.Perhaps even moreso..He stepped into the shoes of Brian Jones, and with Brian's blessing.All that we have is today.It is sad to see passed on friends with you onstage and nobody can hear them.

I am still the lead singer as far as I know.Yet I love and appreciate great singers.We have parties on the weekend when we are not working to get together and sing out!

Because I get to both work and have fun,and it has led to many interesting adventures!It is his show and so I have got to line it to his pocket.At the same time I would travel to anywhere in the world to be his bassman.I would know that my stuff would be covered.All of you operate in denial about a lot of important things that concern your health and welfare,and thus from this post do not ever say I did not warn you.It is tough to get a gig as a local band.And I as a supporting member of a caST,have got to be working,I present it to you as some kind of big deal,and it ain't that.When I get home from work and turn on the light switch in the loo to whiz I get presented with a clear target.thank you so much for dropping by and I hope that you have enjoyed what we have done for you.

You really don't know nothing,do you Dad?

White people doing the blues?They do not come up with anything new and exciting.They use the old formulas.Some do it very well no doubt and I enjoy it still when I walked into session,inadvertently with Blackstar I stepped into Current and exciting blues.The new future as it is.And they did not wish to cross over to perform to a white audience.Pure R&B,This is the tightest and most refined trsck of it.Shawn Brown at his best!

Much more intense,much cleaner."I really want to be with you" did not make it,I was on my own there and did not have coaching yet I got up pretty close to it and it comes across as funny.And it was fun to do it.I messed up on the verbs,the tense of them,It is still a great session and you know what I mean.Ireally got off on doing this work and I look to the work I am going to do tomorrow.So I can pay my bills and carry on to sing all of this to you in french.Thank you so much for your support and Love.The road I have taken is a hard old road,yet more than that it is a lonely road.A gambler's path.You will know at the end of this day that I played only to win.

You must mean Chip and Marvin with The Reverand and Andre.Yes I do have one big one,that Chip to this point did not get a feature on one of his compositions.He had a large catalog of brilliant work yet he was always backing me up.Or we were collaborating together.And he is every inch a star in his own right.We sat in the motel and worked on his tunes,"Nine Months Is Such A Long Time."I failed to bring him forth in his own right.And missed another number one!Perhaps not,tomorrow is a new day and we may get back together again.If that were to be so we would lead off with Chip at the helm.So we could do something that was really different.I got a band loaded with so much talent.My nigger rock and roll band,a musical and artistic expression.America's true answer to The Beatles...The Black beatles.(oo)(oo) I am calling you.

That wet and sloopy and ever so sexy and sensual kiss came from me darling wife,Tammy...to send me off to work happy as a clam and be a good man.She did not always go to the shows as she had to look after our home.It was not a stage prop,just a sweet kiss from my loving wife to send me off to work.Who is a leprecaun.An irish mick if you will.Sending her man off to the hunt.

This device can make anyone sound like a great vocalist.And that is a myth.If you are not either naturally gifted or very studied on technique you just suck and an autotuner is not going to help you.The device does exist and it will correct a pitch yet it's usage is designed for the very judicious correction of a tiny little discrepancy,to the tune of milli-seconds or fractions of a Second.It also is very invasive,whenever it is use it creates a glitch somewhere else on the track,not even on the same track channel,it could come up anywhere in the recording(on the kick drum) and you have to find it.Far from being something you want to depend upon the autotuner is something you want to avoid using.Your session bill goes way up when you use it because you have to search EVERY track to find the glitch everytime you use it.It is much cheaper just to get it right in the original recording,everything is all set up to go so get it right now.The pressure is hard to take when you are struggling with something in a session,if your engineer is not top grade they may say "we'll fix it in the mix."That is bullshit to me.We are going to get this track right now as mixing to me is not about correction,it is about blending and weaving and working with EQ to seperate everything then to synergize it.The performance is complete.Written in stone.I do not want to have to call somebody back in to correct something.And then there may be just this little tiny thing that needs to be "Trimmed."That is what the autotuner is for.It may be instrumental as well as vocal.And it is very tiny.Then out comes the autotuner.A LAST RESORT!A DECISION MADE BY THE PRODUCER.I am very fortunate to have worked with first class recording engineers.Guys that create Platinum sellers!Trans Siberian Orchestra.As a recording artist I am off the wall and fun to work with,yet I can never take the easy route,it is stone cold sober.Yes,everything can be re-mixed and re-mastered,we were on a tight budjet but I feel it is alright the way it is.At the same time I own the original masters.And posess them.So re-mixing is always possible.I don't feel it neccessary,I think we hit it fine.Yet should that have to be it can be done.I feel it would be interesting to get somebody else's take on it from the original masters.I do not think that you can't top my producer,Tom Morris.I know that you can't...he understood and appreciated everything that I was searching for here.HE created me as a recording artist.In his spare time when he just wanted to hang loose and have some fun with his studio!

I just love to sing and play and write songs,publish and produce them.Love to perform live,love to play house parties with friends.Play in a honky tonk bar.My time on Earth I did what I wanted to do.And except for raising my son, this is all that I wanted to do.The rest of it, well I have got to do what I have got to do.This world pretty much in general is dishonest and unfair.Yet I still find the beauty that exists in it.The earth that I live upon is the most beautiful garden in the entire universe.And that is what it was created to be,not a corporate/industrial/chemical complex.And we as humans were placed here to be the caretakers of of,designed to work hard during the day and rest in the peace of the evening.And the purpoae of the Earth shall be fulfilled.It shall recover from mankind being upon it and polluting it.The true history of mankind on Earth is a history of continued failure.Help us find a cure for cancer!If it were not for mankind there would be no cancer!How little we have learned about the joy of life.

As it works in this business the media parasites who built her up are going to try and tear her down.Fashion problems and now stealing a song.As I explained in great detail if the original songwriter has got a copyright from the library of Congress he is going to be defended by the US Attorney and get his bread...a lot of it.I would attribute that more to her A&R dept than to her.see the great attention you can get if somebody steals your song and you can prove it?I think she was presented with it and turned it into a hit.And like I told you,it may not be your whole tune being taken,just the best part of it.And how fortunate you are that a great artist made it a hit.The public steals music even worse than this by illegal downloading.Many artists who ought to be on their way to making just a living creating and performing their music are struggling because YOU ARE FILESHARING AND NOT BUCKING UP! but that is another subject. Christina is an incredibly gifted singer and innovative artist.A top professional.She does come out with some weird looks yet by the same token shots of her taken without make-up,or even coming down from being heavily made up she looks alright.Like you own sweet girlfriend at Walgreens.And yeah so many of you are so totally brianwashed by a TV set that you think you actually know a person like this because you read a rag at the grocery store I would say they are setting you up for the Christina melt down which I do not believe you are going to get. She was the best thing about The Rolling Stones movie "Shine A Light." And I mean the stones performed very well as they have done for decades but she was electrifiying in her performance of "Live With Me" dueting With the most Dear Old Sir Mick.

My hands were shaking at ther combination of talent I was taking up to NYC.We could only stay short and had to leave short yet we became that city fully and that city embraced us.We were much rock hardcore than "Blackstar." Yet unlike "Blackstar" we had done the roadwork,how we made our living,sometimes to barely escape with our lives intact.We were having a ball in NYC,helping little old ladies across the street and even walking them home.We had many intense and violent even,disagreements,ha!...with fish and grits cooking on the stove...ummm oh god,so tasty!Juggling all of this crazy stuff.And man just drinking in that city.Everywhere we went we were cooking food,not that we are gluttons as we shared many a plate with everyone yet Marvin insisted that we were going to eat good,so we would feel good.So we had to catch,clean, and fillet a bunch of gulf seafood that we froze to take with us.PLUS GRITS,YOU CAN'T GET THEM IN NYC.I was very proud of them!They came through so bad that they could not even handle it!

I am always and constantly on my dear friend David Ruffin Jr.That he needs my guitar on his tracks.So we can fuck up Kid Rock!But how can you mess with the kidd?I have sicked Shawn Brown on the kid.Pure genious,I am just on Shawn's balcony cheering him on.Riding the crest with him.I am a musical assissin on lead guitar!Kid rock with all of his millions sold could only hope to touch the tassel of Shawn's robe.A true and consummate original.An Indie!

Blues,everybody re-working the same old stuff,I wanted to move into the future of it with excitng new material.No more "Messin' With The Kid"I got to back up a genious,Shawn Brown and my performance on that session is not one drop short of Hubert Sumlin.I do not play a lot yet what I do not play counts and what I did play,ummm I did not fly on that lear to Miami alone,The groups drummer Gregg, was coaching me on every note I was going to play or not play.And it was down to this,if I could not put up the track we were going to have to fistfight in the studio parking lot.It was down to that my readers!And I am such a cool brother,I wanted to learn everything he was going to teach me.I fucked all of it up on my track and it is not playing a lot,it is playing for Shawn Brown and the less I did the more he could fly,it was every bit equal to play guitar for Mr.John Lee Hooker Sir.Johnny Winter would have sold his soul to be on this session!

Yes,I would have been the most dangerous guitarist in the world.Total economy.The drummer, Gregg, told me every note I would have to play and nothing more.It was all about a very tight pocket for Shawn to cruise on.And these session were 2 1/2 analog so they are played all the way through.I had to play the same riff over and over exactly the same way,there was no "cut and paste."Solo's were unheard of except at rehearsals where they would cut loose with me on a slow blues but there was no need to solo because Shawn Brown carried the whole thing.I may never have done another guitar solo yet I would have been living very well my friend.And with rap and hip-hip hop just around the corner I would have been the go to guy for the likes of Snoop and many others for a tight ass guitar part.And tight would be to me five grand an hour plus expenses,cash money.For just a little riff that makes your record a hit.That you made millions would not bug me as long as I received my 5 an hour.Call me and let's talk.

I did the Blackstar sessions with a Tele direct into the board.On (oo)(oo) i did the solo on a tele thinline.That is a real lead guitar and to me all it is good for.I do not like to play chords on it.It will not even do power chords.Yet when it comes to playing lead on it this guitar will stand against anything.Slide guitar too..It is ugly and uncomfortable as well.Butt ugly.Made strictly for lead guitar work.Just ask James Burton.Ask Jimmy Page...

I did one long one with the fantastic Pattie Flores!We rolled into Denver and I said "Let me off right here."I have some friends in Denver who would not let the poor boy down." had to get back to Nashville faster than the band could make it.The tour was a success and we were headed home but I was pussy-whipped,I missed my lovely wife so bad that I would have hitchhiked back to N-ville.Henceforth I would only go on the road if she could come with me.That is how it was...and she loved it!And I could not have asked for more.Thank you Cruise and The Marv Dennis Agency!The rigors of the road are so enormous,you have got to move real quick.Having my most lovely wife present never slowed us down.She always inspired me to do my best.As Irish as the day is long.You have got to be really careful as you live your life,you might kiss a "Mick" and have your world turned upside down you lucky lad you..

A lear is just a blast off!I have mostly-totally flew commercial.It was so great,I could smoke cohibas and drink Jim Beam but the flight was only 69 minutes!Me and Gregg,and he was drilling me on the session the whole time!Recording studio economy and I would say we drank two fifths of Jim Beam.Rehearsing upon a learjet!I was the lead guitarist yet the drummer was sending me every note I would play.How did I do?

I was hijacked from my own band and flown down to Criteria Studios in Miami to play guitar on two tracks of their album "Animal Attraction" by Rick Thomas,the genius that was their producer/co-writer.This was an extreme Black project that was going to be bigger than "Cameo."Now this was a weird trip for a white guy because this band was very,very racist and featured a genius named Shawn Brown and why his name is not a household word is a wonder to me.Proving to me once again that this world is not right.Everything about this band was black as the night and here I was the white guy who got called in to play guitar.On the recommendation of my Black drummer Marvin Brown.Man oh man these cats were rough and alternately treated me like shit or like a king.And I would have put them on a par with Prince or The Eagles.And make no mistake here,this group hated white people to the core.Really it was true.I spent much time on the receiving end of this.I was the lead guitarist,only guitarist,but was treated like a member of the road crew.And then given the presidential suite with 10 hookers who would do anything I asked or ever dreamed of.Man they used to bug me so bad,turning my guitar off in concert use to piss me off so bad,we would be playing to a full house at the bayfront center and they would turn off my guitar.This was cause enough for me to walk.I did get flown on a rented lear to Miami.That is one quick plane bro...and their decision was that I was the road manager and I told them to stick that up their ass."I am the lead guitarist and every bit as black an artist as any one of you."Then I walked and they failed.They did not want to cross over to embrace a young white female audience,now is that not just pure stupid?We live my friends in a world that requires that one hand washes the other.Shawn Brown ought to have been up with Stevie Wonder,but you know I would say the group got what they wanted.They destroyed everything and walked away from millions.Yet they did stick to their guns and would not back down and thus did not make it as they ought to have done.Shawn was not as racist as the rest of the group was and he is a genius,he sat down at the Hammond organ at the age of four and played it just like he does today.I was greatly awed to share his company.Had we of been from NYC or LA it would have been a much different story.Probably I would have even done road manager/lead guitarist and be retired from showbiz now.I think I scared them because I did not fit into "The White Guy" mode.I am just as black an artist as they are and that freaked them out!I left my own band with Chip and Marvin to work with these guys as a guitarist thinking finally..."I got my ticket to the bigtime."They allowed it to die but I did not.Perhaps that is why I was there and paid the engineer 200 bucks to get a copy of the masters.This was 1988 by the by and something the world almost missed.But "The White Guy" picked up upon it.

My artists are poison and the whole synergy was lying upon their part.That is why I sought them out and chose them.Supporting cast not sidepeople.That is to include the technical staff, photogogs,and film people,I have to say that because I was so hard leaning upon them when they did their part.Live onstage with Chip and Marvin we escaped being hanged by lynch mobs more than once.We blew over NYC!I could have done it all myself and failed,my ego was to dictate my failure.It is an honor to share the company of trusted friends and make stars of them.

Yet I was also trained to expose new talent.How to be a supporting member of a cast or a character actor if you will.And I could have done it all myself.it is more rewarding this way and no other artist would take this kind of chance,to allow a memmber of the supporting cats/or cast take the center stage and back them up.I mean WOW! To totally shake up the dynamics of the thing,to extremes that a major label A&R department would NEVER allow becuase of the sheer insanity of it!If I never see a dime from it I had such a buzz doing these recordings.They were challenging,I went in realizing I may leave with nothing at my great expense,yet It was a walk in the park.My people knew they would have to be prepared,and they laid it down quick in the studio,we knew exactly where we were and what we Were doing.Via a tremendous amount of rehearsal.The artistic differences we had worked out,the stress we had worked out,we could work out diffrences of opinion and try it in different ways,drinking a bit of homemade wine.Laughing and doing a cover song just for fun to take down the stress.All of the artists you hear here are brilliant.If that was not so they would not have been chosen.After all of this we went to the studio knowing it was still...just an experiment,we worked so hard and had so much fun.And we were ready to experiment so we all flipped the switch with a technical staff that was willing to go the distance to accomodate us.You see it in the live films that we were not bitching about anything wew had to do in the studio.We had done all of our moaning in rehearsal.We had assembled the correct synergy.We knew it!Not cut to the quick.We are the quick.The American Impact Artists.Nothing forbidden,eveything permitted,everything respected..Placed into a context,frozen in time and space...forever.As it were...

They are all over the US mostly close to where people live.And they are so wild and beautiful.You don't want to try and handle or feed them unless you are very very skilled or very kind one.They are theives foraging for food at night.Very,very crafty!You don't have to be scared they will not attack you (unless rabid-which is very rare)They can be a drag if they move into your home.But they like to be wild instead.They will not attack your pets or your kids.They move out of the way instead.Yet being a night person I observe them,they move out as a family looking to steal some dinner.Mostly garbage yet they are searching to score your pet food if they can yet they have some traits that are amazing,they will not eat all of your pets food and they are very compassionate to stray cats and puppies.The mother will take them into the pack and the father will protect them.My cat was raised by racoons,she was a starving stray and the coons said "Come with us Cat,we will teach you how to steal."My cat does not even want to come in the house,he sleeps on the air conditioner in his bed.The pack comes by everynight to check on him and if he is gonna run and he shares his food with them and sometimes he runs.The whole thing is very organized.they are so beautiful and precious,especially the younglings.I can handle them but you should not try to,they are wild animals and unpredictable but they know me you see so they are relaxed.If you have a raccon problem at your house please don't shoot them,you may be killing the mother.They are harmless and will back away from you.The animal control people in your county know how to handle it.

Success is a journey,not a destination.And success has got to be managed,there is a huge fiscal responsibility involved with that.Whatever nation you live in the tax man cometh and you must pay tribute!The old school way is that you understand everything about your business.You can do every task assigned BETTER than the person you hired to do it.Success,true success also has responsibilities,you must also give back to the community that supported you.You may greatly endeavour to keep it all to yourself,yet you are going to have to leave here one day whether you like it or not.And when you leave you are not going to take any of it with you except for the good you have done.How sad it is to to me to build a great empire and leave it to a foolish son who has not done one honest days work in his life.He has coasted his whole life.His hands are so smooth.But he is so sardonic,he has to always be "covered."I marvel to watch my son work.He shows up on time ready to bust ass.Never complains and says very little.And he produces results.Very focused on what he desires to be.It was more important for me to do one thing right,raise my baby then to be a "rockstar."And I am that...in every way you could concieve.I occupy the office of a Prophet.

I am a way back pioneer at this.It shook the whole music industry loose.And now everybody is freaking at the freedom of it.Why? Because the playing field is being leveled.That is not to compare an indie artist against a major label one.All of that big money stuff,the goal of the indie is to establish a loyal fan base worldwide that supports their efforts enabling them to create.I hear other indies just sailing with this,better than how I do it and I am happy for them.I dig what they are doing.For an artist to make a good living does not require stadium tours,I don't need to have three jags that I never drive to be happy.I am more happy to pay my little bills and have food for my coon hound.I so enjoy the frenchman's dinner,bread,cheese, and a bit of meat and red wine.And perhaps a friend to share it with.Or I cook one of my famous spag dinners and have a little party.The electricity is turned on and the water is running.My singing paid the bills man.This is kind of funny because I always though it so important to be on the radio and I am all over the radio singing commercial advertising jingles.Drive time baby!Then when I can I do my own thing.My recording comittment is one tune a year.And it is all I can do to get one tune out.

I far exceeded my expectations here.I am never going to die.I made it because I tried.I outlasted all contenders.Even my high school sweetheart said "don't ever stop!"

Artistcally and creatively yes.If I had to die tomorrow I got the work done.Justas I wanted it to be.I really like to rock yet I can't take to be molded into just one style.To do only one thing.I have studied music my whole life.Sometimes I love to play country music.when I am onstage I have got to play something that people want to hear or else I am not going to get paid,or get paid with complaint,but you are going to be happy to pay me what we agreed and I am delighted to accept it.And we worked and had fun!Tonight was very cool as The Blueman gave me an extra show this weekend at Circles in Apollo Beach...a five star restuarant.We had a very friendly couple Bonny and Ron digging everything we were doing,they even went so far as to buy us dinner.It was just me and the blueman doing backround dinner set work and Bonny was having a great time.The scenery was ideal,just the best weather Florida has to offer and a sunset over a marina.The water,which was The Gulf of Mexico was as smooth as glass,the harbor lights were so beautiful!After the show was done we were playing James Brown Music through the PA as we tore down.And these four honey's decked out for saturday night came out and started dancing with me as I was breaking down the show.Dressed in black and hair foo to the max.And they were pumping it.After the show with the dance band I am in charge of breaking down the backline while The Blueman is collecting the cash.And I am dancing whilst I do it.A good show,getting a little money to help pay the bills,I am feeling real happy.ALL of the girls like to dance with me.And you know it is just a dance and having fun!tomorrow such fun might not be waiting.So I shall dance tonight!And then I have got to move on out.I am a very locally diversified artist,Florida is my home and there just is no place like home.Funky stank-ass Florida!Yet I was wisely advised by every major label in Nashville to set it up in Florida.Deep South my friend.Close (6 blocks To the Gulf.)To my lady.I have got to have the harbour lights at night in my life.Oh man,what a place to kiss your little sweetheart!I have got world class studios ready to fuck you up with my sound!And was the bottom line Money,we had a ball...the money will come.

So what Is any major label gonna do with me?I have earned my stripes to call myself that.I did not just slide by,I had to pay my dues.And I rock man.I do not play with it at all.I never did.I am two things,serious about what I am doing and wanting to learn everything I can... to do it my best.That is what my life is.A cool rockin'Daddy!I endeavor to be a champion.I can't let it go.I have got to catch and hold that dream in my hands,the feel of it,the shape of it.Yet it is such a wonderful addiction.Actually it makes me behave myself.It keeps me straight and sharp.I gotta do what I gotta to push it on through!

That is a master class session!I think the finest collection of American Impact talent ever assembled.And it is so different from lot of music that you hear.Starting out as real easy listening going to full blown stadium rock!The Reverand was marvelous!For many years one of my ace sidemen and I allowed him to step to center stage and kick down the fence.I mean I don't put a junk band together,I work with musical assasins.The Reverand is also doing the drums.This is not a pro-tools work it is completely analog and it was never mattered even.This was just the final mix.A final testimony from a skully "2 1/2." If I had a choice to have a lear jet or a scully I would take the scully and rent the Lear.The work I did at Transcon was also on a scully but that got transferred to pro-tools.And pro-tools is great,no doubt yet analog is still a fuller sound with more separation (in an anaolg mode)If you are a rock artist and have the bread from your fan support magnetic tape is the best way to record it.You have got naturally occuring ambience which is automatically filtered out of pro-tools.Digital is best related to clarity and rock is related to raunch.Especially the guitars!If you have an avalon pre-amp at you disposal you are in very good shape with pro-tools.This is a must for recording your guitars digitally.This is where you fine tune your clipping signals.They must go into the SSL console compressed.This is very nice,I mean tripping to hear your guitars!What a plug in!In digital terms pro-tools cannot properly format your signal.Do ya get my drift here?

If you are not working original material I would not see why.Yet I shall illustrate for you two musicians who if anyone could cry rip off these are the guys.Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell from The Jimi Hendrix Expierence.They never got paid much more than train fare to get to the show or rehearsal or the recording studio.And they performed on albums that sold hundreds of millions of copies and never got to much more in their personal life than a one bedroom flat to live in.And collectively with Jimi they demonstrated BRILLIANCE!And neither of them ran to the media to whine about being ripped off For MILLIONS OF DOLLARS that was their due and fair share.And both of them died at peace,Noel struggling tremendously with finance But so happy in his life to live in a magical county in Ireleand.Obviously he found lasting love with an Irish Lass,And Mitch Mitchell,an englishman,I would place him completely on a par with Gene Krupa.they wanted him to play a straight beat and he said "Oh I am playing a straight beat.I always play a straight beat."They never got anywhere near a reasonable compensation,In monetary terms they collected a drop in the bucket.And so if you are thinking about anything more than playing in a bar as a cover band.You will want to sit down level headed and talk about this.As an artist/performer I want and expect my gaurantee,whatever you make I do not ask.Tips MUST be an even split.This is the music BUSINESS you see.If you are not sharp someone may squeeze a very advantegous deal from you.You received whtever you could negotiate.I don't worry to much about it because I own it,lock stock,and barrel.I paid for it you see.And I paid for it hard.I don't trust anyone yet I trust everyone if you catch my drift.You can really be having a good time with something that is fun yet if that something begins raking in coin a lot of attitues are going to change.Tips are an even split,everything else is subject to negotiation.These to guys did not just get burned,they were scalded,yet they were not assasininated and passed away happy men having lived a full natural life and both of them rocked and changed the world.Blatenly and publically ripped of for MILLIONS OF DOLLARS and they rose far above it and never whined about it to a rag/mag for a couple of bucks,neither wrote a tell-all book about Jimi.Now that is one bad ass backup band!

This type of article represents to me the ulimate in journalistic drivel.Nothing new and interesting is ever uncovered and the real facts are just slanted more out of context if anything.The Beatles actually only did one world tour and when they,as the first band to go to the far east got the living shit scared out of them they began to change their mind about what they were doing.Cheap Trick did "Live At Budokan" with great concept and made a memorable live record,The Beatles performed there under very serious death threats.In Australia people threw vegtables at them and in Manila they came to realize just how far away from home they were and how alone.Their final tour of The US was done with the media machine (which brainwashes most of you dear readers) that so loved them turned against them based upon a remark taken totally out of context.And they performed that final tour hoping just to not be assasinated,got back to the UK and said "Fuck This!"Each member was wishing for a way to get out of the box they were trapped in.They recorded some of their best work together,By ancient standards according to modern recording technology.All of it analog,er...handmade as it were.And then they became four individual men when the world wanted them to be "The Four Lads."Spending the rest of their lives eating drinking,shitting and pissing the night away, and playing music together.Like the movie "HELP!" Ahh,your boy band thing.They began to serious fall in love with someone they could really trust for a change of pace and began to grow as human beings.And what can I say four fantastically talented human beings!They knew "The Fab Four Box/package" could no longer contain their individaual dreams and hopes.Had they attempted to fake that... their four BRILLIANT individual career's would have never materialized.They did one last album together,knowing that it was their last and returned to the basics of recording live with no frills or tricks.Well they did hire Phil Spector to produce it and forsook George Martin.The one who made them in the studio who they were.But thank god Andy John's was the recording engineer!The mixing EQ and the seperation of each,you knew if it was George or John doing the solo.John did the one on "Get Back" tearing the guitar up and sounding surprisingly,like George!Don't let anyone kid you,do not let the edited film clips fool you,they had a ball doing it and it ranks among their best, and then they parted ways.All of them,even Ringo topped the charts as individuals,Number one al la fucking Billboard.I'll kick your ass handily if I hear you slag Ringo,listen to "It Don't Come Easy!" And then after this they spent tons of their hard earned money to selflessly expose and produce new upcoming talent.Such as a cat named James Taylor.Ahh.. "Those Were The days My Friend,We Thought They Would never End."That is the ultimate band break-up, each member goes solo and posts Number one billboard hits.Big time in the major leagues.No group has ever gone to this level.No amount of money would ever have brought the four beatles back to the live stage.-consider that also against "reunion tours" John Lennon,The Fabulous Sir Paul,Beloved George,and Ringo could have performed together yet legally,and written in stone,This was not "The Beatles." Compared to this there is no other band break-up worth discussion.Let us help to welcome the newcomers who are laying it out now instead.Let us all endeavor to get a life even,not as big as The Beatles yet one for us to live that statifies.Had John Lennon remained in The UK he would have not been assassinated as he was.He wanted to be free to walk about in the public of NYC holding hands with the woman he loved.And he would do that,walk right out the frontdoor of The Dakota to take a walk with Yoko.The cool thing is also that NYC would permit that.He would not be mobbed nor hasseled,fans would approach him yet be polite respecting his privacy,He would be relaxed and friendly.I just have got to say that when this man walked,his balls clanked.

No,I wave the wand of the conductor.A much more awesome and lasting display of power.

Saturday night was a show with the danceband in a very posh place,a club called Catches in New Port Richey.It was an early show so we went out as a band to find some other work in nearby clubs and ran across some old dear musician friends.It is not often I get to hang out with The Blueman,most of the time we are all about business.But we got off early enough that we could go out trippin' with his lady Penny and score some new jobs.This is a very close enviornment with a lot of trust.It is not about being stars it is about working.But it is cool and fun just to go out and hang as a band and holler at everybody.In the old days we use to do this all the time,when the clubs were happening.We would stay out all night and then go to breakfast.We finished the show and were given our very fine dinner as we were tearing down,Penny was in a hurry to go out trippin' but the blueman said "no..all of us are going to take a moment and sit down to eat this delicious food,the equioment can wait."So I was feeling pretty loose and good.On Sunday a rehearsal was on schedual for the new single,usually I am very concentrated on things but T-Paynes bus driver,Matt, was there and we just were off the wall and jammin.'A great upcoming rapper "Mayhem" was with us.But ya know you put all of the styles together and come up with something new.What you do is different but you respect the differences and dig the best of it.I am really happy,I am about to roll out a hit.(another hit)A timeless classic inspired to the new school.

It is the guys from the first band I was in that I have got to thank.They appointed me the songwriter because we had decided to do all original material (and I had studied the piano) "so we don't sound like anyone else!"You have to figure in the fact here that we were only nine years old.Like clockwork we "practiced" five times a week and if you missed just one practice you were "Out of the band."We had the highest standard of any band in the world.And when we hit hit the stage we blew off the roof!!!We got even stuck into a club gig.The adults were just laughing at us but then they began to cry.We rehearsed five nights a week,we hit a funk groove and those little kids was rocking up your ass.Mike's brother Tony Snow, also had a bad ass band and on our off nights we would watch them rehearse.And pick up on their tricks.The guys were so good and Tony was out of this world.So when we got our little shots to play live we were good.All of this messed up my life so bad...this became all that I wanted to do.

With the new music revolution that may be the last thing that you would choose.Historically the producer is the last one to get paid.The one that gave the project it's value.I can't see launching a recording project without a producer.Yes we can cut some tracks and such.Ahhh I can't really say,you can master the function of an m-box and do a great recording in your livingroom.I do not doubt that and I wish that your dreams come true.I prefer the vibe of a professional recording studio.I am a deep space tripper you see.Home recording is not my thing.I have got to build it to last.You start a project and you think your lifting off with something but when the time comes that you are going to advance it and you take it to the studio and it is out of format.The studio sysyem does not recognize the code.Which is a huge rigamaroll and you will say to yourself just as I did "I wish I would have started the project here."You beat the cost of it by rehearsing the livingshit out of the tune.Some of your talent has been there and they know how it is going to go down.For the newcomers if they are rehearsed they can relax a bit in this very clinical enviornment.

A visionary.And I really had to grind it out,none of it came easy.I was always the outsider.Then I had to raise a child as a single parent.The world wanted to take him away from me too.The ensuing legal battle with the state cost me fifty thousand dollars.You ain't taking my baby boy away from me and putting him in foster care.They wanted to lock me away in a loony bin.It did not detract from the vision,it was another thing to make it stronger.It became the only sanity that I could see in a world that is insane.Obviously I could not go back out on the road so I went into the studio.I got my ideas together and my concept.Studied voice for two years.I have been a songwriter all of my life.You see my discography but my notebook has over six thousand compositions in it.I write about everything.Yes I am older now,I am a man and not a boy yet I play a zillion times better than I did when I was a boy.This is better than being a pro athelete because you can just keep on doing it.You never have to retire.And it is so easy!It is no wonder everyone would like to do it.But when the rain starts to fall the lightweights are long gone.As an indie your best chance is to experiment and do something decidedly different.Chubby Checker did the twist and that was decidedly different.Every american wanted to do the twist!All ages by the by.EVERYBODY was doing the twist!I spoke to Chubby on the phone and he just kept saying "have you got your hit yet frenchman?"That is in this business what it is all about if you are going to run with the big dogs.That is what you have got to turn in at the end of the day.You have got to play it everynight and make it even better.

He cut the vocal tracks with composites,from start to finish.22 takes.After he was done and came onto the control room to listen I was sittng there weeping.For so many years this guy was my trusted sideman and I stepped out of the spotlight to trust it to him.He was born in Casa Blanca without a left hip joint ad only one kidney.Technically he was unable to walk yet he walked.He said "How did I do?"I said "You flew Like a bird!"

It is always inspiring to as you are singing to have a pair of ladies panties sail up onto the stage,garter belts,bra'sjewelry,hi heeled shoes-(I do solo's with them.)And it tells you you are doing something right.I have had the opportunity and joy to speak with B.B. King on two occaisions.He always use to stay at The Hilton.He is more impressive to me as a human being,a completely eloquent gentleman,everything he does is first class.To chat with him is to be in the company of greatness.Ditto on meeting Sir John Lee Hooker.The hook was the same in person as onstage,a spirit,dark and broody...so slow going.Not mean,very gentle,very articulate.Everything about him was old world grace and charm.And as black as the night.He said "well if you like it so much why don't you take that guitar and play some of me to me."

No I am not this time.It is the girls time right now.The vocalist is Heather Nicole.Many projects were considered and demoed.Yet American Impact has got to turn in a hit.The pressures enormous.It must be check and mate this time.The boys of course are backing it up to the best and we have a year to finish it!Only serving to make the year go by that much faster.And we are having fun doing it!

That is original.And about a very dear and kind friend.A leprecaun actually.She would dance for me in the palm of my hand.She took me to the end of the rainbow to her cottage and even showed me her pot of gold.She is so short only 2" inches tall,she projects herself as taller but she is perfect just as she is.I made her take off her magic shoes to kiss me,I would say you would have to kiss a female leprecaun to know what I am saying.We were writing this love song together and she wanted to grant me wishes."Come on laddie buc!Put me to the test! and I wished to be eating the tastiest ice cream cone in the universe with her.Well you see there is a method to french kissing,it can be so sensual or it can be sickening.I love how short and sweet she is!She steps up into my palm so gracefully,she trusts me you see..Big secret here going out lads,wild flowers, but not big roses,small field lillies,you can't bring her fine jewels to impress her,she has a pot of gold with many fine jewels.(How did you think she granted wishes?)She is a sucker for beautiful tiny flowers.But you have to walk and talk with her and pick them with your own hand.Her eyes will be so happy,I make her kiss me everytime I pick one for her.Yet you have never kissed a leprecaun?So it is like I have always said..."you don't know nothing do you dad?I would rather kiss a leprecaun just once then to have a fleet of Corvette stingrays.She could have given me the world but it was more important to me for her to have her tiny flowers and her song.So you really don't want to be messing with me to much because I could wish for you to be dipped in shit to get even and she would get a big kick out of that!In fact we would be kissing whilst you were dipped in shit!No..she would be laughing to hard to kiss!This song belongs to her.It is about her.You want to see her?myspace.com/thedonnasong...she will be dancing in the palm of my hand!This tune is a wish that she granted me,I wanted to give her something she would never forget.I carefully sat her on the perch of the vocal microphone.The crew was so cool I set her on the mixing console and they said "surely you are Donna!" Honestly so my friends!

On which instrument?The reason a producer is present when I am wailing is so I don't need to use the autotuner.People are very mistaken about the function of an autotuner.It's actual purpose is to refine something in milli-seconds.Not always voice either.In session when you kick that sucker in it is going to affect something anywhere on all of the tracks in front or in back of it.So everytime you use it you must search out and correct a glitch.It is very obvious when it is overused to correct constantly an out of pitch vocalist.If you cannot carry a tune nothing is going to help you.If you are a gifted vocalist and there is maybe one tiny thing your producer needs to trim it enhances you,it is a surgical device.The great singers you hear on popular songs are great singers.Period.Yes there is technique,most of you would think it is just recorded with the vocalist doing the whole song over and over until it is right.The song is sung line by line seperately and composite tracks are laid out.The best parts go onto the song.That has been true since 1963.There is a vast difference in technique from a live to a recording session performance.

Why my drummer of course.This is a meticulous piece of timing here,He is generally on the road 11 months of the Year with Dennis Lee performing at State Fairs around the country.He is in towns now to do The Florida State Fair and The Strawberry Festival leaving him a week off in between to record for American Impact.He is accustomed to projecting to 10,000 people every night and his chops are spot on hot!And I don't want a cool session job done I want the living shit beaten out of that kit.I can't be having a drum machine on my records.The rhythm tracks are laid out to a clic yes.This type of session calls for that.This is a pop song you see.It is being recorded at two different studios with two producers.Colorama Studios is doing the rhythm tracks and the guitars.Kevin Knoll producing.When completed it shall be transferred to Progressive Music for the keyboards,vocals,and percussion with Kenny Veenstra producing.(Abbey Road South)The whole of it all is pretty exciting because we know we are rolling a hit out.A big hit song.Six months of planning saving up every penny I could to do it.Months of rehearsal on the vocal tracks.An awesome cast selected and two great producers.Playing it out to a weary world that denied me so hard after I proved it to be true over and over.The thing was that the timing was always a touch off.It was not yet my time.There was more to be learned.You have got to want to be successful.You can't be distracted by things that lead the other way.If you can focus and envision who you are that is what you shall be.I had an advantage,when I was a short fat little kid I blew away an audience,I knew this was what I was put here to do.When times are lean I have to find other work.So I don't have to steal.If you allow yourself to get to hungry you will steal.So if you have to move some boxes around in a warehouse it ain't so bad.Some money coming in on Friday to help you along.And you are still looking for a gig.You have to keep everything in perspective.You may be out in the hot sun cutting grass and feeling worn out and rough but did you know there was a person in a wheelchair looking out the window saying "Man that looks like such fun,I would sell my soul to be out there cutting up some grass!"

Ah yes,most of the songs are full productions in highest quality and some are demo releases/outtakes impromptu recordings with a cassette deck-no engineer nor producer and unmastered.Live stuff mostly.There are just mountains of tape lying around.The one single thing,well.. it takes me a year to do it.Recording in full production is expensive.And there is no halfway on it.I get paid to perform but my recording sales are not happening.Not yet.In terms of an album there is a box set prepared.The concensus here is that the music industry is drifting away from the album concept on the consumer level.Except for collectors of plasticware that is gone forever.In the real sense of what it was.And it was powerful.AOR radio would play album cuts.No more of that from broadcast radio,all you are going to hear is the single.Even broadcast "Classic rock" radio only plays the hit singles.One would think that Jethro Tull only recorded two songs,Locomotive Breath and Aqualung.It's way over you see,what the album format once was.Not for major label acts of course,contracts are written for the delivery of album product.But the indies such as myself can do a tune that is a hit, make some money and carry on.It would be ideal if the hit is something you really like to play because you are going to be playing it a lot.James Taylor is going to do "Fire And Rain" at every concert he does.He doesn't mind that,it is fun to do.That is the bottom line for those of us that entertain.We choose to make a living from what is fun for us to do.And who in their right mind would not do that!Yet in order to do this behind the scene there is a lot of work you have to do.You are scratching and scraping just to get a bit known,to move out of the dump into a better club,And thirty different bands are trying to get booked at the dump!"Lefty and the Boyz"are willing to play for the door and they blast so fucking loud that they drive all of the regs out of the club.And then the club does no more live music.And then the club goes out of business.

My real love is producing my performance and how I am going to do that.And to publish it because the producer and performer may be the last to get paid.Executive Producer really.Publisher extraordinare.I have an eye for talent that you would not believe.The prime of it is I do not have to be the star of the show,yet I shall star in the show.Big..the main ingredient of it.Loving my work and having fun!Stage fright? Yes...always so I tap my hands on the table all nervious and go...."yes I feel it!"It is such a helpless feeling.You forgot all that you have studied and have to go on but as soon as you are on Boom!It all comes back to you.If I did not feel that fright I would be concerned because in that moment out comes your guts and you say I am going up there even if I am terrible.Perhaps only to five people,why don't you try to sing to five people and tell me how much they dug it!

I loved Nashville,for a guitar player it is like heaven on Earth!To have breakfast at The Maxwell House on Sunday Morning.The thing that got me was when I was not out on the road I would take a tape into every record company on Music Row.Right smack dab into the front door.With no appointment and tell the receptionist who I was and may someone please listen to a demo?They were always friendly and polite and someone from many lables would give a listen and a critique.That was a great priviledge as they could have just tossed me out.Of course I knew I wasnt going to get signed or anything yet was told right away "you definitely are not right for Nashville,and nashville is not right for you because you have got to strong of a rock side to you.You recorded this and came here from Florida and Florida is right for you.The rock side is your strongest, and you need to be more wild than you are allowed to be here.They were so right,I auditioned for the grand ole opry and escaped a mob that wanted to kick my ass.There was a riot hand my wife Tammy came running up to the stage taking my hand and said "Rene we have got to leave now,they are going to beat the shit out of you!"The escape was so cool,our baby blue 1966 Coupe De Ville.This was 1982.Rock at that time was viewed as the enemy.And I thought country music was shit too..until I learned how to play it and came to so love it.So I was playing "rocky top" in Fla!It broke my heart to leave Nashville!All of my close friends said "Don't worry Rene, you'll be back one day!The trick about the place that I live is recording studio!World class at amazing rates!Home recording is very big now and I don't knock it,I have pals that do amazing things yet I insist upon the studio enviornment in a facilty dedicated to recording arts science with skilled and proven personell.Professionals in their respective fields.

Being Dad.A happy Father proud of his children.Not that I say that I for everyone,for some of you it may just be best that you are not a parent.That is not to be condecending towards you yet if you think having a child is what you need to make you complete you already came here complete.And you are going to leave here only with what you came in.For myself I was delivered everlasting joy and happiness.I had that taking a baby to the park and I now have that in a conversation with a bright and harworking young man that cause sparks to fly like a hammer hitting an anvil!As an artist,hard as I have tried all of my life I may fail.Temporarily....not for any lack of trying either.I am a musical assassin,not someone who is dabbling with things.I have trained for this thing since I was a baby child.I entertain people.But life grew to me to be more than that.And as an artist I was not going to be manipulated.It was more important to me to savor and enjoy the adventure of it.I will come at you magical and mystical.I am always learning.I am not going to beg you to please dig it.I paid all of my dues.Hard as you can man.I am not afraid to go to work and get my hands dirty.It would be great to just gig.And that is actually much work.But then perhaps I would have to ask someone for too much...I like to roll easy.It is wonderful when some body is going to fuck you over about something and you can just turn and walk away.Even if it means you are going to flip burgers on a grille.With all of life's mysteries a good cook will never starve.I shall lay out a big clue for you here,people that don't have a lot of money know what they cannot buy.Those that do have large resource know acutely what money cannot buy.

Yes sir,strutting the stage!Tonight we played at one of the most notorius southern jukes in the world.The Three Corners Bar.There is no biker wanna be that would dare show up here!Different colors (chapters) have settled many issues in this parking lot hardcore.We don't worry about it a lot.We are intown on business.You have to understand that performing for wanna be's is such a drag.The dance band through the years was also quite notorious.The Blueman is a stone biker!We use to be hired for the whole weekend and then we stared playing these "fluffy" shows for wanna-be bikers that ended at 11 PM with $1.50 in the tipjar.A tipjar that used to be stuffed with yardnotes (a hundred dollar bill is a yardnote)We would not touch the jar for three days,the next time we performed we would have a bunch of new equipment.We were always paid our fee,And anything we needed we only had to ask for it.Most of the time it was just chicken wings.There is no thing like a fat chicken wing.I don't remember us ever stopping at a restaurant to eat.Traveling statewide.We did not just do biker stuff,we would don suits and do highbrow stuff too.Fakery does not wash well with me.I mean the highbrow stuff was legit and good.But we came to be asked to do all of this "Wanna-Be" biker stuff for such as the rag/mag "Born To Ride" and they ripped off all of the clubowners that were our close friends 3 grand for an ad space which ended up as an afterthough in print,like a thumbnail for the club.And I work in the advertising business,you could have got a drive time spot on broadcast radio for $1500.00 bucks!The event pretty much pissed down at 11 PM."Honey that's two whole beers.You know what we talked about."Gag me with The Brooklyn Bridge Please!!!Plus let me emphasize,real bikers do not drive fucked up.That is an easy way to get killed or maimed up really bad.The bikes are parked and we are sitting around the fire sharing stories.

Still in rehearsal with the arrangement completed.The terms of my current recording agreement I only have to do one single a year!Although I also have to sing a lot of jingles.

I hope that that thing is not true.Sir Paul is a world renouned bassist.And if it is true,that there was a terrible accident.Honestly to all of you,this guy made such an impact on the world that the world could not have handled his accidental death.He was and he is to beautiful an artist to die.

Yes I am in demand to go out and play bass.Not to play guitar.So it is to work or not to work and I am a bassplayer,I belong to that elite club.Just because a guy is a good guitar player does not automatically make him a bassman.Most guitar players sound awful doing bass.It is a whole different ball game.Immediatly a bassist plucks with his fingers for power and tone.You run high gain and touch lightly.If you use a pick and it touches the pickup it makes an awful click!Oh I still get all of my guitar in at the studio.And rehearsals.I want to make a mark with it that is going to last forever.I am married to it you see.For better or worse.To play it in a bar is not that important to me.My concept of it is much more advanced that that.It is big money to me you see.A hundred bucks a night is not going to work for me there.My living for playing the guitar comes to me via royalties.

No regrets here and Marvin would have let it slide to me to do the lead vocal as our producers were demanding,and I would have done my best yet this was Marvin's tune.He sang it onstage and I could not top it.I stood back as he floored NYC.And we were just tripping up in NYC.And we walked into the town as the baddest ass black rock and roll band in the world.it was snowing like the gates of hell were unleashed and we was helping old ladies across the street.NYC said "who are those niggers?"And we won that town,we got our business all straight.We became that city and everything that it was,and the city also became us.We did not have drug orgies,every where we went we were cooking food.We even got dissed about that.Yeah we did until Marvin said "Get you a plate" and he would serve you.Chip was hurt that he had to come up with a new bassline,not just hurt,ready to fight.Yet he understood it was more important for all of us to be successful.And Marvin would have backed off and let me do the lead vocal.And if I thought I could have done better I would have.

They are fun,overdubbed two finger big chords.The simplest of chords.The ryhthm tracks have all kinds of complicated fingerings,strummings,and voicings.But the hard on chords are just so raw and ripping/clipping.The best way to do them is a guitar plugged straight into a tube amp with (mind this) a really good short thick cord.This will max your impendance levels,your little Henry's as it were.And a tube amp in good repair,ideally without a master volume control,just a volume knob.And then you crank that little sucker.It doesn't have to be a huge amp,in fact many times smaller amps sound much better when you red line them from the output stage.And I say tubes because that is still the best natural distortion.Now in the cranking process,it is not all the way to ten.There is a "sweet spot" somewhere between 8 and 10.I can't really tell you because my producer/recording engineer sets the levels of my amps on all tracks.I am tuning to a srobe tuner and warming up the instrument,getting ready to party.This is a real rockstar rush,your tech hands you a cord and you just plug it in and play.Your producer asks to take your guitar and check the tuning one more time.The axe is tuned and warmed up and now it is going to be callibrated.Top dead center.Now you are ready to do the power chords.I like to drag them,hit them and let them ring and then touch the strings again and lift them to the next position without taking your hands off the fretboard.So it drags slowly up to the next chord.My neighbors will testify this.I am rehearsing at home with my marshall AC30,my windows are rattling as you walk by my crib hitting the same riff 500 times.And then taking a break."Doesn't that bother you?Well Frenchy is getting ready to cut a record and it sounds pretty good.We know he is going to play the same thing over and over.Yet what he is playing sounds so good and it gets tighter and tighter.So we don't mind...normally he is ery quiet so we know he must be cutting a new disc.

They are the most fun of all.I am working with wonderful and inspring people."We have come in search of a bit hit." I mean you have got to know people that I really mean this.Since I was a baby child I have been studying it.We are going to emerge from these sessions commanding your attention.Every trick we can work is giong down.I have got Davy Boy on the drums.KKK is producing with Kenny Veenstra.I say we shall see won't we?Yet right now I am just savoring doing the track.Working the plan.If you are living the dream you have got to be working the plan.

Dude,I would find a lot better ways to save my money than to be paying out on all that shit.I would be single and have an easy to manage small place that was very comfortably decorated with a few exquisite things in it.I could afford to have several of them actually.I don't have any feminine stuff at my place.Everything is manly.Except that I love fresh flowers and they make me feel good.Well I live in Florida you see so it is nothing but going for a little walk and I can hand pick the most beautiful wild field lillies you have ever seen!When one of my girlfriends comes over we go for a walk and talk together about this and that and I keep picking flowers for her to take home.It is like walking with Eve through the garden.I make a point to enjoy the beauty that is around me.All that other stuff I would just rent if I had to put on the dog.Most of those stars actually live in about three rooms in that house.But ya know that's okay for them,Invite me over sometime.It would be fun!You see,all of that stuff that you place over people,it is more important than the fact your brother or sister is suffering much all over the world and just a small portion of your plenty could do so much to change somebody's day for the good,but I know..you need to hold it all yet let me tell you that you are going to have to leave this world one day and you are going to leave here only with what you came in.You are not going to take any of that finery with you.ALL of it you are going to release.All of your treasure is stored up here to rust away or be stolen,and your influence over it is gone.So try to remember that.And it must be hard for you with all of the people that are sucking a life out of you.Yet if you could just let some of that flow go out because no child anywhere in this world should have to go to bed with a hungry belly tonight.

Truly the music industry is in the dark ages right now.I came out many years ago with a new thing and a new concept.The singles Artist.Such was the terms of my first record contract with Wooden Bowl Productions.Everybody wanted an album and though I had ample good material for one Umm...I don't do albums.My agreement with American Impact is a single song agreement.You become a product of what you were trained for you see.My training was totally as a singles artist and I preferred it that way.I worked it that way.One tune at a time.So you can pick and choose what you like.Maybe even make an album for me.I would not wish to sign a label deal that was for multiple album recordings.My strengths are in my training and I have enough material now to easy do a concert and knock your dick into the dirt.If you get bored and I am not connecting with you I can do a great cover song.A Wille Nelson.That does not happen anyway.The originals do the trick.Yet it is fun for me to do a Willie or a rolling stones and I will get the same reaction,last night A lady was holding me as I was onstage muting my bass strings with her boobs,she took the mic out of the stand and put it up to my lips and laughed and said "you can't play now so you better sing." We are used to this and it is great,maybe it mars the show some but who cares at that point? We are all having a good time! It is not like they are in a frenzy tearing my clothes off because I am so hot.I am ugly yet talented thank GOD.They are just moved by the music and somehow get drawn up on the stage and they are scared little girls,I just reach out my arm and invite them in and we have a little party for the moment.I say "since you are up here you have to sing."Oh man they squeeze me so tight and I kiss them.Some of my stage jackets have so much hot perfume poured into them.I give the soviet to the security that all is cool so this lady is not going to be roughly tossed from the stage.She is going to be escorted politely and gingerly off after the number is done and delivered back to her boyfriend/fiance.In the old days a group's management used to pay girls to do this.That started with Sinatra,it is called "An audience shill." And it is a valid advertising tactic.For me it just happens,not all of the time.And I am not having my clothes ripped off or anything,I am being loved by a pretty girl or even multiples.I have counted six hanging on to me as I was performing.After it is all over and all is quiet and normal again I am going Wow! to myself and sniff the shoulder of my stage jacket.It smells like hot,dripping wet,perfumed pussy!Lot's of times they start to cry their sweet tears onto my shoulder,I don't know it is not so much a sexual thing for me as much as caring for my sweet little sister.But you will never know how sweet this is.The kind of memory it puts on your soul.You can take a lot of things away from me but you can't take that.And in your life you will never even touch it.And people refer to me as a failure!Well the joke is on you Daddy-o!I am a product of lifelong training,the resource will always be there for me to come back at you.For me,I like to live quietly and at peace.I am not a hermit,I am very social when it is time for that but I do not want a rock and roll party living at my doorstep.I have been so lonely for so long that now I enjoy to be alone when I can.I want to be free,I don't want to have to answer to anyone.My cell phone ringing with some chick wanting to pin me down and have me explain myself in a matter satisfactory to her.It's my life and I live a good life,I don't have to explain anything to anyone.I love to read.I love to come and go whenever and wherever I please.I don't want to have my bathroom full of cold creams,wrinkle shit,and hair dippidy doo crap.My girlfriends have their own bathrooms in their own homes for that.And I have my own crib you see where I create and chill.That is my life as a rennaissance artist,driving my fist through your steel plated wall.

Yes we are active in production with Heather Tastet,an American Impact newcomer doing the lead vocal.From time to time American Impact desires to have ladies front The Rene Labre Group.I don't mind that to much it is fun to work with the girls(if they are not in a crabby/grousing mood!) and they have something to say too.It expands the sound of everything,it does not take away from anything.The guys are all good enough that we could go on on our own and I know most of you are programmed to have a band just milking one regimented sound which is okay for them you know yet I prefer to be more eclectic than that.I want to be one step ahead of you.I am a lead singer and most of my hangout buddies are also singers,supposedly we are competitors yet we are really tight friends and we have little parties and sing together.We smoke fresh fish right out of the Gulf Of Mexico and drink homemade wine and sing around the fire,until the sunrise comes.As always it is a southern thing Y'all,we say yes sir and yes m'am and if you don't dig that we don't give a damn.

That is not to say it is easy as it is not.I came out from as a kid with bands that I wrote songs for.It was just a killer to sit in the basement at rehearsals at Mike Snow's house voting on whether to do cover songs or my originals.Dude we were 10 years old and Mike is going "If we really want to make the big time we need to do Rene's songs so we don't sound like anybody else."The vote was total to do my originals.We were as serious as a heart attack about it.Band practice was every night except sunday and if you missed one you were canned.By some twist of fate and a band not showing up we got booked into a nightclub,everybody was laughing at us,we were just children yet when we got to playing the laughing stopped and the groove began.Of course we also had our two go-go girls,Shelia Steele and Sharon Gallop and whatever we were missing they covered.It is as they say "practice makes perfect."Obviously this hit me the hardest.It was all that I wanted to do.The other guys returned to living sane lives and I rolled on out.But it was this simple joy that I held onto through it all.I knew I could do it.And I was this short little fat kid commanding the stage and bringing down the house.GOD please help me here,we were so poor I had to wear the same pair of pants to school everyday until I had holes in my crotch that all of the kids knew about.You know but they never teased me about it or were hard on me about it.And my mom saw to it that they were clean.She tried to patch them to no avail.I did my first official public appearance on class day June 6,1968 for my graduation fron Longfellow Elementary School,my big finale was when I fell to my knees singing and you could see the two holes in my pants and the place just exploded!What a crazy poor short little fat kid!I wasn't scared or embarrased I was dropping it on down to the people and I noticed My Mpther was not in the audience.We got out at 1 o'clock and I went home and My mother was sitting at the kitchen table crying."I said MOM where did you go...you missed the show!She said "No I did not Rene,I saw you you out there and then I saw saw the holes in your pants and I was so embarassed I had to leave,you were out there singing and dancing around like Wayne Newton with those holes in your pants that everyone could see."Did you like it mom?""Yes I did Rene,you are really a showman!"So I hugged her and said Mom,I had such a good time,I don't care about the holes in my pants,I didn't have to play in my underware did I.?" My classmates could have teased me to death about that but they never did.Well not to my face anyway.And I didn't worry about it,the prettiest girl in school,Barbara Wise, was my girlfriend.I use to carry her books home from school.We really weren't boyfriend and girlfriend yet we were very close,she would always wait for me to carry her books and she wore my ring.If you asked her she would tell you that she is my girl.I was Captain Of Patrols and student council for my class as well.With holes in the same pants I wore everyday to school.This blossoming friendship began in the third grade when she caught me looking at her and she got real mad and said"What are you staring at!" And I told her"I can't take my eyes off of you because you are the prettiest girl I have ever seen!I am sorry!" She smiled and said "it's okay,I don't really mind." I am posting my class day photo to evidence all of this.

Rehearsals are already Underway.The demos already cut.Perhaps late summer early fall for first release.Maybe never.

It would have to show on my recordings that I am having a really good time.The creation process is so fantastic.Those that I work with are good and fun company as well as serious professionals.And you go in not knowing what is going to come out because it is an experiment.The recording budjet is not a al carte blanch.Sometimes I have been known to teach for studio time.There is not 15 grand available to do the drum mix.So we are under the pressure of really laying the glue out on the floor,making it count.If you have saved the data you can always re-mix later if you get some fan support together./Corporate sponsoring. Yet today has got to count.The work is all laid out.Work that I love to do.Studio performing is such an exercise in economy playing to a metronome.Onstage live you can turn off your effects and just whiz all around the guitar.That approach is not going to work in the studio.Every note has got to have a reason and an emotion.What you are NOT playing is more important then what you are playing.you may not see it that way yet I guarantee that is what your producer is observing because that is how they are going to set up the tension of a recording.The master EQ.It is a natural law that if you have two or more instruments competing for the same frequency you are going to encounter "phase cancellation."And this is a natural selection by Earth's magnetic field.Only one of those two or more instruments is going to occupy that frequency fully.You want to back the others off.Heavy huh?So your band has got an original tune that goes over really well in a club and you record it that same way as you do "live" and it sounds awful,that is why.Better to record a "live" mix that way to capture the tune at it's best in front of it's audience.

We are going to get one of the girls to step up to the lead vocal mic.Heather got the call and agreed to do it.I am putting out feelers to get in touch with Davy Boy,you know don't you?The cock himself, because I want the living shit beaten out of the drums.Next is my recording engineer.Kevin Knoll.We shall do the rhythm tracks at Corlorama with Kevin producing them.Now for the producer,and this is a treat for me.Kenny Veenstra.So we have got a project under way so far.Rehearsals have already been going on for a month.Cooking it up nice and slow.Spicing it up.Organic and home grown.Southern style.Ripped out of the frame as it were.Kicking down the fence!One more time sir...

Oh man,I can't resist an Irish Mick.No girl in the world kisses you as sweet as an Irish.She smiles at you and the whole world goes away.Donna is a leprecaun.I was kissin'her under the moonlight squeezin' her so tight and she reached up and gave me the moon.She showed me her pot of gold.But ye still don't get it do ya dad?Ya don't know nothing do ya dad?

Well I would say my primary interest is as a Producer and Recording Artist.Songwriter and Publisher.I want to lay down my trip in a way that it is going to last.And I call all of the shots on it too.I have been performing live since I was 10 years old,reeling and rocking.I still perform live every chance I get to,I always have.But I do not need to carry a band right now and in the studio I don't need one because I am one.I am the lead singer and instrumentalist.The Arranger and Producer.I is sometimes better to go out as a supporting member of someone else's cast because you don't have time to sweat the details,you call your agent and see if you are booked,show up on time,work the show then get paid and go.I always get my piece of the spotlight.I always get paid without question nor complaint,maybe not fantastic money but nice money,do you have 20 bucks in your pocket that you got paid for singing a song?Strong I doubt it.And I have a lot of fun doing it.And it does not require ALL of my focus.It's a piece of cake my friend.The dance band with the blueman is my favorite right now.We do the standard set yes but we also jam a lot and work in some good original material.It keeps me in shape.Old friends come out and join us.But this life is short and time is to so I have to focus on how to make it really count.To put forth my best effort you see.It is more important to me to be a profound and dedicated artist then a rock and roll star.I already have been a rock and roll star.I still am that,I have been that from day number one.I have lived many times the ultimate male fantasy.playing a riot struggling to get to the vocal mic,can't even play my guitar anymore because of sweet ass pressed against it.Holding four beautiful ladies in my arms who came out of nowhere Their perfume stuck to my jacket forever.I am jumpin'Jack Flash and it is a gas!"No matter what you may say,you can't take that away from me 'cause I paid my dues all up and down the line.I am more live than you have ever been or will ever be,I danced the tightrope without a net my friend,so lost and lonely still walking the line.

Oh man what a fun track!I called the studio (morrisound ) in advance and requested to have set up a vintage marshall plexie without a master volume with 2 4x12 cabs.The plexie head was in the control room and run by my producer,Tom Morris.The cabs in the recording lab.The solo's were played in octaves on Tom's Black Les.After the solo's were done Tom said "I need you to do the power chords too..."Had you have been in the recording lab with the two 4x12's and without hearing protection you would have walked out deaf.The power chorde shook the walls of the control room.Thanks also to the Trans Siberian Orchestra for the loan of the two 4x12's.To Tom Morris,I owe a debt I can never repay.The same to "Pop" my pal Jim Boyd (Boyd's hitches) who loaned me all of the guitars I did on the session but for Tom's black Les.And Fritz Regner who sponsored the sessions and did the harmonica tracks.

Yes and thank you.It was a composite of two tracks recorded,one with a fender Jazz bass and one with a german spruce upright.(a rented double bass from Sam Ash)I used the most wonderful Emmanuel Wilfer upright-many thanks to Sam Ash!It switches back and forth all through the tune.I did two complete composites using both and when we mixed we pick and chose.Cool bass track!

After I had fallen on my face at being a rock star,I was led gently to a different place by an angel.I was a totally broken person and here I was rebuilt and re-trained.Hot so Hot sweet summers at The Florida Evangelistic Center.You would pass by this church during service or revival and it would be shaking at the seams.The house packed with black people pouring out their spirits to GOD.So hard that it eventually led to an arsonist burning down the church.This music may not be your cup of tea as is is not subject to programming,the songs are way longer then the three minute restrictions imposed on such as commercial broadcast radio....ect.Plus it was not a FORMAL RECORDING SESSION.It is a somber and sober church service.We have just been drilled down by the pastor about how our secret little agenda's are wicked and deceitful to the LORD.A black people church way down in the Deep South.The same place where all of the great popular music is rooted and spawned from.Rock and Roll,Blues,R&B,Country,jazz...this is where it all started in the USA.And we present it to you in it's purest unadulterated form.Listen to the voices,every aspiring female singer wants to have that sound.This church was burned down to silence us yet it did not do so.A thing such as this is spiritual you see moving beyond the five senses of our third demension existance.And recorded also in the hardest heart of the big city.Not in high rise, ever so safe suburbia. Oh no sir,right on the same block as the most notorius hard core dope/prostutute stroll in town my friend.You would hear the glocks going off during prayer services.Every night there was shooting going on.Somehow we were always left alone too,nobody ever got mugged,our cars were not broken into,no break in's at the center.It was just one stupid with a flare gun..he burnt the place to the ground.I am just thankful that it didn't happen during a service,the building was not occupied at the time.

First of course to do some work that is going to be tech-proper.Second I don't need to have a band.Just a good solid pro session drummer.Then whatever/whomever I decide to ice the cake with.Build it to last and then freeze it.A great recording engineer guiding it along.It comes off as though we had a grand party yet is was not that at all.Very,very, clinical.Wound up just as tight as we could get.Writing a letter and sending out a message.It was fun,it was a blast actually,the studio became a spaceship!We stopped and froze time.Remember your last brain fart?We were recording!

The Rene Labre Group is getting ready to hit the studio again.New material.And a local rock band fronted by a great lead singer friend of mine has asked me to consult them as they embark on their first gigs.A really great cover band wanting to get out on the scene.Young boys if you will.They need a couple of tips from the old sage as it were.How to put on a show and project it,how to pace a show.How to have dynamics in a performance.I function for the first time as a performance coach.It has been very enjoyable to me to help them develop and find their feet.How to best load in and out the equipment,the part you do not see.Everyone is tempted to load up the mic stands,drum hardware and the easy stuff first and that is frustrating because that small stuff just gets in the way.First you disconnect all of the cords and wind them up neatly.You load in the horrible and heavy stuff first.The PA and speaker cabs.Use a magliner handtruck for this so one guy can do it.Then the amps and the mixer rack followed by the drums and then on top of that you load the light show,mic stands,drum hardware, and instrument cases.Loading in is made much more easy if you have a good load out,especially that the cords are neatly wound up and placed in the cord box.

Well thank you for for that and it is all good you know yet to me rock and roll is a very simple and straight forward thing.It is good time music.It started in America really with Chuck Berry and Little Richard and then a white country boy named Elvis picked up on it,and that was quite by accident during a break in recording country songs in Memphis.He picked up his acoustic whilst the band was swigging cokes and sang Arthur Crudup's "That's All right Mama."Just for fun.Had it not have been for the producer of the session,Sam Phillips,discovering the value of that there may never have been any of it.At that time if you,and I doubt if you can remember nor have knowlege of that fact that the The United States was a segregated nation.And that it was music and the artists that created it that that broke that wall down.Moreso the people (audiences that loved it) that did it.Then later on the Berlin Wall fell down to the same sound.In 1956,for you to live a day of your life then the Berlin Wall was to be forvever a segregation.

Oh man.I have assembled a real bad ass internet posse.They so bad want to dig into it.They hope to outdue my legendary film crew.Yet it is not a competition,we're all in this together."Yet my film crew is just so tough.We were the first in th US to do DV cam.One of many "firsts"Sometimes we lay back and do "experimental filming."Yet the "posse" awaits their opportunity to do their stuff and oh man..they are going to get the call they await..."sick 'em boy!"And you shall observe "Indie" as superstar.Bringing it to you as a bargain,

They were as close to me as the band.And they were experts.They reminded us that we are all just the crew.Then they blew all of the doors down for us.The taco wagon is good for me for lunch.I will have the salad please...funny thing all of the film crew are chocolate fanatics,what that is I wonder?

With the T-Blue Band.Normally we don't audition,we just go out and play.All I can think of is in the times of this economy it would seem moreso that a band would PAY to audition for a good club.And I netted for two sets $36.00.12 miles of travel.We were also auditioning for an agent,the very uptempo Dina Mead.The club was the Banana Boat in Largo,Fl.It appears that we shall be doing some shows for her as well.For 18 years now off and on I have served as The Blueman's bassist."I slap the bozz man!" I have always got to make it to a stage,I have got the fever you see.Never to mind that I am supporting cast and not the frontman, I have got a paying gig dude and the high of the show,the excitement.I still love to pack up a van with equipment,just as when I was a kid and go play a rock and roll show.We are just a little dance band that has burned the state of Florida from one end to the other.We play some of everything.I have to thank GOD that there still are venues that take the risk to support live music.Good music in the cafe's at night fuel revolution,inspire lover's to fall in love,Keep me from getting stale. "Rock and roll is here to stay,it will never die. It will always be that way,though I don't know why. I don't care what people say,rock and roll is here to stay." Danny and The Juniors-1959

Yes sir,I followed and was true to the dream.Ah yes well when you are a kid you can do that.For a long time I played and sang for my supper.When I became a single parent i had to become an adult,which is one who makes wise choices.I could cruise a couple of days without eating but the baby has got to eat everyday or it will get sick and die.And my whole happiness was the welfare of my little son day by day...the dream still beckoned and was jealous even of him.And really,I could have just let the dream die.I may as well have because I am not here for you like I used to be I am here for him.You built me up but you always let me down,I would be foolish to trust you,I don't blame you,you are a hapless victim of the mass media,you could not live for a week without your TV.You are totally programmed to fit your mold.You believe that the models in an advertisment are real.You beleive all of the actors you see in TV and informercials are actually real people,telling you the inside truth.You think a movie set is a real place.I doubt if you will ever wake from your slumber.And soon I will be coming totally programmed to you.To entertain you.To sell you a product.I can cope with that.I am selling you my dream.My very cool dream!

I prefer the organic sound on my recordings and go to considerable trouble to follow that lead.I have got to have a real piano in the studio.I can't say for you and how you may do it and I won't as this is specific to my sound and my music.Form my first records I was immediatly involved as a producer as well as an artist,and the process was analog 2" tape.Digital was unheard of.You recorded a performance of the song.And then did composites for the vocals and some of the instrumental.There were always fresh razor blades and scotch tape sitting on the scully.(For editing.) The digital age came into play in a series of steps,not all at once,such things as adat and ait disc,slowly but surely the skullys began to disappear.I just kind of rolled with it and it was during the "She's A Tease"/Crawdaddy county 911" in which the rhythm tracks were recorded analog that I was introduced to Pro Tools and advised that this was it,(because I was a die-hard analog guy and loved the skully machine.)the only way to go yet it would fully stand up to my analog approach.So the analog tracks were converted to digital and it was finished digitally.Mixed through an SSL console.It was a big relief to me and technically is was much better and efficient.My recording method remained analog until I went to New York to record for Mike Rodgers.

As a producer/publisher I have a good eye for this kind of thing.There is talent everywhere to be found.Yet I also seek and train if necessary, the professionalism.I do not have any time to spare for flakes,they take all of the fun out of it.They may play their instrument like no other but getting them to function is always a hassle.They show up late,they don't show up...drugs are more important to them then accomplishment,the list goes on and on.They always find a way to be helpless.I persue adventure,chasing a dream that moves real quick.An adventure requires the active participation/cooperation of all involved.There is a lot of work involved,if you are in showbusiness professionally it is the norm that you have two jobs (wOw,at least!)Those that are now top flight had to do this once upon a time because the equipment is not going to load itself into the trailer.My critera for success as an artist I would view as such,I have a cleaning lady (Mrs.Garcia who comes twice a week), and that somebody else carrys my amp in and sets it up.I will carry and tune my own guitar.If I can keep that together you have got to figure I have everything else going too.All of that works it's way down to your fans,the one's that support you and make it all possible.What is the point of doing a show without an audience to perform to? That is a rehearsal.I have probably been paid to rehearse more than any other musician alive or passed on.How can you have a rock band without any fans?I define a true fan in that not only do they love your music and follow what you do,but if you have to crash on their couch for a night you are welcome and safe.I want to thank you all for stopping by and reading even this far.Don't worry about it baby,the night train is going to keep on rolling.

I have to be there for my son.I though I knew what it was all about until the day he arrived on the planet and I held him in my arms and he would surely die if I failed to stand in the gap for him.All of my beautiful dreams have to take second place to that.You could offer me the biggest record contract on earth and if it would cost me him I would have to turn you down.I would happily clean toilets to put dinner on the table.But at night I would pick up my guitar and go to the pub and play.I have a realistic grasp of life.All of you seem to believe what you see on TV or the lyrics of a popular song which is FICTION!A writer dreamed it up and wrote it and you belive it to be the truth,"umm it is just like that Glenn close movie" You think fictional situations are real.Where did you lose your grip on reality?On humanity?My boy is standing at that crossroads today with his suitcase sitting down on the ground.wondering which way to go.I will be there to pick him up,to stand in that gap.The rest of you I apologize to say will have to wait.

Yes man, a hundred watt.Actually it is a Vox AC 30 placed in a Marshall cabinet.it is not a stack though,I don't want to haul around a stack anymore.It is not neccessary these days as everything goes through the mains,oh I know it looks good for the kid stuff and I played that game for a long time,well,I only used a half stack TSL,that was plenty for any occaision trust me on that.The biggest rig I use to carry was Two Fender Twin reverbs ( silverfaces with blue pilot lights)and two Super Bassman bottoms with two 15" speakers in each and I was only using one,the other was spare turned on standby Just for looks or in case I blew it out.And we lugged all that shit around the country and squashed it into a Step van.I use to sleep on the cabs!.It sounded great and you could hear me blocks away from the club and looked cool as anything but what a hassle to load and unload all of that shit.And as I said nowdays you are running through the house mains which I love,when I am doing bass I just go direct so I walk in with my bass and a chord and say "Plug me in" and out roars the thump rump big fat bottom.Yet these are not the good old days as they say.Fuel costs and things all enter into it and i just like to have a great sounding little rig that I can carry with ease.That looks good.I mean really it is your sound that counts.The rest of it is that young boy stuff.

To make a living doing this.Eventually it is going to pan out yet it is a really tough thing and you need to have the support and interaction of your fans.Gianing ground is so hard to do everytime I get a step forward there is a stone placed in my path.So I have to work a little bit harder upon my skills,no point to lash out against it,that is just to expend more energy in a way that is of no benefit.I have had the rug pulled out from under me so many times in my life,plus I had a baby to care for and work a regular full time job.And that baby is now becoming a young man and I have to still be there to relate to helping him lift his wings and fly.He is in a tough situation and I want for him to be okay more than I want to be a famous artist.I am thankful that I am able to carry on,just a nobody from nowhere set to rise up from all of the ashes of nothing.I have lived my life as I have believed.And you have never heard of me and what I do.It is so hard to be organized when all you have to work with is chaos.Yet I feel I have already made my point.And drove it home as hard as I could do.I did my best.

You are pretty funny with that remark.The mark of embracing failure is to quit.To give up,to stop,to accept no as the answer.I never entered into anything in my life with my goal being to fail.Many things did not turn out the way I hoped that they would.In fact they turned out the exact opposite of that.Yet I was up for the hunt as they say,committed to the adventure.All the way.I feel that every living being posesses "greatness."But how far they develop that is the question.It is not that some have it and some don't..You are just as alive as anything else Yet to develop it you have got to bust some ass.You can't waver from it.You are the one who has worked harder.You ain't flaky,you are reliable.You have developed both the talent and the skill.The talent being the natural ability you already possess,the skill being the study of that.Then it is also your associations.If you associate with losers you are never going to win.They "chink" your armor and sap you of your strength and energy.You may pull some good results out of them yet they are just looking at giving you more problems.That is where their focus is.Their "success" is to ruin you.Something in their mind set makes them that way,they are underdeveloped.You had better come to recognize that and separate yourself from it.You can not be a winner with losers on your team.Because you have to create a synergy to be successful.I lived my life as I believed.

I play and sing the Blues.That is what this site is about and that is who I am.I really don't care about rock and roll.I had a major relevation in my life when I went with my high school sweetheart with a bottle of Andy Tamilin's home made wine to go and see Mr.B.B.King receive has honorary Doctorate degree at Chitacqua Unversity in upstate New York.He did a performance yet his performance was acutally a lecture.A lecture about the blues is as a living music and how it had no limitations.How it was not limited to 1-4-5,and then he played and did some very different things from his usual shows.He stretched it way out.Everytime he is in town I go to see him and talked with him only once,at the Hilton Hotel I got him to play my guitar and he said,"how are you ever going to get any tones out of these little spider web strings?(.009's) Come on upstairs,You need to play "Lucille" and he uses (0.12's).He kind of knows in all of his shows that he is a teacher,that there are guys like me looking for a clue.I reached over to my beloved and she knew I wanted to dance,yet she was shy about it until we started to dance,she is such a beautiful dancer,to me like twirling a feather around,we were the only two dancing at this most seriuos event until Mr King recognized me from the stage and said "the only rules here tonight is that you are free to shake anything that is not nailed down."And then everyone started to dance.And how he rocked!I had to drag my Mom out to see him and tell her "this is what I want to do with my life."And soon my Mom and I were dancing to live B.B.King.

When we were there there was a terrible snowstorm,the airports were closed and the city was paralyzed.Even though we were from Florida we were prepared.I went out for a little walk from the riverside hotel and saw a little black lady just standing there and as I passed her she said "Can you help me please?I am afraid and need you to walk me home."I took her hand and said "come on mother,everything is going to be alright." I took he under my wing and walked her home,we chatted about this and that and it was a bit of a stroll to her home on Park Avenue.Snow just piled high everywhere.She then said "I wish my son was just like you."Then the doorman took her away.

Nyet!

I don't know really,the show is booked on a bum night,the night before new years eve.I am under a lot of pressure from afton to sell my own tix.I will probably have to pay the band out of my own pocket,yet the show has got to go on and I am going to do my best.Let the chips fall where they may.To me it is all an experiment anyway.I want to let some original material fly.I have to meet with satan as well before the show,all that I have to do is sign my soul away and it will be a packed house.I can't worship him,he is a liar,the father of all lies,I could have every door opened for me with ease.I could be a rock star and how!!!I have chosen instead to be an artist.Primarily a recording artist/producer.Yes I shall perform live,I love to do that too and have been doing it since I was a kid.It will be a great show even if only to three people.I shall record it and post it up on the net.And it will be good,I will be having A GOOD TIME AND HOPING THAT YOU WILL TOO.I will have stage fright,I always do,it is the endorophins kicking in yet as soon as you walk out onstage,you just have to make it there,then you take good care of your business.A walk in the park.Hi honey,I'm home!

It is not a B-3,it is C-3 with dual stereo leslies.The Cottonpickers hit the studio with me knowing it would be our swansong to the world.Knowing it would be rejected by the world although it was a big and deep cutting hit record.Knowing that one day this tune would change the world.The rhythm track was cut in 27 minutes.Chris and David wanted to do it and leave.we were totally rehearsed,2 or three hundred run throughs,it was just a matter of a few run throughs to set the EQ and then face Chris and David White.For the first time they had an attitude,they were the unsung white white men behind my black touring band,they were dissed by Chip and Marvin initially until they listened and live they played it so close to the original.On the recording all that they did was sing on the record though they played and sang it live.My black rock band was so powerful it scared black people.!It may be that there are a lot of complications yet when we sit down we are just a family.I audtioned them and hired them,they are my guys.You are going to do a bill with us? I wonder do you know that we are going to jack and gag you and steal your audience away from you.We did the major label thing In New York,we helped ladies across the street and mastered at sterling sound.For a fleeting moment we were the number one band in Manhatten,NYC.And not because of how we played yet because of who we were.Who we still are.

The Gospel music tracks are astounding.Yet they were not commercial session works.That was a healing for me and I was performing only for GOD at that point in my life.He wanted to get me alone to where all of my undivided attention was on on him.In terms of a commercial recording session I think "Tell Me (You coming back)" for overall performance,mix, and post production I think it highlights what I can do on piano and hammond organ to the fullest of my possibilities with the best economy in terms of what notes I played.Just enough here,not to much there and then floor it all the way in the cresendo.The Hammond I used was not a B-3 by the by,it was a C-3,the model built for church use.I cut many great tracks,I am well satisfied with everything I did in terms of that.You are not going to hear one clam in that department.I have been playing the piano since I was three years old my friend.Such a beautiful gift because I never learned it and did not sit down even when I was three and tinker with it,I sat down and played it.Made music with it.I had lessons very soon after that gave me reading skills and tecnique.But I wanted to knock the world over with an electric guitar!Every seed I planted was going to grow.And that required the rain,the blues as showers of it,not playing the blues,living the blues.The hard side of it all.So now I say what I mean and mean what I say.You have got to pay your dues and mine are paid.

Yes,although I was was born in Pennsylvania,as soon as I could put my traveling shoes on I headed for the deep south following my first record deal.(Wooden Bowl records.)Back home in Erie,my hometown I could see a thread that ran through all rock and roll music,all bands from everywhere.Rock and Roll all started here in the south.A mixture of the delta blues,gospel,and country music/bluegrass,all of this born in the american south.It was not enough for me just to listen to it imported from England to me,I had to have it and become it for myself.Dig down into the very root of it.And the door did not just swing wide open,as I said I had to dig for it.I had to stay and I had to play.To play the real thing in all of it's styles.You are not just going to hang out here for a bit and get it,you have got to become a southerner and adopt southern ways.I mean even kid rock sounds more and more like Lynyrd Skynyrd but it is a copy of that you see,a good copy yes,yet nobody in his band ever caught a catfish with a sapling.Anyway this is my story and my song and I am far out legend here.Protected and nurtured by the myth of it.Fame and fortune?That is hard to say,time will tell the story and most of that lies within the control of the mass media.They tell you what to like and you like it,they tell you what to do and you do it,they tell you who is good or bad and who they are and you believe it although you do not know anything about them.Anything about how they live,think,or feel.And they are manipulated also by the mainstream mass media to project something that they really are not.They make the answers all easy,that's what makes you fall for it.Yet you have to watch the next advertisement to get the simple answer.But life,real life is not like that,you have to go through things all the way.To presevere.Well you believe what you want to believe and let them push you around and control you some more.In the end all we can ever be is ourselves anyway.And as we become adults we have got to do what we have to do.I have a good thing going that I am happy about.Nobody can take it away from me,it is mine.I did it first for my enjoyment.I possesed complete creative control of the outcome of it.More than something I am looking to package and sell you.This is my life that I am living.Savouring the good and rolling through the bad.And I did my best to do this,nobody can accuse me of a lack of trying,this is not an act I do,this is me.The second part is for your enjoyment and I hope from the bottom of my heart that you do.That you get the message I am sending you.Thank you!/Rene

In the studio I am every bit the band.My concept of that is very far advanced.Light years out there.Light years beyond being a member of a band.That young boy stuff.That was all good in it's day,"name that tune as it were"...I just bought a new Marshall amp too...Yet if I have to appear onstage with a group they are just gonna be stone pro's,salaried independent contractor's.Assasins if you will.Warriors.They will pick up where the studio left off.

Yes,on the studio work,acoustic guitar live.I have the opportunity right now to do "Livingroom Music" in concert.With Ye Mystic Krewe I am performing more with friends onstage as opposed to carrying a band.They all play with other groups and are very talented yet we are not a band per se.In the studio of course I am the band except for the drums.And that is great,I am thankful for it and I love it!I mean I don't noodle around with it,on all of the different instruments I play I could do any one of them live with a group.Just doing that one instrument.I could put a great band together,I have the talent yet the timing is just not right for it now.The club scene is really dead.Live venues are shrinking away day by day.Places having music six nights a week are a thing of the past.There use to be many of those,there was a living to be made at it.Not a great one,but a fun one!And when you are young as I once was, you can roll with the punches a bit more.If you have a place to crash and can afford a Wendy's hamburger you are good to go!Sleep in the van on the beach or under the trees maybe with a lady friend to keep your company,the future was far away...Mostly I ended up to get really serious in the studio.To write songs,play and sing them.I always performed live and still do.Yet i am still on that dream,I can't let go of the starry notions.And thus I have got to post a hit,something that is going to cut through everything.Something even more than all that I have done that is going to rip you out of your frame and get you on board here.The freedom of my publishing company allows me to hit you in ways you will not expect.I don't have anything to live up to but I do have something to prove.I have to go out with you knowing I was right.And I am going to turn in that one hit.Pay off my bills and look forward.I just want to have peace of mind and be happy.That does not mean being rich.I have made a little bit go a long way.I could go back to the point of pulling my van up on the beach and loving it.In Tobago perhaps.A big hit,my retirement.Have a nice day!

Yeah,with T-Blue at B.B. Magee's.I took my ride (Nadine) into a lube shop and got an oil change and a lube job and paid cash with money I got for playing the bass and singing.Will finish it by taking my son out to dinner and shooting some pool with him.I had a really good time making that money too.I had just gotten "Sallie Mae" my five string out of the pawn shop."Daddy, please take me home!"That was a week ago actually because I did Gaspar's with T last weekend."Sallie Mae is such a pretty girl,"Thats what all the neighbors say.And The blueman was smoking on guitar last night.Had it not been for the bass I would have been in some real trouble.I could not have paid the bills and put dinner on the table.

Yes I have got a live show to do.My second concert this year.My own little thing as it were.Unplugged of course.Living room.I checked out the Ballroom and it is beautiful!I am really hoping to be able to pay the band for helping me out.Could you buy a tik?The show will be recorded so you will get it later if you can't attend.I will send it to you if you are on my e-mail list. Rene

I carried out the mission and completed it,and it was just an experiment.I am a champion my friends,I do not have the word failure in my vocabulary.I play to win and I play as hard as I can.I am a success,an overcomer of the world.

Played by Scott Sappington.Terry Brennan had already passed on when we did these sessions,which we did for his memory.Scott also is on bass here.Right in step.

You may not like it,It may be tuuu raw and real for your taste.It may cut you way too deep.This is a Hank Williams type of recording,deep into night time,lonely,left out and alone,and of all things considered Johnny was the star of the band.It was his concept that I auditioned to be a part of.I think he is the number one harmonica player in the Known world today.And the vocal performance he turned in put it right where it was at.As a member of the supporting cast dude,I had the coolest role you can imagine,the number one blues lead/slide guitar player in the world.Bad ass and dangerous!Terry wanted me to have that role yet you know we were playing guitars together,as a synergy,weaving it,another beautiful web!Another fly bites the dust,as the spiders say.

I beleive that every person bears their own responsibility for their actions and how they lived their life.Ultimately it is your choice no matter of what and you are going to do what you are going to do.Everywhere I go and everything I do I get along with everyone yet I am a capricorn so I do this well.You have the abilty to decide what is going to get to you.A small leak can sink a great ship.We do need to have friends in this world and fellowship.We need to be accepted for who we are.For some it may need to be different "I must have it all!"For a time you may even have it all.But when you die you are not only going to have to say goodbye to "it all" you will also be held responsible for the horrible things you did to gain it.The human suffering.It shall be charged to you and you will stand alone to explain it.What you did with your free will.Nobody will be there to cover you.That is what it is.

My approach after all of this is as a producer.A talentseeker.I am secure as an artist and what I do yet a producer has got to produce a hit which seperates one from being a member of a band and an opportunity came my way via Gary Lefkowtith to have Mike Rodgers produce the bands next single.He is prob unknown to you as he would prefer yet he is the master of what is called Shortcuts in digital recordings.He does the final tweaks to major label cuts,he is not unknown to the world's top major label producers.He will cost you and paid without complaint 5 grand an hour to make your recording stellar.Via gary he took a liking to me and what I was doing with the band.He would do the entire session for 5 grand,his normal hourly fee.This was a fantastic learning opportunity,top level all the way,how the big boys do it.The band took that for granted but had no idea of the torture chamber we were going to enter.Um that was their prob,they had a free ride to NYC but when we got there we were going to be recorded the way a major artist is recorded.My job was executive producer.It was time to really take the trip.Not to "sell out" mind you but to grow and expand.I have to say that Andre Mack was so cool about all of it.And the band eventually came through it and turned in top pro performances.They really did,I was very proud of them.It was a hard thing to get through for all of us we had to change a lot.And I was sticking to my guns,yes as exec I had final creative control and could have changed the whole process due to ego and such yet we were right on track to our biggest hit we would just have to ride it out.Time surely will tell,I am on to the next adventure.To the next hit."I am beautiful, no matter what you say,your words won't bring me down,I am beautiful,in each and every way so don't you bring me down,don't you bring me down today."You think me to be delirous when I am serious.

Suffice to say that through all of my youth I persued becoming a rock and roll star and was relentless about that persuit.Yet I was a know nothing country boy from a small town.I would say that I self destructed about say 1986.I woke up/wound up standing in front of a judge, Barbara Fleischer, who started to cry when she saw me and the state I was in.I looked like a holocaust survivor."So standing before me is the rock rebel Rene Labre,love's young nightmare like."And then she pounded her gavel.Then she said after she put her hankie away, "Renboy,I could give you fifteen years right now or the opportunity to change your life,you choose right now what I am going to do with you,or what I offer FOR you."I am willing to change your honor,can you help me please?"The influence of this very powerful and fair judge is still felt to this day and she leaned on me hard and personally,every time I turned around I was stopped searched,forbidden to play in honky tonks,I still got away with it,I was the house performer at the notorious "Midnight Hour" bottle club but I knew a police officer would be waiting for me when I got out.As long as I was straight it was okay.The police after finding out I was playing ball were actually were cool about it,to one point where I actually was pretty messed up and the officer said,"Judge Fleisher would not be happy about this,give me your keys Ren,(only those that love me call me Ren) and go to sleep in the van,you can pick them up at the station tomorrow."You know all that any one of these law enforcement officers had to do was say they found a roach in my van and I would serve the full fifteen year maximum sentence.Those were her terms.So I left the honky tonks to become a gospel musician.You are going to have to buy the book to get the whole story.And I am the only one that can tell it,I am a myth and a living legend.A survivor on a par with Tom Sawyer and old Huck Finn.I am a champion. So when I got my head together again I was an artist who is a producer as well.And a single parent now of a wonderful son.I have a debt that I can't repay to this judge,and trust me here this is a no bullshit Judge and when I faced her I was so totally broken,totally disconnected with any form of reality.Instead of becoming convict number 0007543 I became "Dad."I am not perfect no..far from it,yet I can deal with life on life's terms.I am a functional human being.Thank you your honor!

The new york sessions cost him his fabulous bass line.Yet it cost us all big too.We were being produced by me as though we were a major label act.What we REALLY would have to accept and deal with in terms of our recorded work.And it gave us our hottest record!Onstage we could still do whatever we wanted.But to this day he is angry about that towards me.And he is a fantastic artist in his own right.He is poison and so is Marvin.But he forgets way back when in a redneck club when I saw a guy throw his drink on him and call him "Nigger shit" and I saw this and swung around in a dance move and kicked that guy in the face knocking his teeth out.Chip and Marvin are two precious jewels to me.And we were the baddest motherfuckers on the block.We are champions,there is not going to be any hesitation,you are going to be ripped out of your frame,you are going to have to let go of your little world and let us dissassemble it for you and put it back together again.We escaped lynch mobs after shows.We left motels in ruins.Shotgun holes in the windows and such,police escorts out of town.That's how it goes on the road.You have to sacrifice something to get the adventure of it.

I was lead to him By Bill Jerome.He got us our biggest hit together.I really can't imgaine the scene,this guy is a power brooker of american top 40 radio.I,well the band did not know just how much we were gatting on the cheap and who we were working with.

Our whole thing onstage was to rip you out of the frame.

I am a rock and roll artist,still just the same as I have always been,trying to do better with every next step.Surprised greatly that I am still here.I hate Jazz/rock and all of the other labels put upon it.Alternative and la-da da.I am a failure also,a studied one also,I did not set out to fail,I was playing to win.I put myself totally into it.Situations,cicumstances,timing,these thing were not on my side and I did not really develop fully as an artist until much later in my life,especially as a singer.But I got another day to live and to try again.In the meantime I was blessed to be a success as a man.As a single parent of a very fine son. I knew that the price I would have to pay for failing as a rock star meant I had to get a day job to pay the rent.Oh no!!!! not that!!! But a man has got to work.A steady job can go a very long way.And when the baby is hungry it has got to eat,or if it is sick it has got to go to the doctor.I would be out cutting grass to put dinner on the table,a person in a wheelchair would be staring out the window going "Man I would sell my soul to be out there today cutting some grass!"Nevermind to be a rock star.I was never afraid of getting my hands dirty or my body tired.I would even be joking and having fun doing it.Thinking about that cat in a wheelchair.If I had not become a father I don't know,I became such a homie,the main events of my life were all about my son.And this failure thing,you have no choice but to accept it yet you can gain from it.What am I not going to do wrong the next time?Shit..if you even get that far!Most of you would just cave in.And when I have to go to work I am all on that.I am really,really bad.I am a person who can be trusted to carry forth a task.I am a college grad as well,a big promise I made to my Mom."I shall be educated."If I made a billion dollars as a rock and roll star she would not have fully repected me.So now perhaps you understand that I am all about BUSINESS here. "They Call me Labre,(The Breeze) I keep rolling down the road.

I realize my last post sounded pretty heartless yet this is a business you see.And certainly not one famous for it's high level of ethics.Ideally you want to play with a great band of gypsies and share equally the responsibility and wealth,and rare as it is there are some groups doing that.I would love to be in a band like that!With a great and loyal crew as well.The thing I think that made me finally get really hard was a dear friend of mine who was a songwriter in LA who had a chrous lifted direct from a tune he wrote which made for a very sucessful song and he got paid nada.He sat down in an abandoned building with an eight ball of coke,a bottle of Jim Beam and a 38 special,he pawned his guitar to get all three and this wonderful artist and human being blew his brains out.I miss him so!

They just have to run their mouth with something bad to say about you.They act as to be your friend but would so love to destroy you.Who knows why?They don't even know they just have a big mouth and a nose for trouble.And when they get into trouble it is never their fault,If they can they will blame it on you.They NEVER really learn anything.I goof on something everyday.I make mistakes frequently,big ones sometimes,I don't blame it on anyone else,I accept responsibility for it.I try to learn from it so I don't do it again.I hate it when I brain fart!But we all do ya know?I mean if you are alive and above the ground today you are going to goof someplace.And perhaps in that process you have wronged somebody and they are hurt over it.You can look them in the eye and say "I'm sorry."Yet this may just be a thing of somebody running their mouth to get you in trouble.Do not even acknowlege that with a reply.I am not going to let you bring me down today.You will be discovered to be a snitch and find your very own hour of big trouble.And that is what you will be...on your own.Nobody can trust you.Once you get a rep as a snitch you are pretty much stuck with it.You will start inventing stories just to run your mouth against somebody even for no reason.Everybody laughs at you and no one takes you serious.They all know that you are the snitch.I have a lot of respect for my boss.And he does for me too,I try my best not to goof but when I do I can tell him and it can be dealt with.EVERYBODY makes mistakes,that is our life.Later on you can laugh about it.But when you screw up and purposely attempt to put the blame on someone that is innocent you are seriously playing with your kharma.

I never stopped performing onstage,I am just as capable as a supporting character in a cast as a star.I am the kind of cat that you want for your adventure.I always kept a bass handy just in case.For my own stuff,I want to do it professionally,I do not have the time to book shows,I want a licensed booking agent to do that.Then my concern is only to show up on time and in good order to do the show. In my offtime I hang with Circus performers a lot.Real pro's and not just the performers but the crew people.Barnum and Bailey, there is no tighter show than that.That is not just moving guitars and amps,it is also lions and elephants going out on the road.Bitchy Tigers with toothaches.How many very fine horses?And the animals even know about the show and how it MUST go on.They spent their entire lives in the circus.Sipping wine and talking with two world famous flyer's...trapeze artists.Who share a trailer (a double wide.)With every performance they risk their very lives.They are flamingly gay and I am totally sraight but it is so good to get together when we can,I just have a blast when I hang out with them,I am honored to be their friend.We go out dancing together,of course they are wonderful dancers and we set up a line and go.All of the girls come over.They want to dance with us!Show us some of their moves,it is all good.I am in the mix of a bunch of studio sessions that are very challenging to say the least.In fact a major move away from even rock and roll.My skill levels as "Dr. Funkenstein" have been brought into question because I am an indie artist,inferior and underdeveloped.I must not have listed my recording engineers and producers.I am whole, complete, and perfect my friend.As an artist

An American Impact Talent subfolder.A galvinization of all of the talents here.Their files as it were....Hopefully we have a new female singer with us.We do it all as the guys and make the show yet it is always class to have a "Canary."An asswhooping Female lead to ice the cake.All of our girls are poison,they are pro's yet we have a new one for you,an unlikely one actually.An arcadian girl.A french girl.

I was not banned,they confirmed the date,I am booked and I have got to go on. Who:Rene Labre Live With Ye Mystic Krewe What:Live Concert And Spritual Healing When:December 30,2010 Entertianment Begins At 6:30 pm Where:Orpheum ballroom/Old Ybor City Why:I am booked to do it. Proper Dress Required!Pirate Casual,Beads,Lanterns and Candles Inspiration for out-of towners to buy tickects for A weekend getaway Tampa Bay Way..The weather here right now is paradice unmatched anywhere,the traveling about is easy...the rates are great!What to do..take your pick,music everywhere,world class pristeen beaches custom made to fall in love or just relax.Perhaps an unforgettable one night stand if you play your cards right!,any kind of fishing,any kind of fish possible.All major sports events with national and international contenders.Out of this world blues jams.Hungry?Take your pick,anything you want from aged steaks to market fresh Gulf Of Mexico seafood direct from the boat.Friendly and funky beach people.We are all in a good mood right now,summer has passed.The real state flag is the skull and crossbones!Onstage I am going to take you out of your groggy window box my sleepyhead tear apart and re-assemble your world for you.You have been laying back for far to long.More details forthcoming. Or well,you can put on your long johns,close the shutters and hunker down for a miserable cabin fever winters night,the kind of pics you never see on facebook.Static cling in the hair and the air.

I feel if you are going to approach singing with any seriousness to it that this is an IMPERATIVE step.Even if you have a great natural talent it will only be improved by this.And if you are marginal you can become great.You can learn how to sight read and sing.You can learn how to sing harmony.There is a big difference between a pro and a karoke singer.The pro's are studied masters of technique.The preparation,the execution,the cool down.Frank Sinatra was sight reading and singing with The Nelson Riddle Orchestra,proof that he had training.I have known quite a few singers that had to stop or were severly curtailed lifetime vocally because of nodules and the dreaded "P" word.Expensive surgeries that wrecked their throats.And it never had to happen.The upper register gone forever,to much air being used to work the muscles,you actually use much less air to hit the highs. The big secret here...the cool down,I should be charging money to tell you this yet because you are reading it you are my friend.Perhaps a singer and I am going to give you a very hot tip.Shut up!You are to speak no louder than a whisper and even that only limitedly.For a minimum of 4-6 hours.And you are drenching with lukewarm water.After a gig is a good time to socailize and network friends.You can still do that,the rest of your body is still rushed and happy.Just hold your hand to your throat and shake your head,write them sticky notes like "I am so glad you enjoyed it Thank You!And sign them.Tomorrow night your throat will be ready to go!your agent may leave you a message...don't call back until after cool down,they will understand.They need you to be good tomorrow too!The message may be "They want you at Carnigie Hall!!!I hope so for you my friend.Best wishes/Ren

Marty Balin's wife passed away last friday after a month long illness.My condolences go out to him and his daughter and her family.

I already have it coming ready.It is the last trick for you.You have come to bore me with your indifference and there are other things I can do to make my living.I hate them but I will do it to put supper on the table.Pay the electric bill ect...Live a contented life and piss on you.I am not afraid to work and get my hands dirty,That tells me that I do not need to impress you.I have to have a bag of dogfood for my puppy so she is good and healthy/happy,she understands me more than most humans do.And on a cold wintery night she keeps me warm and toasty.she is always glad when I come home and I do not have to explain myself over and over to her about silly things.The rent is paid,when you flick the switch the lights go on,the toilet flushes.All is well at the palace/duplex.It is under international law illegal to download and fileshare copywritten music without paying for it,the HUGE cost of 1 USD.You can stream it for free all day and night,I hope you do,oh God please let them listen...but you can't download it it without stealing it.One stinking dollar....you just can't respect me to that point.You just can't step up and show me that you care?I could go out on the street and busk and pick up a yardnote to do a request.I apologize,I really do yet I don't know how else to show me that you are there.It would be nice to let me know that I have not lived my life in vain,if you want to have a song and cant afford a buck I will give it to you.To have and hold as your very own.Thank you,I am so glad that you like it!Perhaps I just suck,my stuff ain't worth a buck.Well you can pay now easy or pay later full price is how I see it.So when you have to pay full price to get it you will.

The band got so blown up about this but Gary Lefkowith was right...we needed a radio ready top 40 broadcast radio hit.For a moment in time we would have to adjust our style and approach to more of a major label act sound.To be the most added week after week on tuesday instead of being dropped.There are certain elements that your record has got to have to get here.Mike was a very forebearing and hard taskmaster.And he was doing us a favor to take us on,not the other way around.He did a full production for us for 5 grand,normally his hourly fee, but he was enjoying the work he was doing with us.And Gary was so into it that he came down to NYC and left his phones to work with it also.He is as well as a lovely and intelligent person a major radio promotions guy.Telling Mike "I want to stay in the city to work on this,can I sleep on the couch?"And he was not even being paid,this was on his nickel because he is a dear friend.Licking his chops as he knew he was going to do some guitar work on this tune,he was going to be on this record, and oh boy did he!!!The band (except Andre) grew very resentful at the closness of our relationship.They did not understand that we were in New York City in the presence of greatness.Gary and Mike understood the enormous amount of talent I brought with me to NY but did not understand the resistance being presented them by the band.Andre Mack of course was the exeption,always cool and steady and we stood together on the subway platform with our guitar cases and he said "Gary's version of the guitar solo works better than yours,do that one."And so to summarize for you that a hit record is a question of economy and a champion studies all of the possibilities and then refines them so as to not waste any moves.

Yes I did.The leader quit and was gigging the next week.Leaving them to really figure it all out.My son was disrespected by the group.( not Andre) My son the big dog,their future boss and a cat who hanged cool with it all.The guy who now signs the checks,ya...that guy.The big boss.You would of course think that I did it for me yet I did not.I did it for him.He is the owner of all the exclusive rights and do not expect anything nice from him.We ended up living on the beach in our VW van(The Wolfbus) after all of this.He was so young and said "Dad,can we afford a six pack?"Marvin and Chip viewed Jordan with contempt,especially Marvin,Andre Mack was much different from them and took Jordan under his wing." Come on Jordan,let's go mess around in times square and get something to eat."On the plane flight to New York Jordan said to me "dad,if it is okay with you I want to sit next to Andre."

PANDEMONIUM,REALLY LOOSE AND REALLY CRAZY.AT IT'S BEST I WOULD LOOK OVER TO SEE CHIP AND ONLY BE ABLE TO SEE THE HEADSTOCK OF HIS BASS BOUNCING UP AND DOWN AND MARVIN WOULD BE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.BECAUSE THE STAGE WOULD BE FULL OF PEOPLE DANCING AROUND.NOT RIOTING OR TEARING OUR CLOTHES OFF JUST UP ON STAGE WITH US GROOVING.TWICE WE WERE ALMOST SUED OVER IT EXCEPT NOBODY GOT HURT.yOU DON'T THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS,YOUR GUITAR MUTED BECAUSE FAMALE ASS IS PRESSED UP AGAINST YOUR STRINGS,SO YOU LIFT IT UP INTO THE SMALL OF HER BACK SO YOU CAN STILL PLAY AND NOW YOU HAVE GOT TO GET UP TO THE MIC TO SING YOUR PART.SWEET PERFUME MAN!I WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU ARE THINKING AT THAT MOMENT..."THIS IS THE BEST JOB ON EARTH!I WANT TO DO THIS THE REST OF MY LIFE!"NOT ALWAYS AND EVERY SHOW YET YOU STILL LIVE FOR THIS.A CALL COMES FROM YOUR AGENT GOING "I HAVE GOT THE PERFECT ROOM FOR YOU!"ALSO WE HAVE BEEN BOOKED INTO THE WRONG ROOMS AND YOU LAY BACK AND GET THROUGH IT AND SEND THE UNION GUY TO GET PAID BUT A CONFIRMATION COMES WHEN THEY ASK YOU BACK AND YOU GO "YOU MUST BE KIDDING,THEY WANTED TO LYNCH US..."AND YOUR AGENT GOES "NO...THEY ARE SORRY ABOUT THAT,THEY WANT YOU BACK AND WILL PAY DOUBLE PLUS EXPENSES.IT'S ALL GOOD!WILL YOU DO IT?I ALREADY HAVE THEIR DEPOSIT.PLEASE SAY YES."AND THEN YOU RETURN IN CONTROL OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND IT IS A GREAT SHOW!

I saw her at a blues jam session,I just had to record her and had the perfect tune.This is first chair philharmonic violin,a position she retired from because she wanted to bend strings like a blues guitar.In the control room when she recorded we were just laid out...WTF?The composer of the song is B.A.Ellis.A derivative work from "Stagelight Lover" our first number one.

Two of them,a Washburn standard four string named "MO" that belongs to T-blue."The most beat up bass in rock and roll."Without a case gets "Tossed" into the van over top of all the equipment after the show.Still plays and sounds beautiful! My main squeeze is a New York made 5 string Brownsville named "Sally Robinson" I got her from a musician friend of mine that needed airfare back to LA. I hope to "spring" her out of the pawnshop tomorrow."I am here to pick up my wife please."The "Bozz" has been very good to me through the hard times.You know you have got a good friend when they pay the rent for you.

Only on three of them. She's A Tease:Done on Wally Bevins bass with The E-string detuned to a D. American Idol Audition:This was a combination of A Fender Jazz Bass and a symphonic/philharmonic double bass.-really cool fun sessions! Donna:Four strings/standard tuning. For my recording method of preference which is analog,now digital analog I have got to have a rock rhythm track going, the other way I have to start with just the bass and the drums.Preferred is to have guitar,drums and bass all at the same time.Five weeks of rehearsal was spent on these rhythm tracks before going to the studio.Funny because my major/modest income from music comes from actually performing onstage and what I do is "Slap The Bozz!"Along with my other professional credentials I am a wickedly skilled Bozzman!Tried and true over many a moonlight mile my friend.And these guys who are playing bass on my records are cream of the crop guys.I will let you in on a little rock and roll secret here,when two bassists get together and toast eachother over a goodwill drink the toast is...."They would not be shit without us!"

Yes I did those too...on all of the tunes.I have been playing the piano since I was a little kid,It never left me but I was much more facinated by the guitar especially the electric,it was so much louder.In session the piano was always done apart from everything else.I have got to have a grand piano,not a little plastic box.The sessions would go down either when the rhythm track was cut with the solo's or after the vocals were done.I would go to a university music dept where they have rehearsal rooms with a grand in it,and sit and play for two or three days.I can sit down at one for 12-14 hours easy.Just pick the tune apart doing scales and modes against all of the chords,I want to go into the session super hot with all of my chops ready.I start out way overblowing and then cut it down from there to the point of the least movement with the most effect.At Morrisound I would have two mics on the piano plus seven overheads around the room.Mixing it down to two track.I would say the hardest thing to do was to calm down my bass clef (left hand),on a recording where you already have a bass you don't want to be canceling frequencies.In fact most often it is completely mixed out.The piano I think is the most perfect separation of your right and left mental hemispheres,your two hands doing completely different things together.( See the video "leaving New York City.") Then the Hammond organ which is a whole other trip.Yes it is a keyboard instrument yet still a totally different instrument in every way.You have two seperate registrations,draw bars,bass pedals,now you are also playing with your feet,the left for the bass pedals and the right for the volume pedal.Again I need to have the real deal there,a full Hammond organ,a B-3,C-3,or the spinet M-3.I have to unplug the bass pedals,I can't play the instrument without hitting my left foot.I don't cut at all on the Hammond (yet) on my records,almost completely chord fills. The Hammond Organ in my life is a whole seperate story but you will have to buy my book to hear about that.

Andre Mack and I are both playing the power chords together for the chorus.Both of us brought out guitars to NY yet for this part Mike did not like the sound.There was a big fat Gretch Tennessean hanging on the wall at Boondog Studios and he said "could you guys try this one?"We did our parts seperately,our composites,at least two hours apiece DA! DA DA! DA DA! DA! Through an avalon pre-amp direct into the board,a marshall TSL was rejected.Now that's Power eh?

I did ALL of the guitar playing on my records,not to blow my horn but to state the facts.Only on "(oo)(oo)I've been Calling" is there another player,Gary Lefkowtith hitting the muted rhythm and the scratching with a couple tasty licks.He actually composed the solo in the bridge where I had more of a santana thing going but Mike wanted me to play what Gary had done,again the more economical solo.But I played it and it was kind of funny because Gary was moping around for two days after that.And I was a little miffed too because I could not do my santana solo yet Mike was calling all of the shots on the record.That is what I paid him to do."Do the other solo onstage."The final blues solo on the record I played out on the fire escape on Riverside Drive to the New York Skyline in a gentle snowfall.Onstage I still did the economy solo,that was what people wanted to hear.

Surely that would be an interesting read!His pespective on it all.Funny thing to me is that he is always referred to as a "rhythm guitarist."I bet this is the reason he is so pissed off all of the time!I mean he was always the lead guitar,just like George Harrison.And on a great many Stones records he was the ONLY guitar.Yet he never really until much later on got into a lot of effects or extended virtuoso type solo's(except of course that gibson maestro fuzz box he used on a certain tune).He always stood in lead guitar terms as an economy player with the guitar straight into the amp.Ala Harrison again or J.C. Fogerty.Picking and choosing the right notes to bounce off what was going on in the entire song instaed of wailing over the top of it.Leading to an immediatly recongnizable style that spread it's message out across the whole world and sold millions of records.Lyndsey Buckingham ( fleetwood mac) and Mike Campbell (Tom Petty) are also of this type as well as Scotty Moore and James Burton and Roy Buchanon.Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters,Steve Miller.This is also the type of playing that record producers and engineers love to hear,it leaves space for other things that are happening on the record to be tweaked and brought out. And then his credits as a composer,he IS the music of The Rolling Stones,in the early days he also was the talent of The Rolling Stones.Not the star trip like Mick and Brian.If you watch the early films the cameras just did not him like it did those two.He was mixed in the films like Bill and Charlie, so you were hearing him more then seeing him.And that was Ok cause Brian and Mick were putting on a great show.Still when it came down to,he was the most important stone. Much,much more than a rhythm guitar player,you ain't gonna outgun him ever!

If anything is going to burn out an indie it is this.You mail box just so jammed full of people wanting to be leeching off your money to give you nothing in return.It is like betting the rent at a horse race.These pigs are raking in the cash,your cash."I want to help other's be successful like me,I have everything I want, my wife quit her job and now I have time to spend with my family.And today is your last chance to get in on this miracle at the discounted rate,I have done all of the work for you and offer you 24/7 tech support from one of my staff experts all you have to do is push a button.I normally charge 2 million dollars for this course glady paid by my highbrow asshole clients but I will give it all to you,for not 99 dollars,not 66 dollars but just a one time payment of $39.50!!!!!With a full money back guarantee if you are not a millionare within 60 days simply cancel."And then after you go "What a load of balls!" and click off the page a reminder pops up going No....Wait!!!! for a limited time I can offer you my amazing course for only $15.00 if you sign up to participate in a survey from my affiliate marketers.And then you have the current version of the dreaded infomercial "The online seminar that is lifechanging!"Check out my video "I made 3 grand whilst I farted."My inbox is just jammed with this shit.All of it first can drain away your hard earned money and secondly,more important even it drains away your time and energy and burns you out.This is all based on the old school P.T.Barnum "There is a sucker born every minute."Truly to even watch an infomercial you must not have much of a life going.Yes there are people out there that provide you good services giving you what you are paying for.But any page that sets up like this is nothing but a con.you are going to waste your money and they are going to sell your information to the next peanut vendor down the street.

The info hit to hard,they would prefer to mastigate it to you.And what I lined out to you is how to CYA like a pro.I never expected to become involved with the publishing end of my work but on my first indie label deal I became the publishing administrator for the label.What a cool world and it is big business.You think that country music is what Nashville is about yet I am here to tell you that the biggest business in Nashville is music publishing.50% of the revenue of any hit song goes there.Nashville has had a lot of hits.I had the very good fortune to be mentored by Ralph Gingery the copyright administrator of the library of congress.He took a liking to me and taught me a lot of tricks.There was nothing about the copyright process that this gentleman did not know.Worldwide.He was the gatekeeper if you will.he taught me the true value of intellectual property. I have met three songwriters in my life that got burned for their hit.Someone else got it, copywrote it, and it sold in the millions with many artists covering it,in one of these cases it was just lifting the chourus to another work.Two of them went to court and lost,the third blew his brains out.They had the winning lottery ticket,a never have to work again life but they did not hold the copyright to their work and will NEVER see ten cents for it.That is the saddest showbiz situation that I could see,you are working your dayjob and your song comes on the radio or on TV in the breakroom and you tell your co-workers that you wrote that tune."And they laugh and say "Frankie said he wrote that song and has the original recording of it,ya...me too!HA HA HA! I also wrote Hey Jude and The Beatles stole it,HA HA HA!" And so dear reader as my friend consider yourself warned. It is a good feeling to know that you are covered.Own your own dream!Be a pro!

GoodI enjoyed this article,it was very relevant to the times of where the business is heading and trust me on this even as the most far out artist you have got to be about business.The first page after your creation is your copyright with the library of congress.(us artists)That is what the judge wants to see because that makes it easy.That makes for the In total declaration of the magical words "first use."Everything else leaves you to prove heresay in a court of law.And this is a sea swimming with sharks.somebody else walked away with your hit,FOR FREE,the only one you may ever have and you cannot prove first use on a pro level.And you are quite effectively SCREWED and nobody wants to hear it either.In the biz they call that done like dinner.You are shark food.The next page is that even as unlikley as it is that you may ever realize your dreams you have retained a music business attorney.Music law is the most complicated law on the books.It requires a specialist with a proven track record.Not an attorney who is going to learn it.This may be a very capable attorney in other matters yet as I say you need a specialist.And you have done page one.When I get to a point that I am recording a composition I am not doing fun and games.I am a businessman and this is my business.I am working a hit.I have first use and if you want to play me you will never forget how I slayed you in court walking out with your ass in my hands.page three you want to join a performance rights society as a writer member and ideally as a publisher member too.BMI will tell you right up front that they are mostly geared to major label artists,which is true and sensible.I am an ASCAP member.And the same is true with them,right now it is just the way it is.You want to have your professional credentials together.Page 4 would be sound exchange yet I would do the other pages first.You may be broke and struggling yet you are recognized by a certain peer group within the biz to be a professional.This very floaty demonstartion of if you recorded it you hold certain rights.In a court of law that is held as interpretation.You pack this pistol I am giving you and you will be straight.The figure it outs well perhaps one day they will figure it out.But it sounds to me like they are going to get screwed,and understand this also the point of view from the one doing the screwing is that they are taking advantage of a good deal.You in a "leap of faith" did not have your little butt covered and you stand up in court against a powerhouse like Warner Brothers and say "My friend Johnny and his girlfriend and my Mom swear that I wrote this tune.I sent it to myself in a registered letter that I did not open.The judge will not open it either,for the court to listen to.. whatever is on that is MOOT.If you can't run with the big dogs you have to stay on the porch with the puppies.renelabre.com info for you that they did not want you to hear

I always have to hire a drummer for sessions.I can't hold a beat consistantly enough although I play drums for fun.And come on,a great rock band has a great drummer.For some of you/most of you a machine will do the trick.I hate that machine,I will never use one,it does not breathe.It constricts everything.I want a human being behind a kit that I can slug around.Even on the ballads I want the living shit beat out of that kit.On time and on tempo,no clams,spread across 24 tracks/stereo.I want it loud as well as dynamic,you can always modify a frequency that is clipping but if it is not there you cannot do anything with it.Here is my list of some exeptional pros.You probably have never heard of them much less me but you will hear them.They committed to my crazy dream. Davey Boy Bill Bland Allen Thomas Miller Susan Mejeras Marvin Brown Chris kidd Chris Valentino Larry Blackmon

To the spanish world.Turning them on to something new and different in a way that I could not do in the US.I am as real there as I am here.Blowing up the carribean and South America!I just prayed to GOD when I did it,gave him all of the glory and said "Bless These Seeds That I AM Planting."And we just hit that groove.In Havana they are hearing it!I was a nobody yesterday yet today I am on the cutting edge!World leader of the cutting edge!I am so thankful.

A CHAMPION BEGINS WITH CHAMPIONSHIP CHARACTER.A FOCUS UPON A GOAL.IT IS ALL HOW YOU THINK ABOUT IT REALLY.AS WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO IS IMPOSSIBLE ACCORDING TO THE THIRD DEMENSION AND THE FIVE LIMITED SENSES.THAT IS WHEN YOU HAVE TO REACH DEEP INSIDE YOURSELF AND PRODUCE YOUR DEPTH.THERE CAN BE ONLY LIMITED TIME FOR LOSERS WHO WILL SAP YOU OF YOUR STRENGTH.THEIR DESIRE IS JUST TO HANG WITH WHATEVER BUT YOU NEED TO DROP IT AND GO FORWARD.ALWAYS FORWARD AND ON TO THE NEXT.YOU MOVE ON UP AHEAD OF TIME AND SPACE EVEN.TO THE CUT BABY.AND THEN YOU MAKE IT ALL REAL.A CHAMPION IS STUDIED IN THE CRAFT,READ AND UNDERSTANDS THE BOOK.DOES NOT WASTE MOTION NOR ENERGIES. IF YOU ARE WORKING THE BOOK YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GO SLOW AND SO YOU RUN.YOU RUN DOWN THAT DREAM AND OVERTAKE IT,BEFORE IT CHANGES YOU HOLD IT IN YOUR HANDS AND EMBRACE IT.CAPTURE IT FOREVER.POSSESS IT FULLY.

It was to try out an idea by my publisher and it was a lot of work outside the studio to get it right.English and Spanish are very different and do not transfer just like that.The english language has triple the amount of words as Spanish yet the Spanish language you need more words to describe what you are saying.There is no slang such as in English,what you say is what you mean.And the verb tense has to be perfect.Latin music is more spacey to leave room for the lyrics and american pop is mostly 4/4 leaving you six or so more words to get into that space.Let's take for example Richie Valens tremendous hit "La Bamba."Just a knockout in America and sung in spanish.You can play that tune in any situation,a wedding,a club,a concert and the crowd immediatly gets up on it.Even the young kids dig it.Everybody is dancing.IT NEVER FAILS!And in america 99% of the audience has not even a clue what the words are saying,who cares!!!!We like it!!That is such a pure thing.Here comes the conga line 600 people!!!!wow!You could do a 45 minute version.There is just something about that song that makes everyone throw their cares to the wind.And the lyrics translated are so Bob Marley so down home.A sweet little home with a beautiful woman and a good working man putting his paycheck on the table so happy to be home.No kids yet....still just playing house.

The genius of my brilliant publisher.I would not have considered to do it yet I was open to it as well.They are now listening to me sing in Cuba, we have superseeded even the US embargo of that marxist paradise that does not have toilet paper.This material is NOT available in the US.Go and buy Justin Beiber or Hanna bonanna or Motana or whatever...I am sure that is what you really need.But be careful a big bully may come 'round to put the frighters on you and give you a bit of stick.I just blindside that shit.In life you sometime or somwhwere have to face down a bully if you are a man.Even if you get your ass kicked you still stood up for yourself.And the bully just thinks you are going to run to mama,he is not prepared for you to actually confront him.I say put down your violin case and blindside that motherfucker.In america everything is so female oriented to make it all so easy and I am here to tell you that life is not easy like they think it is.And a human male is number one on the food chain in this life,we are capable to OUTTHINK everything else.Well maybe not,just let her get to the top and you shall so soon see that the round and round is never going to stop.Silly things become so important."We need to talk,oh GOD, gag me with The Fucking Tri City Bridge because we are not going to talk about her,we are going to discuss what is wrong with me like my boss at work has not already explained that to me.Show me a man that has a good woman,that is a happy fella.She is happy and loves to be with you.She misses you when you are not there.She wants to talk but not to control/manipulate you she has fun talking to you about this and that.You make her laugh and she loves to laugh.She does not bug you on your cell phone all day about how she wants to rule the world.(unless there is an emergency)She knows what time to expect you to be home and you can't wait to get home to her.To your pretty little thing.Now listen to me here...it does not matter if she is only 98 pounds soaking wet,or 300 pounds sitting on the beach,if she is your lady and you dig her she is your pretty little thing.

Very strong that yet that is not related to me as an american artist.I don't want that to be.This was taking the thing much further and much more studied.if you think it is a one off to convert the lyrics and vocal melodies of an american pop song into the spanish language you just step up and do it.Many shall attempt to imitate it yet it will sound like gibberish,you have got to really know what you are doing and more importantly what you are saying/singing.In this language there is not slang nor innuendo,I despise innuendo.Sing what you mean and mean what you sing.I am rising, despite all mass media censorship efforts in The United States, as an international global artist.Breaking boundaries.Building bridges.Rocking Havana radio tonight!I love my country,I love all of the people of my country.I respect and obey the laws of my country.Just because the way I live and the way you live is different that is not cause for you and me to hate eachother.Or to kill eachother.Our beautiful Earth that we both live on contains more than enough for all of us to enjoy the bountiful fruit of our labors.The other part of it is such insanity,for me to bomb your plentiful banana grove when the rains have not fallen on my tomato patch with an early freeze..and thus if you would loan my family some bananas will will repay you with our wonderful tomatoes,and with good weather blessing you have never tasted such a delicious tomato!We would be so grateful if you could help us out right now.Thank you!Nobody in the world grows finer bananas! than you!They are soooooo tasty.

I am elated,I struck a deal with Abbey Road South that I shall confirm on friday of this week.The deal is to include my producer,Kenny Veenstra and therefore I am not going to slide with a cheap studio rate.And I tried to swing that yet intsead got a very fair deal."Show me what you have got at full rate and then we shall see."At Morrisound I did not slide with a cheap rate,yet saved a ton of money because I was prepared for what I was going to do in there.They did work with me frequently on pricing,they wanted me to make it and they knew my respect of them as well.It all broke down really to a group of dear friends having fun with the bill paid.I would be moved into studio A doing a thing that I had to have done and a major label artist such as the Trans Siberian Orchestra (Wow!) would be in the middle of a project and I would be told "you can play the piano but you can't touch anything."Morrisound is a full facility maxed out production house.Major label spiff all the way plus laid back and relaxed attitude.On a par with anything you have got...anywhere.you can feel it as you walk in the door,you are in the presence of greatness.The place reeks of it!So now to Abbey Road South down in old Soho.Again a full production facility just a touch scaled down.Technically equal to Switzerland.Total Gypsy atmosphere.I do not know right now if I can do what I have got to do.Yet I am going to try just one more time.

At the SOG Motorcycle Club.Way down in Port Tampa!Close to home.Come early to get a table so you wont be left standing outside the door,yes it is going to be a riot!No need to cook dinner,the club has a full kitchen.

To Raise my baby son,that was more important than to be a rock star.you could make me an offer for the biggest record contract with the biggest major label plus to be a big movie star to boot and all that I would have to do is release was my baby son.Ummm..thanks but no thanks.No way can I go on the road right now and I was facing down a very tempting offer to do just that.There is nothing as quiet and settling in this world as to sing your baby to sleep and they drift off after a busy day so safe and secure.They had a nice dinner with you and a bath in the sink and you powdered and polished them.Yes I still had the dream and was making music,the best I had ever done yet for the first time in my life it had to take second place to something more important that I wanted to do.That baby had to be loved and protected.I had to be home at night.The band,and the great rift that i have with them was very jealous of this.They wanted me to put him in foster care so I could totally devote myself to being their fucking butler.We had been through the "wild boy" stuff like you will never be.Not the thug shit that you young boys do,amazing adventures.And I was a pretty pup too.Yet I lived to play that guitar and as a young beau I was the perfect combination of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.I am still that boy only much moreso.And that baby has become a young man now.We have conversations that are like sparks from an anvil being hit by a sledgehammer.You can keep your drugs and all of that shit.I think that chuck berry licks on the guitar are the best.It is not in my best interest to try to perform for the Kiddies.I am attempting to reach a mature audience with something new.To make them enjoy the beauty of being young once again.Every year we get asked back to a senior citizens home ( with the T-blue Band) and everybody is at tables relaxing and rolling up joints that rival Humbold County.Folks that have been very successful in life and want to let their hair down and dig some live music.Everything is 5 star with t-shirts and flip-flops.We are getting 500 bucks four 4 hours and we could have asked 5 grand,one more zero on the check but five yards is good.I could not wait to get to work.I was an hour early.It was steamy hot florida and I was happy loading the equipment.That is all a part of the show,in my life I never got big enough to have a road crew.I was the road crew.I am good at it too.I do that part for free.So I don't waste any time,I use a handtruck.I get paid to sing and play.No big deal really,very few times have I had a problem with that.Did I deliver the mind fuck that I was sending to you? Will you remember it the rest of your life?Did I help to heal you on friday night at the nightclub?

After losing every battle I won the war.You didn't know it,you didn't think it could be done.And best of all...I did it My Way.I do not have to kow-tow to anything nor anyone.The dues are fully paid.The world was unsuccessful in it's efforts to strip me of my indentity.They wanted to make me be as unto shit.The big boys,the high powered ones swatted me like a fly but they missed me.I don't follow trends,styles, nor fashions I just rock like I have done since I was a baby.

For all of it's great features,fabulous tone,pickups and electronics plus cool looks-all five stars,the guitar is a tuning and intonation nightmare.It sounds and feels and looks fantastic but it goes out of tune all of the time.Those who have used them don't for too long.I learned how to sucessfully operate it,and got rid of it.My les paul is comfortable to play.Has just as great of a tone and it stays in tune.Probably the ones with the trapeze tailpiece fare better.The "accent tailpiece" is a complete piece of shit as is the gibson vibrolux.You look at pro's that heave axes with the vibrolux and the arm is folded in and never used.

The diamond A pickup coils were rewired with silver wire.I tested it today and put it on a vom.Success!A very mean guitar seeking revenge!By it's output stats it is the loudest electric guitar in the world.The frets were microscopically shaved wso you can go just as fast as your brain can think.Or as slow as you feel with all of the sustain in the world.The four position tone pot was tightened to not come loose.The intonation was adjusted to accomodate 0.12's to 0.56's (hi/lo).And she is such a "Plain Jane."Basic black and silver.Sterling silver with 8 handpainted coats of black laquer.Will blow away any Les on the block.Any strat,tele,or ric.My Les Paul Custom is so jealous.And she is the prettiest guitar in the world.She is made of gold and can't be sold.Pop is holding her for me,so she will be safe.Oh yes and I bought a new amp today,a 100 watt Marshall valvestate.I really don't need that much power but just in case I have got it.

No I am alive and inspired.The old game,that is over and done.You got over a mountain only to see three more...that is the challenge of life.As an artist once something is created you are done with it and move on to the next.a painter does not do the same painting over and over,an actor does not do the same movie.Well yes I might sing the same song live but it is living a brand new life.I just can't do the same old thing over and over again.My publisher was so cool about what he was looking for out of me.He was evasive about it using that stripped thing because I had to see it without him telling me,down to an acoustic guitar and a voice and he said now...lose the guitar.Which left just the voice.Okay so to really do it I have got to go to a studio so it can be produced.I have tried so hard at this site to get across the fact that I work with brilliant people.I have not the time nor energy to fuck with losers.Stuff that just drags you down to their level of bullshit.The world as they comprehend it to be.I have got to have a high energy uptempo professional atmosphere to work.Drug free,you don't need that shit if you are a pro.After the work is done yes,I am listening to it with a glass of very fine red wine.Yet during the creation process I want my shit to be as wound as tight as it can get.That is my buzz you see.Later I will get a little high to enjoy it.But if I were high doing it the thing would not be as sharp as it has to be.Plus I am the producer and there is a whole myriad of technical issues I have to be concerned with.How are the eq's laid out?What is where on the track ID sheet,how the fuck does a VSO work?It is really cool and I am having a ball!When I listen I go right back to that space.check it out-NO clams and now on to the next project.

OUR GIGS AT THE HOGPOUND IN ZEPHYRHILLS,FLA.THIS WAS A REALLY LOOSE GIG AND OUR SO VERY DEAR FRIENDS IN THE AUDIENCE WANTED TO SEE US PLAY STONED.THE HARVEST HAD JUST COME IN AND Z-TOWN IS IN EVERY WAY EQUAL TO HUMBOLD COUNTY.IT WAS SO COOL WE WOULD DO THE SET AND TAKE THE AUDIENCE OUT BACK WITH US FOR A BREAK INTO THE BEAUTIFUL WOODS.MY FRIEND PAM WOULD SIT DOWN WITH THE MOST DELICIOUS FEMALE ASS YOU HAVE EVER LAID EYES UPON ON MY KNEE AND ASK ME TO HELP HER ROLL A JOINT.SHE WOULD LAUGH AND SAY "WHY IS YOUR LEG SHAKING FRENCY?"THIS WAS NOT OUR ELEMENT AND WE TRIED TO DO EVERYTHING AS WE NORMALLY DID BUT WE WERE SO RIPPED.I THINK WE DID A 3 1/2 HOUR SET.

What say U? THAT WAS A MEETING THAT OCCURRED DECADES AGO.AT A MONDAY NIGHT BLUES JAM SESSION AT THE HISTORIC "green iguana" ON WESTSHORE BLVD.MR. BLUE WALKED UP TO ME AND ASKED ME IF I COULD "SLAP THE BOZZ... "IF I HAD A GOOD BASSMAN I HAVE GOT A LOT OF WORK GOING!" AND TRUE HE DID I SAY 20 YEARS LATER.STEADY WORK FOR A MUSICIAN,NOT BIG STAR STUFF...DOWN IN THE BASEMENT BLUES...WE TURNED THE LIGHTS AWAY FROM US INSTEAD OF ON US.ALWAYS WORKING AND OPEN 24 HOURS.WHEN MY LOFTY PROJECTS FAILED MY SPACE IN THE BAND WAS ALWAYS SECURE.WE SEEKED NOT FORTUNE NOR FAME,WE WERE JUST A DANCE BAND.A PARTY BAND.REMEMBER NOW I WAS A SINGLE PARENT,I WAS DOING THE GIG THINKING ABOUT BEING ABLE TO BUY SCHOOLCLOTHES FOR MY BABY SON.IN TWENTY OR SO YEARS WE ONLY PARTIED ONE TIME,A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR MR.BLUE.IT WAS ALL BUSINESS.AND TO SEE US YOU WOULD ASSUME WE WERE ALL FUCKED UP ON COKE.FAR FROM THAT,IN FACT THAT MADE US OUTSIDERS,BECAUSE WE WERE GOING TO POCKET OUR PAY AND BUY NO DRUGS.FOR AS CRAZY AS WE ARE WE WERE ALWAYS STRAIGHT.GETTING THE JOB DONE WAS WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT.THE HIGH WAS TO HAVE THE JOB GO AND PLAY AND MAKE MONEY TO PAY OUR BILLS.AND OF COURSE HAVE A GOOD TIME,I WOULD SAY THE PEOPLE THAT WE PERFORMED FOR AND THEIR REACTION WAS OUR HIGH.AND I ALWAYS FELT HIGH WHEN DOING A SHOW.IT JUST WAS ALWAYS THAT WAY,I DO NOT KNOW WHY.

It is more for my book really but I will let you in on some of it.No, on second thought I wont.I am a pro singer you see.A product both of training and expierence.The training..how to sight sing,how to do a proper warm up,and a cool down as well...this is how singers get nodules on their vocal chords.(SHUT UP)How to push from your diaphram muscle and get tone from your throat.How to mentally connect with your voice and your soul to paint a picture for the listener.How to blow away a very critical producer.Pro singing you see is preparation and study.That is why you do not sound like a pro.You do not know how to do it.you don't have the gift.Don't worry,I wont tell on you.So much of it for me was a product of anger.Someone close to me telling me that I could not sing.Nothing in my life ever pissed me off as bad as that!Nor did more to direct me to who I really am and get me to focus upon it "nobody is ever going to say that to me again!"

She really tore it up.She was 17 when she did that.We were doing an impromptu show at a resturant that we bribed to stay open to cook for us.We set up unplugged and sang for our supper and had a fun little party.Again I think she was just fantastic on this.

Taking a new twist.The final three sessions due my contract,then I walk away.After spending my whole life doing this I realize that artistically I have done what I set out to do.And the world so strongly rejected it.You have to do what you have to do.And so I did.I played the blues.I am a perpetual teenager believing in a dream.Keeping it going any way that I could.That is my story.Am I bitter and jaded?No,I really dig what I was able to do.I put everything I had into it.Professionally I stand on a very high level.

A haven for hackers,just come here and be a part of it,this is where the action is.Join together with the band!Dig this even...

Yes,I was summoned to discuss my recording agenda.The objective being approached was a stripdown to acoustic guitar and voice and that has been further dissected to voice only,acapella.No groove to hide and slide behind.And not voices,solo voice.I was floored,the ultimate challenge!All on my own,not a friend to help me.Jagged and naked to the world!A vocal mic and me. "We are going to release the spanish version of Donna as it stands.We can go back to that if we have to.There is a place that you now stand,it is not where you used to be, you must rise up to it now.You have got to ice the cake that we have baked.You must sing solo voice and knock them dead.Are you up for the hunt?" "Will I be instructing a class?" (My response) "No a private session." (AIP) "I am going to have a ball!I probably wont sell any records.(My response) "You haven't sold any anyway." (AIP) "So the pressure is off then,I don't need a radio hit single?" (My response) "No,Just rock it." (AIP) "So I am a singer and not a song?" (My response) "Exactly!Just you." (AIP) "Let's do it,I want Kenny Veenstra and Omar to record it.They have a wall I want to film." (My response) "U got mojo?" (AIP) "Packing!I will never record for anyone else!" (My response) "I will call Kenny,Like he ain't gonna do it,but he wont give us a discount unless he has fun doing it," (AIP) "Oh Man..Abbey Road!" (My response) "Your On,make it count!" (AIP)

It has to be one of the most amazing three thousand dollar budjet fims ever made.All of us lived that film for 6 months.Location after location shoot after shoot.Even myself being going to the crossroads in mississippi at midnight on a full moon where Robert johnson sold his soul.I had the fun role in film,the villian,and I was well studied on my part.it was very professional for the shoots.We were very well directed by Bill Rodgers.Dewy had come up with the song yet Bill and I went to town on the storyboard.I was done for the purpose of promoting the song yet also a great pilot for a screenplay.MTV banned it,they would not play it which was typical of them, and we were hitting 9 minutes refusing to edit it.The song we did edit for radio.And it also was as with the Teen America show that they would just steal the best ideas from it and create their own thing out of it.Cutting us out of the deal.So I think it was four years before it was ever even seen by anyone and it was still very avant guard,people want to digest everything so fast.They can't sit still and get into something for ten minutes.ADD and all of that rot.Yet it shall stand..as I said everyone involved with it was living it whilst it was being done.Bill did such a fantastic job as the producer,he did the casting for the actors and actresses who were all top flight.So at the same time it was a melding of the florida film community with a most unusual rock band."Frenchy with The Cottonpickers." This is an everyday thing in LA or NYC but in Florida not so much.We had a lot of fun doing it and getting into it,all of the characters are so cool.It would not have worked like that without Bill Rogers.I don't think it would have worked.None of us in the band had ever acted before.And I am here to tell you it is hard and repeticious work.Bill was very demanding yet at the same time when we were set up he would just let it flow at times,and we were not even doing any dialog.Bil's expertise is head shots and that is what we had to say it with,the looks on our faces."The Cottonpickers" were formed for the camera,for this video.They were all about the camera.They became a local phenomenon.Rising up out of nothing and returning to it after shining their light to the world.During that period Rene,Chip,and Marvin had re-conneted and the desire of American Impact was to meld it all together into one huge band.There is film to illustarte that further yet the intensity of Rene,Chip,and Marvin alienated the much more gentle and easygoing "Cottonpickers." It is hard to understand that we work very hard yet have an understanding of eachother that allows shouting,insults ahh whatever to get to the heart of the composition,without anyone getting hurt over it.Actually we are having fun and it is kind of a joke,to observe it as an outsider you would think we were going to kill eachother and it is only that were that close,we were three niggers that use to escape lynchmobs in the middle of Georgia after a show.No semi-pro band had a story to tell like us.No other band did.We were running for our lives!We were good at it too...we are still alive.I cannot believe some of the shit that I had to talk to get us out of a very bad situation."oh God Just let me slip on in the bus and get the key in the ignition and that old '58 bluebird refit school bus would be squealng dulie tires.That chevy 283 small block motor with a cross ram duece helped a lot too... that big old girl was real quick off of the line my son!Dual fuel tanks full of good gas so we would not have to stop until we got over the state line."If we can make the interstate we are cool."That bus would not last ten minutes on the road today and now without getting profiled and pulled over.It had bullet holes all over it and a music city tag that was three years out of date.It looked like a premonition of hell.But she rolled down the road just like a little buggy.

i AUDITIONED THEM AND THEN HIRED THEM.fIRST CHIP WHO TURNED ME ON TO MARVIN.i HAD ALREADY HIRED ANOTHER GUY AND AFTER I HEARD MARVIN I TOLD THE GUY HE WAS OUT.i WAS SORRY ABOUT IT YES YET MARVIN TOTALLY SHOWED OUT.HE IS THE MOST POWERFUL DRUMMER I HAVE EVER WORKED WITH.AND YET THE MOST CONTROLLED.YOU SET A CHART IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE WILL PLAY IT BACK TO YOU ON THE SPOT.OH MAN ALWAYS SO LOUD TOO,HUGE STICKS,THAT IS THE WAY THAT HE PLAYS,MADE FOR A STADIUM.AND HE SINGS...BOY DOES HE!THEN YOU HAVE GOT CHIP ON BASS.CHIP IS JUST POISON TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM WITH HIM IS ENOUGH TO POISON YOU.WE BECAME MORE OF A FAMILY THEN A ROCK BAND.EVERY STEP OF THE WAY WE WERE DISSED.FROM SMALL POTATOES TO THE BIG LEAGUES.WE ARE THAT AVANT GUARD NIGGER ROCK BAND.THE JOURNEY WAS HARD AND PAINFUL.BLACK ARTISTS DID NOT ROCK LIKE THIS.AS TIME PASSED WE BECAME CLOSER AND MORE COLLABORATIVE.OH AND WE WOULD VIOLENTLY ARGUE ABOUT IT,THREE STRONG NIGGERS TRYING TO MAKE THEIR POINT TO EACHOTHER.WE WOULD RECORD IT TO SEE WHO WAS RIGHT,IT MIGHT BE MARVIN GIVING ME A GUITAR PART TO PLAY,,,TRY IT LIKE THIS...WE NEVER TOOK IT PERSONALLY,WELL I DID WHEN THEY DESERTED ME TO GO ONSTAGE ALL ALONE.BUT THEY DID HAVE GOOD REASON TO BE LIKE THAT,WE WERE TIRED AND WORN DOWN.AND THIS HAD BEEN A 12 YEAR TRIP,NOT A CASH IN AND GET RICH SCHEME.WE READ EACHOTHER LIKE A BOOK.ACCEPTED AND RESPECTED OUR DIFFERENCES AND LEARNED FROM EACHOTHER.WE WANTED TO FUCK UP PUFF DADDY AS MUCH AS MAROON FIVE.OR THE BEATLES EVEN,OUR PUBLISHER WOULD NOT ALLOW US TO COVER "HEY JUDE."HE KNEW WHY TOO..WE WANTED TO FUCK UP THE BEATLES.WE WENT TO NYC TO RECORD "I'VE BEEN CALLING" WITH THE FINEST PRODUCTION TEAM WE COULD FIND.AND GOT DELIVERED A MINDFUCK BECAUSE I HAD RELEASED CREATIVE CONTROL TO THE PRODUCERS.FOR A REASON.SO WE COULD LEARN HOW THE BIG BOYS REALLY SO IT.tHEY WERE SO ANGRY WITH ME ,ESPECIALLY CHIP,WHO KNEW I COULD STEP IN AND DIRECT IT YET I DID NOT.FOR THIS TUNE WE WERE IN A CLASSROOM TO LEARN.BEING INSTRUCTED BY THE BEST.THE TOP LEVEL.AND WE HAD SO MUCH FUN I NYC,THE CITY WAS PARALYZED BY A SNOWSTORM AND WE WERE EXPECTED TO BE HEAVY DRUGGIES COMING UP TO PARTY BUT WE ARE NOT ABOUT THAT SHIT.ESPECIALLY ON THE ROAD,WE WERE INTO COOKING AND EATING GOOD HOT FOOD.MARVIN IS A CERTIFIED 5 STAR CHEF AND CHIP IS NOT FAR BEHIND HIM.iT WAS COLD AS HELL AND WE WERE FROM FLORIDA,MOST OF OUR FOOD HAD BEEN PACKED WHEN WE LEFT.fISH AND GRITS.SO AT THE HOTEL,AT THE PRODUCERS APARTMENT, AND AT THE STUDIO WE ALWAYS HAD DELICIOUS FOOD COOKING.SO WE WERE FEELING GOOD AND HAPPY.HOW MARVIN LOVED TO FEED THE BAND,HE WOULD NOT EVEN LET YOU DISH IT UP HE WOULD DISH IT FOR YOU,A BIG FAT GROUPER WE CAUGHT IN FLORIDA ON TOP OF BUTTERED GRITS HANGING WAY OVER THE PLATE.WE HAD THE FISH PACKED IN ICE.PLUS HOMEMADE HOT BISQUITS WITH FRESH BUTTER.YOU KNOW THE ROCK WORLD REVOLVES AROUND COCAINE.WE HAD BEEN THROUGH THAT AND REJECTED IT,A NICE DINNER IN YOUR BELLY MAKES YOU FEEL CALM AND GOOD.YOU JUST THEN CAN CREATE.NOT THAT WE WERE PIGS MIND YOU,WE JUST ATE OUR FILL AND HAD PLENTY TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE ELSE.WE WERE STAYING AT THE RIVERSIDE HOTEL AND THE GUESTS ON THE FLOOR COULD NOT RESIST THE HEAT OF THE OVEN AND THE FOOD THAT WAS COOKING.AND IT WAS NOTHING FOR MARVIN TO CUT YOU A PLATE TO EAT.OH YUM YUM!WE DID NOT SPEND OUR MONEY ON COKE,SO WE HAD PLENTY TO SPEND ON FOOD.MOST OF WHICH WE BROUGHT WITH US.SEAFOOD TO DIE FOR.yET THE BAND DID NOT GET IT THAT WE WERE BEING CONTROLLED,SO THAT WE WOULD LEARN HOW TO CONTROL IT.THEY WERE VERY ANGRY WITH ME THAT I DID NOT STEP IN AND RUN THE SHOW AS I ALWAYS DID.REASON BEING TO LEARN AND DISCOVER,I HAD A TOP PRODUCER WORKING FOR US DOING THE WHOLE TUNE FOR WHAT WAS HIS NORMAL HOURLY RATE.tHE NEXT TIME AROUND WE WOULD LEARN AND CALL ALL OF THE SHOTS,IT DID NOT MAKE IT THAT FAR,MY BOYS CAVED UNDER THE PRESSURE.THEY ARE STILL TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT.YET NOW IT IS TOO LATE.THOUGH WE REALLY DID TRY TO MAKE IT.

I came to an awareness that I am only serving to cause more chaos.And it is chaos in the world that the enemy wants.All of these conspiracy unveiled things and such are there placed by the enemy to make people get chaotic.And when you are chaotic you are powerless,you can't communicate and so on.This site is about doing something that I love to do,something that makes me happy.Something I am able to give you that in turn makes you happy.And gives you a boost.The rush that I got from creating it.Then we connect you see.And in turn you give me something back in responding to me.That you received the message which makes you a part of it.That is the ultimate conncetion onstage because you may not know that the audience is just as much the show as the performers.You purchased the ticket or paid the cover charge or tossed a buck or two into the tip jar.That is not to me a payment to be a customer or a client,you have enlisted to be a part of that show.The part that the show is being performed for.The person I look out to and make eye contact with and sing to and you just fall out and start to sing along with me.That is was makes a consummate show.Everyone leaves with a sense of unity that we never forget.Everybody has their guard dropped.We got into trouble a couple of times because we allowed and invited the audience onstage,yet it was not a riot rush it was very calm and we asked people to not step on things,people just grooving and dancing or standing there watching everybody.Amps are not getting knocked over and such it is orderly because we are all one body,I would look over to see Chip and the only thing I could see was the headstock of his bass prancing around.Marvin was long gone,I could not even see him and Allen would be sitting at the keyboards with two girls on the bench,one behind him and his wife Norma Jean standing and smiling with her hand on his organ-The Hammond of course.Nobody got hurt no equipment was destroyed.We would have a nice breakfast together and just be tripping out!Not about how great we were,about how cool the audience was.Of course we were inspired to play our best and we surely did although we could just barely hear eachother as the audience was very loud.We were well rehearsed and knew the score having played it so many times.The only exception I can remeber was in Tuscaloosa,Alabama-"Roll Tide!" where one guy asked to work my wah-wah pedal as I did a solo.Trying to get up to the vocal mic with two lovely female rear ends muting out my guitar and getting a bit carried away myself I am holding one of the girls and stroking her hair and inhaling her scent of perfume mixed with girlsweat,this one lady held me so tight and said "I want to put my stank on you and buried her head into my shoulder so hard and tight and the t-shirt never lost it and it just reaked of her stank.It didn't matter that my vocal started a bit late.Can you dig what I am saying?This is non-fiction I am giving you.Also you should know that most of that old footage of girls rushing the stage was just that,it was staged,those girls were what we call in the biz "schills" they were both paid and permitted to do what they did.And that was cool too...it made for a great show.But the other thing,um that is just people creating their own prison and tomb,the dogs are going to slip their leash one day and turn on them.And they are our brothers and sisters too.We cannot just write them off to their fate because they are a part of us.Spiritually we are instructed to love our enemies and pray for them,even do GOOD for them which will make them ashamed of themselves.If you desire to rise spiritually that is how you must think.Or also you have the right to eternally play the same old game over and over and over again.So I would say that I have explained myself lucidly to your question.And I can just proceed on here with what I am doing.You make up your own mind about it.Feel free to contact me,do a review,sign the guestbook,remix a tune,Maybe you are in trouble and need help or you know someone,a runaway in a bad situation,somebody who is lost and needs to be found.It may be more than we can do yet we can,I am sure hook you up with someone who can help.The door is open. Peace on Earth/Ren

This tune was composed for television as the theme song to a show Called "TEEN AMERICA" which was to promote the value of studying hard to get a good education.Major to learn how to read and comprehend.I have included the finished master as well as the acoustic demo that we built the tune from.All of these songs came from an acoustic demo.Isn't it surprising how close the demo is to the finished master?On the master I must give credit to the fantastic Bill Bland on Drums and percussion.Just a fabulous performance.Of his many on this site featured as a multi-instrumentalst,and to the highly underated Jackie Green On Bass Guitar.Both of them came to be known as "Cream and Sugar" at the studio.Pinnacle session men for my publisher.They were my escape from "THE TOURING BAND." And they were every bit as precise as the road group.We had such fun doing this too..you can tell from hearing it and watching the films.For me it was so cool because I had a whole different hoise coming out behind me from Chip And Marvin,My beloved road brothers.We went through so much together that we would have to get away from eachother for awhile.The media so hated us because we were a black rock and roll band.I mean doing Chuck Berry songs and we would not change for the media.Onstage we of course would funk really hard,the riots from the rock songs came from us funking out.I loved it too,I would play my funk rhythms real clean and then fuzz out with a blues/rock lead!Black music in America is so far advanced,we lay down what is the cutting edge.Yet it advances dissing it's roots.It steps to the other side of rock and roll,this is a thing forced by the mass media.The group "Cameo" wanted to some rock songs and were not permitted to proceed after their tremendous hit "Word UP."Two performers I can name,Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix,it is so sad because dope took them out of play.They got lost on drugs and lost touch with who they were.Jimi is the essential primer of rock guitar and you really listen and see what he is playing even in his most pcyhedellic moments is Muddy waters.Same for Prince.And Prince can play and sing anything.I have an ongoing deal with David Ruffin Jr. that whichever one of us scores a deal we will do a collaboration which will be a billion seller."Ruff" is so cool and he wants to rock too!I can see that I will be singing back-up for him.I just want to get my guitar with his voice.Oh man..he is just like his pop but he is all straight business.I would be in NY or LA sitting in the guitar chair blowing my own mind that I am recording with "RUFF" I would gladly sleep in my car to do that!You see..I get the job Done and done well.Tell you what you just buy "Teen America For 99 cents and I will give you all of the rest of it with a money back guarantee.If you do not like what you have been listening to for all of these years for free,my publisher will refund your 99 cents.

I have got to let my artists fly,to do it their way.I adapt to that.I produce them in the spotlight.

And I am white dude!!Dig yourself baby!My stuff was posted on Motown Detroit.com.The mass media did not know what to do with me or maybe they did.Mick Jagger would kill to hold that shit!Kid Rock...Eminem....Vanilla Ice?But they ain't it my friend.They are posers,they are not aware of black history as I am.My guitar is funky with a solid rock lead.The hip hop cats who do not have guitar on their tracks should contact me to poison their tracks with my funk.And my friends I am a piece of poison.You just have to be in the same room with me and I will poison you.I will hit some of my funk and fuck you all up!what was given to me as a diss...I consider to be an honor,and I am a bad ass black man too.

No thank you,It was written to be helpful to some young lads starting out.guys who have been out know this and everyone has a differen't way of doing the same thing and I have been toting the note for many years and this has to be done.A study of how to transport the equipment is not real glamourus copy yet it is useful.I am an authority on this because I am an emerging artist myself.Everyone coming up through the ranks here has got at least two jobs on a gallivant. I would consider that I had made out pretty well in the music business when I have a housekeeper and somebody else carries my guitar. Ta Ta/_RL_

The one thing that people do not realize when you are putting forth a show is the behind the scenes stuff that makes the show,setting up,managing,and then tearing down the stage for load out.And that is okay,they are paying to see a show and could give a shit about the mundane chores.This is in dealing with a basic rock band that has to carry their own equipment. 1st essential-Invest into a "Magliner" aluminum hand truck with tubed tires.This remarkable machine will do the work of seven men with ease.Do not cheap out on this,get a lightweight mag to save gas money.It can be bunged to the luggage rack even! Load out:First pack up all of the instruments,get the guitars off the stage and into their cases so they do not get knocked over.After the show the stage is going to be confusing and messy.Now disconncet and carefully wrap up the cords and put them into the cordbox,very neatly....remember this is not your last show and when you have to set up it will be smooth if your cords are not all tangeled up.This is the big trick right here,load the biggest stuff into the van FIRST!Stop being so fucking lazy as to pick up all of the little shit which is just going to get in the way and have to be removed anyway and toss it into the van..After you load the mains and moniters all off the small stuff just eases right in on the sides or on top.And if you have a "mag" the big stuff moves real easy.It is very frustrating when you come out with the big loads and all of this easy little crap is in the way.Friends from the audience tend to do this and it is best to tell them "just set it out by the van,we will do the rest."If you do a hasty and crappy tear down you will so pay for it at set up for the next show.What a drag it is to untangle cords!Do you know what I am saying bro?

For Chip it was much harder to accept constant rejection,which is what showbiz is.And we were the two front guys,we did up the audience whilst Marvin tore up the drums.He was the most sensitive of all of us.I remember in Jessup,Ga. seeing a guy spit on him and then throw his drink on him and I swung around like a stage move and kicked that fucking guy right in the face.It was hard for Chip,he was tough yes but not like Marvin and I were,we would jump right into your face.Chip would be very reserved and hard to understand.He let us down at very crucial points.We were an unknown nobody frm nowhere challenging the mighty maroon five for chart positions in US secondary markets.And then he faded as he always did because he was mama's boy,mama paid the rent for him.Very different with Marvin who is super pushy and aggessive.Perhaps this guy will do something fantastic in the future,I doubt that very strongly because he is just a dabbler,he does not stand for anything at all except comfort for his motherfucking ass and whoever he has to use to get that.He wants it to come to him easy..after all that we went through he wants it handed to him and we were just getting started again.Again it is all in the past and let it stay there.forever...I am out of it.All the way and forever..it is done!I shall find some new people to work with.

The words of my publisher proved prophetic once again.I gave him permission to release what ever he could dig up along with the new recordings which have not started yet,officially it is just rehearsals.For him to say "well when you just sit there noodling around,people would like to hear that,it is interesting and you are unguarded,really loose."I was under the impression that all of the outtakes were being deleted but instead they were being backed up.All that I wanted you to hear were the finished masters,the final production yet I again was wrong and was superceded by my publisher who told the studio to back up every note I recorded.(Behind my back I may add...)This is brilliance,a little sneaky yes but it lets you in on how it was created.How it was crafted.When it got to a state of being recorded at all it had been rehearsed,just not yet perfected,or perhaps just a moment between things.Some of it you are not privy to,my discussions in session with Tom Morris,my producer.Which was not a dialog it was him telling me as the artist what to do and how to do it.So that it would make the cut.Eternally.Oh he loved it,it was pure recording arts not digital cut and paste.I pressed the studio to it's limits.Analog approach to digital recording.When you hear the outtakes you will hear us laughing and having a good time.

Chip is an incredible jazz singer,yet too difficult many times with the band.In the harmony parts he would alway go for the easy tenor part though he was capable of much more and then he would,to suit his own purpose go off key at crucial parts blowing the harmony.Confusing the rest of us.This was true in the studio as well.Marvin and I,we sang together for so many hours our voices were always on lock,3 and 1/2 octaves and we would switch back and forth.Seamlessly.And Andre Mack,would just fall right in on pitch.A sad thing for me is that some of Andre's ideas were never developed with the band.He has moved on without looking back and remains one of my favorite guitarists.We used to get together without the band and just kill it.His slot was rhythm guitar yet he could do anything as well as I could.Both of us were very powerful yet we never crowded eachother.At this time my thing was to work more from the synth...doing multi instrumental parts and Andre would hold down the guitar chair.He would wait until I gave him the soviet to rip and would fall into doing rhythm for him.I have never worked with anyone in my life that created such a powerful stage presence just standing there wiggling his wrist.The girls would fall down at his feet.And he is a complete soft spoken gentleman of the highest order.I really don't mean to dis Chip,he is a fantastic and talented artist.Yet when we needed him the most he was not there.He hid under Mama's skirt.Across many years.That's showbiz as they say.I have had to move on too...well,to move up actually,to be whole,perfect,and complete.Without anything nor anyone dragging me down.To be free!You can so easily be fooled into believing that you really do need something to carry on with,and you shall sacrifice and suffer much to hold and protect it.To be locked into your maximum security cell.I burned up so much time and effort over this yet now I am finally free of it.I say "let the chips fall where they may."I am onto the next gig.

I do consider this song to be a miracle.It is Allen Thomas Miller (a.k.a The Reverand,ATM,Billy Shears),my long time comrade stepping up to the plate as the lead singer for The Rene Labre Group..Portrayed as "Billy Shears" singing a song that we wrote for his baby daughter Erica.The amazing thing to me as a producer was that he iced the lead vocal on the third take.Not to mention his brilliant drumming on the tune,the lead vocal is direct through...no overdubs,no composites.The glue right there on the floor.We were sittng in the control room astounded,it was as if an angel was singing into that mic!Honors here also going out to Walter Bevins on bass guitar,Susan Mejeras for adding the tympani drums,and my great stallworth of many years, Bill Bland, for his percussion work.And of course to my most beloved recording studio,Morrisound studios in Tampa bay.There is no place like home!

This was to be our follow up single to "I've Been Calling."We demoed it to our producers in NYC.(The Hill and HiFi)It was already to late.The Mass madia had determined that black artists were going to rap or do hip-hop,thay were not going to be able to rock.Just ask Larry Blackmon from "Cameo."Although I am a white gentleman I am configured as a black artist.Now that is TOO COOL!Consider me a black gentleman as well.A Deacon if you will.A drum machine could not touch Marvin's brilliance on this track.

Obviously another great Lie from the stinking pit.It does stink there you know.More towards a stank actually...a hanging and hovering stink as it were.A stink carrying weight,the finest perfume and cologne cannot cover it over.It's not that I am trying to tell you I am so great my friends because I have to sooner or later wash my ass just like you.It is that every living being is alive in it's own way.And there was investment placed in me from being of a higher spiritual plane.Some of the music may not reach you because it is not a part of the normal "programming" that you are acclimated too.A mastigation if you will.Of The mass media and the "system" that exists here in the third demension of the fives senses and it's duality.A system that is going to step aside by legal right to a higher gallactic civilization of a much more advanced order..There is going to be an acension you see or so you shall soon see.The current system with it's greed,corruption,and further unpleasantness it is delivering,it can't last.It would destroy the earth.It is akin to something run by a selfish spoiled brat of a child,greedy and grasping,having great temper tantrums to get what it wants.Caring nothing for others,without compassion,without any empathy.Never sastified with any of it's many treasures..Those beings in higher demnsions that are not revolted by or consider it to be of too lewd a base to even acknowlege it's existance find it to be laughable.Very petty.The law of the nature of life is for all living beings to exist together in harmony.It is the moment that is to be lived for,not the future and not the past.This is across all demensions of living being.The desire to do good and cooperate is to the benefit of all.If you are living by the other code and prospering concerned only towards you and yours, you already have your reward as you will be unable to ascend.Plus you are going to have to let it all go.It shall leave you as though on the wings of a bird.Then the only thing you shall be in possession of is your spiritual emptiness.

Chip would be directing the vocal sessions yet he would be the one purposely singing off key to screw it up so he would have reason to run his mouth.His was the voice always off key.Okay that is fine please let me out of this box.This is just to third demension.

Yes,I am a product of the light and not the darkness.I walked in the darkness for many years,protected by the light.The darkness is going to be overuled by the light and it shall step aside.Darkness is as an illusion...it is a void thing condemned to the third demension.It is so all powerful only on a very low level of spirituality.A spiritual cesspool in actuality.That fancy Caddilac Escalade is made out of recycled garbage.And to garbage it shall return.Grasping and materially greedy,manipulative,all self centered.Destructive to the core,a selfish child having a tantrum.It does not effect things on the higher spiritual planes,where everything works in harmony towards the good of all living beings.It denys you your power as a living being because it seeks to rob you,make you forget your higher existence and your rights to it for it's own gain.Greedy old wankers,liars, and wrigglers.And for all that they have they NEVER have their fill,they want more!I beseech you here my beloved to look to and focus upon the light.Transform yourselves to the light.do not focus upon them for they are always going to be here.This is only a journey,do not make it your destination.They already have their reward.Eternal duality.Open your heart as well as your eyes.Respond to and accept the light my beloved.

Oh...well so you say my sleepyhead.Let me tell you that the music here is not specific to planet earth.It is a recording of life on earth in specific time.It is being listened to on all of those spaceships you see.It holds both great interest and investment to them.I am just beginning to find out.Life for us here on earth is third demension duality,it is limited to this.Very low level sprituality,it is material and mortal.Yet it shines at times of brilliance.Yet it is the physical that rules it.When I was a young lad my most dear girlfriend and I would date to gaze at the sky.During the day and at night,we would travel to where it was most clear.And look up.This was before chem trails got serious,the day would be so blue and beautiful yet at night...out in the country where it was so clear you could watch all of the gallactic movements.Together we realized who we really were.And then we would have to return to life on earth.To the painful duality of it.Carrying the gift.Which is light in the darkness.Which is what this site is as it were.

I was working in harmony with the tremendous support of my fantastic musician friends.They were the wind beneath my wings.They rehearsed on their own time and came off in the studio as wonderfully as any TOP LA Pro.I did a ton yes,but it would not have cut through without them in their KEY positions as members of The Rene Labre Group.I had a lot of selfish reasons for doing it yet it all came down to be a labor of love and togetherness.Astounding recordings!What you hear is just what we were feeling!Pumped up and mastered as hot as we could get it to be.

It is tits to go into a great studio and work,work upon a thing that has already been demoed and fully rehearsed,and you just drop down the dream.Working with an outstanding engineer and a producer.I have had the joy in my life to work this from the very top level.Yet is is on the original demo in the recording arts that you just hear the talent being presented which is the main ingredient.The engineers when selected are delivered also the demos so they are familiar with the direction the song is attempting to take.This saves a lot of confusion.And time.This is for an indie mind you.For a major the time is blocked ( say two weeks) and everything is going to be created by the producer.For an indie to go in and the atmosphere is already set is very cool.Yet the small recording of the talent of and on the tune is equally compelling for the discerning listener.You really feel the guts of it.You hear the humanity of it.And it is good!!!You understand why someone would wish to persue it further.Or in my case maybe not,I may be happy with the demo and am prepared to persue it further yet then it is going to cost me money to do that.With no promise of a retrun.I have proven time and time again I am equiped to do that in the studio as a pro.I have done it my whole life.Now the allowed imprtation of Japenese Technology has come through for the small recording.Direct to disc digital.It just blew me away,yet this is relating to an acoustic performance,all of the glue on the floor..what is played and sung is directly recorded.You must approach this with your skills beyond reproach.

I am sitting down doing rehearsals and session with very dear people to me.The second guitar you are soon to hear,Rob Page did not do it thinking in selfish terms.He helped me because he liked me and is my friend.And I guess because I very badly wanted to record with him.And"POP" Trusted and inspired me through some very dark hours in my life.There was a time or to when I presented myself to him totally broken as a human being,and he would say "YOU know French,Jim Croce did a song called "operator" I think you should try.Oh and so I shall,now Rob will post haste go to the original arrangement score.And I get my copy of it too and start there...verbatim, then we work it and it loosens up.Based upon the arrangement though.

No,I am still on the journey in which the destination is the here and now.I held on to the coattails of my higher life,even in spritual demension it is still the here and now.The approach to the light.I don't hold anyone else responsible for my own inconsistancy in the third demension.There have been times when I was fueled by that senseless negative energy.Some times I was fortunate enough that it was not my mistake yet it still hit home because I goofed so many times myself.We are people in planet earth,in the low level third demension whose building blocks are rewards for good behavior and punishment for bad behavior.And you are punished immediately for bad behavior and the reward for being good is often witheld.I can't speak for you yet I am going to try really hard at something in September,to think before I act,when I feel that rush of anger coming on I am going to cool it.I am going to get along good with everybody I see and when they make a mistake I am going to overlook it,even to help them get back up.Saying nothing,no great advise,and I would bet you anything I have that when I goof,someone will let it go for me.You would be so suprised,somebody may have a real case against you becuase you goofed somehow,and in your heart you know you did.And when they confront you all you have to do is to mean and to say "I am sorry,"You would be surprised how well your advisery would understand that because you have diffused them of their carefully thought out argument.And you did goof,they have no obligation to let that go(they are right and YOU are wrong!) yet you are now operating from a higher spiritual plane.The time grows very short in wnich the demension of planet earth is going to change.It must,it can't go on like this and is not going to either.I am going to prepare myself for my new existance of happiness,joy and fulfillment.Wht don't you try it too?

Much bigger than The Beatles.

No Expectations really,I have a few things left to do and then I am gone.You would accept live lip-sync as entertainment,your seven year old daughter could do that.At 3 yardnotes for a front row seat!20 professional dancers to cover for the artists lack of depth?You are down with that fucking garbage art?That play and pretend live bullshit? An artist who can NOT deliver the same Live as on a record.So they fake it and you buy into it?As though it was even remotely real? Piss off man get the fuck off my page and never return.Well come back after you fucking grow up.

With my junky litte RCA.I am not going to be allowed to start cutting until I have it screwed down really tight.And I have a recording coach "Pop" Boyd.I did one cut of "Angel" and he said "okay...you want to release that shit or do you want to make it really stick forever."So it is one of those deals where I sing one line and he goes "stop,come and see how this guy did it."Most artists would get upset over a thing like this,what I am laying down is really good yet I want to be at my best,I want to soar with the eagles.You have got to rehearse kiddies,that's the way it goes.I am giving all of you that are near and dear to me here a sneak peak behind the scenes.I am recording and rehearsing in a trailer shop of all places.The "saturday night specials" are not going to change.You will immediatly recognize when the direct sessions begin.I just want to walk onstage with an acoustic guitar and a pair of blue jeans and knock your dick into the dirt.

The more blind you become to me.

I have got to bust out from those great guitars,loud as they can be..and here I am just cruising over top of it all.You could prob see it in the electric sessions yet even with the acoustic stuff those guitars are mixed to the max.Ready for me to do the lead vocal.Man,I just sail over top of all of it.I studied serious voice,for two years,sight reading and singing.I had a fantastic teacher,Lynette Cordoso and I never would have went there but for my sister telling me what a shitty singer I was."The music is great,your voice is dogshit!"And such was really true,I did not know what I had.The lessons are all hard and cold technic,to warm up properly and then to cool down as well.I fell down one time at a session where she said "Bring a little red wine to lubricate the cords.And as such I was buzzed off the rail.You do not want to be high in the studio,you want to be high all of the time.All of your faculties in top shape.Feeling good and not sickly.Staying inspired and not just tired.I am home in my neighborhood right now not on the road.I can't do the live shows right now because I am in session.I just go to the 7/11 for coffee and the horns are honking and it's HEY FRENCHY!!!!My hound dog is resting at my feet and my cat is prowling the yard for evil spirits and fruit rats,it is sweet stank-ass summer here on the gulfcoast.Flowers everywhere in full bloom.All of the pics people take on the net are to make where they live to look like the gulfcoast.My sister tells me "you don't live on the gulfcoast" and I am four blocks away from Tampa Bay,the backbay of The Gulf Of Mexico.Yet the road is calling and I shall be there.Winter is almost ready to break too,there are only two seasons here,and winter is surreal here.

My Les Paul Custom,with those three big fat humbucking pick-ups.Plugged into a Marshall Amp.The first session I did with this rig at Morrisound was the solo for "Stagelight Lover."I was doing the master Volume trip and my co- producer and engineer, Rob Valdez walked angrily into the studio,"you don't know anything about a marshall do you,I am looking for distortion to be coming from the output stage not the fucking pre-amp.The assistant engineer was ordered to solder together a fifty foot guitar cord.I plugged it in and Rob came out smiling,now let's try it like this...play some Rene and he turned it up,up,up.Adjusted the EQ from the face everywhere I would touch the guitar it would scream and howl.Sustain like a first chair violinist.No fuzz box.So he went back into the control room and buzzed my on the headphones and said "do you like that? now make it happen with your heart and your fingers!" There was as much to do with my fingers to play without it howling and feeding back and thus I learned how to touch it in the right places and mute the howl until I needed it.The EQ was done by Rob or Tom At the amp,it was zeroed at the SSL Console.BOOM!The new releases were done on my back porch,I wrote them off as demo's but they are masters.If your instrument is as full gain you touch it very lightly and dial in the dynamics and the tone from the control board of the guitar.Two volume and two tone knobs.Just the slightest touch opens whole new worlds.

The same session as "PIECE" recorded on my back porch,this time with the sun rising up over a new day.I am just having a blast and My Les Paul.OMG...It is so loud!My friend Xav is doing maracas from beyond the grave.I did not expect to see him so soon.And it was him not an evil spirit impersonating him.I,for some reason always have a cat with six toes to protect my from vampires and evil spirits of the night.And Xavier was always so cool,he just showed up.I asked him "why are you not resting...what is wrong? he wanted to do one last session with me and the fact that he is deceased is of little matter to me.He is a beloved friend and welcome to my home alive or dead.And he was not late.This is an obvious demo but it rocks!!!I had that marshall cranked,you would just touch the guitar and it would scream and howl.As you can hear,I touch her in all the right places.My new work is acoustically oriented,a least until I hit the road again.I just had to blast again.

I sat across the desk from him and he said "the coolest thing would be for you to be caught off guard,just being yourself.Not overly concerned with chart positions nor reviews or adulation,that is when you are genius prime,you stood the test for the rest of it but the odds were heavily stacked against your favor.Plus you had a baby to care for,your son.My question would be what have you learned from it all? We just have to catch you off the wall.Some little moment of you being you.You have become a totally natural star,the whole universe recognizes your state of being.Our goals and desires are to publish your state of being.Boom or bust we shall try every trick in the book.The most important thing I think I have to say to you Rene,is that you made it as a man,as a human being,not as a shallow pop star.We have always been concerned with your best interests.And these are difficult days ahead.You know it is just as hard for us as it is for you.Our desire today is to extend the terms of your contact for three more years.We are clearing a lot of our hurdles just as you are and you nowhere else will find the loyalty we extend to you.And our joy in working with you.When the tide was against us all we never wavered in our committment and when one day we ride the crest we shall never forget our pact. we shall kick all opposing ass handily." I re-signed for three of the best years of my life.The work that I love to do!The fact I may be recording on a streetcorner is of little concern to me.What song is it that you want to hear? "She's A Tease1!" Coming right up!

Because i am really doing it you see,"GUITAR HERO" I am sure is fun,and I am sure that in your fantasy you sound much better than me.. but still it is BULLSHIT!I would let you look at My GIBSON Les Paul Custom,but you are not even going to touch it,It is Holy,If you touched it you would die on the spot! This is all very real,it is not a game.Love is a game called "look before you leap!"

I did it this weekend on my back porch playing out to my Puppy,the back Bayou,and the stars.Oh man it was soooooo hot tooooo!The crickets even were to worn out to chirp!I have been pushed by my publisher into some very intense acoustic rehearsals.I could not even work live gigs to be going after song and song again.Finally I escaped and went home....yet there is no escape,I had my les Paul Custom sittng on the sofa out of the case and I felt like playing and singing but electric guitar you know,BLASTING!Forget all of those other guitars,it is my GIBSON Les Paul Custom that you will not be able to pry out of my cold dead fingers.I am taking it with me to the next journey.Plugged into a Marshall JCM.Your basic Triple Super Lead.Doing the tune that my heart was singing and this was the one that But My beloved Janis Joplin on the map.And so that is the atmosphere plus my neighbor and dear friend X-Man (Xavier Cruz) Joined my on maracas.That would be considered pretty normal except for the fact that Xav passed away last december from a heart attack."I wanted to cut one more track with you before I go."He no longer had a physical form that I could embrace yet I was so happy that he came by,I had done many shows with him with T-Blue plus well,I did not have a doubt about him leaving here and going to heaven,I just did not think I would witness to it.This is not ouiji board nor tarot cards,It just is the way that it is and you can hear him on the impromtu session.It is a really raw recording,I do not care if you hear me that way or should I say I am not in fear if it.I am a professional you see under whatever circumstance I do things the right way.I don't have a band here to back me up.Just Xav joining in from beyond this demension.Pretty trippy eh?I would say reat in peace Xav yet he is not resting,he is still living in spirit.Go figure as it were....

Yes it is.The is not the machine that is going to be used,that was a rehearsal.The technique shall be the same though,a performance with no tricks,As though in your livingroom.I was accused of doctoring my voice to death and that was never the case,I did the takes and the composites raw,no fx...dry,that is how it is done.Yet in the past I was doing composites as has been done almost since the advent of modern recording.That is the art of it.You are made to believe that the singer just walked into the studio and sang the song.A major label artist today may do over 200 composites,the studio is much different than the stage.I am not saying there is anything wrong with that either,yet a person that does not have a natural gift for singing,no matter what you do they are not going to sound good.They have a device know as auto-tune for very judicious use of a great composite that needs "just the slightest tweak." A cunt hair if you will.When you rely upon this device you end up performing to it.every time you tune it in it it going to effect the whole track,something else is going to be moved to accomodate your tweak.And you have to find it because it is going to show.So I would like to just sing and play and forego all of the crap.The use of effect on all of my recordings has been very judicious.Where you want to be concentrating during and after the performance is the equaliztion or EQ of it in relation to the whole project.First towards separation then towards ambience.If you have baked a delicious cake then you put the icing on it.I no longer have to concern myself with that,I would have to be paid henceforth to do that.I am very happy with all of the work I have done in that area.Now I am getting together with people that are my closest friends and just dropping the gift as it were,the raw skill.Direct to disc they call it,the ultimate test of your ass.Clear as a bell.This recording was not nor was it meant to be.It was a rehearsal.A great one to be sure.Very close to what it is going to be.

As the page opens you shall hear a section from the first rehearsal.Most groups would not let you hear something like this until after they sold three zillion copies and were over.It is the old $19.00 RCA cassette deck used to arrange from.Battery operated as the six volt adapter is in a road trunk somewhere,so the recording is as bush as possible.I had a certian miracle going that I was over when I started.Yet my persistance and tenacity were very underated although the dues being paid,well you have got to pay them.You can't have the pleasure of a sweet cushy life and step up to mess with the serious pro's of the biz.You do not have the depth nor the scope.And that is sane too,you are prepared to handle everything but rejection with ease.And that is what the top pro's are all about as that is what they expierenced.Bill Gates probably plays really good guitar through the finest rigs.Yet you are not going to pay front row ticket prices to see him do it.You are not going to pay fifty cents to see him do it because he does not have talent.He can play the guitar very well yet that is not talent.Talent is that somebody is willing to pay five bucks,and happily so, to SEE AND HEAR you do it.I am shooting to you a little taste,you can't have it because I do not own it and it is not licenced.Yes you can easily steal it but you are ripping of Wille Nelson,Who do you think you are? Mick Jagger?The music biz today my friends,and I love you and thank you, .For less than a dollar, all of my talented and very dear friends large and small,and your most humble narrator here, will so much appreciate that you care enough to help us get to the next step down our road.May GOD continue to bless all of you!/Ren boy

Sailing is good so far,we have only done one song,the approach is to lay things down in a laid back atmophere.To cover a large grip of styles,leaning largely on cover material because maybe to hear me sing someone else will condition you more towards what I do.Plus the depth of it.

Yes,peanuts and a coke please,when I get to St.Louis I can eat from the taco wagon with the crew.A Cobb salad topped with some big fat shrimp-61/64's cooked to perfection.With a glass of california merlot mud.Then I am about the business of generating a riot.Every show has got to be a riot.That is the only way to do it.And the riot is just a party,nobody is getting hurt yet Rob would go for a much more subdued atmosphere,and so let him get torn limb from limb.I have hit the exit door back to the quiet hotel and am ordering biscuits and gravy from room service.My favorite breakfast is fish and grits...oh....ummm,so tasty.Then a shower and time to rest up for the next riot.Always fresh hot Columbian coffee from Starbucks,my secretary set that up.Then I go out on the balcony and puff up a cohiba and look at the sky.Rob finally makes it back to the hotel and so we have a nightcap of Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey and reflect on our crazy success.I love it on the road and he does not,he wants to be back down in the port with his family.There is a little part of him that really digs this crazy shit.So he lays out to me the standards by which he will go on the road and perform.I am good with it.You know if you people do not dig it and will not support it,really..Fuck you and rot in hell!

He is on King Bee,Carol,Sundown,and Get Uncut Sir Mick.I am going to upload him solo doing "Classical Gas."But it is not what you may think,he cares none at all about fame and fortune,his priorities are his lovely wife and his family.He is very straight.Also he is quite a wit.He has not even agreed to do this much more than to "look into it."He will not fly commercial airlines,it has to be a private jet,and I have to fly commercial,damn,and I am the lead singer and all!So I am on jetblue eating a bag of dry peanuts while he is on the lear digging into a steak with all of the trimmings.And I had to conduct rehearsals with the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra (suprise...I..the village idiot,can read music too!)Not as well as he does,but enough to direct a philharmonic orchestra.Well okay,it gets a litle rough here and there yet I am making music for a living,I aspire to quit my night job and fuck the corporate world.What does that song mean to you?That song means I do not have to punch in to a time clock anymore.."may I have a coke to go with my peanuts please?"

Always an adventure,lots of great ideas,no money.They are as broke as I am.I still think they are the best so I am going to renew my contract with them.I spoke with my attorney Julie Milham and she advised me to resign,"this is the best thing you have going.I had to reject those other three deals.you would lose your rights and not be fairly compensated for that.You are invovled with people who are concerned with your best interest as well as their's.When we hit,and I know we are going to you do not want to have to be in court with issues from your past,the wooden bowl thing can easily be managed,you have to pay them by the terms of your verbal agreement with them and they have to pay you as well.Fair deal a fifty/fifty split.And you control the rights.Resign with AIP and let's see what happens.The direction of my publisher is not mass media,it is to build a worldwide fanbase of friends.The doors to the mass media are closed up tight right now,resign with AIP and let us see how it goes."The directive of AIP is to reach the people where they live.My personal directive is that I own the rights to it.If I am singing Chuck Berry I have to pay him a mech royalty,yet I have the registration on form SR for my version.

His name is Robert Page and here is the trip.previously I did all of the music but for the drums and weaved it together in the studio.All of the musical arrangement and currently Rob is now in charge of all of that but he has got to do it from one acoustic guitar,all of the parts.The entire orchestra.No overdubbing,prepare to shit yourself at the guitar you are going to hear.The arrangement of it,the total control of the instrument.The complete illustration of the treble and bass clef.you would need six guitars players and overdubbing composites to do what this guy is going to do direct to disc.He did a cd for an "ELVIS" imitator show and his guitar was totally mixed out with the piano,which was not really that impressive, taking command ruining the session.I just could not stand for this guy to not receive his due and all he wants to do is be happily married and raise his family.Maybe he will go on the road,I hope so,probably not,he is in love with his wife and wants to make that last.We laugh about it be he could give a shit what we think.She must be a very lovely woman.Yet you are going to hear him here do it fucking up.Blow away whatever you were programmed to think.

To the point of from all things I am bringing in a guitarist to do the bulk of the work from that chair.Yes I will still get some licks in,but the primary axe will be that of the most excellent Robert Page.The sessions are about some songs I want to sing (originals and covers)and some songs that a few of my close friends want to hear me sing.So the sessions will be quite diverse covering a lot of styles and doing things I never expected to do in a very laid back unpretentious atmosphere.As a singer I have always been very underrated,yet live that is what they want to hear.And to be fair it took me a lot of time to develope,um really get confident and knowlegable about it.There was alaways an abundance of good singers working with me and I wanted them to be heard so I would to the music and sing the supporting harmonies.There is a lot of value in being able to sing proper harmony.That is a skill unto itself and a lot of great lead singers can't do that very well.How to do the thirds,fifths, and sevenths and beyond....and as stated the recordings will be direct to disc,no overdubs and no composite tracks and no effects.Just a lot of wicked skill.Love and Peace out/Ren

So really true.I have been far underated as singer to where I must teach you to stress me no longer on this point.That is what is coming in the new sessions.No composites,a straight up shot of it.The band had had it's turn and now it is me.I am just into the joy of doing it.I care more about singing great songs well than having a "hit" song.Something the is going to move you.Make you actually FEEL SOMETHING.I wonder if you even can.Moreover I do not even care.My life does not depend upon it.I shall find my way and thank you.When you wake up I know it will already be to late.The thing is that that is not my problem you see.It is your problem you see?

Robert Johnson did it this way,and he influenced every great guitarist,He never got one red cent for it either.24/7/365 your hear someone copping his influence,somewhere in the world.The is a sweetness,an honesty and a purity with an acoustic guitar.I love the studio and it's tecnology yet to me the essence of recording art is to capture a heartfelt Human performance,the majority of commercial sessions,this is not the case.It is a series of digitally created composite recordings edited and assembled together by the producer.It is not anything human it is a computer.That is not to say it doesn't sound good simply to say it is not real,a group did not sit down and play that.They did little bits and pieces of it seperately.My personal illustration of this would be the only New York sessions I did with the band for "(oo)(oo) I've Been Calling."This session was completely styled to us recording as a major label act would,with a top-notch producer being hired who did not care one whim for any of our ideas nor input.We just delivered the goods the way he wanted to hear it.And that is what I was paying for too.I wanted to know if I could cut it that way.The band was totally blindsided by this and very upset about it.We had written and been performing this song onstage successfully for 6 months.Yet in New York we did not at anytime play anything together nor play the whole song at any time in succession.And we played and sang what we were told to play and sing.Not any of our input nor credence was accepted.We came back to Florida without any idea of what the song sounded like.We laid down NO drum tracks at all.The only stipulation was that our parts would not be cut and overdubbed by him although it was accepted that my good friend and radio promoter, Gary Lefkowith was going to do some sweet guitar on it too.In fact he wrote the guitar solo for the middle eight bridge but I was the one that played it.So when the song was finished and mastered at Sterling Sound it was stunning and beautiful,radio airplay as slick as they come...perfection in audio fidelity.Within' two weeks it went to number one in New music Weekly's top 40 up and coming charts edging out the fantastic Maroon Five's "This Love Is Breaking My Heart."For the number one spot.Of course we were stopped right there, we did not have the major label promotional muscle to go on any further.Nontheless for an indie from nowhere that is a pretty impressive showing.Now back to my point,that recording is not genuinely us,it is a computer model of us,albeit,an excellent one yet the drums are totally fake.We had to re-learn it to do it live,in fact we did both versions.But it is a breakdown of an illusion for us to listen to it.We did not create it we performed the elements to it yes but when they were recorded they were irrevalent to anything but the click track,it was the vision of the producer that became the creation.And I am accustomed to being in charge of every tiny detail of a session.To do a couple of albums like this would be kind of creatively gut wrenching.Because when you listened to it you would know it was not really you.Yet I could do it that way if someone was paying me to do it that way,it was a tremendous learning expierence.I came back to NYC apart from the band to observe the production of it.And this is a topnotch producer,He pulled our finest skills out of us and if you are going to NYC my friend,you had better be going with your best!The same is true of doing a direct to disc,your skills must be impeccable.and the recording is a much more honest thing.I mean so what really if somone can hear your watch rattle or your slide hitting the fingerboard.I am very much looking forward to the upcoming sessions.They are not being done to produce hit records,it is just for the pure joy of playing and singing music.perhaps out of it you may even be given cause to REALLY feel something for once in your life.And I am still alive and well you see so you are going to be forced to endure me yet a little bit longer before I fly away.Peace and love to all!/Ren

That is the word,stripped down to the bone,everything,no pretense of any kind allowed.RAW performances and recordings.T-shirts,jeans,and acoustic guitars.The dancers are fired.I got a little crabby about it yet had to laugh because that is the way we have always built everything.From a sweet acoustic guitar with the voices.

My first live show in six years as Rene Labre with "Ye Mystic Krewe."I am so tired of being pidgeonholed, and labeled and catogorized when I am light years beyond in my scope,I have to make it "normal" for you because you are a psychic weakling.You are so mentally conditioned BY THE AMERICAN MASS MEDIA PROPAGANDA MACHINE to except shit,earthly oriented garbage art.Just because that tacky foul mouthed crap has sold 12 million records.This tune is to give you something to stick up your stinky lip-synching karoke bum.You don't know nothing do you dad?So on this cut we throw off the western world with it's little verses and chorus's and bridges,(childish hooks,the guitar solo goes HERE!),we throw off our americanism and perform for you more in a way we would do overseas...Tunsia,Beruit,Stockhlom,Moscow.We had a great american audience on this tune.And we were just mindfucking them.Brilliant trumpet work by Hilton Jr. all the way on a par with Miles Davis or Harry James.Named for Mick Jagger but dedicated to Marvin Gaye. THE PERFORMERS-"YE MYSTIC KREWE HILTON JR.:TRUMPET RENELABRE/ROBERT PAGE;ACOUSTIC GUITARS STEVE ROBLES:BONGO DRUMS

I am very thankful about it! it is a real shake up!I was requested by the management at Mateo's to fill in for T-Blue,who is normally my employer.Yet I get a chance to get a little Uncut here.Many thanks to T as well as mateo's for requesting me and "Ye Mystic Krewe" who shall be performing with me as well as my long suffering publisher,American Impact, who never wavered in their belief in me,that is to say a lot because I got beat up real bad by the big thugs.my airplay was cut overnight.I do not dance to their tune you see,I do my own thing.And I am beautiful,no matter what you say,this world can't bring me down.So don't you bring me down today.

I am expecting the arrival of a miracle.That now is the only way that I want to make it.Otherwise really you can have it.Well you can't have it perhaps you can steal it or think you can but you can't,It belongs to me.By copyright law.You will first find a cease and desist order and then you will find a supoena in your name taking you to court to prove that you are a fucking slimeball and then you shall pay through the nose,if you use my material you owe me mechanical and performance royalties to the tune of everything you have.World wide and all across the universe.That is todays news.

That they are following my lead.I am the executive producer,surrounded by such a powerhouse of tslent.None of them expected to do leads yet I cut them loose.Michelle was 17 years old when she went on the road with us.An American idol rejectwith her mom showing us her sawed off shot gun, saying "anybody that makes love to my girl had better expect to get married to her!And we took her to school so she could leave that plastic and empty karoke world to sing with a live band.To all of us she was our baby sister.She knew too,she was expected to deliver a total mind fuck.The world was more cruel to her than to us,because she was just an innocent child.So I am going to put her up into your motherfucking face you heartless asshole.She is lost,she may no longer even be alive.Michelle Coe is her name,please if you can,help us find her.She may not want to be found.you listen to her whoop Mick Jagger's ass on his own tune "satisfaction" you really check out all of the details,how we escaped a lynch mob and ended up at a closed resturant in Spartansburg,NC to "sing for our breakfast."After we felt that we had outdriven the lynch mobfrom the last show.I have to wonder...do you really know anything?When was the last time you ever felt something deep inside?Have you ever felt anything? Oh I am sorry,you are busy rolling with the crowd...This is members only,a private party.

All of us just love to sing,and we want all of the singers to sing out.It is an amazing thing to have a stable of so many talented voices,each one of them a proven star and watch them all work together.Especially in the writng/demo stages of the tune,we are all just down at the beach digging the sunset and singing together.Or out on the back porch or where ever.All of the american impact artists READ music and yes, exceptions are made for some who are deemed to be worthy.But we do not rely upon it,we rely upon being rehearsed yet if there is a difference of matter it can be written down to say you have do do a 16th note rest here,and then dot the quarter of the next bar....So we have got to do a "generalization" chart of what we are going to attempt to do.Largely it is for the producer and engineer yet we are all on pretty close to the same page eh? "Can you uptighten that? I really like it!"

I have always been playing live since I was ten years old.Just not always with my own group.It would be impossible for me to take the stage live and perform on all of the instruments by myself and the fact that visitors here will not break down and spend a buck or two to download a song that they enjoy which would help to get a band together to play clubs and colleges.I can perform ALL of these songs with an acoustic guitar and my voice...they were written and rehearsed that way.In fact my first live show in 7 years is going to be done this way on august 6th,2010 at Mateos Mateos Mexican Bar and Grill in the Soho District of Tampa,FL The southeast corner of S.Howard Ave and Azele St. Of course I shall be doing covers yet I shall get some originals in there.This is very much a town hotspot on friday nights for a large group of beautiful young people.A very, very cool scene. Why don't you drop on by?I,ve still got it,I never let it go.

THIS WAS THE END JAM OF HEARTBREAK HOTEL,WE HAD A GOOD FEEL GOING AND WE WERE RECORDING SO WE WENT WITH IT.IT WAS NOT PASTED IN THAT WAS HOW IT WENT DOWN.tHE RHYTHM TRACK WAS ALL THAT WAS BEING RECORDED AT THE TIME GUITAR,BASS AND DRUMS WITH DEWY DOING A GUIDE VOCAL.I DID SOME MASSIVE OVERDUBS ON THAT ONE,SIX OR SEVEN GUITARS OR GUITAR RELATED INSTRUMENTS PLUS THE HARMONICA.I BACKED OFF ON DOING KEYBOARDS ON IT-I COULD STILL ADD THEM BUT THE COTTONPICKERS PROJECT RELIED MOSTLY UPON STRING FRETTED INSTRUMENTS AND DEWY AND I SINGING.A GUITAR BAND IF YOU WILL...THIS BAND WAS A SPECIAL PROJECT INTO SOUTHERN ROCK BY AMERICAN IMPACT.INTERMIXED WITH "YE MYSTIC KREWE" AND THE RENE LABRE TOURING BAND.A VERY FILM ORIENTED PROJECT WHICH MORPHED INTO THE STAGELIGHT LOVER VIDEO.tHE GROUP DID ONE LIVE GIG,A SIX WEEK SERIES OF FILM SHOOTS AT DAVE'S AQUA LOUNGE SUNDAY NIGHT BLUES JAMS WITH FIFTEEN PEOPLE WAITING AT THE DOOR TO GET IN. REMEMBER DUANE ALLMAN-TOP DOG OF SOUTHERN ROCK-THE CREATOR OF IT.THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF ALL SOUTHERN ROCKERS! PEACE 10/4 AND OUT/REN

Artist / Performer Date Released month January February March April May June July August September October November December day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2013 2012 2011 year 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 no date Full writer credits as simple or detailed as you want LYRICS [Toggle Editor] Use the blue HTML button to insert code. If you are entering embed codes, use the HTML button rather than inserting it directly. Examples include: PayPal buttons, YouTube Videos, Facebook buttons or embed code from items in your File Bank etc. Instrumental You can go into a text program, if you have them written there, choose SELECT ALL and copy, then click in this box and PASTE. OR - just type them out here. Story [Toggle Editor] Use the blue HTML button to insert code. If you are entering embed codes, use the HTML button rather than inserting it directly. Examples include: PayPal buttons, YouTube Videos, Facebook buttons or embed code from items in your File Bank etc. Recorded on march 17th,1980 at The Depot/Tampa.fl. Featuring The original Rene Labre Group with Rodger Hughes on guitar. The original Rene Labre Group; Rene Labre:Vocals,Harmonica,Lead Guitar Steve Hightower:Accompaniment guitar(rhythm and lead),Vocals Carlos Gonzalos:Drums Crazy Joe:Bass,Backround vocals,Harmonica This is a glimpse of it as you shall never hear it.Pure Southern Rock...hot humid and sweaty with a full dance floor.A zillion crickets chirping against us.The crowd was much larger than we expected,since we were working the door just getting started I was happy.The southern rock thing was such a cool scene.All of the bands ran like packs,we worked six nights a week and after the shows we would go to the bottle clubs and hang together,jam with one another,very competitive on the outside,a huge family on the inside.There was a lot of money floating around so you could make a living just playing music.What I did not know was that I was supposed to be "cutting heads" with Rodger Hughes that night.A fabulous guitarist who grew to be a great friend of mine.Oh man he came in the door like a ninja,he was ready to take me out.Cutting Heads is a very real thing down south,the loser drops his soul.So we are between songs and Crazy Joe says to me"you are cutting heads with Rodger now,I noticed that Stevie had left the stage and Rodger was on,I walked right over to him and said "I will play with you but this ain't cutting heads.You have to agree to that."He said "I am just here to play,I heard you were really good,I just want to check it out.I don't know anything about cutting against you." Cutting Heads is some serious black magic if you lose the cost is your very soul.

I had to of course suffer the consequences for doing it that way because simply enough..it is not done that way by most.I have both sides of the coin to work with.I am a confident singer as well as an insrumentalist.As adept at being a sideman as much as a front man.So I could step out of the lead vocalistt box and bring in another singer even a female to really change things around.To go from sounding like The Rolling Stones to Fleetwood Mac or the Mama's and Poppa's.Even as in "American Idol Audition" to do a duet of both.And change EVERYTHING around in between too!I could do the greater majority of the music tracks myself or bring in guest players that I really wanted to record and work with,change the drummers around.Play bass or hire one to play.No two tracks were done with the same approach.Every one of them was a different experiment with a different type of line-up.With a different type of song.Every one of them a different band.This is a thing that is totally unique in it's character and approach.There is NO major label artist who is ever going to pull off something like this.Well perhaps now because I released this article.It doesn't matter and it would be so expensive and risky to do.Suffice to say I did it first and that is all that matters.I am a trained professional,please don't try this at home,and no wagering please!Thank you for reading and may GOD continue to bless you!Go ahead and listen,move from one track to the other.That is the mindblow you see.It is a variety show onto itself.Ultimate Rock And Roll Circus in a way that say The Doors or Alice Cooper...ah Marylyn Manson, is rock and roll Theater.I say Circus because Circus is real..theater,as wonderful as it is is not so.It is hypocritic of itself.The thing that facinates me most about the theater is not the performers it is about the crew working behind the scenes of the performance.With no public accolade yet the highest standard of professional integrity.Peoplo are lured to think that how much money you have is the measure of the character of a professional.And it really is how good of a job do you do with what you have to work with and what are you showing for it?

The essense of all american popular music.Which was transposed to the whole world. The singing voices,the beats,the instrumentation. Every great singer fo every style has their voice based out of here.Perhaps they didn't get it here yet here is where it came from.Those melodies were all given birth here. Same for the rock and roll beat and the dancing,the baby crib of the blues guitar that three englishmen changed the face of popular music,plus one certain Jimi Hendrix.Of course they did not do it here they were not of the original members,they copped their licks from the originals such as Son House,Muddy Waters,Robert Johnson and a legion of black players,singers,and composers who grew up as children in this same church and carried this sound with them.I am not putting anyone down here by the way,just laying out the facts. The poor southern white working class caught on to this too,they were called "Holy Rollers." And thus you have the birth of country music.Again "southern styled."

Yes this music came out of the poor side of town.Out of slavery.The wooden church under the oaks trees.The sweltering heat of a southern night with the crickets screaming.Sweat just pouring out of your body. A music born of madness crying and singing out to god to deliver souls from the hardships of the poverty in life.To somehow hold on to their sanity. A searching for the truth. A searching for sanity.

For six years I served as a music director and deacon for The First Glorious Community Church.Serving first at The Florida Evangelistic  Center. I had no great pedigree,I was a fallen rock star in the worst way.Love's young nightmare if you will, In recovery from cocaine addiction serving for community service hired to clean up the inside and outside of the sanctuary as by the terms of my probation.One afternoon i was sweeping the floor and fired up the hammond organ,I was in another life a house hammond organist for the most notorious bottle club (after hours club) in the deep south. I would be paid to play with all the traveling groups coming in seven nights a week.3:00am to 7;30 in the morning. And so I was jamming up a little bit and heard a voice go Hey!!! so I stopped playing,it was Pastor Magee (Shotgun Willy he was called) an 86 year old no nonsence southern preacher living TOTALLY for God. He looked at me very stearnly and said "I don't want you to sweep the floor here anymore!" I said "you are throwing me out?" "Oh No!we are having revival every tuesday night now and I need you to be on that Hammond Organ."

I served him for a year and a half on tuesday night,fridaynight,saturday afternoon and two sevices on Sunday until he passed on.he was replaced by PasterDaniel, a wild black preacher with a black church that moved into the center and we really started to rock,so hard that we were the first black church to be burned down.It is his voice you hear on the recordings,I was not singing.The fire took out the piano and organ so I switched up to guitar,I did not want to play it anymore,it was a thing associated with misery to me but it was all I had. and thus I discovered the roots of it all that I was looking so long for.

I am now sharing these recordings because you are never going to hear anything like this. They are so rough and raw the drums were one lady (Sister anderson ) on the big bass drum and Sister Bryant on the snare drum.Straight out of the 1800's. What you are hearing is the truth in the authentic style.The cradle of ALL popular music. I later went on to start writing and recording again,I really learned how to sing here.And yes...I got straight.

 

That so many times life has beaten me down,down to my praying knees,but GOD then tells me to stand and brace myself like a man.I did not escape severe punishment for my corrupt ways.Yet I embraced the punishment as proof of the fact that I was so much loved,"my son shall not go unpunished."I do not want to stay in the present state that I am in.The earth has been made to be a wicked and weary place.Perhaps you are in the flower of your youth and do not see what lies shortly ahead.Do you want to see it? You can,visit a nursing home.All of your foolish pride will not mean a whit then.When you have shit yourself and can't even clean it up after yourself so you cry "help me"And soon the help to be offered is to euthanize you.Your not on life support or anything but you are what society calls a "useless eater,"although you have labored long and hard in your life.In our youth we do not realize how short this temporal life is.You run against the ancient wind.Plus you lost your joy and your heart is now very hard.You think you can blow back the wind.By your own cleverness.It is so easy with just your hand to push back a wave at the oceanshore.Yet the wave comes quickly back again. It never stops.Oh and also it never even negotiates with you,it offers NO compromise with you.It cannot be bribed by anyone on earth to serve them.Visit the nursing home if you do not believe me.When the air conditioned staff out of boredome takes bets on who is going to kick next.And one of them a little short on bread decides to hedge their 20 dollar bet.As Bob Dylan said "Look out kid,they keep it all hid."Don't visit a fortune teller or a medium,visit a nursing home for free,take a look at your grandmother as you have never seen her.See how little we have actually learned about living.Your loving parents who gave you your life,drugged out by pharmacutical medication.Prescribed by their doctors,to de-humanize them.They act all weird because they are being poisoned.You could much cheaper care for your parents at home.They could do laundry and the dishes for you and take out the garbage,if they are not all fucked up by prescribed medicine.And engage you in an intelligent and inspiring conversation.They would empty the garbage with such skill.If they cut a "wet" fart they would slip away and clean it up themselves.You wouldn't even know.This is human dignity,you can still rip a killer fart!!!!Yet sadly,how little we know about living because we have allowed ourselves to be fooled by trivial persuit."Games" which are fun and good have become more important than "reality."A baseball pitcher in the major leagues makes 5 million dollars per season,TO PlAY BASEBALL,no job in the off season,he plays baseball for a living!And it is more important then the fact that your brothers and sisters,children in the world are going to sleep on the street hungry.When we live on the earth,which has good plenty for everyone.When was the last time you picked a fruit right off the tree and enjoyed it?Get a grip will you!You have been asleep for so long.Take your television and throw it in the trash.I WONDER IF YOU COULD.

You ought to check it out.It was created and about this world,yet it is not of this world.Can't you tell?

It doesn't really matter to me.I am opening a door to an international audience.I want to perform for my living as it should be.If america is left out of that so be it.They have rejected me my whole life.Well not really,just the entertainment community who fears me being let out of my box.If they don't get it so what? The money?I do not need a lot of money to be happy.It is more important to be healthy anyway.Many people who have amassed wicked fortunes are going to give it to the doctors anyway,they can't even eat a bowl of soup without getting sick.Sitting in their beautiful mansions living like chickens.Most of them only live in one or two rooms.It is love that makes a home you see,otherwise it is only a house.Your children have grown and your all alone,living in a house that ONCE was a home.You can sit and stare through an open door with the sun setting down and you say "what the hell was it all for?The mega-wealthy are doomed by their lack of human compassion.The only compassion they ever show is that which is to their monetary gain.Or their lewd base. They have new barns built to hide it away for themselves yet tonight their soul is required of them.They have to let it go and can no longer control what is done with it.One of their heirs may just give it away not wishing to be chained to it.The thing about total control is that you do not expect the unexpected.You would rely upon damage control but how do you control damage?It does not negotiate with you,once it is done it is done!They desire a world that they destroyed all for themselves.With their little "Ecosystems" covered by a glass dome and air conditioned with St.Augustine grass.Inside of that dome the fruit and nut trees would wither away,they could no longer produce good fruit.Because you destroyed the earth outside.The same trick as on the planet Maldok.This time you ain't gonna pull it off.Your strategies are recognized by those you bear treaties with.You must be stopped.And you shall.

Well you see I am very much more serious and concentrated.On the english ones i get loose and joke around a lot cause I am having fun.The spanish sessions are all business.I have been so heavily coached and turtored for them.The conversion/translation from the english language to spanish for an american rock and roll song is major challenge,there is no double entendre in the spanish language,you must mean EXactly what you say.

Total mk2 ultra mind control,I don't care ...I loved it!As an artist you walk in and there it is.It was an addiction to me!Every trick in the book at my disposal,with my engineers stating.."you don't need them just lay it all on the track" And so it was ,so dry..not even reverb was allowed.EQ was the thing.Then the mixdown,a very few little tweaks.It was all in the dry tracks.That is my friends recording science,to the hilt.That is the essence of all the rock bands you love.The recording engineer.

AMERICANA!CONTACT MEREVIEWSTODAY'S NEWSLIVE SHOWS?PHOTO'SGUESTBOOKLINKSJoin the email list! RENE LABRE RENE LABRERENE LABRE: BLOG Well it makes me wonder for sure!!!! Posted on May 16, 2010 with 0 comments For people/artists that make songs like this today,As I do... the music industry has formed a monolithic wall against promoting creativity, Especially if it involves loving freedom.A swinging rock and roll band barely exists in the 21st century. Major labels pop performers go out on stage live and lip sync,as much of the music in the show as can be is on a hard drive.The amazing fact here is that the audience expects and accepts it.The more shallow the safer it is.There was an incident years ago when The Electric Light Orchestra were performing in concert at Three Rivers Stadium and it was noticed that they had two tape recorders going,according to Jeff lynne they just had a couple of their intros running pre-recorded.(Which was true-The show was essentially LIVE.)The group was sued for fraud and misrepresentation.Successfully I might add,by the promoters of the concert.My oh my,how things have changed.Younger audiences can barely relate to a group of musicans playing live.Children use to study the violin and piano and learn the music of the great classical composers and learn their traditions.Motzart,Ludwig Van,Chopin,Haydn,Mendelesson.Now they do not seek to entertain they only want to be entertained.Largely by a cheap display of tacky smut.

Well my stuff has been packaged and sent out to the universe.My signal is picked up light years away.Perhaps you cannot comprehend that.No prob,I will be here even after the earth had vanished.Still rockin'....still playing the blues and whatever.I just may be in a different form than what you may recognize.I shall tell them about the Earth,a planet that was paradise destroyed by those who loved only money.And what happened on the day when money no longer had any worth?Survival was all that mattered.How cool could you afford to be then?That day is is on it's way,how long can bullshit stand?

It was fantastic,the music I created well.I don't know...I love it yet you may hate it.It does not follow trends nor styles,it is about life and loving and being free.It is distincly southern-style.It was created in a world class studio,one which became an addiction to me.The pinnacle of recording studio technology..MK-Ultra,every possible trick in the book was laid before me,sitting in the middle of this working class redneck southern city.And myself a working class single dad with a redneck...I know longer cared about where I was,my lab was here."What do we have on the slab?Let us bring it to life!"Suprisingly the result was as little studio trickery as possible.I was very heavily influenced by my recording engineers who told me "look man,it has got to come out of your performance,from your fingers and your throat." what does that mean?You record what is called "dry" EQ with no effects.The baking of the cake as it were.Then you put on the "ICING."I had any chance to go at this point,break it up into loops or whatever,the real complexity of it and where I used the tricks to the ultimate was in that I was overdubbing to the extreme as I was doing myself 99% of the music and vocals..A synergy had to be created.In the studio it is much more complex to be simple.When it came to "icing the cake" that was so relaxed because it was so there in the performance that little had to be done.Just enhance the performance.Everything had it's own space to be blown up in.I delivered to my engineers what they wanted and needed to hear.I was sooo rehearsed,it did not just wander to me between two candles,I created it.When I hit the studio it was all business.My sonic experiments are legendary.But you did not make it big time!I made it as an artist.I got the job done.I raised a child who is the apple of my eye.I broke all of the rules!

I would guess the world could not stand it.Rush to deny it and find a flaw with it.Same old mass media droopy droopy."We cannot allow this!"The truth is you cannot do anything about it.Go to myspace.com/the donna song and watch it all happen and while you are at it...lean over and blow it out of your big fat bum!

The current project is to finish the spanish version of "Donna" and get some kind of video shoot going.We don't get a lot of fan feedback at this site so it is hard to know who to promote to.Definitely there is an audience but who are they?The goal of the site is to be interactive.

Here is where you can show me that you really are a fan.Buy it direct from the website....99 cent downloads $7.99 cents for an 18 song LP.Paypal verified and secure.Somewhere here in this process you need to show me that you care and show me some love.Or you can show me nothing and let me know that you don't care.That is sad for me to think that it is that way.Heartbreaking really...I dedicated my whole life to this and the return mindblowing message I get is that what I do is worthless.I refuse to accept that lie.I know much better than that.I am the one who paid to put the work in.The cost...everything that I had.You have to reach way down deep inside and know that you are right.Everything I had worked so hard for my whole life.The lessons of life,I never expected to be a multi-instrumentalist but I had to become that. to carry on,and then the voice lessons...sight reading and sight singing.Now I can do anything with my voice.All of it leading up to being a homeless single parent living in a volkswagon vanagon on the beach with my baby son..catching fish for our breakfast,lunch,and dinner,like the indians did..Thanks to GOD that I was still able to hold down a job.I ain't gonna let you work me over like that,I am a MAN.I am not afraid to go to work and get my hands dirty.I am straight you see,I don't expect an easy way out.I don't have a drug habit to support.You face the impossible and realize that even yet you have to try just a little bit harder.If I trusted you to be there for me I would be such a sorry soul.And if all of this is too much to take I apologize.One fine day you will get it,and you will finally understand.

I was really hoping for some time off since I was not on the road this week.My crib is a mess and I wanted to do some fishing.But no way to that,there is a film to edit.The film does not relate to being a rock star.It is related to recording atrs and science of which I am also an instructor/perpetual student.This is an analog session later transferred to digital.You can observe a scully 2 1/2 inch tape machine at work.This is a machine that disappeared from american recording studios almost overnight.A machine that for decades was an industry standard.I would appreciate hearing from any studio in florida that still has one operating,I have a session I need to convert.Thanks!

Yes,I am very happy with the response to it.It is such a complete departure from anything I did before.All through the production we got such a buzz from it.The recording process lends itself the best to acoustic instruments,the EQ is that of the instrument itself.Everything took it's place naturally in the mix.It was not required to use many tricks.The more electric you go the more compression You have got to use.The more compression you use the more artificial the sound,Due to the abundence of phase cancellation which results in less ambience.And then the decision to not add percussion,let the drums carry it all and Davey Boy turned in a monstrous performance.When it came time to do the vocal composities,the voices just cruise right over the top of it.A funny part of it was an extra verse was thrown in by accident.The rhythm track was just me on acoustic guitar with davey boy on the drums.We were really getting off on it and did one extra verse which became the vocal solo.That extra space was there and at first I doubled the last verse.Not liking that result I thought to just do something off-the-wall.That whole part was extemporized on the spot.Again though I was fully warmed up vocally when I did it.I stress it over and over again for aspiring singers.Run first through all of the scales and then all of the modes in all keys.Also hydration,you want all of the saliva you can muster coating your vocal chords.It loosens them up.Then you hit that mic and have yourself a ball!The song is not a mass hit at this point,it is being tested

What is the hurry?Their are professional details that have got to be covered before any release.Copyrights for one and although the sessions are completed they have got to be mastered before release.Such is the practice.The final set of ears has got to be put upon it.I am very thrilled that singles are again vogue.From the beginning of my recording experiments I was a singles artist.Which to me is to work up one song at a time.I never did a er..concept album.Never tried to mix two songs at once.Did not record "filler" tracks.Throwaways.I poured my entire lifeforce into every song.I never had any kind of a budjet to consider anything else.It is just the way that I was trained.It was fantatic that way because I could relly concentrate on what I was doing.Everything about your style is to stick you in one little box that you occupy."This is your vein."And you just kind of run it into the ground until everyone is sick of it.All of my tunes are completely different from one another.A big risk to take,"we want something that repeats itself and is boring and dull.A different version of the same thing.Regimented.I go into the studio with something totally created and set,and then throw it up into the air to see how it lands.Life is a changing thing,it does not remain the same.As an artist you observe that and try to capture it.I try to concentrate on the good reactions that I observe.And thus my style must change radically from one tune to the next.It is THIS song and not the last one,a whole new set of faces are in place that I selected.An entirely new approach is going to be taken.It is very risky to try and do this.Yet you know it is right because you are loving it.And now you do not need to be signed to a major label to put out your work.But you are not going to happen either as a major label artist does.Jonny Smith and the Shitcanners from Mebane,NC is not going to topple Mudvayne.Maybe one day but not today.This whole deal about the indie revolution,ah there is no revolution going down.You are being conned into believing that you are going to be an indie wielding the power of a major label artist.If you are an indie making a sustainable living you are doing as well as it gets.And I think that is wonderful and congratulate you.They have this site called garageband .com where all of the indie acts are getting their material ready for broadcast airplay,hundreds and thousands of them,and not one of them is in heavy rotation on american broadcast radio.Not One..ever.The name of Sir George Martin is on the advisory board which amounts to they paid him to use his name as he is long retired,he could really even bring himself to give a shit about jonny Smith and The Shitcanners."Oh yes,I must record them,they are the next big thing!"

Totally cool role,totally cool life.In charge of every aspect of production to the tiniest detail.In total control of it all.Records and films.I see the project from it's creation to it's completion.I own the exclusive rights to it.Nothing goes down without my approval on it.The concept is a completely open forum which I take charge of and direct.I have no advisors,I call the shots.

I do not condemn anyone.It is your life and you can do what you want.You have free will to make your own choices about anything.And so do I.I love what I do and the way I do it.And shall continue to do just that.At the end of the day I am going to make you feel something inside of yourself.You are going to remember me forever.I want to fly high and never die my friend.

No,I do not.I am a singer and a songwriter walking in the grace of GOD.A dreamer and dream chaser.Content with simple things.I work hard at all that I do.I do not needs drugs to create my energy or excitement. I was in counseling at one point in my life and my counselor came to a session,this was a tea-totaler all the way yet a very funny person to hang out with,I wrote the music that he proposed to his future wife by.The session went well and driving back he said,"I don't understand all of the drug use in music,if you can create something like that isn't that the high?What else do you need to have going?" It would certainly cause quite a ripple if I lit up a blunt or laid out a line in the studio.I can assure you it would not wash,not that I even would,a session is all about precision,microscopic precision.I desire my central nervous system to be wound up as tight as I can get it.Not be in a befuddled state hoping to "fix it in the mix"I am laying tracks on multiple instruments,a lot of them,and doing the vocals.It all has to be wound in and weaved.As the executive producer it is my job to know exactly where eveything is and how it fits together sonically.You bet your ass I am as straight as an arrow in there!

Hello Judy,I am sussing you mean sending a copy of your work via registered mail or using a notary.And you live in the US.The poor man's copyright is a myth.It will not hold up in a court of law,it never has and it never will.It is too easy to tamper with it it and re-arrange the materials.No judge is going to make a call in your favor.The library of congress succinctly dismisses it as invalid.It does not mean one damn thing.You have no case to present.They call that Moot.(nothing)In some countries that may work yet even then it is doubtful if opposing council presents a registration.In the US also expect a particularly nasty countersuit as well.Awful words such as damages and deffimation of character. You must register your work on the appropriate form with the library of congress.Your establishment of "first use." Present yourself as a professional. The music industry is always looking for new songs.Desperate for them and if you can possibly be taken advantage of you will be.If someone else can take credit as a writer for your work they will.Maybe your whole song was not lifted but a verse or the chorus was.The melody perhaps,can you prove it?

Ah no,it is not,that was just posted up for fun.It was recorded on a cassette deck and only plays back in one channel yet the story behind it is interesting. We were on a short road trip up into Georgia and decided to head back home to fla. that night and we got hungry so we pulled into a restaurant that was about to close and we explained our situation to them telling them we would do an acoustic set for them if we could eat.We had a fun little party and dinner on the house as well.It is Just Michelle,Marvin,and I as Chip was ill.You know we just love to play and it doesn't always have to be about money or fame.The recording quality,well,it is not a thing that would ever be released,it was a cheap cassette deck that had been kicked around quite a bit in and out of cord and tool boxes so it only does one channel.Livingroom music is what we call this in the US.Letting our hair down a little bit.Singing for our supper as it were...

That was a supergroup formed for a film shoot.The life span of that band was for one set only.One incredible set.One shoot if you will.Wow!

Big sigh of relief,the single was a total blast to do,was the first to really feature me as a singer.I play everything yet what people want to hear me do especially live is sing.Of due course I have been very underated as a singer.I love to sing rock music with the band but am always having to climb/project over the music to be heard.This one laid in just for me.I could just kick back and do what I do with my voice.I have had a lot of training and technical instruction.Sight singing and on an on.Shaum harmony books 1 and 2.Modes,cycles of fifths,scales.The musical backdrop is all acoustic.The drums are real.I am set free as a singer.

Largely production work.I want those fucking drums to kick it all the way back to Mississippi!!!But there is additional recording to be done.A surprise part if you will.

Yes,very much so but not on any drugs,on the creation and it's process.I want my central nervous system as charged as it can be and my thought processes as clear as possible.That is the high and what a fucking buzz it is!I have a lot to do in the lab and there cannot be any hesitation,I want my shit wound up as tight as it can git.After all of the work is done,then I like to have a glass of very fine merlot and turn up the studio moniters to listen to the completion.Sittng in a leather chair just chilled watching all of the lights play on the equipment.During the sessions and mixing the moniters are at a low level.This is to minimize ear fatigue.Your ears,like the rest of your body get tired too.You stop hearing things and get cranky.At the final mix though that stuff is crankin'man! The ultimate stereo as it were.

The science of recording requires a vocal composite,every singer does it that way.A recording is a permanent fixed object.You want it to be it's best with whatever you have to work with.What a vocal composite is is laying down three or four different takes of the vocal and mixing the best ones together.Same for the harmony voxes.And this is under assumption that you are rehearsed and your throat warmed up so you are firing down on the track.You may have a tune that you do live that goes over great yet remember,that microphone is actually a microscope.Every little nuance and phrasing error...pitch ect is captured.There is marvelous software available for pitch correction but as a professional singer you are expected to deliver on pitch.The purpose of the software is to trim a thing or two here or there.It functions like film editing software and where you make an adjustment here a bloop is going to occur somewhere in front or behind(in digital recording) that which shall have to be dectected and corrected.If you expect to rely on this software to make your vocal recording happen you are going to be spending many frustrating hours and come up in the end with an "unreal" sound.A major label artist may lay as many as forty tracks to composite from.The more good takes you have to work with the better.Then your engineer and producer create one seamless final take from all of these.Sounding as though the vocalist sat down with the band and they knocked it out.That result of course is contingent upon you as an artist delivering the goods.I do almost all of the instruments on my recordings and I do not like to sing on the days when I am playing.Well,that may depend on my mood and how well everything else went but as a rule I do not start singing until the instrumental tracks are done and pre-production mixed.Then I can focus nice and fresh on the singing.

No I do not think so,you have a lot of limitations there as to what you can do yet it is a channel to get people to your website where you really do up your hair.I would not get to hung up in it nor pay them any money,all social websites are like a coctail party where you can meet people and do just that, socialize.Let people know who you are and what you do.The thing is you do not control it.The more content you place there is very limited and the more you try to squeeze in the more painfully slow your page comes up.As an artist I would not pay them anything,they generate their revenue from the people who advertise with them.It is useful as a channel bottom line.To some extent,the same as a coctail party everyone is the most interested in themselves and that is okay as long as you realize it.

"Mean Woman Blues" on the film,the guy on the dance floor with the telecastor,the living legend...Mick Taylor,Rolling stone,nobody knew him and he was in rough shape.after the shoot I introduced myself and he said in british,I am Mick Taylor.He was ready to leave but looked really hungry so I hooked him up with a take out plate of ribs."you have got to eat man."I got to give him a hug.The master of the slow blues guitar.

No,you have got a real nigger climbing up on your face,a nigger with a college education.I am not an interpreter,I am an original.Not a rich suburban whiny ass white boy who had his dad buy him a les paul and a marshall amp and a PA for the band,my art is as black as the night I move in.You see the white boys imitate Mr.Jackson,The prince,or MC Hammer,yet they do not understand where these cats came from,the songs they sang in church as children.As all of the greats did.I am what I was trained to be "a black gentleman"My art is of the black american culture.Not a put on...all for real.

I ONLY INVITE THE BRILLIANT MUSICIANS TO COME IN ON MY SESSIONS.THOSE THAT DO NOT NEED TRAINING.SUSAN LED THE SESSIONS ON A MUCH DIFFERENT TACK THEN WE USUALLY DO,SHE WOULD NOT PARTICIPATE UNLESS THEY WERE SCORED AND SIGHT READ.SHE WOULD NOT WORK WITH PLAYERS THAT COULD NOT READ MUSIC.SHE WOULD PLAY A GIG WITH YOU YES BUT SHE WOULD NOT COMMIT TO A SESSION WITHOUT READING.IT HAD TO BE LAID OUT BY THE CHARTS.I DESPERATELY WANTED TO RECORD HER SO I DID THE CHARTS AND ALL OF THE BOYS ON THE SESSION HAD TO READ IT,THERE WAS ONE REHEARSAL FROM THE CHARTS ONLY TO GET US ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.I WILL TELL YOU WHY SUSAN IS THIS WAY,SHE IS A TEACHER,AND ARRANGED THE DRUM LINES FOR THREE HIGH SCHOOLS IN TAMPA BAY,ROBINSON.CHAMBERLIN,AND KING HIGH SCHOOL.THE DRUM LINES WERE BADDER THAN THE FOOTBALL TEAMS!ALL OF MY PEOPLE ARE READERS,WELL MAYBE AN EXCEPTION HERE OR THERE YET STANDARD AT THE AUDTION IS THAT YOU MUST READ.WE DON'T DEPEND ON IT OR USE IT A LOT WITH ROCK MUSIC BUT IF YOU HAVE A DISPUTE AT A SESSION YOU CAN PICK UP A PENCIL AND PAPER AND GO "DA,DA,WHOLE REST,DA.THE BRIDGE IS IN 7/4.SEVEN BEATS PER MEASURE WITH A QUARTER NOTE BEING ONE BEAT.YOU WILL HEAR SUSAN ON TWO TRACKS HERE,TRAP KIT ON OH,HOW I LOVE YOU" AND TYMPANI ON "TELL ME" WELCOME SUSAN AND THANK YOU, aip

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RENE LABRE PERFORMING LIVE WITH THE T-BLUE BAND! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aye me party mates "tis true!!! And no pirate celebration in Tampa Bay would be righteous without The Legendary T-Blue and his true pirate crew.So it is your bassman Frenchy callin' to ya to AVAST ME HEARTIES!!!! :tis party time once again and it be to me to get your rump to thrump with me 5-sting bass. The port of call for our invaision is MATEO'S RESTURANT AND BAR on South Howard St. @ North Azeele across the street from the old Macdinton's in Tampa's Hyde Park district. 1 SHOW ONLY 4PM TO 9PM "GET OFF YOUR LOG AND ON THE GROG MY SLEEPYHEAD!!!!!" IT'S GONNA GET CRAZY Y'ALL!!!

It went so well,I was so worried about it,if I could cut it this time.And it rolls and flows perfect,musically I am trying to keep a real handle on the tune,I want it to be acoustic and not electric,yet still real punchy.This time though it all lays behind the voice and the lyrics.That is what people wanted,they wanted to hear me sing.On live gigs,at weddings.In this business it takes one hit,that is all you have got to do,score one hit.To you that would be called a one hit wonder,in the business it is called a one trick pony.That is not a problem as long as that one trick is good.

I think I explained it pretty well in my bio,should you ever take time to read it.Every musical adventure I have ever undertaken generally leads me to being burned out and burned up.This world we live in is not based upon acceptance and affirmation,it is based upon rejection which is a poison.When you are at the end of physical resource you begin to run on your spiritual energy which saps your aura and lifeforce.So-called reality is related to things that are physical based upon money.Creatively you just fall to pieces and need to recover and re-discover your passion or cave.Fortunately I have had good friends at my dark corners who have reminded me of how precious the gift is.How simple to pick up a guitar and sing yeah,yeah,yeah, and make people enjoy it and be happy.Thereby you get refuled and recharched and re-ignite the passion once again.And you change,move on to another thing,a new level.I don't know really other to say you have got to be very strong and you really have got to love it just for what it is.It is about what you think about it and make it to be and it is a progression of things.I have not had a big break in my life where I fell into good associations with people that are movers and shakers.I just keep pushing forward.I do also know that I have done my best and tried my hardest to create that situation.My work stands as immortal with the biggie being that I did it the way I wanted it done.I listen to it and it rocks!Now it is a question of connecting with people who like what I do so I can reach them and entertian them.So many things about the music industry have changed and for the better I say.There is room for everyone now to do their thing.The old world of the major record labels and broadcast radio airplay is falling apart,an artist can find a following/audience without them,independent of them.A much more personal relationship actually.One need not be rich to have a good living.That is where it is leading me and I am facinated by it's potential.There are some famous major label artists who are not renewing their contracts so they can do it this way.It is consumer oriented you see,directed towards the listener and their needs,it is a google thing.A wide open door to the whole world.I may not be to your taste,that is cool..you move on to what you dig yet if you do dig my stuff then we are going to be in contact.We are going to establish an interaction between us.You like a certain two songs and want them for your ipod,you are on the e-mail list and pay 1 dollar per tune and we shall get it to your ipod or whatever you need.You know like that,just between us.Why we may throw in a poster or a t-shirt so you can help out our cause.That my friends is where it is leading.I don't want to connect with Warner Brothers,I want to connect with you!Your Pal/Rene

Yes progress has been reported,I will cut the piano track and do a film shoot this thursday at Progressive Studios this thursday.(Abbey Road South)This has been a chore to set up because I am doing a digital sync to the studio that has the rest of the tracks But the piano there is not suitable to record with.It is 111 years old and a half step (almost) out of pitch.The recording equipment is great although These days not many artists use a real piano.On a session I MUST have a real piano and am going to considerable trouble to place one on the track.There shall be two control rooms 125 miles apart linked via a telstar sattelite (TS-1) to get this track right.Quite a technical marvel really-impossible to do in the 1970's a piece of cake today.Just another day in the studio.The synthetic pianos just do not work for me,I Have been a pianist since I was a child,they just sound to hokey on a record.Onstage I can see it since you could not even fit a piano onstage in most of the clubs I work.In fact I just synth it from the guitar.Yet on a studio recording it has got to be real as that is a fixed object and when I am done with it,that's it.FOREVER!I am moving on to the next project.If someone else wants to re-mix it or whatever so be it.I have spent a lifetime learning how to play my instruments...for real.This is a much different thing than the "guitar hero" generation where you play a plastic guitar into a TV set.That is amusement requiring no skill.On some of the gigs we do I have a guest who is an excellent trumpeter come in and join us and people marvel because we have reached a stage of Human evolution where most people don't even know what a trumpet is,let alone to see somebody really play one.Especially with a rock band!He does not even get paid by the band,he will stroll the audience playing his thing and even in this hard economy will pick up 200 bucks in tips.At the end of the day there is no substitute for skill.

I must get to work and finish it.Actually I have got a lot of new stuff yet this is the one in production.I am going to leave Y'all for a while so I can finish it up.So this site is just going to ride for one or two weeks with no additions.I have a new tune for you and my publisher has got some new films for you.Thank you for checking out the site.come back! Your pal/Rene

You have not seen it all yet because it has not been edited.We were rehearsing to get our concert set together yet we were still working a club and hosting a blues jam at the same time.When you work a club and you are not famous you have got to play what people want to hear.What they are familiar with.When you reach them where they are at it is much easier to turn them on to something new.If you walked in and just did all original music,I am not saying that wont work but you would need four hours worth of it for a new act.And you are not performing for your family or old high school friends..you are playing for the first time in front of strangers.Soon to be friends it is hoped but they are paying money to see you play.Paying your bills,you MUST entertain them first.So they will stay and listen to you.It really is not that big of a deal,you can see that we are having a good time.Once the band gets there,the equipment is set up and working and you are tuned the rest of it is the gravy train.A piece of cake.I have been doing this since I was a child,when I was ten years old I was getting paid in cash to do it.I stared working clubs serious at fourteen.Ha! man to work a club I thought I was really going places!I come from a rich heritage but a very poor family,my dad died when I was four years old and left my mother with four children to raise.His insurance paid the mortage on our home but we had no extra money for to much.I marvel at how my MOM handled it.And all of us were intense children.So to get bread I was a newsboy for The Erie Times News before and after school for as long as I can remember.I was a hustler too..My residenal route on 9th street and then I would go to the courthouse where my papers would be drop shipped in front and I would fold and deliver them to the offices and then two college dormatories for Gannon College also drop ships and I was the salesman for the dorms,I hustled that on my own,my district manager got the bonus but she would split it with me in cash.Then I went to school and after that would do one evening residental route on ninth street.Then band practice or baseball pratice come home and do my homework,read and go to bed.I had to be up every day at 5:00 in the morning to get on the hustle.And my hometown Erie,Pa is not a hospitable enviornment in the winter,especially early in the AM with a windchiil factor of -35 below zero.Yet those papers had to be delivered.7 days a week.ON TIME!i became a master at riding my bike with 120 papers in my saddlebags all folded and ready on a sheet of ice.I had to do it,I could not make the quota on foot.It was soooo freezing cold,I would just look at the houses with everyone asleep and get warm just thinking about it.So thus on occaision as I grew I would play a club or the YMCA,or a church or high school dance and make three times the bread in one night.I thought I might persue that,not really a lot of money mind you but for a kid to go to school with two twenties of folding money on monday morning,that is not too bad.

I did love "shorty" she had a great sound and tone but was such a pain in the ass to operate with the short scale and that GOD -awful "accent" tailpiece.It ought to be called the detuner.It is fashioned after the Gibson vibrolux which works fairly well if you don't go to crazy with it.But the "accent"is just a joke.Part of playing one of these is that you have got to be constant operating it whilst you play it.Occasionally,but rarely she will behave herself.What do I mean? well I have got her last two film shoots coming to you where she sounds terrific but you can see me having to manipulate her,the short scale.You have to postion your fingers as though she were a fretless,not a problem to me I play the double bass yet if you are used to a regular guitar you will sound out of tune most of the time.And then when you are really digging the pick into it the sixth string will slip off of the bridge so while you are doing this and that you have to reach down and slip it back on.(see the film blues deluxe-coming soon!)Then I give her one pull up on the vabrato arm and have to fast as lightning snap the 2nd and 4th strings so they fall back into pitch,if you push the bar down you have to snap the third and sixth strings when the bar returns.Yes I did everything including using graphite on the bridge and nut.filing the nut,all of the tricks but this was just characteristic of the short scale.And I am a lead guitarist you see.I don't just strum chords,I am very demanding of an instrument.In the course of a performance this is all just to much to deal with in order to play a cool looking guitar,and with that short scale she is like a little AK47 on stage.So I adopted her out to a friend of mine who is a collector and she is now retired and preserved in a good home.Maybe she will hang in the hard rock one day...My Hofner does everything she does just as well and has the AK47 look that I dig but without all of the hassles.

Oh yes a new set is being made ready by American Impact (aipublish).I am pretty well pleased with them as they have fallen into syndication around the world.They are naturally entertaining because they are not scripted just a birds eye view of things that went on in the creative process and cover the depth of what I do or did in my life.Yet it is not a music video so to speak like major artists do.They are films of my life.I do believe that I am right and the world is wrong and rather than chasing trends I remainded true to my roots and play rock the real way.Southern style. I kind of got in hot water with rickenbacker guitars about some of my observations about their instruments I have owned but the company was gracious enough to feature the films I was using them on.I did not receive any negative comments from other owners of rics because my observations were correct.My approach to the 360/12 stands as revolutionary yet that instrument does not sing properly until you filp the 11th and 12th strings,a feature that all of the serious owners know about and a modification that ought to be factory as when you flip the string The seats on both the bridge and the nut do not fit properly but it sounds much better than the octave 11th string just goin blup!.If you listen to the solo on "Oh,How I Love you"nobody has ever recorded a 360/12 like that.When you are bending the string it causes a natural flanging effect since the octaves do not bend equally and you need monumental hand strength to do it as the strings are very heavy gauge.0.12 to 0.56 in standard tuning.The insrument simply will not work with those little "spider webs" as B.B. King called them.That solo was done in Ric-O-Sound with the treble side going into a jacked up ampeg jupiter 42(cranked) and the low end direct into the SSL console.As long as I have rambled this far I will also tell you that the rhythm track was also done in Ric-O-Sound smae comfiguration but with an original vox ac30 amp-you know,the one with a chrome head stand and an e-tuner plus treble boost.On the amp side of the ric box the EQ was cut flat on the SSl console-Boom!

I don't think that they exist anymore,they really do not have a right,suffice to say for a short time there was a problem.The films were being hacked and made unable to play.Yet they started popping up on sites globally which was cool because they are good films.I love my country and am proud to be an american.I think I represent her overseas very well.I represent the crazy dream you know,what our brothers and sisters from other countries love about us.I think in one way or another all americans are born entertainers.It is so engrained in our culture.And America is the melting pot and home to the kindest people on the planet.The media of your home may demonize us pretty badly yet if you came here you would see it very differently,the minute you shared a laugh with someone.We do not want to conquer the world,this country has given to the world more than it has taken.We have heard the cry of the poor and hungry in other lands and have shared our plenty without complaint,no other nation on earth can make that claim.And we required nothing of you for it,we GAVE it to you.We wanted you to have it.We are not strangers to sadness and hard times.

American Impact does not like to produce covers,our SOP is very stricktly original material or original songs from our own writers.We consider depending upon covers the death kiss of an act.The imagination has run dry.But you know Frenchy,he generally gets what he wants here.So here are the covers and how rene sold them to us.We did not want to spend a penny on covers.Plus they have got to be licensed Heartbreak Hotel:To benefit cancer research at ST.Judes Hospital That Thing you Do!:A tribute to Rene's hometown For Members Only:A memorial to the kids at Columbine High School after the shootings I Have Got Love If You Want It:The thunder of that college show could not be denied Tell me (your coming back):We love that song and think rene did it better High Society:A staff writer,Charles Englebrect another thunderous college concert Denied Covers/post demo:Rene Labre Group/Hey Jude:Don't screw around with The Beatles the original version will never be topped.No matter how well y'all do it it will still be cheezy.The rehearsals were incredible though!We just had to hold our tack on this one. That is the story from the desk of American Impact Publishing

The meet was much shorter than I thought it would be.What I was told is that the world does not want to hear me play,it wants to hear me sing and the accusation was that I am an imposter.The statement "Rene,you are not in possession of a natural ability to sing such as Barbara Streisand or Dionne Warwick.You do not have an entitlement to that gift.You cheated by working hard at it and being coached by a pro.And now you consider yourself to be just as damn great as they are." My Response: "first of all...how can I be great?You know that I am a bondservant of THE LORD,a Levitcal Priest.I could never wear a crown on Earth,I laid all of them at his feet.My talent is a gift from upon high.A levite is a born musician and the singing? Yes I studied very hard under the hand of a great teacher which helped to an extent of my physical ability but it was THE LORD who in response to my seeking who one day placed a beautiful little songbird into my heart.And that little bird just loves to sing.And people love to hear that bird sing.And you want me to crush that little bird."I do not need any entitlement to have a songbird living in my heart." His response: "Goodbye Rene" GOD how my hands were shaking!It was freezing cold and I was perspiring.All of the clouds and fog cleared and a clear and magnificent night sky came out.I walked down the back bay trail and my little nightbird sang out to GOD. The devil you see is a liar,murderer,and a thief.He is the originator and the father of these things.He stalks the earth to and fro seeking whom he may devour.You may cast your soul to him and be given much Earthy provision and so-called power but do not think for a moment that you are not going to pay it all back..to the penny, with the intrest being your afterlife.You may dabble in thinking that you can manipulate evil spirits,they can even appear to you as angels yet one day those dogs are going to slip the leash on you,their horrible fangs salivating to taste your blood. Truly it is as it is written "What does it benefit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" You my dear reader have the right to your freedom of choice and I realize many of you may mock or scoff at this writing of the day.Yet whether your realize or accept it there is a whole spiritual plane that exists in this 3rd demension.It is the so-called reality that is the illusion.The security you long for and pay for is only an illusion,all of your locks only keep honest people out. May GOD continue to bless all of you, Thank you for your time, Your Pal,Rene

Yes sir,It was the blue lady that TOOK IT.The first inductee to our Hall Of Fame.Here we now feature the pure B.A.(badass)Ellis to ya at her best,breaking the boys hearts with her blues. Congratulations Ms.Ellis! Thank you so much for your participation to the team! You live forever...never to be forgotten.

They became an immediate "legacy" band.Which is quite a hat trick in itself!They live on on their records and films.A band that did one gig that withstands the test of time suprisingly well.That gig was the "Wang Dang Doodle" blues jam at Dave's Bar And Grill where they mixed rehearsing for the first US club date/College tour with a now legendary blues jam that over an eight week filming session was attracting hundreds of the finest blues muscians around.That one gig is still legend to the Tampa Bay Area and still talked about.The Club/college tour had to be cancelled because of the hostility kicked up by the top 40 radio release of Heartbreak Hotel which engendered them death threats and accusations of trying to restart the american civil war.Our radio promoter at that time Bill Jerome,(Jerome promotions) did a live on air interview with a station at a city we were due to perform at a major university in Minnesota and was warned as the switchboard went crazy that the auditorium would be bombed and that we would be tarred and feathered as soon as we got into town.He called me to tell me that "it would not be advisable to take this act on the road."American Impact,our publisher began to receive death threats.Every secondary radio market that we were in was given the word by the major labels that if they played "Heartbreak Hotel" one more time they would no longer be serviced by them.No way was the band going to go out on the road to face that.dang,I was wanting to film it too..It was real sad as we had established a large local following in just eight weeks,fifteen people waiting outside the door.The stagelights dimmed on "THE COTTONPICKERS" as one by one our airplay ended and city by city promoters cancelled us .I quite marvelled at the irony of this situation as I was on a hiatus from my regular touring band "The Rene Labre Group" which was a black rock and roll band that scorched the south.We used to have to run for lives after some of the gigs we played,people wanted to lynch us.And now here I was with a group of white southerners,a great group of people,hillarious and fun to work with,the perfect warm up act for The Rolling Stones who were going to be murdered in cold blood if we appeared north of the Mason-Dixon Line.Man how I wanted to film that tour!Anyhow "THE COTTONPICKERS" are fine,alive and well.They still exist on film and on record, their credits to my discography include:Heartbreak Hotel Sinners Prayer Stagelight lover Mary,Mary Members Only The original members:Dewy Ellis:vocals Mary Ellis:Backing vocals Erica Ellis:Piano,Vocals (diffusion LA) David white:Bass Chris Kidd:Drums,Vocals Rene Labre:Vocals,All Guitars,keyboards,Harmonicas Plus our friend Manuel who let us rehearse in his house I,of course wanted to do do the tour anyway and film it even if it was a crash and burn,as long as we got out alive and I would not be to worried because I have got "Old Rosie" my 38 special always near and dear, with a derringer in my shoe.The number one rule of a blueman is not to be trapped in a corner in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar town.Yet "THE COTTONPICKERS" was so different from the much harder core "RENE LABRE GROUP."They were gentle and laid back southern hippies."THE RENE LABRE GROUP" was a much different story...very,very,tough and hard core,all about precision and skill artistically,on the road we knew we were always threatened because we were a black rock and roll band performing in the deep south.We traveled about in an old refitted school bus (1958 bluebird)with an out-of-date music city tag.I ran a lot of rednecks off the road in that bus.We took out the windows and welded cold rolled blue steel armor plating in there place.They should have shot at our tires instead.Marvin would be cooking dinner as we escaped and you would hear "tank...tank as the feeble bullets hit the plating.We knew if we got back to the bus we would be okay.Let us just get to the next gig.After all of this crazy mayhem we would pull into a rest stop to enjoy our fish and grits.Very different of a story than a "sunset strip band."We walked behind the sun.Way down south."We trusted no one and no thing except eachother.And the world was always,dependably, against us at every turn.

It surpised me to see this but aol picked up on this vid as one of the best of 2009!And I don't think it has even had 100 views yet.That footage was picked up by one of the outbound camera's (not in line with the FOH mixer)and I think it is only fair here to give kudos and credits to the operator who shot it which was Mary Ellis,Dewy's sister,our backround singer and general secretary.It is her name that graces the song "Mary,Mary. It would be a very kindhearted thing if some of you that subcribe to this blog would go to the video channel youtube.com/aipublish and give us some comments and ratings.Admittedly these films are kind of crazy,er...diary of a band sort of stuff and the period being filmed was "The Cottonpickers" rehearsing to go on the road behind the release of "Heartbreak Hotel" our tribute to Old Elvis.We did that single with the purpose of raisng money for cancer research At St.Judes Children's hospital in Memphis,Tenn.We sold four of those records.They are still in stock at CD Baby backed with "Sinners prayer." It is now a collector's item as American Impact has taken them out-of print and the proceeds (all of them) still go to the kids.to buy one would be a good thing for some brave little children and a hospital,founded by Danny Thomas,the american TV star,that has given hope to so many of these children and their families.In return for your reaching out to them you will receive,shipped directly to your door a one of a kind collector's item CD single.A real smashin' and crashin' one as well.As time marches on if you google this tune you will find it's listing running right up behind OlD El's himself.Nobody ever covered this tune with the intensity that we did.The single comes with the original artwork shrink wrapped and sealed,a first rate curio to grace your living room wall,in fact but two...one to hang up and one to listen too.You would be supporting a wonderful cause.Still only $4.99 (us) at CD BABY.COM

Blues based mixed with country rock..Very americana.A lot of influence by The Doors.Primarily with my own thing I am the concept and enlist other artists to assist that.Mostly I just need a drummer as I do pretty much everything else in the studio as a multi-instrumentalist/vocalist.On my album I am performing on 21 different instruments.It took many years to complete because I was paying for it as I went along in a state of the art studio.The concept was not even to do an album moreover it was to do the songs one at a time and each one is very different from the other.I am not real into regimentation,cranking out the same wank over and over.Different artist friends of mine came in to put different colors and tones on each tune.The appearance even of the touring group is very limited on the album, Ha!I actually wanted to escape from them as they wanted to change my sound to fit them which was much more of a funk and strict r&b direction phasing out the rock until it was just a texture.I love to play that but not all the time.All of these white guys want to sound like they are black yet most are just imposters,they know about the surface things yet are not a part of the black culture in america.They don't get much farther than the dope stroll,which is the outcast level of the black culture in America,not the mainstream.A thug was not what Martin Luther King saw on the mountaintop.On my hand I was deeply into it.I lived and traveled with my band for countless years,Always invited to their family gatherings when we were off the road.I worked as a deacon and music director for a black church down in Tampa.But I was never phony about it,I was just myself and accepted and loved for being just that.I do not ape speaking like a black person or dressing like one,you know when a white person does that it is all just an eminence front...fakery.Your parents did not speak like that.Way back when I was in high school I was placed into a college level program called upward bound,the only white cat in the program and the educational standards of that program were very high-zero tolerance for any bullshit.If you were late for one class you could be bounced from the program.The whole two summers you lived on campus and attended college.A cutting edge program for the development of "The Black Gentleman."All of the time it is so sad for me to see brothers killing eachother in this Thug trip.4 of the guys I went to upward bound with are now physicians,7 are lawyers.All of them were bound to be thugs but they got smart about life and got lives for themselves.I also did finally get my degree in business management.It took me 26years.It was a promise to my Mom who knew I was going to chase this music dream.a promise that I would be an educated person,that I would have a degree.That I would possess a thing that could never be taken away from me.I may be a broke and starving artist yet all of the requirements of my studies have been sucessfully completed and all of my rights and priveleges are awarded.I am an educated person.The world cannot rob me of that.

The cameras were always running.It was a failsafe method against the rejection of the world.They were running onstage,at the studio, and at rehearsals.The tone of this world we live in is not acceptance and affirmation,it is rejection.Coming from before the days of the internet the way for a band to make it was to go out and pound it onstage.Travel from town to town.Clubs,colleges,fish fries,fairs,biker parties,weddings,private parties,corporate events,BBQ's.Truly a young man's game and a hand-to mouth existance.Top that by the fact that the two guys in my band were black rock and rollers(Chip And Marvin) performing in the deep south so we had many racially oriented problems as well.Quite a few times we had to eat in the kitchen because it was a small town we were in and had reeked havoc the night before so the cafe owner would say "I don't want my place torn apart so if y'all will eat in the kitchen out of the way I won't charge you for your food.We went along with it and often we also cooked the food too,we were always friendly and easy to get along with yet we also understood the racial side if it which really bugged Chip and Marvin.We talked for hours travelling about this issue.And yes many of our little "after show paries" had the motels we stayed in rocking all night.We were young,single,free, and wild.I would say that we held the guiness book world record for an unknown band having police escorts out of town."For Our safety" One cruiser in front and one in the back.The police were always cool and nice to us yet suggested that we eat breakfast "Down the road some-maybe fifty miles."Sometimes we were advised to pack up before the last show and not return to the motel. Anyway back to the films,I knew that eventually we would import the technology from japan to be able to Publish the films to the world yet the us would not allow the technology to be imported.The major labels and fucking MTV had a chokehold on all of that.There was no medium for indies.Indies were considered to be poison.This was the perpetration that there were only twenty good bands in the world.Even to produce your work you had to go to an avid production facility and spend 200 dollars an hour at this little richy-rich production house with bowls of chocolate candies-I would have been more impressed if it was english chocolate-american chocolate is made from genetically refined sugar...At any rate the time has arrived where you can produce and upload your filmwork with ease.You can edit it right at home.Therefore the time delays are not the fault of my publisher,they faithfully kept it all "in the can."The playing field at the time was to uneven.It would have taken astronomical amounts of money to produce the work which never would have been seen anyway.I really got into film.I love it.It presents to you my crazy story and what I do as well as how I did it.The quality of the films goes all over the place,sometimes it was a pro crew and sometimes a dear friend who would drink on the band's tab to come out and shoot.Sometimes both.The film crew was a part of the band and always fun to work with.I came to this planet with a mission and have carried out that mission for as many times as I wanted to quit and just play it safe."To be normal."For all of the times that I had to walk down the road in the moonlight with my guitar case and not a friend in the world.Drifting like a ship without a sail.Waiting for technology to be imported so my publisher could get to work.So now I am going to stick it in your face.I am an artist,one of great depth.I am not going to be pidgeonholed into any one role,I did it all and I did it my way.

Oh yes,"old reliable as it were."I love them although I do not like telecasters.I am not disrespecting them but you have got to be into them and they just feel to clunky.They are better for lead than rhythm guitar.The strat is the best one.I use the jazz bass even though I do not play jazz yet I recently switched to a five string Brownsville that was custom made for me in New York.Whatever...I now play Hofner Guitars and love them.

No I am not.Yet I am real about it.The 325v63 reissue with the short scale sounds out of this world yet will not hold pitch.The "accent" tailpiece is the culprit,it is a horrible vibrato system,completely unbalanced.you cannot set the intonation on it,as soon as you jack the whammy bar you intones are gone.Your only resort is to play it like a fretless,adjusting your fingering to compensate.The bulk of my discoraphy was done on Rickenbackers.Yet that 325,I would have to redo the whole intonation during the sessions to get a proper sound out of it.If I were you I would get the full scale model with the trapeze tailpiece. But I now only play Hofner Guitars..The 360/12 also is wonderful,such a pretty sound but they hang on to a major design flaw,on the 11th and 12th string it is the biggie E that is last so you do not hear the octave 11th string which just goes Blup!all the time until you switch them over and then the bridge is set up as factory so the strings do not really fit so you have got to get a heller "O" file and file the eleventh slot out and still the twelveft slot is too large.They are very hardheaded about keeping it that way because it is the original design yet everyone who plays one makes the switch over time.And fewer and fewer people now play them,it is a tough guitar to work with,you must have very strong hands for it.Mathematically the guitar is the purest form of physics,as billiards is the perfect form of plane geometry yet when you switch the two strings the bridge is not set up for it.I find that to be really hardheaded and stupid of them.The re-design would be easy for them to do.Send them off the line ready to go.I love Ric's,would really love to have a "Jazzbo" acoustic.Gibson's too....wow? Yet they have gotten so cheap in terms of the hardware on the guitar,I have a Mary Ford Type Custom Les Paul.The gold hardware faded in three months.A friend of mine pulled out a 1963 original for me to mess with and the gold hardware was compleyely intact!And that guitar has played millions of notes!(I can't tell you who my friend is.)The reissue played and sounded just as good but the hardware looked really bad.Before a show I polish my guitar with abrasive wax and wash the neck with alcohol.When the lights hit my axe she looks beautiful!Unless you are a big star nickle-silver hardware is the way to go.

I am wanting to wish everyone who should chance across this a happy new year!Thank you for dropping by the site,thanks to my many repeat visitors.It has been a very good year.I hustled hard and gained a little ground and learned a lot.These are difficult days and times are getting very hard.Good work is getting to be hard to find.You can't take it for granted anymore...If you don't work very soon you will not eat either.Most people when they get a job,they stop looking for work.Someone will keep the dog and throw your ass out in the cold.Check that out!!!

Oh yes,I am still working on that.It is coming along very well.It is a slow process because studio time is expensive and I can only work in a good studio.And I only do one tune at a time.This one is very complex and I want it to sound very simple.As well it is a major style change for me.I have fired the touring group after 27 years.This one is all on my own.The band always let me down when I needed them the most,they wanted to be stars.Really,I laugh at that empty trip,I just want to play my music and dig it to the max, to let the chips fall where they may.I am an artist,not a pop star.Nobody is going to pull the reins in on me.I do not have to compromise to anything.I do what I love to do.I can't allow the world to crush the songbird in my heart.There are many people in the world that feel what I am saying and dig what I do.I hope that you can find a place in your heart for it.

Yes,true.I am the leader of the pack actually,responsible for the success of the hunt.All of the wolves know me.They bow their heads when I walk by.A wolf cannot be tamed.You can even train a polar bear to do tricks in the circus.(If you have enough fish!)You will not find a wolf act in the circus nor in movies.A wolf cannot be bribed.A wolf cannot be tamed!

I have been away for a couple of days.Which means a couple of days away from my puppy.My Pit Bull Terrior,in fact the queen of all pit bulls.I was hanging out with two border terriors in Mississippi.I just love dogs..cats too.The american pit bull terrior is the most loyal dog in the world.And despite the claims of so many that they are only good for fighting they are highly intelligent and can be trained for anything.My dog understands german which is the only language I speak to her and she never runs out of love.There is always more love.She is the most gentle puppy you would ever meet.If I had a grandchild that I need to be watched for a minute I would lay the child down with my puppy and say "watch the baby."And she would give the baby lickins and keep the child all toasty warm.Protect it and defend it.Todays priority is to take my girl for a walk.

I have just finished a very spiritual journey.I am not here to convince you of how great I am.I am just doing what I love to do.And I have fun doing it.If it were a question of the money I would have stopped very long ago and gotten into making money.And I well had the ways and means to do so,I could have become obsessed with just that and put my guitar away forever.Yet there are some things about money that maybe you do not understand.If you do not have money you know what you cannot afford to buy.And if you have plenty of money you know right away what is priceless,what money will not buy....health,happiness,love,trusted friendships,the love and closeness of your family.I am a very humble and thankful person,GOD has been good to me.He has pulled me through many,many impossible journeys.The whole thing in promotion is to blow something up bigger than what it is.And I am well studied at that,I have a college degree in it and work in the field of advertising.I have decided to just be myself,present what I love to do..which I work very hard at.And present it to those who would enjoy it.I am an entertainer at the end of the day.And a stone trooper,a professional.I can be counted upon to stick through the rough stuff where many hearts would fade from fear of the unknown.I embrace and accept the unknown yet today I am glad to be home.My Puppy was just sick whilst I was gone,I had her well cared for yet she has just got to have me.She cannot do without me.It is the simple things in this life that matter,the more simple the less illusion you see.I am always up for the hunt yet it is so good to be able to go home,and to have a home to go to.I have a songbird inside of me that has got to sing it's song.A songbird that the world is trying to crush and I will not allow that.I am not a naturally gifted singer,I had to work hard at it as I had physical limitations to deal with.A very small nasal cavity.And thus I sought out a voice teacher,Lynette Cordoso,and studied with her for 2 years.She laughed off a lot of my insecurities saying "if you can think it,you can sing it.You must train your body to do it...that's all."Now it is easy,second nature,I know how to prepare for a session-tons and tons of water,a full vocal warm up.A relaxed attitude,the throat is tuned.And then it is fun you just lay it down.My new single is the best I have ever done as a singer.Yet as I said,I am not trying to convince you nor sell you,I am just doing what I love to do

I would say what are you going to do about it? How are you going to withstand it? How will you escape.All that you have got my friend is today to live your life and it is all one complete day anyway.A true prophet no matter how impressive or well published has got to be correct EVERYTIME! Thus we eliminate this kC guy.And old Nostridamo.True, from a fictional stand point it is interesting reading.Yet it is fiction.(B.S. to my american readers.) Just for this day in which we are alive lets do a simple kharmatic exercise. 1. Say "Good Morning" to a stranger and see how that goes. 2. Make it more important, just for today..to seek to understand more than to be understood. 3. And just for this day that we have, attempt to love more than to seek love. After all my friend..your soul may be required of you today.You may get run over by a bus two years before 2012. This new film out of Hollywood "2012" I bet it is pretty good.I would say a lot better production wise than than the American Film Production of Apollo 13 "The Eagle Has landed!" If You look at the footage of the moonshot closely it looks like slapstick comedy,you can see all of the wires and hooks, The pack of matches they light in the butt of "The Eagle to slow her decent onto the surface.Really it is like a grade "B" flick from Japan. And the world Bought it,I mean after all it is on TV it must be true! Not one of the astronaughts took a "leak" on a moon rock...(oh that was an outtake,)..EVIDENCE OF WATER ON THE MOON!!!!! After going through as long of a spacefilght as that I surely would have been ready to pull out my "P" tube from my trusty spacesuit and urinate upon the moon.EH "One Small step for mankind...one hell of a piss!!!! "Excuse Me Houston but I have got to piss before I do anything!" Trust me on this,No human being from earth has ever set foot nor urinated or placed any flag upon the moon,it was a cold war film production and actually is a comedy!I hope they saved the outtakes somewhere.Moe,Larry, and Curley land on the moon.The punch line of the joke is that we believed it.They can barely keep that rickety-ass billion plus space station up in the air.They keep going up there because the toilet is always running,some fault code in the mainframe server.Mankind's most expensive trailer home ever complete with faulty plumbing. The answer for real can be found in the math, which they still have teams attempting to correct the many,many blunders in the equations.If a top mathmetician in league with an astromoner took a look at the original calculations they would say there are to many errors...this is impossible. Which it is my friends.Our wonderful planet is under quarrantine.nobody can leave and nobody can comhere right now either. Enjoy your day! Rene

To all of you that have dropped by to check out the site,especially the return visitors.Not everyone is going to be into what I do yet if you dig some of what I do I would like to hear from you. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! REN

Psychic weaklings,Children of the Mass Media.Very little tuned into that which is spiritual and exists all around us.It is more important to strive to love than to be loved.More important to strive to understand than to be understood.

He has summoned me to return,actually requested me to come because he wants to talk to me.To offer me the world one last time in return for my soul...No it is not about that,I have already given him my answer to that and he dismissed me.He is running scared right now.And he is not walking to and fro,he is running.I know how that feels,I am a hebrew.I have been running all of my life.To be in his company personal,you must be polite.It is expected that you would be so.His is the saddest story of the universe.I am going to come to him with a bottle of wine and we shall sit on the old boat dock in the fog and have a jam session that no one shall hear,when he opens his mouth to sing it is a full symphony,what a great jam! Spiritually all of you are so unaware of what is really going down,where the world is going.As long as you have money you are okay,let us see how you stand up without your money,how weak you really are.Do you know how many tarot card readers,fortune tellers,wiccans,and major bankers would give up to have this appointment?To sit on the old boat dock drinking wine and singing the blues with the devil himself?It is not that I am so great,I am going to be protected by angels and he knows that,My bag is already packed,I could be called up to heaven at any time yet I have unfinished work to do here.I am not allowed to leave until my work,that GOD has given me to do is done.And I know that he is a thief.A murderer,The father of all that is untrue.Perhaps I will be tempted,it would be nice to have it easy in this life.Yet I am a hard core old soldier of the cross.You must by now think I am crazy yet I do not care about what you think of me,you are not even spiritually ready enough to take this kind of a journey.I say "let the chips fall where they may."I am going to have the best Christmas ever and I wish you the same..my very dear and faithful readers. May GOD continue to bless all of you! Ren

That song was written and recorded as a soundtrack to a television show being produced in order to promote the value of education to american youth.We were looking for the show to be produced by teenagers about teenagers in the USA. Unfortunately the backer passed away due to cancer. We had the storyboards for 22 shows yet when we looked to shop it out everyone just wanted to steal the best ideas for their own show, so we just stopped.Sad too..the networks really had dogshit for ideas for afterschool shows, "dance party 360' was the best they could come up with, "head to head!" Moronic Ghetto shit.As opposed to a debate between two panels of high school kids over the advantages of being bilingual. And also the agenda of the United States was/is moreover to dumb down the teenage population via a horrific program called Goals 2000 which essentially removed the power of a teacher to really teach and inspire to make them a robot that does paperwork and babysits people's children. Way back when in the day when I was student your teachers had the same authority as your parents when it came to your time in the classroom.They were free to personalize their study agenda within the criteria they had to present.They became "role models" to us.Even the students who did not care would remain quiet and not disrupt the class.And this order of things was present even in the inner city schools which I attended.Now in the USA it is only the public schools in the affluent neighborhoods that offer any kind of a quality education.The rest are "holding areas" for dropouts. The United States is so far behind the rest of the world in educating our children.And we are very complacent with that.We ought to be ashamed of that.We ought to have the highest standard in the world. And in school I was one of those cool one's,I had a good time but I also always had my homework done just like the "goody two shoes "did. This song and that show was a dream for my country,one that did not come true.This is a nation in which a person with a college degree has fourth grade spelling skills.And we expect to be a world leader when our children are stupid? If you think I am just ranting compare for yourself the study requirements of a child in say...Germany, as opposed to the USA,a public education,the USA lags far behind the rest of the world,not even the top twenty.These kids can barely read much more than "one way" or "speed limit 45 mph." Ask your child "what is the capital of new York State?' Do you even know the answer? That is what this tune is about my friend

I would refer you to "You Wont Get Away This Time" or "Alabama Bound." I think I covered all of my disgust about everything right there.There are better things to do as an artist than to focus upon negative things.Life is a wondrous and beautiful thing.You are starring in your very own movie! I have met handicapped people in wheelchairs that have a better attitude towards life than those who have much a plenty. These were "unplugged" sessions,just hanging out in the studio with the candles lit sitting in a circle playing some acoustic music.We had some time to kill that was already paid for by our publisher,American Impact and so these were done right on the spot.

Every song was done at it's time,they were not recorded as a package,they were created individually.The sessions were done in accord with what is best for the tune and not done in terms, say of how it is going to be promoted.All of them have to grow on you and you have to grow with them.As You get the feel for this as different from one another as they all seem to be you fall into the theme of it all and immediatly recognize my signature upon them and how they do all fit together.I am not really to much to dig regimentation,I prefer the experimental and all was designed to be performed onstage.For each tune you hear it was in development for a year before it was even recorded.Played out every possible whichway.A long list of many wonderful artists who were handpicked for separate projects lended their support to this project.The recording engineers were all the cream of the crop,just as much involved with it as the band and it all went sonically...er really far out there.The recording studio (Morrisound) is five star world class.The premier of everything an artist could think of.Every effect one could use,every format of recording,No limitations whatsoever as to what could be done.The best mics,20 different guitar amps to choose from,any guitar you may desire to play,a grand piano tuned for every session.The key to walking into a thing like this is your own preparation,you want to know your tune inside out so you can concentrate on the recorded performance.I function as the executive producer putting all of this together and after it is all gone through I approach my producer,Tom Morris and beseech him to have it all make sonic sense. His question to me at the final print of a session is always the same "Did you have fun today Rene?" Yes I did have a ball,I really enjoyed doing all of this and am proud of my work.And his questions relates to do I really love what I do?Am I passionate about it even if the world rejects it? Do I regret doing it? I would not change a thing about it suffice to say that.It is hard to be impartial about it and an artist,once the work is done lets it go because there is the next project that is the concern,yet when you go back to study it and really like it and remember how you loved to do it that is something. There are many groups who had their original idea so altered that even though they made it big with the mass media they cannot stand to listen to their own record anymore.I stand with my dues paid and no regrets.

The vocal development I must credit to GOD,who gave me the gift,my sister who made me face myself,and my wonderful voice teacher,Lynette Cordoso.And thank you for the kind words.Onstage I have always used Shure Microphones for going on more years than I would chose to count for you.They were engineered for the life of a transient musician where as you are going through all of the impossible stuff to get to and set up a gig that mic has got to work.You don't even have to keep it in a case,just toss it into the cable box.My personal choice is the SM57,the 57 and the 58 are actually the same mic but the 58 has a ball head on it which gets dented and smashed over time yet the thing is the Shure is unidirectional,meaning the closer you work to it the better the frequency response and with the SM57 you do not have that ball head,so you can gets your lips right up on the cartridge which is where the gold is.In a independent test of how rugged a Shure microphone is and with nothing better to do in the afternoon waiting to go on we dropped both an sm57 and sm58 from the third story of a hotel room in Witchita,Kansas.Both of them still worked but the ball head on the sm58 was severely dented.And the price in these days of ever higher costs for goods is very affordable.I have never bought a bad one,try dropping a Sunnheiser from the third story of a hotel room and see what you get.And then go to the tech manual of both and see the frequency response curve,and you will see why they call themselves SHURE microphones.This is not an advertisement nor an endorsement,They are not paying me to tell you this,you asked me Allison,and I am telling you my lifelong personal experience with this product which is the world standard and stands as such because of the quailty of the product.From the garage band to the weekend warrior to the cream of the crop top professional pro's look at what they are using....They are SHURE! THE STANDARD OF THE WORLD,MADE IN THE USA.

I would think that you would want to be successful and persue it.No matter what...you are not going to be turned away from what you love and what you intend to accomplish.you want to be ripped off as little as possible as you do this.And you want to do it the way that you really mean.I consider myself rejected by the mass media but not blacklisted,I do not warrant that.I am just a legend and my preparations are more spiritual than physical.All of the things of this life are going to pass,everyone who is here is going to die.And no death has ever stopped the world.The cockiness and the fire of the boy is replaced by the skill and confidence of the man,and the man is still the boy...just moreso. Stay tuned for more...

Did you see the part of my website that said "open 24 hours?"You know...I have not slapped anyone all day...do you want some of this?"No you do not..I am a totally trained killer.My preps ,ahh...fame and fortune in this world as you will, Ah I just want to play and sing the best I can do,It is so much fun! In so many ways I am already gone-to that next world.I do not fear it because it is coming in fact it has been walking with me all the way.Yet I am here to do my job and I cannot leave until I do.Earthly hopes are delivered one day at a time.Here is the only trick you have got to be concerned with,which in truth is the final commandment of the "C ommandante"_The Messiah,The Son Of God as he ascended into Heaven,"love one another as you love yourself.I am here to tell you that The King is coming.I have already received my ticket(just this morning) to the next world but my spiritual job here is to see that nobody is left behind.Someone is coming for you and there is nothing you can do about it..Check That Out

How did they know my name and who I was before I even checked in?Why did they tune the lobby piano for me?"Take Mr.labre's things up to Mr.Parker's room.Charlie Parker that is..but it was Monk that was haunting me there."You have got to play the bass Rene."It was such an out of body thing for me....where is the Milford Plaza Hotel?,,,right in the center of Byrdland,the heart and soul of it all.New York City all covered with snow.42.00 bucks a night to stay in the heart of Manhatten.5 star all the way.If you are going to NYC stay there and eat at Dirty Dan's.

So effectively programmed by the mass media that you allow them to do all of your thinking for you.They (who are total bullshit) decide everything for you,what you are programmed to like or not like,what you are going to buy.Admit it now... you look at an advertisement which is a contrived situation and believe it is real!You see the picture which almost always will have a sexy young woman with her handsome male drone and maybe throw in one or two kids to make it seem authentic and you accept it as being real.All of those people in the picture are professional models who do not even know eachother,the good looking man with the idiotic smile is barley glanced at and the woman is lusted over by the men and closely observed by woman as to what they need to buy to copy her grotesque masquerade,flash to the checkout stand at the grocery store...."Angelina spreads organic dogshit over her face twice a day to maintain her "youthful look" and you could not find enough dogshit to keep in inventory for all of the women who would need to buy that dogshit.And you surely know, women are not going to walk out to the frontyard and get their dogshit,it has got to be packaged and marketed so that it will be "food grade" organic dogshit.Add to that a convincing testimonial "Why it did not even smell like dogshit,it smelled like night jasmine."Call the agency and get two more models for "before" and "after" pictures-NOT EVEN THE SAME PERSON!I wonder over this,it would seem to all be in good fun but there are so many children in this world tonight who are hungry and going to sleep on the street,and nobody cares... yet organic dogshit with a chemically induced scent is more important than feeding hungry children.So that is where the money goes".The Grotesque Masquerade."This is the point of perfection that evolution has brought us to as a species-the human race.One day you may find that a piece of dogshit may be savored as a gourmet meal,because your belly is full today you will reject that yet if you were hungry enough you would pick it up and eat it.And now it is hard to find you see because most of the domestic dogs have already been eaten and the dingoes that survived are wanting to eat you.They are not in a real good mood when they see you, ask it to "sit" or "shake" whilst it is chewing up your leg.The communist world seeks to enslave mankind.

Yes I do.It is a good gig-they provide the tux and dinner..I never wear a black tux-that is in the contract,if you have the chance to wear a tux it is like flying in a lear,try crushed velvet purple valor.Happy to tell you that every wedding I have done the couples are STILL together.Interesting story here,at one point the wedding was getting in the way of my day job-yes I work to pay the rent..and I called the party to tell them I would have to send a replacement..talked to her father who was a heavy mafia cat and he said "oh no..my daughter wants you to sing for her wedding and you plan to ruin my daughters wedding? Who the fuck do you think you are..I will have both of your legs broken..I hired you because that is what my daughter wants and you will be there or else!"I had to go to my boss and tell him "I have got to sing for this wedding,I will come in late but I have got to do it." He smiled and said "okay,can you come in when you are done?" I said "just after I return the tux." Life is good...enjoy it the best that you can. I was treated as though I was Elvis...the tuxedo was delivered and I rode to and from in a private limo,I love my work,it is not even work, it is fun!

Oh man,I got to get together with my people,a coonass family from Louisiana!I would guess that you think my music is kind of weird.I am into being a coonass and you do not even know what that is.It is the only true french culture in America.Louisiana has it's own music,you will never hear it but they do,they live by it,They buy cd's from local artists you have never heard of and never will.They do not want you to hear it nor know about it.The food was out of this world yet with us it is not the food it is the company.They wanted me to play "Johnny B. Goode" on Little Stevie's guitar and I was up for the hunt.You know we are american french people.Like Quebec we have our own culture,our own ways.We celebrate life daily,we embrace all of it and reject nothing.We do not concern ourselves that we are a minority,in fact if you are not for real you can't get in.I had such a good time!We are speaking english laughing about that,in the home the only language is french.

They are so strong,they cannot be topped.Elvis,Jerry lee,Johnny Cash,Buddy Holly,Eddie Cochran....Chuck Berry.I was raised in my playpen watching them on TV.(in black and white.)Those english guys imitate us but the original is still the greatest.

renejohn.com

On certain nights and situations I have ahh..for where I was at.When I was younger I was playing it because I loved to do it yet it was not complete without fortune and fame.Yet as you go on you realize just how much all of the odds are against you.This is where most people cave in and they stop and move into their marriage or whatever.My realization came in the fact that I love to do it and do it for the love of doing it.And am going to continue to do it however I can.

Well Sugarcube I did all of the guitar parts on all of the recordings.ENTIRELY.That is my chair.But I have been playing the piano and harmonica since I was a baby.Then entered the Hammond organ,that was an interesting part of it,I bought a Hammond on a goof and use to play that and guitar onstage.I was pretty much using my piano skills and faking the rest of it.Then the band broke up again and the owner of the bottle club we were working asked me to stay on as the house organist playing with all of the other bands that came in.The bands would freak out at first...what is that hammond doing onstage? And Jimmy would say "that is my house organist who is going to play with you.I am paying him,don't worry about it."I was working seven nights a week doing all kinds of music and learned how to properly operate the Hammond.I would sleep on the stage beside it during the daytime.This was a notorious after hours club that was packed every night.Sex,drugs,and rock and roll-3am to 7 am.Very cool experience to be always sitting in with other bands and becoming a part of them.At that time the view of straight society was "well at least we know where they are and if nobody is getting hurt it is okay."Today the police would zero in on this club and stop every car that was leaving the joint.Of course law enforcement knew about this place and what went on there and when they were off duty they would even hang out there and dig some live music.They just did not want anyone to get hurt or hurt someone else.It was beautiful young people being allowed to let off steam,to experiment.I was experimenting with learning how to rock a Hammond organ.And the experiment was successful.To this day there is no synthetic program that can reproduce the sound of a Hammond tone generator and the draw bars,really...it just sounds like shit.Pure shit.You are working a combination of the draw bars (pipes) and the leslie rotating speaker or speakers if you are doing stereo leslies.And they have only improved upon it nowadays a top-line Hammond organ will cost you 25 grand and is worth every penny of it.They sit in the homes of rich people collecting dust.Nobody knows what to do with them.Who is advanced enough to read charts that include drawbar registrations? These registrations are locked upon those of the Cathedral Church in the Vatican.The massive pipe organ made out of gold.

I am actually reluctant to discuss the details of my personal life.My life offstage is not your property.Normally I would strongly resent the intrusion to the point of either kicking your ass myself or having a bodyguard do it for me.Never mind the body guard I will just kick your ass up close and personal.I am one of the rare few in the USA- a man who actually has and has raised his child.Able to be a father without being portrayed as a stumbling, bumbling fucking retard.The role of a man as a nuturer,a caregiver, and a wise teacher.The girls hate this kind of stuff yet they grudgingly have to give in and respect it.The legal system is terrified of it,it is anti-feminist,a man in the catbird seat of child rearing?You have got to be for real on this one and you get in with the girls of your neighborhood in a way that most men never know.NOT SEXUALLY,sex is a chore for married women,you have to be in on doctor's appointments,trips to the park,getting the kids to school or the emergency room,pushing the swing.The big honor is to be trusted by the girls to watch over their kids when they are in a jam."It is your turn to take the kids to the park."I am not down on women,I understand things about them that most men are clueless about.I have an insight and rapport with women that is reserved exclusively for "Mommy."I have done my eighteen and raised a very fine young man.This is more important to me than hit records or stardom,believe it or not.And I paid my dues for it.HARD!Time and time again.Now for me as a man,My personal life is not for the public eye.I have given you a little look at it today.My personal life is private and not public and if you invade that i will kick your ass and kick it good.I WILL HAND MY GUITAR CASE TO MY BODYGUARD AND PROCEED TO REALLY FUCK YOU UP!You will long regret that you messed with me.I may do a few days in the county jail on vacation,as it were.. for it but I will kick your ass and if you decide to sue me I will make it personal to seek you out and kick your ass even harder.You may get a successful lawsuit but you will now be living in a filthy,miserable wheelchair the rest of your days with a digital camera stuck up your ass....do you get my drift here, boy?The only people that photo me are my authorized photographers.Otherwise it is a media blackout,offstage my life is mine to do what I will,which is to live at peace and liberty.Consider yourself publicly WARNED!

One,just and only one really kick ass album.An original music album,one that I myself love to hear.where even the licensed covers are totally original and personal style.One that Ii can pick and choose from for concerts.An album that every tune ended up as a film soundtrack.And as I do new tracks I add them to the album.If you purchase the original album you get the new tracks for free.Plus all bonus tracks.You will not find many recorded outtakes,those are on the films but have been erased.Why would I want to save an outtake?

Thank you,it is on the concert album "Live To LA" The first instrumental solo on "I've been calling you."It is not an instrument I really use on stage,it is very delicate,made out of clay.I like to play it at the beach or walking through the woods.You know you just stick it in your pocket and take it with you.I play it for the birds and they sing back at it.If you play it to a parakeet it is like a recording machine.After a few takes they will sing it back to you exactly as you played it.The only other solo I can think of in terms of popular music that used an ocarina was "Wild Thing" by The Troggs.

Yes i do have that going on.And it has been hell and heaven at the same time.I am joking on that,it has been fantastic to do it and I feel it is one of my best.Some things have not changed,I only do one song at a time when it comes to the studio.many things have changed,there is no longer a Rene Labre Group per say,there is just Rene Labre and who I chose to be there.When I am recording I am thinking film soundtrack not top 40 hit record.Not rock and roll star stuff.I think it would be much more impressive to you for me to come into your home and play a piano or acoustic guitar and buzz you up just relaxing and getting into something that becomes very intense.So if i am going to draw up a recording session it is going to be a mindblow,it is every time.The major hold upon the release is that the studio I am working at is in another city and the piano at the studio is out of tune,i can't do the piano track there.The piano is 112 years old and sounds great,but it is out of tune for a session and to tune it would be a total overhaul.I go into so many homes that have a piano sitting there and it is out of tune,you hit one chord and go "forget this"no point in to hit one more note because it is going to sound awful.And so I move on.I have enough bummers in my life I do not need an out of tune piano to worsen my condition.If you have a piano at your house please pay 30 bucks to tune the fucking thing.Sorry to be so graphic yet livingroom jams can be such a great thing.Yes I have got a new song coming into your face.Recorded in my style.I am tired of all platitudes.I just want to be free, hang loose, and play my music.I have to dig it first so I can be into it,i just can't fake it.And ah... I want to play what the people who dig me want to hear.I am not performing to impress the other musicians i am performing for the people.That (oo) (oo) record is just awful to me.I consider that one to be a throwaway,that is us doing an original song,a great song by the way, that was just destroyed by a New York producer all amped up on cocaine who knew everything,a master of all recording shortcuts for digital cut and paste bullshit. But in reality knew nothing.Cared not in the least for the ideas of my touring band and their immense talent and all of the dues we paid as the only true black rock and roll band from the deep south.He decided that we should sound like pussy ass Sugar Ray.This was a group before the days of the internet that was fortunate to get out of town with our lives intact.They walked on me when it was over "we are not going to be this."For all that we went through to do it...It is SO PASSE,in fact you can have it for free,please.. just take it away from me.Technically it is impressive but as a song it is top40/pop dogshit.You can have it for free,I just want to rid myself of that song and anything that is slowing me down or has to do with itI would rather drive a forklift than to be that watered down bullshit..Mostly that song,I hate that fucking thing and am glad it was not a full album.Take it for free if you want it,If that is what we would have to sound like to be a major label band and what we would have to do then I learned something here today. I would rather drive a forklift to make my living.Some of you may dig it and that is cool...you can have it for free...please just take it out of my house.It just is not my music,it is too contrived and too phony.It was a failed experiment.Yours for free-take it with you when you go.

Well my publisher told me that after a study of demographics what I wrote to you the other day about my recording method stands as true.(oo) (oo) i've been calling is not what the people that dig my music want to hear,it is last on the list.released outtakes have faired better than it did all across the board.I am free to be me and not locked into that "pop" music Cut and paste recording style.That is fine for artists that do that but it just ain't my style.it was an experiment that I learned a lot from and paid through the nose to do but it is such a sissy way to record,let's not take any chances here, let the computer rule the session.We are not looking for a feel,we are looking for a file that adapts to another file so you sound like Mr.So and So.Seo optimized and all of that load of crap.We can even take samples of their stuff and mix it into yours.So it will Surely make it.That is major label thinking and that day is done,day by day they lose their grip.I really don't care-whatever you know.Normally,or as close to normal as we are here I work with a producer who digs what I do and understands what it is and enhances what I do to it's fullest level.Nothing is forbidden,everything is permitted as long as it makes the cut.And I Must have a good time doing it.And I have been drawn out to the deepest depths of myself as an artist.I do not present myself to him without being fully rehearsed and warmed up. on every corner of the tune.And then he guides me beyond my limits.He says well,that is pretty good but try it like this a couple of times,can you do this?Sometimes I blow his mind when I reach real deep and come up with something he did not expect.Every now and then that happens too..At the close of every session he asks me "Did you have fun today Rene? i think the recordings speak for themselves.They are technically top notch.recorded in a world class studio in every way equipped with every trick in the book yet they would not let me slide that way,I had to deliver pure and raw..no effects and then Tom judiciously put the icing on the cake. That is how I record.I will NEVER do that cut and paste bullshit again,i hate that record,it is a joke to me.It was a studio experiment in how to ruin a great song.Make it sound like Sugar Ray.I want it to sound like Rene Labre, and henceforth that is all that I have got for you.I am an indie pioneer,one of the best unsigned artists.Why would I want to be signed? Why would I need to be signed? I am not a prostitute i do not need a pimp.I own the rights to all of it.It is my property...lock, stock, and barrel.