tag:renelabre.com,2005:/blogs/insightful-blogs?p=58INSIGHTFUL BLOGS2022-05-22T19:34:27-12:00RENE LABREfalsetag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798272016-04-10T12:29:22-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00Is Jim Morrison alive?
<p>I for one do not think so.He certainly had the ways and the means to do it.And that would be the ultimate cure all for a rock star that wanted out.And if if he faked it and pulled it off,I do not think that you would see him in New York or Oregon.To do that would,even if you are still alive,would be a final decision,you would have to live a very obscure life after that.You would not want to be seen or recognized,and there would be a money trail someplace,he could have just retired and would have plenty of money.The Doors unlike most rock bands,ran a very tight ship banking wise,the people working that end for them were very loyal.They themselves had good things yet did not live lavish lifestyles.They had successfully completed the terms of their record contract.To this very day their sales,their timeless music is very strong.They are in a league all their own.If Jim were alive he would be doing something creative in a different realm.It is a small wonder that the other surviving doors view all of these imposters with contempt.Because they are nothing but fakes.Trying to cash in.They were a very tight band,if Jim actually had faked his death they would know.There was no need to go to a crazy extreme like that.He is at peace resting in his grave.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798262015-06-19T22:47:22-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00A Lot of Ragging On Gibson Guitars Online-Pretty funny
<p>It is either condemnation from those who can't afford to blind loyalty to those who bought them.I really don't want to enter that frey.I can tell you how I feel about it and relate it to you as a Gibson lover who,breathed,lived and slept with two of them for many years.Pretty much for sure I would not spend over a thousand dollars for a guitar hanging on a rack.To me that is a floor model to take it for a spin.If it hit the jackpot I would expect to be able to work a deal with the sales guy.Yet I know guitars inside and out and know what to look for.It may be so pretty to look at and if you don't know what to look for you may fall prey to it.A reputable dealer would understand your concerns,you are making an investment,a big one.If they know you are a pro,and they will you can pick up the floor model for a generous discount.If you are a pro you have a luthier who can easy fix the flaws.Other wise you tell them "I want to order this one."Personally I,well,would prefer to get a deal on a good used one.One of my guitar player friends may have one they want to sell at a fair price.Not Cheap mind you,a fair price.I would not buy one over the net at all.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798252015-06-19T21:35:36-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00What Kind Of Strings do You Use?
<p>For over three decades only one brand,D'ADDario.Never got a bad set.I got just a bit shook when I bought my Rickenbackers and you must use Ric strings to keep the guitar in warranty terms.It is not a rip off,their prices are very fair yet I called customer service and asked them if D'ADDadario's would void my warranty terms.Rickenbacker has excellent customer service and the rep told me that Rickenbacker Strings were made by DADDario yet they would give me a wholesale price on them and do custom gauges for me at no extra charge.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798242015-06-17T20:13:37-12:002021-05-17T20:03:33-12:00How do you play for a riot?
<p>You don't really know when it is coming.The audience is into it.You push it out as best as you can.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798232015-06-17T20:02:29-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00The Bootleg Recoring of our soundcheck
<p>We were getting set to perform at the joint in the woods in Orlando and were doing a soundcheck.We got into and did a full set.My wife Tammy noticed a guy holding a mic in his hand,She told the Band "That guy is recording us."We walked over and surrounded him with a very polite smiling circle."Are you recording us?"We busted him.Tapedeck and all with the mic running down his sleeve held in his hand."Cool man,come back to the motel with us so we can hear what you got.It was just a soundcheck,no audience just the crew and the staff at the club.We got him drunk,took the tape and dropped him off in a swamp."This is where you get out mate,have a nice day!"</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798222014-10-20T21:32:59-12:002020-01-27T06:48:36-12:00New Band Rehearsals Going Well
<p>Lots of new things coming your way! Too Cool! Bleeding my fingers on the guitar!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798212014-10-04T19:37:35-12:002020-01-27T06:48:36-12:00Into The Woodshed
<p>And so it is into the woodshed to get the material going.No way to get around that.Right now everything is acoustic,with a little PA in the studio."Oh y'all have it made,you can just record with a studio right there!"Oh no,there are no ambitions at this time to do anything like like that.The recording equipment is shut down.The only ambition is to get material together and go out and play it live.If you really know from the old school,which is the true school it takes a band six months of live work to really get "tight."and then should you decide to record, you do not give birth to an "artificial" product.We have been commissioned to work on a video project,yet that is a separate thing.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798202014-10-04T19:01:35-12:002020-01-27T06:48:35-12:00The Birth Of A New Band
<p>Real good news today,Have gone under agreement to form a new band with my Producer Kenny Veenstra.We have been working together for about four years and well we had been going over the possibility to form a mutual music project of all original material and today got to be working on the arrangements and the birth came of "Rosewater Blue."The last version of The Rene Labre group,and God bless them, was the final nail in that coffin.The thought of pursuing that direction again just made me sick.What it was well, that will stand for what it is Their are still many ideas that will come from it,Those guys are very dear friends of mine,I love them,yet it makes no sense to beat a dead horse.The solo work I did afterwards,it is cool too yet I wanted to get together with a band..I don't really care about being the leader,manager,whatnot/star of the show.With the objective being to go out and play live.And to do original material.To all Tee Blue fans,I have been working with him for two decades and there is no change there.He is one of my closest personal friends as well.There is no bad water there,our next show is October 31 at the Tiki. Kenny is a child prodigy on the piano.has been working a very successful recording studio and media/CD Manufacturing business for many years and now wants to move out onto the live stage.Possesses a master degree in orchestral composition.among many other prestigious awards and scholarships and has worked behind the scenes for the success of numerous artists.I am really buzzed as you can see that he decided to step out and display his awesome talent to the world.He hears me playing and then I drop out with my jaw dropped,the attitude is not the old draggy rock star trip.It is the love of playing music.the joy of it.and then well,perhaps you just get lucky.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798192014-09-17T08:50:32-12:002020-01-27T06:48:35-12:00How Do You Feel About Losing Your Guitar Collection?
<p>"I did have some very cool guitars,not a ahh...monster collection yet it was perfect for me,I loved and spent a lot of time taking care of them.Many very special memories
associated with them,especially my SG and Les Paul Professional..The thief came and stole them.They all have RL carved in the last fret,if you come across one get in touch with me,I offer a reward with no questions asked.Whilst I had them I made the most of it by recording them.How could they be replaced though?and from now on I though man,I just want one guitar to keep close to me all of the time.and thus so I was blessed to have acquired my "Berquis" my Hofner Les Paul Custom.She began her life with me as "Plain Jane" a little Hofner Colorama Custom,just black with no frills but she sounded and felt fantastic!I got in touch with the folks at Hofner in Germany and asked them if they could help me refit her and get her set up to my specs.Which they did do with eight coats of black lacquer.What I got sent back to me was no longer Plain Jane she is now "Berquis!An assault guitar,short scale which I prefer.A tone bomb,blows away all of my other guitars.At first glance you would still think it to be a trailer park guitar.Trust me,this is not a student model,you can balance her on the tip of our finger!Precision German engineering.You can hear her on the video soundtrack Poor Side Of Town.Peace out y'all!Here is the video.
</p>
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RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798182014-09-14T08:05:06-12:002020-01-27T06:48:34-12:00I Do Not Want to Be An Internet Watchdog
<p>Fuck that,that was only just a tip to help some people out.The whole thing to me is very boring and a huge waste of time.You measure the risk yourself and see if you can take it.You are going to invest into a business that does not have a license,a D&B rating.Does not belong to the BBB?Thus they are not accountable for squat.I want to sing and that is what I am going to do.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798172014-09-10T04:40:06-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:0011,607 E-mail Scams On My Inbox...Wow!
<p>11,607 internet pitches in my inbox and not one of them is worth two cents!I know that if you want to get into internet marketing it is a rough trip and people are preying upon the economic slowdown.Those who are successful at it learned how to do it and it took them a lot of time and effort.I am writing this blog because I am your friend to perhaps spare you from losing your last little piece of money as you endeavor to enter the autopilot world,or the land of to good to be true.Which for them is very good and for you....er...not so good,in some cases bad to the tune of thousands.
1.)If it is to good to be true,then it is not true and not good!
2.)The offers are very tempting,very professional videos are being shot
with the $37.50 that you handed them,the shoots are on location with good props like expensive sports cars and yachts that were not paid for with cash but borrowed or rented.Or somebody's vacation home where they bribed the caretaker."After working for 5 minutes today I like to relax by my fountain and dally with my ten virgins to my hearts content."It is hard to fathom that so many have come to such a point that a screen they are looking at is more real than life!
3.)Before you commit to any offer open a new tab and use a search engine to check it.99.99% of the time you will find the stories of people that have tested it,giving you the realistic pro's and cons, and the sadder stories of those who got burned by it.This may let you down a little bit yet console yourself in the fact that your bread is still in your pocket.And that you are just a bit more clever.
4.)BIGGIE HERE!Get yourself a junk e-mail account someplace and use that for contacts you may not trust.Do not put out your primary e-mail.At the very least they are going to sell your information to every huckleberry up and down the line.Bet in that...WORD!Get use to reading the subject lines on your own e-mails and don't open anything you can't recognize because you are letting them know your e-mail is valid.The time alone that you save is precious!Your junk e-mail account will soon have thousands of e-mails in it.Perhaps you can sell that and send their same crap back to them.I cannot think of a faster way to build a mailing list for free!Also to cover here if you inherit a couple million dollars from a departed one you are going to be contacted by an attorney via certified mail,not an e-mail.Or someone wants to trust you to invest 2 million dollars for them for which they will reward you handsomely my dear one,don't you think somebody with two million stacked could afford an attorney?These are the murkiest characters of all(419 scams),they will bleed you dry!Also to add you did not win any foreign lottery selected by your e-mail address, the Federal Government is not giving you a grant because you paid your taxes and are such a good Joe!
5.)It is not that you can't do it my friend,many people are successful and legit
because they know what they are doing or outsource the right people and deliver the goods and/or services that they promote and handle any problems that come up in the course of it.
Now I will do what I do best,I will play and sing for you.
Peace out/like and share!
</p>
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RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798162014-08-14T15:01:46-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00The New Band?
<p>Tonight was the first rehearsal and it was splendid! The whole thing is just taking form.It will not be the next Rene Labre Group.That is for good or bad,what it is."The Black Beatles' is the final version of that concept.My preference would be to help form and join a band of equal collaborators.Doing all original music,doing it for the love and joy,as well as the healing that it brings.Not for fortune and fame and all of that crap.I'll keep you posted.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798152014-08-10T21:05:32-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00To continue to weave the magic?
<p>Yes!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798142014-05-31T08:46:25-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00Not To Diss The NYC Producers
<p>They did z fine job,They made "The Black Beatles" sound like Sugar Ray,thst was the goal.We did not come up with the name "The Black Beatles" That was given to me by a lady that spit on me " you are the guy with the nigger rock band playing here tonight,she spit on me and said you think yall are "The Black Beatles?"I mean pussy ass Sugar Ray? We would rip them out of their frame.We would kick that ass handily.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798132014-05-29T09:17:43-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00To Those That are into it!
<p>Thank You!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798122014-05-28T07:19:43-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00I have a special treat for you!
<p>Sometimes a song just hits a singer right in the face.I have been requested to do a sound track for a new film,a song I would never have thought to do in a way I would never have thought to do it.Inspiration,that is a hard thing to hold,in fact you can't hold it,as an artist you have to allow it to flow through you.Tune into it while you have got it.I got into this because I wanted to love my work and have fun doing it.thus The money,the ways and means would be there somehow to take the adventure.The thing about it is that it is always a fresh start.Planting another little seed,who knows really which one may grow?Perhaps all of them will!for an artist it is best to tune into the inspiration and let it flow through you.On a fresh and new canvas.what really matters is how you touch people,make them feel something.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798112014-03-16T21:34:40-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00Know Your Enemy
<p>You could have a very fine dinner with people that hate you.Don't be to quick to say how delicious the food is because before the meal is over it shall turn sour in your stomach!Let me tell you.Don't order real big.Ask for two english muffins with jam and tea and a glass of wine to calm your nerves.The conversation is going to turn ugly when the small talk is finished.You are about to be accused.And this is not like a court of law,where you can present a defense.You are guilty.Condemned.your punishment is going to be words..someone that does not even know who you are is going to tell you who you are.Publicly,create a huge scene,other people in the restaurant are going to leave.Very low class behavior.A gentleman is a gentleman at all times,good fortune or bad.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798102014-03-03T23:33:32-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00You Can Do Better,You Can Do More!
<p>"As time rolls along,with my experience,I see that I want to make the tune as simple as possible.That is my thing and how I relate to it.I want the music to be organic.Real instruments being played.I am writing and performing for people,not virtuoso's.I could play something great,sing and harmonize very complicated things.
The thing is,aww shucks,Nashville had a very strong influence upon me.Great producers and recording engineers had an influence upon me.The less that you can do and make it stick,because it is so viable,the more you can do with it.Originally I thought."Fuck That" I am gonna cram every space.Do long intro's and such.Experiment,and that is good,people my dig that.Yet as a professional songwriter cutting a tune you have to get right down to business,the first three seconds has to hold the listener.Live you can do what you want to do.An audience wants to see you do it (that is talent)And you can stretch it out more.Any great producer will realize what you do and cut it down.
They will not walk away from you.There are moments when they will leave the control room to talk to you.This is the time to be an artist not an asshole,they are not going to rack your case,"I love what you are doing,but I feel you could concentrate
just on the whole notes.They have the big picture in mind.or maybe it is "could you try a little harder."I do not consider this selling out or any of that crap,I,as an artist will beg them if necessary to do this for me.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798092014-02-16T01:28:41-12:002017-03-14T21:06:58-12:00The only way to do it for me
<p>Is to write songs and record them in the recording studio.There,unlike onstage,I can do all or most all of the parts.As I was trained to do.The singing,lead and harmonies,
The guitars,rhythm and lead,The bass,electric or double bass,to include five string,$ string electric is still 0kay,the keyboards,the grand piano,Hammond organ,what have you?And a bunch of other exotic instruments I have adapted too.I could not any way do all of that onstage.Not without a band.It is not time yet to get a band together.I wish it was.It is so great to get together with some great players and do a little jam
and say "Hey,let's become a band."You know if you can get a group of people together to pull in the same direction you are going to make things happen.You get a set of kick ass covers together,as well as the originals and hit the pub to play.It is not that way anymore.It is hard for the pub's to pay you.And they would gladly pay if you were selling enough drink.And that is it too..You fill up the dance floor and make people thirsty.Or perhaps they just want to watch you do your thing.Have a great dinner,don't worry about it,if it is good they will start dancing.The new project is on it's way!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798082014-02-13T06:35:17-12:002020-01-27T06:48:31-12:00Recording Artist ?
<p>Yes,primarily so.I turned in my time on the road.A good many years of shaking my ass
up and down the Rocky Mountains.Swinging my guitar and singing my song.There is talk
of me going on the road again,if it were organized I would surely do it.Yet not on some crazy launch,booked through a good agency.Playing live around to or in the state
that is all good,yet out of state I would have to have a good agent.As well as a good manager.It is very cool when after you have spent 25 hours locked in a van,It is cold and you are tired.Yet your destination is The Hilton Hotel in Caspar,Wy.When you get there they know who you are and why you are there.Your toasty warm room is ready,the show is tomorrow night.A hot shower and of you go to bed.The Casper Hilton is swank man,way out west it is!I got fortunate enough to be able to have my wife Tammy Love, to
be on the road with me.Oh man I was so happy!Tammy loved it too!We just had so much fun,we hated it when we had to go back to Nashville,nothing wrong with Nashville yet we got returned to our real life there living on a campground in a converted school bus.May God bless that campground and wherever that school bus is.On the road we knew we had steady money coming.In town it was iffy at best.Oh thank you to Chuggers Lounge, And oh so many thanks to Bobby and Becca.And The Marv Dennis Agency!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798072014-02-13T03:19:06-12:002020-01-27T06:48:31-12:00Major recording studios are closing,wnat is your take?
<p>Home studios,I don't mean to sound all snobby about it,for many folks it works out very well.Many major studios are closing all over the place because so many artists have opted to home record.If you have a studio doing major label business that is great except they are slow to pay out,so it is a good balance to have local groups/indie bands coming in to use the facilities.If you were cool they would reduce their rates and a bunch of projects would be going on so the rooms would be paying their keep.Just to air condition a major studio is two grand a month thus you want as many artists in and out the door as you can.Which is indeed a very cool thing,the engineers can pay the rent and are busy with practicing their skills.The studio is constantly able to upgrade the gear.All of the patch cords are clean and work,laboratory grade.The bulk of my recorded work was done at Morrisound Studios and it was such a wonderful experience,akin to flying in a spaceship..really!I have many films of the experience.Now I am recording at Abbey Road South,(Progressive Media) reason for that being that my producer,Kenny Veenstra owns that studio.It is not quite as monstrous yet packs a 1/4 of a million dollars worth of gear.And kind of a "Beatles" vibe.Single speed glass mastering.in the penthouse I have two basic reel to reel decks I use to get my ideas together.so when I go in and start spending money I am ready to do and know what I am going to do.Yet the thing has got to come down to the basic love of doing it for yourself.Creating a good sound.However you do it</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798062013-05-25T02:17:09-12:002020-01-27T06:48:30-12:00A Spanish Version Of "Poor Side Of town?"
<p>No,Let Johnny Rivers do that.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798052013-05-18T00:09:27-12:002020-01-27T06:48:30-12:00The film is real ly starting to rock!
<p>You can see it here!
</p>
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RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798042013-05-07T19:55:44-12:002020-01-27T06:48:30-12:00So How Did You Make It?
<p>You have to run with the big dogs man!You must work with the highest quality people you can.You have to forget about money and fame and just do what you do.And remember
that you do it because you love to do it!
http://youtu.be/QWjqOjDZZE4</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798032013-03-28T22:37:58-12:002020-01-27T06:48:29-12:00New single drops next month-the 19th
<p>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!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798022013-03-16T18:30:34-12:002020-01-27T06:48:29-12:00The Rock And Roll Lifestyle/Do You Live It?
<p>Oh you mean Like rock and roll all night and party every day? I grew up through all of that.Or should I say I survived it.Some of it was fun and some of it was horrific.When I became a dad I had to leave that crazy life and the crazy people.A single Dad has to be home every night.And you can only burn the candle at both ends for so long anyway,I knew a lot of friends who just burned up....bad.I became more concerned with being an artist and producer more than a rock rebel.Yes sometimes I still have to get back out there and it can be a lot of fun but it is like popin/pop out.And I work with good people.That guy onstage is an act.And for years I was that guy offstage too.playing 300plus dates a year all over the place how can you help it?In your time off you don't have a home life,it is just a bus stop.Crashing on somebody's couch,for five or six years I lived in a converted band school bus.You don't really think about it you know,it's normal to you.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798012013-03-14T17:43:16-12:002020-01-27T06:48:29-12:00I Always Work With A Producer..Why?
<p>I am the executive producer.I carry the axe.Yet I do pretty much give them full creative control.I don't just work with any producer,I seek them out.They first have to be master musicians,licensed and qualified recording engineers,full time professionals in the business.They have to be able to understand where I am coming from and present me at my best.When I write a new song they want to hear it.Ideally as early as possible.They ahh...give me a vision.keep me balanced.They get into it.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61798002013-03-07T15:31:45-12:002020-01-27T06:48:29-12:00Film And Production Work
<p>The film has not been released yet though it has a good buzz going.In production we are re-mastering Crawdaddy County 911 "Full Tilt!" to submit for an add spot for a car commercial.This month's lottery ticket as it were.The truth of it being that I have been way more towards producing and performing in the studio as opposed to live performance.I fine it much more rewarding artistically/creatively.This includes my occasional teaching seminars to engineering students, which net me a lot of free studio time.The course is "The Artist As Producer."I am not teaching engineering,largely I am a guinea pig for testing yet it is a different twist when the artist is the producer as well.Into the nuts and bolts of the production.How everything is laid out and where it is,what is the EQ?How much head room are we working with?What to leave in...what to take out.At what point are we creating and at what point are we creatively masturbating? I was set up to do a couple of cover songs and I am leaning away from that.If you want to hear me do covers come and see me live.In terms of covers I would rather do an unknown song by a great songwriter,preferably one that is broke and hungry,do a great version of that and hopefully make it work.Yet most of what I do,that which you will remember the best I hope,I wrote.I am in this for the long haul and very into songwriting.you start leaning to the covers and get very lazy as a songwriter.It isn't that you have to write,so many fantastic artists do not write,yet if you can write your own material you certainly ought to,Ask Chubby Checker,I spoke to him on the phone on his last tour and he laughed and said,"have you written that hit yet Frenchy,have you got it..? he is inspiring because he is such a warm wonderful person,onstage and off.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797992013-03-02T08:10:03-12:002020-01-27T06:48:28-12:00a trailer from the new film
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RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797982013-03-02T07:00:15-12:002020-01-27T06:48:28-12:00"so Now What Rene?"
<p>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.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797972013-01-30T19:54:26-12:002020-01-27T06:48:28-12:00When do I need a license to post a video?
<p>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</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797962012-12-13T09:15:55-12:002020-01-27T06:48:27-12:00Has your Insrumental Ability Had To Suffer To Bring Forward more Of Your Voice?"
<p>"I would frame that more in terms of me speaking to you as a recording scientist.So I can be totally objective about it.My view of a project as an experiment practically carried out in a laboratory environment.The theory of the experiment must arrive at it's conclusion.Proven or dis proven,the huge amount of research that went into it.Leading to the master session.Followed through in post-production activity.What ought I to choose to repeat over and over an experiment that has already arrived at conclusion?The results of which has convinced me of it's truth and relevance.To my complete satisfaction.It is an intellectual adventure.My sweet addiction.The discovery of who I am.That is what I am after.How can someone love their work so much that on their vacation they dream of getting back to work,on vaca they go over their notes.Your girlfriend gets upset and pushes your notes aside and presents you with her titties to play with."Today you make your music on these."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797952012-12-05T10:11:07-12:002017-03-14T21:06:57-12:00Final Film Shoot Tomorrow,December 6,2012
<p>Well,final for this project for the time being.I got blindsided by my producer about doing a film for the album single.A huge change of tack from where I was going.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797942012-11-23T03:11:02-12:002017-03-14T21:06:57-12:00The Mix Of Digital and Analog
<p>Strict digital recording is to go in and lay down composite tracks that the producer puts together to weave a song out of it.Cut and Paste simply.Pro Tools does not have a problem with you doing it analog style as into a magnetic tape machine.In fact it is much easier to deal with unless you lose a file.If I am contracted to do it digitally I can do that yet if doing my thing I want an analog style performance recorded.Then you can still cut and paste when you need to.Provided you are laying the rhythm track on a click track.And if you have skill you can play around the click track.Not the bass and the drums,they have to be top dead center.Studying piano as a child my instructor always used a metronome.First off on the sheet music are the key and time signatures,the time sig giving the value mostly to the quarter note for beats per minute.Many cats can do impressive shows live for a bunch of drunks yet in the studio they are lost.They can't hold the time sig,a major producer will not hesitate to replace them with a session musician.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797932012-11-11T17:35:39-12:002017-03-14T21:06:57-12:00Where Is The Film At?
<p>The edits on the antichrist shoot turned out well.I am at my most sinister.One more shoot for the other role,the good guy, "Johnny Punchclock" a much more difficult shoot.the guy who always does the right thing,I stole his girl,I turned her on and seduced her,then I turned her out,just like Eve back in the garden,she turned her back on him and would do anything I asked,I deceived her.My plans were to use her like one of my Cohiba cigars,I would smoke her while she was hot and then crush her when she burned out.When she began to bore me and I tired of creating illusions for her.Yet something went so wrong,I fell in love with her,I am not capable of that,,she slipped away and ran back to him,she tried to tell him of the horrible things she had done and he touched a finger to her sweet lips and said "hush,that is all over now,no more of that,I forgive you.I don't want you to know that is something I have no power over.Selfishness and greed,the lust of the eye,I created and control that.The power to truly forgive is a holy and clean thing.I cannot bear to inhabit such an environment.It weakens me to much.She is so happy in her jeans and tee-shirt.And so hot,and she is all Johnny's girl.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797922012-11-02T23:04:45-12:002020-01-27T06:48:26-12:00Marriage?
<p>No,that will not happen to me again.Yet I don't want to say to much because I sing at weddings.You have to respect that institution,I would not dare to fool around with another guys wife.I would feel that if two people are going to be together in an honorable,stable and healthy relationship that is enough.If you want to get married don't just do it though.Both of you ought to make an appointment with a family law attorney for two hours and have it all spelled out to you in plain spoken language the crazy thing that the two of you are about to do because you are blinded by love and passion.Two hours with an attorney would be better than six months of church counseling.You are entering not only into a contract with each other,you have another bedfellow in your relationship,the state, which rules over your marriage.Plus the merger of your two families.I got very fortunate on this one when I was married to Tammy,her parents really loved me and were beloved by me.We had many good times together.You may not be so fortunate.Her brother ("did I tell you about him?")Is getting released from prison next week for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon,a real mean dude,a registered father raper."He is going to stay with us until he gets on his feet."You lucky dog you! Then there is in the USA the huge divorce industry.Nowhere in the know world do people divorce like they divorce here.This is going to be the ugliest battle,most heart wrenching turn your world upside down thing you may ever go through.The two of you may have even decided to do it amicably ah but you forgot about your third partner,the state.So the two of you need separate attorneys greedy for bread,they will fan the flames of hatred,magnify your irreconcilable differences,the groom is now the groom of doom,he only has two things that could work in his favor,he is either very rich,or very poor.If you are anywhere in the middle you are going to be gutted like a hog.Now if before you did this thing you sought the council of a family law attorney and said very innocently "counselor,I am not saying this is going to happen to us,right honeypie,I love you mush,mush,mush...you are my little lovebird,but what would happen if we decided to split up and had two children?"He/she would light a cigar and a rubber bird would drop from the ceiling,the best question of the day "we would have an office party with balloons and everything.We are going to knock down big bucks to simply tear your family apart.Your children are going to become latchkey kids.Your household forever divided.Now this is just for the USA,in other countries people do not divorce because their government is 1000 times more corrupt.And perhaps maybe because it is a much more solemn tradition there.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797912012-11-02T08:33:14-12:002020-01-27T06:48:26-12:00it Is Said That You Crashed With The Circus Animals At Night In Gibsonton.
<p>Yes,that is true.Yet I was the property of The Black Panther.After the gig that is where I was headed.I was rejected and put down by mankind at that time,yet to the animals,who were world famous superstars they were waiting for me and accepted me.For Arty,the elephant,he did not drink so I would have to have a couple of snickers bars.It was the big cats that were stirring,getting all ugly and mean...showing off..pretending they did not know me.Yet knew I had the whiskey.My Kitty was waiting for me,and angry too!Her green eyes flashing the full madness of jealous and love.740 pounds of pussy,My Kitty....my good Kitty.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797892012-11-02T00:09:32-12:002020-01-27T06:48:25-12:00For Immediate Release:Film Shoot Scene one/Take one
<p>Dateline November 2,2012 scene antichrist confirmed for shooting at Abbey Road South Studios Thursday November 8,2012.Crew members are advised to report to the rear entrance at 6 am promptly,coffee and bagels will be served.An NDA and release must be signed.Security team to arrive promptly at 5 am.Brunch will be served at the completion of the shoot.Estimated time from start to wrap is 5.0 hours.Thank you for your cooperation!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797902012-11-01T21:40:22-12:002017-03-14T21:06:57-12:00Personal Relationships?
<p>None except my son.My family and my art.I wish sometimes I could handle that yet I can't.Too much is required.It is just too complicated and I am not together personally the way that I would like.You have to get that sorted out first.Established as an artist.In younger years gone by I would find the time and energy for that.My larger concern is my professional relationships.I don't want to sit on the couch and watch TV.I get off work and am on the hustle.I don't give a fuck about the cat,I use to sleep with a panther,she was easier to deal with than a house cat as long as i had the whiskey.My house cats were all good.Love me? You do not even have a clue what that is,sex..well okay I like that.Yet I am not going to be your personal ox because I managed to get laid.I get let down by that whole thing,if you shag out one chick or the other what is the difference?Is she concerned about your interests as well as hers?There are women that are that way,long ball hitters.She is your pride and joy,your pretty little thing.She may only be 98 pounds soaking wet or 300 pounds lying on the beach,if she is your lady and you dig her she IS YOUR PRETTY LITTLE THING.And she cares for you as you care for her.Now you cannot be a bullshit man to score a girl like this.Not to be able to behold her.Her conversation with you is intelligent she is all beaming and bubbly when she sees you..."do you want more coffee?" She has got her world together and you have got your world together too..You want her to respect you and be worthy of it! She loves sex and is so hot!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797882012-11-01T13:22:31-12:002020-01-27T06:48:25-12:00You Are The Lead Singer But You Have Different Lead Singers Sometimes On Your Records
<p>The benefit of being an indie pioneer,you don't have to have the same old draggy line up.All of my singers are of the highest standard.If I choose to sick one of them on you I can.We sound like an entirely different group,my producers are expecting me to do the lead vocals and try to talk me out of letting anyone else do it.i have to remind them that we are having fun here.if my chosen singer can't make the grade i will step in."Just give them a shot man!"I am not jealous about it,I handed the ball to them.They handled it like top pro's.I would not have to step in.It is a sign of depth in the concept.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797872012-11-01T09:25:36-12:002020-01-27T06:48:24-12:00You Mention "Orchestra" On Some Of Your Sessions,a Full Orchestra In the studio?"
<p>The "Orchestra Sessions" refer to sessions that have charted arrangements that are being read by the musicians.Some of my players will not do sessions that are not charted.Generally the one's that are also music teachers.This still leaves room to be creative and improvise yet they want that framework laid out for rehearsal and the session.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797862012-10-31T22:08:57-12:002017-03-14T21:06:57-12:00You Recorded With Billy Shears from Sargent Pepper's Band?
<p>Why yes,recorded?..we featured him,full orchestra at it's finest,him on the drums also sir, and backing voices as well.The one and only Billy Shears.So there is only one eh? He has been a pal and one of my dearest droogs and music mates,if times got lean I could crash on his couch.He had a bit of a tune he wanted to do for his daughters birthday and asked me to jam on it with him.All that he wanted to do was play and sing for his daughters birthday, i am so fortunate to have a pal like this.He agreed to record it and we went town with the full orchestra."Closer And Closer" leading off the home page today @ renelabre.com</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797852012-10-27T11:24:26-12:002020-01-27T06:48:24-12:00You Appear to Be Now Paying Much More Attention To Your Vocals....
<p>I am still doing the lions share of all of the music but yes things have come more to lay for the vocals.More time spent on them,more free to experiment with it.I have always I felt been very underrated as a singer.kind of partitioned into a box on most tours I worked into only doing two or three rock numbers,real high energy stuff to pick up and knock the house down.It would not even have been considered I could sing anything serious.Its part sound, part accent, part inflection and part performance intention.This left me with some hangups in that I grew to believe that was all I could do.My sister gave me the coups de gras one day telling me i was dogshit as a singer."You have a horrible voice,you have no range,no tone ,no expression, and no dynamics.You are just somebody that gets up onstage and shouts,a fucking clown."I don't think for all of the bad things I have had said to me anything ever hurt me like that.And I am a good singer,a professional,since I was a kid people would pay me to sing without complaint.I took stock in that and thought,"I think things that I can't sing,Maybe a vocal coach can help me.That led to two years of voice lessons and coaching,many thanks to Lynette Cordoso,"Frenchy if you can think it and feel it you can sing it.Yet you need to train the right muscles,you need to learn how to breathe again." There are many tips and tricks to it.You have to know what your body is doing and how to control it,you think somebody just walks in and knocks off a recording like Frank Sinatra.You have got to warm up,you have got to cool down.you want to be real loose with it having the time of your life!Blowing your producer away!Yet again that is just my story,oh trust me I know and treasure some artists that are genius,they just do it,I have got to work at it to bring it forward.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797842012-10-25T11:47:22-12:002020-01-27T06:48:24-12:00Album Project Well And Running!
<p>Yes,the single,track one is completed yet we have a film shoot going for it at the same time for a documentary/entertainment shoot.and we cannot release the track until we get a license agreement with the writers/publishers.I have three weeks that I have to hang with the film crew to shoot.It takes a lot of focus to keep that together.Good camera people not to mention my producer/director as very busy so you have to fit into time windows.This omitted a location shoot for the most part.I will do my two main scenes in my penthouse and at Abbey Road South.The sets have to be set up in advance so we can shoot quickly and professionally.IF ANYBODY ASKS YOU IF THEY CAN USE YOUR HOME AS A FILM SET TELL THEM NO!I knew what I was in for and can handle it,it would drive you crazy.I am very into filming as I am working with very cool pro people.I have to do a solo acting job on duel roles,The Horrible Anti Christ and Johnny Punchclock.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797832012-10-24T15:20:05-12:002020-01-27T06:48:23-12:00That Donna Thing,I Do Not Believe That!
<p>Sure and beguerlin 'Tis all of the truth matey!I met her at a gig and she can shapeshift you see.she has 200 pairs of shoes and has certain garments that allow her to do that and she appears four feet tall."Still to damn short" She grumbles standing on a stool to get us teacups."She would fix us tea and blueberry scoines."Can I kick off me shoes and rest now Laddiebuck?I would place my left hand down to the floor and place her in my right hand in the groove between my thumb and index finger.We would enjoy our tea and crumpet,she is from Kildaire county upon the old sod.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797822012-10-22T19:19:43-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00You Are Acting Again?
<p>The film stuff is all pretty cool,yet my desire is to get into the album project,much more work and much more planning has gone into that.The camera yes,and that is great you know.that kind of escapes planning though cause I could just do some crazy thing for a second that would make people crack up laughing and that would be okay with me.The filming,first of all...storyboard, something has to be planned out,,that is a production meeting.A location for the set,that is a day or two of driving around and looking at places.Then you have to ask permission from whoever owns it to shoot there.if they give you permission,many times they will request that you insure the set. when you register the set with the film commission they will demand that.10 grand for personal or property damage.Yes of course you can sneak around that a lot.which is kind of fun,I mean once you are in place and doing it and it is a professional thing you can get it done.Yet you could be arrested for trespassing and all kinds of stuff.the biggie here being somebody getting hurt or property being damaged in that order.Look at what happened to the pussy girls in Russia,two years in prison and not just them but the film crew too which is not reported, from a film shoot.that I bet is some harsh prison time,"What are you in for?" "Shooting a music video."I would not want to do two years in any prison to be famous.If that set was registered with the film commission nothing would have happened.So perhaps you get my drift here.In the USA the police, if someone called them, for the most part I think they would just shut down the shoot and everyone go home.If it was a registered shoot,you had the license in your hand they would hang out guard the shoot.The proof of a real pro shoot is the presence of the taco wagon for the film crew to nosh in.The police officers are gazing at it,"Officers,if you haven't had lunch yet help your self by all means there is plenty to go around."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797812012-10-18T21:43:23-12:002020-01-27T06:48:23-12:00Where do You Feel you Now Stand As An Artist?
<p>"Let me get my horn out of the case so I can blow it!The key is e flat.Frank, as you know it hasn't been an easy ride yet it is a question of how one responds to the challenges,If you've had an easy time you have not gained strength,the low hanging fruit is not there anymore you have to go out on a limb for it.You have to look around and find your ideas.Refine your strengths,work on your weak points.Develop
your skills.Discover what the message is that you want to bring forth and who you want to bring it too.If you are striving to go further than just to perform for family or friends or at the pub on the weekend to be successful what you are doing has to strike up a conversation with who you hope your audience is to be.They have to feel and be able to relate themselves to what you are doing,put themselves into it.Of course that has always been true Yet now we are in the digital age and you have got three seconds to relate or the channel gets flipped.Thou can no longer bullshit thyself,one must make serious decisions which require focus and serious dedicated preparations.And you need a ways and means.This leads to an interaction with other people and you have got to weed that out also, to work with quality people you must present yourself as quality also.Quality people are doing things,they are busy and don't have time to screw around.I have been really blessed in that regard.When you can motivate quality people to pull in the same direction as you that activity begets activity.You just can't hang to long with flakes or you will become one.I did not desire to stay in the same place as an artist,continue to follow the same formulas and run it into the ground again and again.I did not want to spend the rest of my life singing "Reeling and Rocking" in pubs all over the place.I mean that is fun and all yet it is not the statement I would wish to be remembered for.And it is not an ego question either,It is not right to consider that one artist is better than the other,every artist is just doing their thing.They all appreciate their differences.Ego trips and star trips are not tolerated here,I refuse to deal with a childish mindset like that.We are all just the crew here,that is how it works.The proof of course is in the pudding and I feel very happy and rewarded by the new project I am involved in.I haven't started the conversation yet</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797802012-10-13T06:51:41-12:002020-01-27T06:48:22-12:00Do You Get High In The Studio/
<p>I would get tossed big times from the studio if my producer even suspected I was doing drugs.I can drink all of the coffee I want,step out onto Abbey Road South And smoke a cigar,But to sneak a snort in the loo...it would be over and done.I don't need it so it is all cool.I am a pro,after the work is done and I am back at the penthouse I may have a glass of merlot and trip out on it. At the studio it has to be wound up as tight as it can get and that is a buzz too.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797792012-10-12T22:33:44-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Final Mix Completed For The Soundtrack And Single!
<p>It was a great day at Abbey Road South down in old soho.Hats off to my producer, Ken Veenstra and many thanks to Davy Boy for making time to do the drums.Also to Les and Kevin @ Colorama studios for doing the rhythm track and making the format import to soho so smooth.14 months worth of work laid to rest.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797782012-10-06T07:53:59-12:002020-01-27T06:48:22-12:00It Has taken A Lifetime,My Lifetime
<p>I was not a little cutie from the suburbs,I came out of the inner city.Daddy would buy them a les Paul and a pa system if they promised to cut the grass all summer.That's cool too you know,they really were great players and were expected to grow up and out of it as most of them did.I was a poor kid from the inner city.We had to make our sounds on crappy little second hand things and we did do that.I grew up and not out of it but INTO it.We had a lovely home paid off by my fathers life insurance policy but not too much else,as a very young child I had tons of music lessons from a great teacher, as long as i turned in the practice time the money was there somehow for that,if I did not practice my elder brother would beat my ass.Same with my grades at school "what do you want to be,a steelworker punching a time clock or an artist?"He was going to break into a music store and steal me a Gibson ES 335, he had the catalog and said "Which one do you want pal?"I begged him not to do it.Even though he beat me up a lot we were very close,he would never let me down in a jam."I am good right now with my silvertone,thanks man you know I love you,i am not ready for a 335 anyway."I pretty much had the piano down but was left handed playing a right handed guitar.Like a retard.My piano teacher had passed away and my guitar teacher deemed me hopeless."Stick to the piano" he said,you will never play the guitar."Up your piping mate is what I thought I can play anything I want!I had a very cool friend Jeff Platt who was fiddling a bit with the bass but wanted to be a lead singer so I started playing bass in his band quitting my own group,and the bass got me used to playing right handed.I was using his rig/bass and amp and begged him to sell it to me.We agreed on a price of 157 dollars for the "La Bozz" bass and Rosac amp.Good lord I think it took me three years to pay him off in nickles and dimes.but I paid him off and learned how to play right handed.So when I went back to the guitar I was ready.and had learned how to play bass.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797772012-10-01T18:57:56-12:002020-01-27T06:48:21-12:00In Some ways It Is better That i Make My Money Outside Of The Music Biziz
<p>Then I can get onto it and do what I want to do,not what I have to do or am expected to do.Or ordered to do.I want to get into it man.I am not coming at you amateur hour either,I utilize top studios and professional producers/recording engineers.Not cheap shit home recordings.At home i only use reel to reel decks.I own it all too,via international copyright.The exclusive rights are mine even on my covers.Playing in a honky tonk is still great fun to me yet I do not want to depend on that for my living.for oh so many years I did.And it was all good.I was not hurting too bad about money.I was pulling in 300 a week to play and sing.That is pretty decent bread to live on.But I need that each and every week.I have to pay taxes just like you and all of the stuff.Now it is all hit and miss.Your audience (Those that support you) is now hurting and there was a day when they would travel state to state to follow you.How great it was to see and hang with dear friends like that!They can no longer afford to do that.people that once would allow a musician they loved to crash on their couch,which was the key to many artists "making It."For centuries.So I have got to dig up out of my own pocket to bring it to you.I want it that way.I have to labor as an indentured servant to get it out to you.They sought to De-humanize me and they were very mistaken.I have a college degree.Rights and privileges that cannot be removed.It took me 26 years to get that. I am immune to being DE-humanized.I am a very finely educated person.you can find a way to take everything away from me but my son,yet you can't remove my dignity as a human being.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797762012-09-25T12:45:52-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Recording Session 10 AM @ Abbey Road South!
<p>My most beloved younger brother Davy Boy (The Circus drummer) doing the drums for the lead single and film soundtrack on my new album.It is of course a film session as well and a very hard fit because he is always on the road performing for comedic genius Dennis Lee.The little blighter successfully ran away to the circus as he decided he was going to make his money playing the drums and nothing else.And he was upset because he knew I was doing this session and used a session drummer on it,"what,a bloody session drummer on one of your records,your kidding me aren't you,I am your session drummer,you ain't even going to give me a crack at it?You just can't wait a couple of weeks until I get back to town you f--k--g Scrooge you.I have to be where my money is,I do 3 to 4 shows everyday you little pansy,Mr. Executive Producer,all over the USA non stop.If you are such a great exec producer it is your job to work this out.And I want my session fees paid out cash mate."I really like this,a spark of jealousy with a hint of creative combat.All of this was four months in the careful planning.The focus if you will.Ignoring all of the distractions to get this session together,my heart was even broken during the course of it.I feel so empty and abandoned.I can only just hang out with our hunting dogs.My producer, Kenny Veenstra, is licking his chops over all of this."I am so tired of recording bullshit,this is the perfect situation!They are putty in my hands.I shall break both of them down to hammered shit and rebuild them." The session guy did a good job,he is very talented yet you see we need a very high intensity environment to work in.We have got to score a hit that is beyond reproach.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797752012-09-22T18:18:02-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00It Takes Time
<p>And effort,if it were just to play in bars I would not want to do that anymore.I have already done that most of my life.It can seem like a really cool scene yet then comes "Last Call" and the night is over.When everyone is liquored up they can talk a lot of stuff,you might be able and have time to hit a one night stand but that is not a meaningful thing.Though God bless it may pull you through.Yet you come to find that person is still a stranger to you.I never gave that much thought to it.It is a job to me.You can easy get wrapped up in a bunch of crazy stuff you are not prepared to deal with.Especially on the road out of town.Someone you deemed to be pretty easy to get along with can go complete psycho on you.All kinds of demons get unleashed.And you are then one they have decided to blame.And this situation is only going to intensify.Starting off with just a few little strange blips.The sex may be astounding yet it is only the bait for the trap.And the trap is misery for you.This is not good mental health and far from what anyone with any level of sanity would call a healthy relationship.Open up the window cuz,the door may be double locked and slide out soft and slow,hang drop two stories if you have to and hit the ground running do not look back to see it.Conversely to that a normal healthy relationship is based upon a trust and a friendship.There may from time to time be assertiveness on your part or hers, because this is a give and take thing.with the end goal of it being able to grow and mature together step by step.Wow! not kid stuff!And yet again this would come from a level of good mental health.Which means the ability to reason with each other.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797742012-09-10T17:37:34-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Coming Up Tough Rock And Roll
<p>Well I wasn't a rich kid from the glorious suburbs.Oh so pretty and oh so rich.I came up out the inner city growing up poor in a tough neighboorhood.The rich kids were cool enough and friendly owned Gibson guitars and full pa's,"Now son you are going to have to cut the grass all summer to pay for That firebird I got you.I guess that is okay you know,'cause he sure could play that fucking thing too!and junior was soon to go to college and grow up and out of it.i instead grew up and grew into it.It's funny looking back because all that they really ever did was cover stuff.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797732012-09-04T20:32:27-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00So What Is The Thing That is Going To Last?
<p>The Thing That has been recorded correctly.In whichever medium you are using.Yet to achieve professional results you must have professional technique.You can't hobby this thing,some of those closest to me beg me to stop,to cut the journey that I have to take short.to stop being creative,to stop coming up with ideas.This is my life to live not yours.You are not going to die for me so stop acting like that,stop acting like if I would cease being creative YOUR life would be okay.Live your life for you alright?Find out like I did what you have got to do and do it.I can't stand for somebody else to tell me who I am,or who I ought to be.I know who I am.Whole,perfect,and complete.It is what you think it is and you have shouldered the task to build it."Make it just a hobby so you will be safe,You can be an ameteur.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797722012-08-24T04:36:58-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00What Else Did Donna Do For You?
<p>She loaned me her acoustic guitar,let me stay at her home,and drove me to the studio.in the studio when i cut the vocal she took off her shoes becoming her real size.2 inches and climbed pon my right first finger and i placed her on top of the lead vocal mic and sang to her.She danced for me.We were not lovers just real close friends."Aye an she can surly say,will you take me out for dinner laddy buck?"Will you kiss me goodnight please?"</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797712012-08-22T21:51:33-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Oh Come On! Donna Is A Leprecaun?
<p>Aye,sure and begurlin' she is that.she can of course shapeshift yet this dear lass from thee old sod and dear friend of mine of course can shape shift. she is not even two inches tall.ahh I charge you to find such a cute little pretty to be a part of your life. she showed me her pot of,not gold...diamonds.and told me "laddy buck,i really love you,I would grant you any wish you asked of me!"She would get so angry with me when I wished for the two of us to have the best ice cream cones the world had to offer.Oh yes,she was very angry until she tasted the ice cream!And my second wish of her.To kiss me goodnight holding her on my finger like I have never been kissed before nor would I be after."We have to go out on the front porch and you place you hand upon the earth." I did and she took off her shoes and was less than two inched high and climbed upon my first finger of my right hand.I stood up and held her,"place my back to the moon lover boy and kiss me."Her lips tasted like cherries and apples and she reached up behind her with her right hand and pulled the moon down behind us!I placed her on my shoulder and went back into the cottage and wrote the last verse of her song. I still have one more wish,what shall it be?</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797702012-08-22T21:23:28-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00It Seems You Have Moved Away From The Guitar To Your Singing
<p>Not so,it still originates from the guitar and I am playing all of them,The tune was composed on a guitar,I can and have written from the piano yet for what i do which is rock,ahh...on the piano you more compose ballads.Suffice to say before I do any singing at all I have already cut the guitar plus the bass as well.A lot of them too..six or seven guitars and two or three basses.Plus the keys.I could have done a spiffy as heck guitar solo on the new single yet I did an oboe solo instead!when you see the film you will see why.I am not shooting for radio or rock stardom at all.I am shooting to be a consumate artist,If you will.I have no care about being played on broadcast top 40 radio.Most humbly and thankfully I am sending you a message to begin a conversation with you.This is my radio station.Broadcasting worldwide.I am going to start going more live with it yet am still working out some bugs.I thank you and appreciate that you are listening thus far.,The money?I can live very well very simply.I have to pay the people that work for me,to bring this to you,I have a wolf I have to feed and care for,pay the bills,therefore I have to bring something to you that you are going to dig.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797692012-08-20T21:35:01-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00(Update)What Made You Angry Today?
<p>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</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797682012-08-16T06:37:23-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00I Don't Want to Cut records Anymore Without Davy Boy on the drums.
<p>I need to have that shit hammered!I want aggressive and over the top.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797672012-08-16T04:09:25-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00What Is The Role Of Your Producer?
<p>They create value out of what I am doing.At home I have a full reel to reel and digital studio,where I put my ideas together.Yet I would not cut without a proper producer.They level me out and balance me.It makes the whole thing fun for me because I am just the artist.I know the final take is way going to stand the test of time.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797662012-08-08T20:25:05-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00You Still Have A Regular Job? Full Time?
<p>Yes of course I do silly!Years ago back to my youth oh yes I just played full time,things were still good then and there was plenty of work to be had,if you weren't tied down or had a family to care for you could be a journeyman musician.If things got tight you could crash on a friend's couch.To get paid 3 yardnotes a week to play and sing,you could make it on that.Prices for things weren't so high as they are now.Every Holiday Inn or major hotel had a lounge running live music 6 nights a week.The same for clubs,lined all up and down the street,many clubs had "house" bands and some of the cats (The family men) would both work and play full time.When you are younger you can swing this you know?There was also a lot of temp labor jobs so if you were between gigs you could bring in decent money as a temp until you got the next gig going.Prices of things were much lower and the dollar had much more value.The kiss of death came to this scene when the legal drinking age was made to be 21 instead of 18.That was the first hit.People were just having to much fun in the eyes of straight society who want slaves and robots not free spirited happy people who work hard at their jobs and then let their hair down and enjoy the fruits of their labors.They worked all day so they could dress up and dance all night!That really bugged the squares who are greedy and all they care about is money and more of it.So then the cost of gasoline was raised astronomically, a product really that is produced very cheaply at staggering profit,this in turn raised the prices of all goods because they have to be transported.Oh how the wealthy then got so much richer yet you know it is never enough.And they live miserable lives.Plus they are to lazy to take guitar or piano lessons.And they desire to have mindless slaves to do the work that brings them the money.Any type of creative thinking for a slave is stifled and shunned.Forbidden.They will take your innovative ideas from you as long as they can take the credit for them for free or next to nothing.In 2008 a recession was created giving them the illegal right to deduct your already to low wages by 6 percent.Funny thing here.Their bonus did not go down,it increased as they rubbed their greedy little hands together.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797652012-07-26T12:40:51-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Your drug of choice?
<p>Fine red merlot,With a nice dinner,sometimes Jim Beam Bourbon.Yet when I am working I am straight.You are stronger when you are straight,reliable,professional.On the clock.Then you are relaxed and going to check out your work.Your focus.That is how i do it. You choose your battles.The cops stop me because my bass guitar head is hanging out the window."You have to put a red rag on that...can we search your vehicle?"Yes officer you may.I am tight.I am a long time pro..After the show when i get home I am going to pour two fingers of Jim Beam Bourbon into a glass,add six ice cubes and then pour coca cola over it.Light up a fine Cuban Cohiba and listen to my music.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797642012-07-25T12:18:03-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Film Production,how deep are you?
<p>Like 1986 when I got really serious more than say just running a camera,running a plot too.Just before everything went digital.it was deep to me because it was freezing time,space,and sound...making a permanent record of events.I was always going to be just that young.Plus film people are much more cool to hang out with,most musicians,there is not a lot of intellectual stimulation there,the brilliant ones yes but for the most part it is a fantasy land,a cartoon really.A dream that will never come true.The creative part is great but then ahh..real life is shielded by sardonic laughter and talk of dreams.You have to forgive that too as it is a hard road and a tough profession.You can be very up today and down and out tomorrow.The film people are much more close to normal reality and can morph around more than musicians to get gigs.And they have that crazy side too...I began to travel with them instead of the band,having lunch at the taco wagon instead of the buffet table,food fights at the taco wagon and we all return to the set with beans,rice, and gravy all over us!The producer who came up as a cable page understands "Okay,that is a wrap for today,everyone go home and get cleaned up and rest,we start again at dawn tomorrow,let's try to get serious about this ladies and gentleman,anyone who shows up wired is fired!"The actors are all relaxed "now I can get stoned,"on the set they are straight and professional but they like to smoke pot,they are the ones that turned us on,or the poets and songwriters.Yet working they are totally straight.I asked one why?"I would lose focus if I were stoned on the set!"If you have a day off and want to have some fun take an actor to lunch.Invite them and pay for it,they will accept,pick them up and drive them,they will say "Do you want to have a smoke with me?They are so tricky,you are going to hit the nosh with the munchies,yet it is all good,we are going to chow down.It's fun we are ripped and they carry themselves so great,"Hey it is Antoine!You move up easy to first in line.I am real reserved and quiet,and real stoned!so the food is one thing and it is soo good,yet the conversation that ensues is so dynamic.after lunch driving them home it is stoned again.Scene two."is it okay if I crash on your couch for a couple of hours?""No,I have a spare bedroom and guest bath,the hot tub may be good for you, you can rest there,thanks for lunch,I had such a good time!When you wake up you just let yourself out I have a dawn shoot tomorrow.for Colgate toothpaste,You will have to fix your own breakfast,I have both corn flakes and rice krispies you choose."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797632012-07-21T14:07:08-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Session Cancelled!
<p>The main CPU @ Abbey Road went down.I got a call from Ken,my producer who was troubleshooting the prob at 1 am to try and fire up the session at 11am,yet I saw it was not going to be.I have such a great producer who also is a longtime friend.So we spent an hour or so just talking about production plans.We will pick up the ball again very soon and get this session done.It is a very complicated film and recording session overdubbing a live drum track.My producer was mentally exhausted from trouble shooting the control room for 14 hours trying to find good patch and any soft ware to do the session.We can just hold off and get the tech issues re-tooled to even be better.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797622012-07-16T20:47:22-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Do you also have to work?Like a real job?
<p>Unless you are going to pay my bills.Yes I do.Until you get your break you have got to work.And to keep your job you have to be reliable too.I am a good employee.When I come home I want the rent paid and when I flick a switch I want the light to go on.I live in Florida so I also have to have AC in the summer.I have already suffered enough misery in my life.For ten lifetimes really.So I have my simple thing hooked up.My penthouse and sanctuary.With duel AC's and infared sauna.My oil paintings...my pet wolf and a legal insured car to drive out and about.My home office,global media...I am not afraid to go to work and get my hands dirty.I have sown good seed which is going to grow.Far beyond what I expected.I have been so rejected and so hurt yet that does not matter to me today.I can't carry that,it is senseless.I am much more into getting rid of stuff than to carry it.I move a little easier and lighter.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797612012-07-13T00:41:12-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Success As A Musician!
<p>Times are hard in may ways,the old clubs have all closed.The old world model of the electric age music business is gone,right now it just is not forgotten.You have got 100 bands for any club gig.Straight from the warehouse or bedroom to the stage.For a band to begin to become really tight it takes six months of steady playing out after all of the rehearsal time top get tight,to get the dynamics together.These are groups that are not going to play for free draft beer and drive your audience out of the club.If I am going to be local I don't want to play the honky tonks anymore.I want to play the top spots.Three yards a night as a full time professional musician.6 nights a week.I can't tell you my plan.I will show you the results.I am stepping up into the new school.It hit me from a way I never expected.I was all about the guitar yet when i went to NYC the last time I had Charlie Parker's hotel room at the Milford Plaza,but the ghost that came to haunt me was T.Monk.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797602012-07-10T18:14:05-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00Is The Rene Labre Group Disbanded?
<p>No,not formally,not legally.It still exists in the music and the films yet it is a broader concept than just a rock and roll band,which it also was and is.It is the point in view of my publisher of all that I release.The touring band is that,the recording sessions are that,the films are that,my solo releases are that.The Cotton PEvickers are that,Cream And Sugar are that,every release of media of any known or to be known type is birthed out of that concept.The film crew,the producers,the writers,the recording engineers,the roadies,me by myself with and acoustic guitar writing a song on my front porch is an activity of The Rene Labre group.All of it carries that brand.It's a huge diverse cast.It exists separtely by itself.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797592012-07-08T19:47:38-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00What In The World Is That photo?"
<p>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.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797572012-07-07T02:30:03-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00I Accomplished My Mission!
<p>I did not fade from my duties.I carried them forth.Yes I am a product of my influence.Y,et my statement of it is original.I blow faraway The Rolling Stones,live people want me to sing Rolling Stones songs,no big deal.I will do it.The clubs pay ASCAP for that.I am much more empowered than that.I have fun singing them....</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797562012-07-06T22:42:29-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Did You Ever Stop To Think That People May Be Laughing At You?
<p>I would prefer laughing with me because I am laughing too.People will pay good money to laugh,which is as good medicine.And far preferred to being booed eh?IDK,I am not trying to be funny I am trying to be serious.But I am just naturally funny.I am having fun doing this,not shy or ashamed of it. I had to deal many hard times with failure,I tried my best and put every effort I could into it and it gave the ILLUSION of coming up short.The opposite pole of the ILLUSION of success.You learn over time to except failure as a lesson learned.Or if you are just dabbling with something it is easy to let it go.And good for you that you can do that!If you decided to be in for the LONG HAUL especially in the music business as a professional you had better be coming with your best!I am overjoyed with my recorded catalog.I let some live tidbits and outtakes slide by because they are kind of fun to,yet not of the highest production quality,and you will know which one's are "the slammers!"there were a couple of gigs where I was more concerned about "are they going to lynch me?" Much more so than "are they laughing at me?"I come back from the gig with dog food for my puppy.Plus bones from table scraps from the kind cooks and kitchen staff!Thank you much!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797582012-07-06T12:44:16-12:002017-03-14T21:06:56-12:00You Missed A Lot Of Other Things Because You Were So Into Your Music!
<p>I have to think about that sometimes,for a passing moment.I cleaved to this thing from the time I was a child.I raised up a baby son as a single parent.At that time also I had to turn down a major rock band offering me the perfect spot,no way could I go on the road again and these guys were wild children,they LIVED it just as they played it.And that was my thing as well HARDCORE Southern Rock.For so long I paid all of my dues.A lot of cats would abandon their babies to get it on with this.I took my baby son with me everywhere I went.I slipped through the cracks because I was associated with good people.And I own the rights.Even on my covers.Yes I have to pay the royalties,a couple of bucks, yet I can do anything I want to with my covers.I own my covers.the art took first place,well...I am an artist,the cream rises to the top no matter of what.What my baby son needed he had...and it was so much fun to be his Dad and Mommy!We have so much fun together.I want him to step in as the lead singer.to explore his dreams.To me he was already a man as an infant.I guess he was just born a big dog.As an infant he did not whine and cry,as long as he had Daddy everything was good.Oh Lord of my life,THANK YOU!I stepped up to the plate and took my swing,my beloved father created and is always with me.I just c'aint help it...I have such a wonderful father and the ...ahhh,my MOM!!!!!!!!!? For the whole score here for all to see.My Dad passed onward real quick,My mother was always there for me.She did not fail her husband,she agreed to rock some passionate sex with my beloved Father and ahh...here I am!?I adored my dad yet my mom was my best soldier.Had it not of been for her,none of this intense stage play would have occurred thanks for reading,you are a part of it so join in...send some feed back to me!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797552012-06-30T03:57:22-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00I Am Still In Production
<p>It just is not ready yet.i am out of contract terms because it has taken two years to do it.Two years for a single.My publisher understands and will not breech me.IDK,I am a singles artist.my contract is to do one a year.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797542012-06-29T13:25:10-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Best Part Of This Track For me
<p>I was singing it live and bowing a Cello at the same time.This was a gathering of my top session people without a session booked for 4 hours,we were rare as it is hanging loose In the studio.overpaid on our budget,so I started messing with a Cello,and this is what happened.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797532012-06-29T11:37:24-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00I Have To Get At Peace With It.
<p>I really ought to be happy with my what I have accomplished.I looked at a mandolin in the pawnshop today for 99 bucks and said "In two hours I would be able to operate that motherfucker,the viola was the next one I was hoping to hit but I love the mandolin.I do all of the shit on my records.Yes,this is me on the fucking piano,the dulcimer,I tune guitars in ways you never dreamed of and then capo them.I got much more at home in the studio because I did not have to deal with the bullshit of a band.Then I found myself as a singer.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797522012-06-28T00:33:04-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00But it ain't,I have a family
<p>Just today I got to talk to my cousin Diane,I have been drifting further and further out for such a long time and my cousin got in touch with me,It reeled my heart how bad I missed her."The worlds cutest cuz. You would know right away that she is one of "The Bealls of Caledonia."like my sister is.Ohyes I have a very fine sister.nieces and nephews who don't know who Uncle Rene is.I ought to be teaching them how to sing and play the guitar.Take them out for the best ice cream.And now they are all grown up too.My beautiful cousin is not going to allow that to go any further.My pet wolf "Snuzz" is all upset.She wants to play with the puppies,she wants to "watch the baby."Lucky I am to have such a wonderful cousin.,to open my heart as well as my eyes.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797512012-06-24T18:20:54-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Then It Is Me,Just Me
<p>It ain't that.That is a joke.Yet you know it draws it in closer.What if it were that?</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797502012-06-22T11:42:26-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Oh,I still have got my band!
<p>They agreed to do it.I am glad that they did.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797492012-06-22T10:56:35-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00My Mission
<p>I had to find two black dudes to do drums and bass.So I had the rhythm section together.Two black dudthat wanted to play rock!.Thanks to GOD I got the best,Chip and Marvin,they are forever The Rene Labre Group.That is my bad ass band."The Black Beatles "if you will.I love them and they love me.i was so happy when they got together with me.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797482012-06-20T10:32:45-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Are Chip And Marvin In Your Hall Of Fame?
<p>That is The Rene Labre Group proper you are speaking about.You never met three closer people.We use to escape gigs where people were going to kill us!At first Chip would say "Why are you driving like a crazy man?A month or so later he would be saying 'You better drive hell out of the bus tonight because these crackers want to kill us!""So Brown kicked down the fence tonight?"Yes he did,Chip said...with the club owners fiance!Jay Brown was a great agent,we still got paid! he would advance us his commission so we had an emergency fund but I had to bring him his bag of coin as soon as we got back to T-Town.Before we even went home we went to his office.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797472012-06-20T09:26:36-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Things I See That Make Me Sad.
<p>It does not have a point to dwell upon,there is nothing there.Nothing has ever been there,nothing that I am a part of.Nothing that is a part of me.Whatever it is, it is behind a wall someplace,untouchable and intangible to me.Behind a veil,that is better,I can kind of see it but I can't.Very clearly I don't belong there obsessing over it.I already let it go but it keeps coming back...why?It seems so easy yet becomes to hard.And the end result is always the same.It is not a reality.I have to take stock on it,it did not make it then and it ain't gonna make it now.It will never come out from behind the veiled curtain so I can see it,touch it and hold it with my hands.Like it is in danger if I really see it.It is a shadow of someplace in my past.A lovely shadow,I chase dreams,not shadows.to chase a shadow is foolish,like a puppy chasing it's tail.You can make an effort and at least catch the tail of a dream.A shadow is always illusive.So I say let the shadow catch me if it can.And it is too late in the day,shadows are doomed to fade.A shadow will not chase you it will only tag you and say "Your it" chase me! And then it is only to fade away.I choose to persue the light,I have to look forward not back.The thing you saw back there no longer exists.And I love it for what it is and what it was.It is better that I get back to work singing songs.I am happy when I am working.I am in control of that.Whatever happens it is all up to me.I drop the moves.I call a thing into existence out of nothing.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797462012-06-16T15:02:20-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00What is The Biggest Production Problem?
<p>Star trips,selfish little children demanding their own way.Playing head games with the production.Only a very few of my artists come off that way,the thing that makes the sound you see is synergy.I do not and will not cater to star trips,ego trips.Making everything just a big drag for everyone.When I sense that happening,now that I am wiser you are fucking gone,yer just gone and I don't care how you feel about it.I have grouped together a bunch of dedicated people coming in to work.We want to work hard and have fun.and in you come and everyone has to bow down to your greatness and serve your petty ego and all of the stupid shit you come up with to be a major distraction to the project.And you are no better or more important than anyone else here.If you are so great do it yourself.We are all just the crew here you see.The cable page for the film crew is just as important as you.I am in the control room with the engineer and we are just looking at each other saying WTF?I get so angry and I should not because I can more easy just dismiss you from the project and from my life.If you are so great let's see what you can do on your own which will be nothing.You make things much harder than they really are.As I said this is a very rare case with the fellow artists I work with.I ain't going to let you hang me up in a bind.I only stop long enough to taste the wine.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797452012-06-16T00:30:50-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Why do You Allow Different Singers To Step Up?
<p>They do it better than I could.I mean I am really secure as a singer yet on a particular tune they do it better than I could do..It does not bug me...I go with it.I get off on it.Ahh...I can't take a spot that belongs to them.And they are fantastic!I am still on the record doing what I do.I had a good time doing it.I love how it sounds!Boom Baby!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797442012-06-15T23:44:57-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00How Do You Lay Out your Tones In The Studio?
<p>I don't,I just come in ready to play the track.My engineers set up the tones I will release as public media.Much time goes into that by the by to set up what is called "headroom."I do a lot of shifts dialing it in from the guitar,or sometimes they even dial that in for me.I recorded the same as a major label artist would.It was intense pressure,I had outstanding session musicians helping me out.I would seek out and find them and ask them to record with me.Outstandingly talented people and fun to work with.They gave me their best.I gave them my best too.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797432012-06-14T12:25:06-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00" Donna"My Most Beloved Younger Brother,Davy Boy ,On The Drums
<p>He is always busy on the road but I caught him.I was so hard on him,Is that all you can do you little pussy?"I had to hug and kiss him after it was done.I wanted the shit beaten out of that kit.He did not let me down, nor did the recording engineer,fuck your drum machines,reallyI want ass to be whipped.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797412012-06-14T11:51:20-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Did You Do It Without Love In Your Life?
<p>Oh no,I have got my girl.She understands and accepts who I am.Good and Bad.I may change some things about myself to make her happier.But not too much because I would never cheat on her.I have strong things going planted upon good soil.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797402012-06-14T08:02:27-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Well...Who Do You Sound Like?
<p>The Rene Labre Group,that is what we sound like.Nobody else sounds like us.That was the goal.It is an entirely new dimension.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797422012-06-13T12:10:05-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00"Donna" My Most beloved Younger Brother On The Drums
<p>Davy Boy,I was so hard upon him "I want you to slam this shit"I set him up with everything he needed.He came through to the tack man.How I was on him,"is that how hard you can play you little pussy?"He was loving it,he slammed it,just beat the shit out of that kit.I had to hug and kiss him." You made a million bucks today"He is very busy on the road.What a joy he is to work with,A big time pro in any situation,.Fuck your drum machine I have got my younger brother!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797392012-06-12T20:05:41-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Why Does "Donna"sound so good?
<p>My most beloved younger brother doing the drums.Davy boy,I was on on him so bad about it, "I WANT YO TO KICK THE LIVINGSHIT OUT OF THAT KICK SET! Or else you are fired ya fucking cock you!Ya fucking Cock!"Oh man,he beat the shit out of that set,In the studio we played on and on,he sounded so good I couldn't stop!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797382012-06-09T21:18:16-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00The Hardest Thing To Do Is Be Yourself
<p>That's what really breaks you out you know,your own sound and style that is immediately recognizable.It's hard because you are influenced in what you do by the things you dig.That also is true of those that influenced you.So the thing to do is go much further back to find out what makes them tick.The coolest example of this I think in the 20th century was the Chicago blues men and bands of the late forties early fifties."We would all go by and holler at each other watching them play then we would sit and talk over drinks,that's how we put it together in Chicago.There was a lot of money floating about in the clubs.We would cop eachother's licks,far from being upset or angry about it we would be flattered by it and we got some good things from them so it all was cool.It was a local scene just in Chicago,which is a very powerful city full of resource and we had no idea that it was going to float out to the rest of the world.To become the essence of Rock and Roll." So you have got that,now where did these guys get it from,most of them migrated to Chicago from the deep south to find good work and brought something with them.In the words of Otis Rush,"As a child I would labor in the cotton fields of Greenville,Mississippi just to get to the jukebox to drop my last dime in to hear John Lee Hooker sing Big Mama Jump."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797372012-06-06T07:06:38-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Ah Man It Is Much More Than That,I am Sicking "The Reverand" Upon You
<p>He was very happy to be my "sideman" as long as we had a gig to do.He was not expecting this to go down.I wanted him in the spotlight.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797362012-06-06T06:54:24-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00And So You Lead off Allowing "The Reverand" To Rip!
<p>He never disappointed me.He always put out 200%We are human and faced many challenges.I love this tune.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797352012-06-04T21:20:38-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Another Load Of Shit,Flash Is done And Has to Be Replaced.
<p>Your web hosting service would of course want you to believe that line of shit,Flash is free,easy to use, even for a novice to be replaced by something expensive and complicated or you are going to lose out.Flash is good and flash is free.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797342012-06-02T11:40:24-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Michelle Rene,Americas Answer To the Rolling Stones
<p>When she recorded this she was only 17 years old on the road with us.It was not a regular show we had pulled up to a restaurant that had just closed for the night and we were starving."If you will cook us dinner we will do a show for you."When she started out with us she was shaky and nervous,Chip and Marvin loved her so and made every effort to teach her.We had crossed state lines with a minor but Mother was close behind with a sawed off shotgun between her knees.Her dad too.Equipped with horrible explosive stuff.We just wanted to do a show and get our little money and carry on.But Marvin always had a girl.Chip and I not so much,that was funny because Chip and I were the one's that caused the riots.It was all good by the way,Marvin knew he needed the two of us to go crazy.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797332012-05-31T22:21:28-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Perhaps I Share To Much,Place The Info Online For Not 2000 dollars,not even 200 dollars $49.99!
<p>I don't share that much really,just some good basic tips.I answer e-mail questions the best that I can.Yet in life you don't want your left hand to tell the right hand what you are doing.Everything these days are just too damn crooked.You develop a concept and present it to a high authority and they will tell you "It is garbage" and then after you leave they will steal the best parts of it,use them and cut you out of the credits.How can you protect yourself?Before you present anything you must get a copyright for it.Do you know that in a legal copyright dispute you will be represented by the United States Attorney?Free of charge!They will settle with you out of court.You also want to retain for yourself a music business attorney.YOU DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING UNTIL THEY GET A READ ON IT!This is kind of pricey $150.00 dollars an hour,money well spent my friend.I was about to sign a contract with Jetspeed records but allowed my attorney to peruse it,she said "This has got to be one of the worst contracts I have ever seen,if you do not sign it I will not bill you for my time."This is your reward for associating with good people.Oh yes people put me down and talk bad about me all of the time.WTF do I care?I have a big score coming and am in position for it.I put the work in.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797322012-05-31T11:25:35-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Effects On Recordings (FX)
<p>Working in a fully equipped studio make this very nice.I like to see a great rack with twinkling Led's.The first thing I look at is the board and second look for the guitar preamp.The avalon.In digital recording this is essential.It is a given now that you are going to use reverb and delay.How you are going to use it is the question.The main first off is the layout of the EQ on the mixing board for the initial cuts,who is using what frequencies and where?Big time that you want to cut and trim here right now.Thanking your self when you get to post production.This part is all about the recording engineer.Something you do not get with a home studio.I am talking a trained professional audio engineer.Ideally and in most cases for me also a very fine musician.That is not required by the way,but it is great.They usually end up performing on the recording with me engineering.When they advise you,you want to listen to them.You want to cut the track in as much as you can they way it will finally appear.Your signal as direct and dry as possible.And ...this may sound funny,you are playing as economically as possible.Leaving open space for things you do not now hear.If you do it this way when you get to Post production you do not have to depend on fancy effects to make your record happen.You do not have to compensate by putting layers of crud on your record.The cake is already baked and you are just icing it.The cake itself is so good it does not need a whole lot of icing,the icing just makes the delicious cake taste even better and makes it look prettier too!you find yourself not even needing the FX</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797312012-05-28T19:22:36-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00It Is Good To Work With A Top Producer
<p>Then you are just an artist creating.That is your focus.You want to "buzz"your producer.A top producer is always a top engineer as well.As well as an artist in their own right.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797302012-05-25T13:40:20-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00The Image Blizzard
<p>We were strongly advised by our radio promoters to not release any images because we were not teenagers anymore.Like people were not going to find that out sooner or later and at our shows and concerts nobody cared.The racial thing was coming now to an end.In terms of art anyway.We had been around for a long time.Were getting ready to do or first real US tour and start making decent money.2 grand a show sounded kingly to us,we were rehearsing our concert set in a small but very cool club,Instead of doing five sets a night we did two shows of the concert live and were paid fifty bucks apiece.They were both pretty angry with me about that especially when the house was packed.Yet I was selling cd's like hotcakes up to 25 bucks for a single and would split that with them.All week long we would rehearse the concert set at my home and fine tune it.The single was getting to be way overdue which ended up being a year and a half.Chip was the first to tire of it,it had been years and years of all kinds of shit. He felt that he ought to be making about three grand a week.And he was well worth that easy.Yet again we were stuck,all of the odds against us.And he walked out.I did the best that I could to uphold my end of the deal to the point of mortgaging my home and losing it over the single.I had to call up and cancel dates,there were parts of the country that we were red hot,WLAZ in Hot Springs,AK had us in full rotation.Many stations in the secondary markets were very loyal to us,the single,released a year and a half overdue came out after the band had demised.We could not tour behind it.It was pretty bad at the end,Chip and Marvin getting into fistfights onstage after for so long it was us against the world.And at this time I was also raising a child up.For no real reason we were blackballed.The Black Beatles.I walked up onstage all alone for the final show.Lost my home the next day.But for my son and my copyrights, lost all of my worldly possessions,the band made nowhere near the same sacrifice.They were safe at home.And it is all good as I am a survivor,I own it,I paid for it and it belongs to me.You have your share,gladly paid yes, yet not in the publishing of it.Just to have hung in there a bit longer would have made the difference.After all we went through to drive it home and kick down the fence.To really be "The Black Beatles." That is what you walked away from to become "Nowhere Man"
</p>
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RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797292012-05-23T21:42:57-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00What Is Your Take On Bryant "Chip" Collins,Your great Live Bassist Of So many Years?
<p>Brilliant,very underscored was his importance to the band,although when he talked we listened.Ultra sensitive.He always had a major say in anything we put together.Absolutely incredible showman onstage live.To share his company was to be in the presence of genius.To share the stage with him an honor and a joy.You can see in the films that we were not competing with each other,it was just a wild fluid thing,some moves we worked out but not too many.Because we were a racially mixed rock and roll band we always worked in the deep south with the whole world against us.I think the best moment I shared onstage with him was in a honky tonk where some guy in front used the N word and threw his drink on Chip and we both danced to the front of the stage and kicked that guy in the face on cue!Oh man! It looked choreographed!he went down like a sack of potatoes and was removed by the bouncers.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797282012-05-23T07:40:10-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Abbey Road South?
<p>Yes,in the Soho district of Hyde park.Very pleasant...hidden down a little side street.My duties as an executive producer require that I find way cool places to record.Yet there also has to be a high standard presented as well.Spotless control room,an organized proper format that one can import/export with ease.I have survived quite a few format nightmares in my time.Importing tracks literally done in a trailer to a major studio successfully,I mean real tracks too not cut and paste looping shit.Amazing feats of recording engineering as I am sitting in the control room thinking "oh GOD,I hope this is going to work."the tracks for "American Idol Audition" were totally lost on a Roland 4560 machine.Can you imagine getting the phone call telling you that six months of work is lost?I sat down in the engineers chair and found them converting the format to readable pro-tools importing them to Jim Morris @Morrisound recording.That was accomplished by a three way conference call to two of my engineers talking me through it.I have seen a few sessions with artists venting upon the recording engineer,because he says "wait a second." This is never a good idea.To me being in the studio is as to piloting a spaceship and it is that to.You are effectively freezing a section of time,space,and sound.It's fun!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797272012-05-22T20:41:22-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00(oo) (oo) I stole Gary Lefkowith's Guitar Solo.
<p>No I did not,he gave it to me and then moped for days in the studio about it.I had my own solo I wanted to to do yet the BAND would not have it."You ought to do Gary's solo.Certainly and with good reason.And I thought mine that I rehearsed day and night at the Riverside Hotel was better,It was Santana complex.But my men were really on this,especially Andre Mack,My guitar player.And then if I could not outdo Gary,he(Gary) would do the solo. This was all a lot of fun.Mike Rodgers,the producer made the final decision.The Hill and Gary was oh so sulking until he got delivered up his parts to play.The rhythm comps and to solo underneath playing between Andre and I.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797262012-05-22T20:07:16-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00I Would Like To Despell An Illusion for You
<p>That being that the world is set up for those that are wicked and obscene,The tight network of those that cheat and lie to get ahead.Those without empathy and compassion for others.They really turn in NO good works.At heart they have banded together as crooks.They will with such ease sell each other out No matter of how long they have covered/convened each other.They are essentially I find, very cowardly,they cannot operate in the open,it is all in what they consider a secret yet they do not realize their activities are being observed and recorded.By a much higher power than themselves.They are stuck here in this existence to trust those who are lying to them,and here they shall stay until it is destroyed.They posses no dignity.They lived as cowards and shall die as that.We are encouraged to love each other as we love ourselves.To stop being so demanding and live and let live.The pursuit of life is to be happy and healthy.All of this chaos is nothing new.Awaken yourself.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797252012-05-22T18:10:58-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00Legend Has It That You Are really from France And you Biggest Drawback Was That You Could Not Sing In English.h
<p>Ha!.I LIKE that!When I hear a good singer it doesn't matter what language it is in.Perhaps to you but not to me.It has to come from your heart mes amis (oops...sorry!)That is what it is all about.Where I am from does not matter to me it is where I am going that I am looking at.I came from somewhere before that anyway.I may stop and taste the wine or I may not.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797242012-05-20T20:48:59-12:002017-03-14T21:06:55-12:00At End of day What Would You Say?
<p>A fantastic journey and I found what I sought.So much pressure for me to turn away from who I am.After I paid all of my dues.Like that,ahh...my aspirations were illegal or something.I could only be happy if I denied who I am."You were declared worthless by the mass media,is that not enough?"No because the mass media does not conceive anything,they just repeat over and over what they are told to repeat.They are just a movie playing on your TV.And the abyss between the movie they play for you everyday and about and the reality of life is staggering.All of my life since i was a child I was driven,nudged,pushed,inspired,tired...and drove towards it primary cause.Yet to make everyone really happy with me I have to deny who I am.And if I do not deny it I am going to go to hell!Um..I would wait on tables to keep it going.And you complain about me waiting on tables to keep it going as if it was YOU that was waiting on the table,And you HAD to because I want to continue to be an artist.And YOU would finally be free if I stopped.That is what it is ain't it?Perhaps you need to check yourself because it is YOU that sound insane to me,YOU do not concept life as it really is.I am of Royal Bloodline well aware of the truth of life and the history of humankind.You do not possess the means to rob me of my dignity.And I am going to rock on you see.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797232012-05-18T07:59:02-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00It Is Hard To make It Doing This.
<p>Oh yes it is,the hardest really.As a child I made the decision to pursue it,nothign was going to take me off track which is still true today yet to hang in and hang on,I don't know what to tell you,you have to really love it.some folks appear to just slide through it but that is not so,a popular major label artist must sell millions of records before they ever have a dollar that they can call their own.And along the way you are ripped off by everyone.Then if that is not enough you get your tax bill set up to garnish the wages of your day job.Complete with penalties and compounded interest.And you thought nobody cared....</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797222012-05-17T23:12:41-12:002020-08-29T17:57:59-12:00Playing To A Riot.
<p>Oh man,that is the best!you may get torn limb from limb and have your guitar peeled off of you.Girls are crazy you know,Struggling to get to the microphone with three girls hugging on you.Trying to sing with ass pressed on your axe and getting kissed all over your face.So yes the sound may suffer but who cares at that point?Don't get me wrong here,this is not something that happens all of the time it is very rare,the right place at the right time and it does not lead to an orgy after the show,I mean their boyfriends/fiances/ husbands are in the audience,the one that took them to the show and the one they are going to leave with.And I am feeling pretty happy about it.Reeking of female perfume!I have been in my life very heavily censored by the mass media.It sucks big time yet what can I do about it?I haven't quit, which is what they would expect.I find ways to slide in between the cracks.I am an artist,not a sex symbol.An empty that,it is my skill and knowledge that will triumph.I shall sit on the patio of my penthouse and strum the same chords on my guitar with my pet wolf lying at my feet.I may have lost every battle but I won the war,I am a consummate professional.Yes my age may enter into that,after you hit fifty if you can still dream about anything it is a wonder.Yet I will hit the stage Friday night just like when I was a puppy but I am a big dog now</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797212012-05-12T12:49:59-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00How Do You See It?
<p>God put me here to get his jolly's at my expense.OK...so be it.I have been true blue or truly blue whichever you call it.It is only a test.It's all pretty sorry if you ask me.All of this pointless suffering for what purpose?</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797202012-05-11T05:33:06-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00"But You Are Fla man...You Ain't Shit.
<p>So now you have to dis my home,a land of beauty and wonder.I went really deep south to get what I wanted to have.I can assemble if need be... the resources of a kick ass rock and roll band.And we can come to Hot Springs,AK and rip your face off.Burn you really bad,ransack your town for a night.My niggers and I ruled NYC in the time that we were there to record,we OWNED the city.My men were so tight not just as rockstars but as human beings.Helping old ladies across the street in a blinding snowstorm and she would say "Will you please walk me all the way home,I am so afraid I will slip and break my hip."We all thought of that as if she were our Mom.The whole city broke out into the same cry..."who are these crazy niggers?"And please call me a nigger too...within our family it is a term of endearment.We had to do a session that was major label standard.We did not go out to eat,we brought our fish direct from the gulf.Everywhere we were we were cooking. People would complain about it until they got their plate.We were not onto drugs and not into partying,we had a record to cut.And we ripped it out of the frame.I have to let my men know,and my son, who was with us, how proud I am of them.No matter of what comes of it we will never forget.Track on on the player is what we did.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797192012-05-11T04:56:01-12:002022-05-22T19:34:27-12:00Were You And Michelle Rene Lovers also?
<p>Oh no,not that she is very very lovely,yet our relationship was very friendly but strictly professional.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797182012-05-11T04:28:46-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Were You In Love With Susan Gray?
<p>Dolly you mean....Yes although we were friends from childhood.Hangout buddies as teens,And she said to me one day "we are both the same person,Don't you know that Rene?"Yes I do.she was angry with me because I sent her away from the band because I feared for her safety.She went on to establish higher plateaus and became the loving Mother of two wonderful children.So it all is good.Sol em promises between us.Eternal promises.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797172012-05-11T02:34:16-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Keep The Production As SIMPLE As Possible!
<p>I know,if you have a great producer you may wonder what he is hearing, yet the deeper you get into this the more you realize the less that you do the more production wise that you can do with it.Breaking everything down to it's most tasty.Then you have so much headroom all the way around when you EQ.Even as sophisticated as technology is in terms of EQ you have phase cancellation.Some frequencies will only stand so much and when they are strained phase cancellation occurs.Yes it can be modified,manually and it depends on the project you are working on.This is specific to a great rock record which is a commercial recording.I have observed full orchestras being recorded.My Jaw dropped to the floor!Writing a great rock song is very demanding but it is true.Writing a shmoozy love ballad is much easier.Nothing wrong with that by the by they never go out of style.But writing a jump up rock number that makes the audience freak when they just hear the intro.Ask Tom Petty who does NOT do any covers.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797162012-05-10T01:17:01-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Then Again In Session When I Had to use A Tele,All Was Well.
<p>I do not want to play one all of the time.They just don't feel right on me.I have guitar player friends and that is all that they play,and to watch them just makes my jaw drop.They are ugly looking,uncomfortable to strap on.Yet they have a unique sound.If that is the sound the producer wants I am well versed in operating that guitar.I would never use one onstage.I don't like single coil pickups,occasionally I get that for tone purpose yet I want to be sure the sound is going all the way to the back of the room.Big and fat baby!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797142012-05-03T23:36:59-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00The Final Day Of Michelle Rene
<p>Was her final recording session and interview.What did you do with the final day of your life?When this went down she did not know that we were searching everywhere for her to do a session.Six months later we came to find she had died from breast cancer at age 28.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797132012-05-03T09:17:31-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Well.Gregg Pruitt Was In On Me Getting A Copy Of The Masters
<p>In a more candid moment on the plane Gregg asked me how much cash I had."When We are done I want you to have a copy of it."It cost me a yard and a half for a quarter inch two track master.Good thing too because "Blackstarr" got lost in history.Gregg passed away 7 years ago I said goodbye to him at his funeral and said "I got it man."Blackstarr" scared the shit out of the major labels,this was what Larry Blackmon wanted to do with his band "Cameo."They wanted to enter the white rock music world with a black band."Blackstarr" was much more militant than that,they did not like white people and did not want to play for them,nor did they have to.The creative genius of "Blackstarr" was Shawn Brown.and producer/co-writer Rick Thomas.what bugged everyone up was this whiteboy guitar player and his soulful guitar playing.They loved me so dearly and at the same time resented me so much.And oh man how much they empowered me,cut me down to shit and built me back up with these economical tasty little funk licks that they taught me how to do and then out of jealousy would turn my guitar off onstage and do all kinds of stupid shit.At the Bayfront center warming up for Rufus and Chacka Kahn they turned of my guitar as they did numerous times and I just walked off the stage,I really loved what I was doing,I was the most economical and tightest guitar player in the world.I thought that I would meet and greet many great black artists and do guitar on their recordings.I did not do any guitar solos,I just slammed the pocket.I did not care about doing solos.Shawn carried the ball,no solos were needed.It was their racist mindset that killed them and but for me and Gregg you never would have heard this phenomenal music.But here 'tis.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797122012-05-01T08:10:22-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00"Make It Right'
<p>i have already told you the story about it.How tightly and wound up I was geared.This was a very black band.Backing up the pure genius of Shawn Brown.We did not play for any white people.I as the white guitar player of the group learned my lesson so hard,they wanted to replace me with a black guitar player and have me be road manager yet no black guy could get as tight as me.They never paid me any money for all that they asked yet did pay me in full in different ways,a private hotel suite with anything I could dream of present.The cream of the crop of the finest black pussy you ever thought you saw.This was the way black music was going to go and they were on top of it all,but that white guitar player was a real problem so the powers that be just took the guitar out to deliver you the shit black music you hear today.I though I had it so made,that every major black artist would want me on guitar for their records.Total economy,total control.It was so drilled into me.I got to fly one time in my life on a Learjet to Miami Criteria Studios yet it was much more like I was kidnapped,pushed and shoved pulled in and out.Really thug and brutal..I had my Les Paul Custom but it was taken away from me "don't worry about it,we have a guitar for you to play."We did not go into terminal the car went straight to the plane on tarmac."What about my Les Paul?" "Shut the fuck up whiteboy,get on the plane!" On the plane was the drummer,Gregg Pruitt and in the seat next to him was a 1953 Fender Telecaster esquire with a Fender princeton amp.Gregg was a little bit nicer to me but not to much "this is what you are going to play and I am going to show you how you are to play it." "OK.I am down with it,could I have a shot of bourbon whiskey please...Jim Beam if you have got it." I hate to fly but this lear was something else.After the album session my les paul was in the waiting room and I was stranded in Miami.Dumped out on the street but I slipped the engineer 150 bucks to get a copy of the master.I was on the street but had my les paul back and a copy of the master.I got a taxi to the station and rode a hound back home.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797112012-04-30T18:06:45-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00It Is Best To have Your own Website
<p>Yes I feel that way,you can save a ton of time and money,set it up how you want it to roll and let it fly.You want to have honest content for the search bots.Then you can hire some experts to tweak it.So you say it all there without chasing around everywhere.All internet guru's are selfish people looking to milk your money and worst of all your time,they seek to confuse you and bombard you with shit e-mail.This selfish flock is not going to give you anything but the toilet paper they have already wiped their ass with for not 2000 dollars nor even 500..Why not even 100 dollars for $47.00 you are one your way to millions.and then even if you don't bite they sell your info to every other greedy little ass hole they know.Unsubscribe to ALL of them,get an e-mail on yahoo for them to dump into.Like fuckoff@yahoo.com</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797102012-04-19T14:32:32-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00What About Fender Telecastors?
<p>I would not choose one,I owned one once but let it go,well no...a girlfriend smashed it to pieces in a jealous rage to see if I would beat her up over it.I didn't,moreover I felt sorry for her childish temper tantrum behavior.so okay,obviously it is time to pack my bags and head on down the road again.I am sure that my Les Paul Custom was next on the target list.Smashing the Telecastor did not have enough required effect to land me in jail for beating up my lovermate in a domestic dispute.Asta la vista,and viya con Dios my friend.Oh yes and my black strat also got totaled that night,I had forgotten about that joyous occasion.They were laying in pieces all over the street in front of the house.I packed my suitcase and picked up my Les Paul and split on down the moonlight mile.I don't care how good the sex is,I am not going to live like that.I Have never used one live on stage but in the studio were a couple of times that the producer insisted that I use one and in post-production I understood why.I have a couple of guitar buddies and that is all that they use and they make it talk too!when I sling one on it just does not feel comfortable to me.It doesn't ride on my hip right.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797092012-04-19T13:54:01-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Do You Like Fender Guitars?
<p>Love them!My top choice would of course be the Stratocaster,That was made for lead guitar.It is the universal do-everything guitar,very reliable and low maintenance.Yet for many years I was strictly a Gibson man.Because Gibson is a pure blues guitar that lends itself perfectly to rock.The fender,as wonderful as it is does not have the depth of tone as a Gibson does.Nor does it have that big sweathog melted butter fingerboard.Humbucking pick-ups that blow your sound out all the way to the back wall of the auditorium.But if you drop a Gibson or it gets knocked over probably it will kill the guitar.I observed a crew member from another band accidentally knock my strat off the stage it did a full two and a half off the stage twelve feet onto the dancefloor,I picked it up and it was still in tune.And is was an accident,not ill-intent,the other group was very concerned and their guitarist said he would give me one of his if it was broken.But it all worked out just fine.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797082012-04-14T15:03:16-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Sessions Like Pulling Teeth??What Fun Is That?
<p>I made it sound pretty bad didn't I?It has been a lot of work,almost two years.And it has way morphed from how it started out,Acoustic and unplugged with a female lead vocalist.As basic and bare bones as possible.We rehearsed it out on the shrimp docks late at night and it was great fun yet one by one all of the female singers refused to sing the song.I was hoping and trying to track down Michelle Rene to do it,it was perfect for her.Yet alas the word came back that she had passed on to the next plane.I approached eight different ladies asking them to do it and they would rehearse it or listen to the dubs and say "I would NEVER sing that song." I spent a couple of months on this after recording the initial rhythm track finally to accept as an omen that I was not going to get a female lead on the track.At least not on the initial release.Normally I do the lead vocals but from time to time I like to bring another singer in that I admire and back them up.It gets away from the same old all the time,changes the dynamics of things.and on this tune it was a gender change in the lyrics.But finding a female singer just went on and on and I realized it just was not to be.Michelle Rene was gone.(Breast Cancer-age 28)Moving forward now in terms of production I was busy between two recording studios,the rhythm tracks being done at Colorama Studios and moving that format to Abbey Road South for Ken to enter in as producer.And the original basic acoustic track began to expand all by itself.I am not sure how to explain it,the thing started to breathe all by itself sitting in the can on the hard drives,it just expanded and contracted and I was trying to keep a lid on it.Ask Kenny on that,I wanted as basic a track as possible yet the track was alive and had taken on a life of it's own and I had to surrender being the director and become a vehicle.Of course we have saves of the acoustic versions and even some of the early rehearsals which will be released to show you what I mean.From time to time(in return for free studio time) I function as an artist as producer for engineering student seminars,starting with Full Sail and Jon Phelps way back in 1978 At Bee Jays Studios/Orlando.I would cop from Dr. Pallbearer and say "well class let's go into the lab and see what is on the slab."They would respond with "Dr.Funkenstein,IT IS ALIVE! and such is the case here.I must be getting beamed from the mother ship.I have to keep the monster alive,protect it and allow it to grow.I cannot allow the world to kill it.I must have no distractions in the laboratory.Topping this off the song is a cover and I rarely do covers,doing a song I didn't write I would prefer to find an unknown writer who had a tune that suited my style.It is great to also be the writer and also great to be an artist doing a great song.I make the covers all my own,they are not copy tunes.It of course is wonderful to write all of your own material and I am a serious writer,to fall into the cover trap is usually the tip off that the imagination of the group is on the wane.Plus their cover really sucks!And for a group or artist to be successful and going places doing material written by great writers as apposed to going no place writing your own material,you make the call on that one."Choose wisely dear."Now you must give proper credit and pay royalties for this.And it keeps the songwriting industry buzzing.you would think that in Nashville it is country music that pays the freight in that town and massive as that is and will be forever it is MUSIC PUBLISHING that goes KABOOM! in that fair city.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797062012-04-12T11:53:18-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00You Have Moved To Abbey Road South,Why?
<p>I wanted to Have Kenny Veenstra produce me.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797052012-04-12T11:41:21-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Early on I Got Into Recording
<p>At recording studios.Recording professionally.I was driven by this when my high school hometown band eventually (as almost all Do) broke up."Dang' I thought,how am I going to continue playing without them?That is such a close and cool bond,not just as a band but as friends,I was always way to serious about this and when you are so young as we were your whole identity gets wrapped up in this circle.Plus on a small scale we were very successful.And again as friends we were very tight.even though we came from a small town I convinced them to believe we would make it on a major scale.Having to our advantage the ability to combine our rebellion against the world with the security of living at home with our parents we sincerely believed we were rock stars.I could not,or did not, wish to see myself doing it without them.Yet the time eventually came where I had to.I had to move on.I had early musical training on many instruments so I thought "in the studio I don't really need a full time band."Later bands were to come with great guys to play with but the end if the day always came.On the level of a working band going in the studio is not a high thing on the list.You rely on just playing covers to keep the gigs up and the money coming in.I took a different tack and we always did quite a few originals onstage.Written to fit in with the covers.So when the same end came time after time I would head back to the studio.I would not use the band there instead to use "session Players" from other groups that were my friends for the things I needed help with.The best players I could find.It was not real hard to talk them into it.$25.00 an hour goes a long way to get them to take the time to rehearse and do a session."Where are we going to record?"Then I would drop it...Morrisound Studios....the holy grail.They of course had heard about it,Oh man,this place was equal to any world class studio anywhere.All of that being now said....when I hear the recordings do I have any misgivings about it or am I delighted with the results,would I change anything?My rates were locked in $95.00 an hour for Studio A,$65.00 an hour for Studio B,this my friends was nothing short of a steal.Studio A in Hollywood or NYC would be costing you as an indie an easy $350.00 an hour,if you could only just get in.Studio B $200,00 dollars an hour.And when are you going to be able to get in...six months from now?I can't believe this,I was given a very high priority,I was always worked in ASAP.I think that is mostly because I am fun to work with.Way off the wall.And I was pushing all of it as far as it could go.Crazy concepts."Let's try this."The thing is,I feel for what I do is to lay it down raw on the original track.You have got to bake the cake before you ice it.Every studio effect of the highest order was available,yet the cake was so tasty in itself.Most of it done on a Skully reel machine in analog.You have got to cut it all in the original track for how I work.Then you are more concerned with blending it than enhancing it.There is no "fixing it in the mix."When you start mixing, it is all there.That is a rock and roll recording.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797042012-04-12T09:38:10-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00So How Did It Stop In America?
<p>To be a free person and an active part of a society that is free you have to have a job if you are capable of working.The best form of economic recovery is to have a job and that is what was taken away from us.That is what is reducing our nation day by day.Working and being diligent to your job is a hard thing to do,you have to play by the rules and be where your money is.If you want to keep your job you have got to be reliable and produce.Your employer is going to exploit your labors for their profit,that is their right,you have agreed to work for them,being exploited if you look it up is not such a bad thing because if you are wise with your nickles and dimes you may figure out your own path in life.You may keep your job with it's benefits and still get a little thing going which is good for you and your family.It is wonderful to have a roof over your head.To pay your bills,go to the doctor and dentist for your health and have your self respect.Perhaps you have a master plan working and you can go from washing dishes to owning your own business,being the next Bill Gates perhaps.We have this thing in America called "The Dream."in all of history in any society created nothing like this was ever possible.Yet it is not an easy thing to do,it is not just going to fall into your lap.You have to have a plan together and be working it.It's a journey,not a destination.Things may not pan out as you expected,you have got to go a bit deeper and work a bit harder.Learn from your failures how to do it right.This is relevant not just to music as I do,but anything,you may be happy to own your own hot dog stand on 43 st.in NYC.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797032012-04-12T08:52:42-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00The View Is One Of Persistance
<p>That's all that I pretty much had to go on.The greater majority of it was always a huge struggle to me.I've never had a good manager.A few shining moments come along here and there,a couple of really hot concerts,full house nightclubs with a long queue waiting at the door to get in,At that point you figure you don't have to worry to much but something would always backfire at the wrong moment and you are back at the damn drawing board again.Realistically one would have to figure this in.At this point in time the internet did not exist as it does today.It did not exist at all if you can believe that.So in what you were doing you did not have a far reach to expose people to it other than to hit the road.At lot of bands were doing it too.Criss crossing all over the USA in vans pulling trailers.There were a lot of places to play.And again people were not sitting at home looking at computer screens,they wanted to get out and about.Young and restless,you would see the same people every night coming out.You would perform six nights a week till 3am,go back to the hotel or the band house/trailer and die for the die,they would go to work and the next night there they were again!Dancing,drinking,and carrying on.During the day they were productive workers too,how wonderful to be young and charged up like that!We felt as our parents did in their time that it would always be that way
yet time marches on.The USA was so totally rocking!We were enjoying a freedom also at that time that does not exist anymore today.Money was tight yes but things were not as expensive.Everybody had jobs,graduated high school or college,we were at heart good kids,we did not have to be tracked and monitored as it all is today.We just knew how to behave.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797022012-04-12T06:49:14-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00The New Track
<p>It has been like pulling teeth.From day number one.Very rewarding also by the same token.A tremendous amount of work has gone into it.The bar standard of a professional recording has been raised much higher.You have to be in there with that with preparations for multiple format application.It is just an aghast thing when you have to re-call a session.In some things it is good to know when to call it a day.I am not into "fixing it in the mix," okay perhaps a little tweak or two but for a good rock record I want what is going to be used to be on the original track.The entire performance of the tune.All of the glue right on the floor.When you have to go in there and start shifting everything around,on my music that just does not work.You can't pull out the second chorus and paste the first one in there,it may be the same part yes but on the second round it has a different dynamic to it.It's not a loop it is a performance,hand crafted.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797072012-04-11T12:13:40-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Why Is having A Producer So Important?
<p>A good producer makes you come with your best,they draw the best out of you.How free I am as an artist should perhaps be a crime.With such ease a rich man who is spiritually empty would give me all of it to be me for even ten minutes.They are acutely aware of what all of their money CANNOT buy.And bro,I can't teach you,you do not have any talent.Your desire is not deep enough.How I would hate to sit home and practice scales to myself, I had all of that and more when I was a child.How fast can you do them?if it was down to that I would not even want to play the guitar.I don't want to listen to a recording to hear a scale being played.All of that is training.I want to feel the emotion and expression.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797012012-04-03T18:48:08-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Speaking Just As The Bassist On The New Track
<p>I laid in a very good cut here.Gave it a lot of room and did three basses,my electric five string,my fender jazz,and an acoustic double bass.My son got me into using the double bass.In studio context it is ideal.A horror to take out on the road.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61797002012-04-02T19:02:48-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Studio Log April 5,Will I Have Time To Do The Electric Guitar?
<p>I could cut it in an hour,it is all worked out and rehearsed.Yet tailoring the drums is the priority.Remember this is a film soundtrack.the tune is yet is not being done for radio and has several alternate versions.It is a single,I will tell you that.On ALL of my record contracts I am a singles artist.Yet my current producer wants an album project.Which I agreed to so I could record at Abbey Road South.In old Soho.Right next to Bern's steakhouse!I have to tell you,this is the world's finest steakhouse.Totally organic,to the point that they grow their own organic produce!you can get one of these steaks for 12 bucks.You drop by early in the day at the bar and order a steak sandwich.You are munching upon a two yardnote piece of world premier steak for less than fifteen bucks! If they care about the produce so much how do you think they handle their beef?Does it have hormones or pesticides?Taste it and see...I will bring my stuff to the studio ready to go,Ken will decide what is what.Wisely I gave him control.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796992012-03-29T20:47:33-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00How Do People Have Time To Play Games Anymore?
<p>If you want to be with somebody you have got to let them know.One half will not do for me, I am not going to pursue that.If you expect something here you have to put in something.Plenty of good women are looking for a solid man.Umm..I just want to be with one lady to give her all of my love.Or if not I am single.To be with one special person is going to take all you can do.And never mind the initial hot passion,you want to settle down with a good friend who accepts you as you are and you get along together.And I also am joking right now."What a load of balls that was Eh?"I am a down and real man,to talk to me about balls you have to have them first to talk about.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796982012-03-29T08:38:21-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Are You Still Doing The Music Too?Or iS Somebody Else Doing That Now?
<p>Oh No,It still is me doing the playing,all the guitars,the basses,piano,ect...what have you.It has been that way for 20 years and I feel it is quite unique,at first it was out of budget and necessity,we could not afford studio players.I had good bands,great ones, but they always broke up at the most inconvenient times and from time to time I would get them to join in on studio projects because we are great friends through all we disagreed upon and I love what they do.Yet when it became time to record the band always broke up.Always right when we were about to move up a notch in the food chain,get on the road and start working better rooms for more money.This was always a heartbreaking thing to me,when I would look out and see a full house with 20 people waiting outside the door,other good local musicians from other bands stopping by to holler at you,well you figure you don't have to worry to much anymore.It takes a good six months of playing out steady for a band to begin to get really tight.Yet crazy variables of all kinds would enter in,key players would quit when you need them the most,you had to replace them on the fly,to many drugs,to much drink,to much womanizing.You name it,I've seen it.Thus when it came time to record all that was left was me.Starting all over again at point zero.And I was plenty pissed off too but mostly sad.Setting up our first decent US tour of good rooms with the backing of radio stations playing our songs and wanting to do in studio interviews and performances and it all just drizzled down the drain.Slipped right out of my hands.I mortgaged my home against that tour to fund it and lost my home ending up living with my son on the beach in a VW vanagon.I thought that nobody cared yet found out that someone did,the IRS, coming at me with a massive tax bill to boot which cleaned me out of my guitar collection and all of my equipment.Thanks to a dear friend I did save my Les Paul custom and my Gibson acoustic.Everything else got hauled away in a truck.I had to borrow the guitars in the studio to do "American Idol Audition."Far from wanting to quit I wanted to push even harder.The hard things you go through serve to strengthen you if you will let them.And remember that through all of this I had a son to raise.A son that was horrified at how cruel the world can be.The band wanting me to put him into foster care to get rid of him which I would not do.Oh yes,we had a meeting about that and they felt that my son was going to hold us back,my son even as an infant,ran with the big dogs.Kept right up with us,he liked it.No way was I going to change my mind on that.What they had forgotten was that shortly after my son was born I turned down a very tempting offer from a major rock band that was very well established.So it became the studio.My playground,refuge,asylum and citadel.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796972012-03-28T08:47:38-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00When Did The Shift Towards Being More Vocal Oriented Occur?
<p>"Donna" primarily yet it had been festering for a few years.And I was into more and more heavier training.I was doing the lion's share of all of the music and it was big production,and the vocals had to climb up over that.You are cutting a vocal track and in your headphones all of this music is slamming away.Thus you can't do a lot of subtle things,you don't have a lot of breathing room.I was not relaxed at all I was wound up as tight as I could get.And for it's place in time and the style I was happy with what I did.I began to get very comfortable at the lead vocal mic.Much looser and more experimental and way more control.What once was a chore is now the way I have fun.My voice teacher brought a lot of technique and discipline to me,I was capable of much more range yet that was not developed in terms of strength and control.For example as simple a thing as a half hour 45 minute full warm up before you begin makes all the difference in the world.You want to be as hydrated as possible,saliva both lubricates and protects.Then you start cutting good tracks right away,you have the feel and are not slipping into it.You are not pulling sharp and flat.Vibrato is working max level.Confidence and control.You have to work on it everyday also.It can get rusty very fast.Yet I don't know, most of you would figure that an auto-tuner would make a marginal or shitty singer sound good.As the old song once said "Ain't nothing like the real thing baby." A lot of pop producers have just gone mad with this device and it can make a production just take forever to complete.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796962012-03-25T19:41:41-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00And The Thing Is Now You See...
<p>About...ha,ha being a singer.I have played and can play everything yet my voice had to ride in the backseat.I do not even need to play any darn thing.I started out rough and raw yet got coached and developed but people want to keep me back there you know.Yes I let my singer friends do leads on my records because I love what they do.Now they will sing the back-ups for me.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796952012-03-23T08:35:41-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00I Came Out really Good Here Because What I Am Expected To Deliver To You is The Old School.
<p>Which is my strongest point.So I just can do what I do.Highly advanced in terms of recording science and in terms of recording arts a serious piece.And in doing it having so much fun working hard!I would go to clubs to seek out the finest local musicians I could find and then approach them to ask them to do session work.At first they though I was crazy and then came to know how sincere I was.They are the cream of the crop of Tampa Bay musicians.In the studio they all came off as top pro's.They made the time to do it plus they would rehearse.And at this time bands were working steady six nights a week.Yet they would find the time.Very high quality people.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796942012-03-23T08:10:08-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Industry standard-The click track Versus The Feel track
<p>Let's get away from the pop and commercial stuff for a moment and say to be producing a session of a great jazz group.And you want them to play to a click track,It is not going to go down like that,or a blues band looking to overdub as little as possible,they want to do their onstage performance in the studio.live.The click track stifles the natural dynamics.The music cannot breathe.Yes the timing is going to shift yet everyone is going to shift together,the whole thing about it really is to get a grove together.Most professional sessions require a click track to allow the producer the ability to hone it all in.Because it is all digital.In this type of a session you are not sitting down and doing the tune,you are working it part by part.You may record the coda before you record the intro.You may start by doing the chorus or the bridge.It is very demanding to record this way,when you are cutting you do not know how it is going to fit in.With a major producer just to cut a little thing can be a torture chamber.You have got to 100% match that click and still keep your tone,feel,and dynamics.You leave the studio with no idea of what your tune sounds like.I only did one session this way in New york City.(oo) (oo) I've been calling.I am very well pleased by the results of it.We had to re-learn it to do it onstage but whatever you know.A good tune is a good tune.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796932012-03-22T07:10:58-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00The Amps In the Studio-cranked!
<p>Cranked really,really bad.If you were to be in the recording room with the amps I was using you would walk out deaf.This was not me by the way it was my recording engineers.They were not at all with the master volume thing because that is a clipped pre-amp causing the distortion,they wanted the distortion coming from the output stage of the amplifier.Not from the little 12ax7 tubes but the 6l6's or the Sovtecs.And wow does that make the guitar come alive!You just hold it and touch it anywhere and it starts to whine and howl!Then they would lean upon me about the content of what I was playing,"why do you need all of those notes,I don't hear shit in here.I am not going to record this,SLOW it down man and make it count!"Come on fucking Jimi Hendrix play some lead guitar!"I don't get all upset about being directed.These cats know what they are talking about.And I am an educated person,I want to get out of here with the BEST track I can lay down!And they want me to have that or else they would just go along with it take their pay and leave."You sure are playing a lot of notes,It would be nice if they meant something but I am not hearing anything I would want to mix."Cranked man,all the way...that is how it is my dear reader/listener.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796922012-03-19T18:05:56-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Next Recording Session Set For April 5 2012,Abbey Road South
<p>Drum mixing and a slide guitar solo.Prob some additional electric guitar work.I would like you to hear my Hofner.I recently purchased a second one for back up but it has not been factory customized.Hard to believe for me that I have spent over a year on this tune.Also it is a film so the storyboard has to be worked.In fact the primary existence of the tune is as a soundtrack, I have no concern at all about going to radio with it.So much of recording art and science is being conditioned for broadcast radio.Unless you are a major label artist you are not going to make it to radio.Here and there maybe,a local spot,some secondary market work which will cost you your eyeteeth.I am not saying there is anything wrong with it you know,that's just how it is.You may even get lucky yet aside from that can of worms as an indie I would say that you want to do what you really want to do the way yOU want to do it.The first consideration I know is selfish and self-indulgent,moreso that a major label artist is free to be.Then you make it as good as it can be with whatever resources you can muster and get a fan base together of people that like it.(Your new bosses) perhaps only fifty people like it so much to the point that they BUY it.so as an indie you have to know who likes what you do and do what they like.50 who really dig it is a good start,and then on the weekend they will turn on a friend and you have 100 now.The important thing as an indie is that you dig your record and the song you did.And you made it the best that you could. Now let us say that by some miracle your tune catches on and many people and to hear it.They want to see you play it if they can.That is the definition of talent.This project has taken a long time yet I am having the time of my life with it.And for those who like my music I think you are going to love it.Even if the is only five it will become 10.I can't manipulate that,the sound is right out of the fishing docks.I am both working on you hearing it and also SEEING the intent of it.It is going to touch you.Thank you so much for being here today because I need you.If you don't buy a ticket I am in big trouble.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796902012-03-16T14:38:47-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00They Say if You Are over 40 You Are Doomed!
<p>Perhaps you ought to talk to B.B. king about that.He sells out every night.Still doing 280 one nighters a year!Every night is a sold out house!And for how long?50 years!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796892012-03-16T13:36:18-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00In The Context Of "Rene Labre Group"
<p>Mr.Collins and Mr.Brown were not my "puppets" they put a lot of coaching on me.Everything I did had to be in the context we agreed upon.I did not really mind because I got much better by it.They wanted me as the front man to be at my best.Every single thing was torn down and analyzed.I was totally free to present my ideas but would be very wise to respect their input.Chip especially was a very patient teacher.Marvin and I were hangout buddies yet even he would say "you ought to do it like this." I took these cats with me to NYC,with Andre Mack on guitar.And my nigs blew down NYC,not just with their awesome talent but their quality as human beings.I am so proud of my men!Certain it is that we are going to pull it back together.But I want Andre back too..He is much more intelligent about life than all of us.And man,what a smokin' guitar player.He would fuck up Eric Clapton!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796882012-03-15T22:31:22-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00What...my men,Chip and Marvin?
<p>Perhaps you need to listen a bit closer.My Nigs,world class all the way.We would seriously fuck up led zepplin.We are as we were told by our fans "The Black Beatles."The American answer to "The Beatles."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796872012-03-15T19:00:14-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Your Music And The Occult,,Stagelight Lover Portrayed A lot Of Imagery
<p>That was just a movie.One that was very well produced by Bill Rodgers.I am an artist and with all art there is a certain amount of craziness involved.And a lot of work.I do not practice magic.For any other artist I can't say what they do.I mean a lot of it is marketing.Selling you something.After the show it is all quiet again,you have a staff meeting for payroll and ride on to the next show.You would probably think it is pretty boring yet it is peaceful.On unfamiliar turf you want to be careful about what you may get caught up in.For the most part you want to stay close to the pack.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796862012-03-15T04:42:49-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Michelle Rene,I Miss you!
<p>In her last two years Michelle had made a big change in her style.She would only sing spirituals.She lived a very clean life,did not smoke or drink and never did drugs.Her drug was singing.She did like to run away a lot,she was infatuated by greyhounds.She would work as a hotel housekeeper and save up her money and hit the road.When she was with us we were going through some crazy things and the road was very dangerous for us.Yet she was safe because her Mom And Dad were trailing right behind,Mom with a sawed off between her knees.It really cut down on the local rednecks harassing us,I would be hauling ass in the bus and hear KABOOM behind us and see a pick-up with a tire shot out reel off the road.I don't think looking back that it was rednecks I think it was m2k ultra.A black rock and roll band was to much for them to take.They had another direction in mind for black artists.When the odds are so against you it is wiser to back off.I took the group to record in NYC so no matter of what we would always have our moment.I was very proud of my men,helping little old ladies cross the street.There was just an awful snowstorm in NYC and the old ladies would say "can you help me get home?"It was hard for them too because this was on all points a major label session for us.The original tune we came in with was radically changed.For the better,a tremendous period of growth for us.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796852012-03-15T03:12:35-12:002017-03-14T21:06:54-12:00Which Is Your Main Axe?
<p>My Les Paul Custom which is being held by a friend.My working electric is a German made Hofner Colorama.For six string work I prefer a short scale neck.I got that from my rickenbacker 325 but it was to much of a chore to keep that guitar in tune.I got the Hofner by accident,it only cost me 150 bucks.I then had it customized.IDK,She feels real good to me and has explosive tones,you won't buy it but she sounds just as good as my Les Paul Custom.A lot of guys go for "rare birds" Guilds,Hagstroms,Mosrites.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796842012-03-13T19:49:16-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Big Time Studio Tip,Lesson One
<p>One whatever level you are working on and this is aimed at the beginners.You want to record with a metronome happening.At the very beginning of music lessons on whatever this is stressed just as much as your reading skills and performance.On a piece of sheet music you have got first,the key signature.Then the time signature.This is part and parcel to an industry standard recording.In terms of recording science there is a bond of mathematical physics to music.You can improvise all you want.To the time sig.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796832012-03-10T02:27:35-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00A Progression Of Things.
<p>I think it is a very natural thing for a rock artist to move towards music production.The road use to be good,still is, yet I am not going to ride in a van to Kansas City to be stiffed.I did 12 years of it pretty much non-stop.That was all good and fine yet it is a grind.And if you are not operating under a contract preferably with a good booking agent you can get stuck in some rough situations.It is not the same as going on vacation,it is your business,you have places to be and things to do not just you, but everyone in the adventure, and all of you have to be pulling in the same direction.I really liked Nashville because it was not to hard to hook up with a road act.Most of the premier players did not want to hit the road they wanted to stay in town so the outcasts could dredge up the road spots.With artists that may not be big time yet still had a good fan base and steady work.The words on a flyer "DIRECT FROM NASHVILLE" carried a lot of weight.And believe me we were as direct from Nashville as you could be.You get hired to find out you are leaving for Douglass,WY tomorrow at 9:30 am.You are pretty shaky the first two weeks of the tour but then you get your groove on and fit in.Or you get sent home on a hound.I had a good agent,Marv Dennis,well worth his percentage.If we had problems on the road he would fix them.Much of this had to do with accommodations for the band when we got to town.I am not going to sleep with bedbugs to do a show.I can share space,I can roommate,do band trailer, but I have got to have a clean bed to sleep in,I must have my rest.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796822012-03-10T00:36:10-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Crawdaddy County Full Tilt? What That Is?
<p>The original master of it.The version that appears on the "B" side of "She's A Tease" was way pulled in.My co-producer at that time Rob Valdez strongly suggested to do and alternative mix."It's so over the top,you still have the original I am sure."It does sound like a train wreck,that is what it is suppose to sound like.Now here is stretching a studio to it's limits.Everyone is pushing as hard as possible."Cream and Sugar" were my studio band,(Bill Bland and Jackie Green)Even to pull it in meant mostly to take off a lot of the acoustic slide work.Yet it was purposely meant to be off-the -wall.Jackie (Sugar) is exquisite on bass and Bill Bland is brilliant here doing drums,percussion,glockenspiel,rain stick,and vibes.He actually had the vibes set up at his house to hold houseplants and I asked him "do they still work?"he told me that they did and I said "You need to bring them to the studio so we can record you on them!"So I composed the 7/4 break for the vibe solo.As crazy a request as this was Bill did not blink an eye.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796792012-03-06T22:48:09-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Susan's Tenure With Your Band Was Very Short
<p>Yes,because what we were going through was just to dangerous.Escaping lynch mobs and such.She was terrified.And if they caught up with us what would happen to her?It was the best decision as she came into her own with her own album which I consider to be the finest female rock album ever recorded.With Michelle Rene is was different because her Mother and Father were close behind so she had a lot of security around her on tour.But with Susan if they took us out we could not defend her.She did not want to go,and we did not want to let her go.on her part she went through a great deal of trouble and personal expense to hook up with us,and she was perfect.A consummate artist in her own right.We had to put her on a hound and send her home.Her safety was why.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796782012-03-06T20:18:02-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Define Yourself As An Artist
<p>Primarily a recording artist and scientist.Live gigs are good and that all is fine,I am always up for that hunt.Yet to cut in stone a thing that is going to last forever and really make it say what you wanted to say,I am all at home with that.I stayed in the region that I am in because of the availability of the highest quality recording studios at the best prices.My sessions are very intense and they also are a joy and a ball to do.The one nighters nobody is going to remember them,I come from the days where you could make a living playing clubs without having to pay to play.Now for every club you have got 300 bands competing for the job and 287 of them are dogshit.For a real club act to get tight you have got to get out of the rehearsal studio and do six months live.You would play the shitholes first and then advance to the "A" circuit clubs.Build up a following.Oh god,you would be surprised how far people would follow you on a little tour.I mean from Montana to Arizona.This is what it use to be like when we were free.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796772012-03-06T19:39:07-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Define Your Theme
<h1>It would make the best sense to me to stick with what I know and what I do best which is timeless,classic style,old school rock and roll music.Not limited just to covering the oldies but lifting the art form to it's future state.My original training was in classical music so in terms of music theory I understand everything,I listen to the new things with an open mind.Some of it is just god awful to me,using music to glorify rape and murder,really dark and negative messages.Nothing is really new you see,it is still just the same old chords.<h></h>
</h1>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796802012-03-06T12:05:27-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Did You Fall In Love With Susan?
<p>I adore her.We were very tight childhood friends.I always loved her.It is very different from the onstage thing to existing together.She was such a wonderful person.It just was to dangerous.The white girl performing with the "The Black Beatles"
what would have happened to her if the lynch mob caught up with us?Thus there was no falling in love about it,we always loved each other.It all came down to a safety issue.People wanted to murder us.She was very angry with me.I was so weeping tears too because I just wanted to be with her so bad.Such an awesome talent!Such a beautiful human being.Perhaps I failed in my life here,I don't think so,I was however it may be responsible for her safety and well being.We were fortunate in those days to escape a lot of dangerous situations.But what if she would have been caught in the middle of it?</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796762012-03-06T04:35:17-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00What On The Current Project?
<h2>It is still on yet I have really been taken aback by the passing of Michelle Rene and Susan Gray.We were searching for Michelle Rene to get her on this project and found out the terrible news.We also found out that she did interviews and one final recording session the day before she died,thanks to her dad we have collected these materials for presentation.The profile of the amazing courage of this young lady is very inspiring.At the same time so ironically, a message from a dear friend led me to learn that Susan Gray was also lying upon her deathbed.Totally stricken with cancer.I had the opportunity several times to speak with Susan who was surprisingly uptempo since she had been unable to eat since last November and she was very willing to be interviewed and do a piano recording session for me to par up with on "Amazing Grace" Michelle's last song in this world,all she had the strength for was the first verse and Susan and I Planned to finish it.But alas time on earth ran out for Susan as well.And until the end she was equally as fearless.<h></h>
</h2>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796752012-03-03T21:30:46-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Alternative to Drugs And Chemicals There Are Many Things You Can Do
<p>To feel good,to be happy,feel sharp and aware,not slow and draggy.Natural herbs,organic foods,fresh air,clean water.Good coffee!Again I could elaborate much further,why you should never drink of soda pop ever again.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796742012-03-03T20:19:34-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Your Views On Drugs?
<p>They are not good for you and do not do anything positive for you.I am not going to elaborate on it much further than that.I have better things to do and certainly better things to invest my money into.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796732012-03-02T19:00:53-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00So The Previous Article Is The Scam Layout,Making Millions On Autopilot </h1>
<p>Don't get angry with me when I am trying to help you.I apologize to tell you yet think just for a moment,if there were a magic autopilot button to riches who would not buy it for $47.00 and be using it all day long?And the hated side effect here is that you e-mail address is going to be sold,they are going to make something off of you even if it is just 25 cents.And then woe be upon your inbox as it is going to be assaulted by every vendor and marketing company on the planet.And as you try to analyze this collective group of scams you are going to become mentally very confused.To be successful with anything you have got to come up with a clear plan and a pathway to follow and implement.Then you have to work that plan,you have got to remain in focus,you waste hours and hours watching these whacked out videos that all say the same thing leading up to the same thing,"give me some of your money" then when you pay the fee and "get inside" the first thing that is going to happen is that you are going to be "up sold."asked right away for some more money to get into the "inner circle of experts."Do yourself a big favor and stop right there.When you close the page up will come a prompt with a last desperate plea bargain and the choice to leave or stay on the page.LEAVE the page and never return to it.It is a scam to separate you from your money.The next twenty new e-mails coming into your inbox,unsubscribe to them right away and delete them.Do not spend any precious time reading them.All that they are is CRAP!For your information there is no new and "secret method" to easy wealth.Those that made it spent many hours to figure out their formula that worked.Keep that fifty bucks in your pocket.Yes in most cases you can get a refund but again that is some more of your precious time wasted.And someone else got free interest on your funds in their account which they are not going to share with you.and no matter what they say they sold your e-mail,and like a pinball you are going to go Doink Doink Doink bumping up against all kinds offers to leach away your money.If you are going to give out an e-mail address to get some info get a junk e-mail free account for them to dump into that and you never look at it.Then start selling THEIR e-mail addresses to marketing companies.You will have a big list in a very short time.Now the hunter is the hunted.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796722012-03-01T22:28:26-12:002020-01-27T06:47:57-12:00On Autopilot Make Millions !!Top secret proven System!
<p>well if I had a tidy million dollars tucked away that I got with no computer experience whatsoever,(I barely know how to turn one on!)no understanding of Search engine optimization nor any understanding of Xhtml code,PPC'S,Google Ad words,humdrum mundane social networking with little or no results at all... no long and boring hours of research,that has all been done by me and easily anyone who had in this day and age two nickles to rub together at the same time would be a fool to not invest $42000 dollars?No,$1500,No,$997 dollars,oh no dear sir and madame if you act today right now before we pull down this piece of shit and oh so typical website you can have all of this for just $47.00!Imagine just how happy you will be to decide which color of your three Rolls Royce's you will take for a leisurely drive today with no worries at all because you are making constant and unrelenting money on autopilot.I mean you just are not in a Porsche mood today and you have six of those already paid for in cash. Because you were in such a good mood you tipped the salesman 5 grand."Hey shit,you laughed it's only money and I make that with little or no effort on autopilot."When I get depressed because I don't spend enough time with my loving wife I have a Swiss villa hideaway that I bought with my penny collection(three full bank vaults of click bank residue) so we can have a weekend all alone to relax from the pressure of the wonder of our new found grab it and get it. After all,she stuck with me through everything working as a waitress at Denny's to pay the bills while I invested thousands on her credit card searching out all of the bullshit ways to make money online.And all of them to tell you the truth left me empty.After the birth of our third precious child she said "you have got one more day to come through or I am going to leave you forever!"I spent the entire night picking my brain of every fact I had learned about making money online,drinking black coffee by the gallon until I hit upon it at last,my secret all you can grab instant money making "wealth system."I love my wife,I could not bear to lose her.As the sun came up I plugged it in and pushed the proverbial button,at first nothing happened then in twenty minutes I was flooded with commissions,she came home from working night shift at Denny's and I said,"How about a little champagne...In Paris,France!" She was so happy!"Honey I knew you could do it! when I am not in Rome playing dominoes with my dear friend The Pope,who can't stop blessing me I can spend all the quality time I choose with my beloved children,after all they come first eh? What would you pay to have all of this at your fingertips by the simple push of a button?I don't care about the money anymore,I have all that I ever dreamed of,I just want revenge on "the system" that screwed me for so long.I am ready to deliver you my "secret" instant wealth package at you finger tips for only,and only today for just an unbelievable $7.00! All of my high tech easy millionaire computer savvy friends tell me I must be crazy to give it away at a bargain basement price like this!Yet again as I told you,my real goal is only to help others avoid all of the terrible rip-offs on the web.Plus the benefit of my 24 hour online support staff to guide you through the rough stuff at the beginning.Of course you will have to upgrade to level two(my inner circle) to take advantage of that. You can rest assured you haven't been taken for yet another ride by my 90 day iron clad no questions asked money back guarantee!WAIT!!!BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE SITE I HAVE ANOTHER OFFER FOR YOU TO GET THE WHOLE PACKAGE AT A ONE TIME LOW MINIMUM PRICE!Just enter your e-mail address Here!Even right now another savvy winner is knocking at the door..."Who is it my darling gumdrop? I told Tony Blair I would have to cancel on Tennis today,The IRS?Tell them I am not here!"</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796702012-03-01T19:02:37-12:002020-01-27T06:47:56-12:00R.I.P. Susan Gray-Breast Cancer
<p>I,like all of the people who are fortunate enough to know her,am in a state of shock.Those of you faithfully visiting my site,and thank you have not seen her but for a short cameo appearance in the Young Lions video,Are not familiar with her,it is with great pleasure that I have been nominated to introduce her music to you.And to share with you the story of her beautiful life.And the iron courage with which she faced her final battles.Royal dignity.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796712012-03-01T12:56:43-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00The Guitar Amps In The Studio
<p>Master volumes were not permitted.The distortion had to come from the output stage of the amp not the over driven 12ax7's of the preamp but the 6L6's of the output stage.That came from the recording engineers not the producers.These amps were coming unhinged with the scent of burnt bridge rectifiers.An amp of 100watts rms is that is the voltage when you turn it on zero set.Peak it may do 400 watts if the amperage holds up.In the US we have alternating current.That is what fries bridge rectifiers at max op demands.To but a Marshall in the US you have to have it modified with some resistors leading into the rectifier circuits.Just a few Milli-ohms.The purpose of a Marshall Amp is for it to be cranked.it is not a jazz guitar amp.Oh man,it was so loud!No way around it though no stomp boxes,no master volume tricks,CRANKED!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796692012-02-24T04:57:34-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00I Don;t Really Know
<p>How much is all that you can do?It would not make sense to invest into any effort that a conspiracy was against?I get to go in through the door and do my thing.Turn in my works.if what you may say was that strong I would no longer be recording.I would be with ease crushed like a bug.Taken out of the game all the way.Boom!But instead of that I have been given another shot.I have got to change my attitude about things.I have so much to be thankful for.Through all of this crazy trip I have been so blessed.It is not right that I should come to judge someone else.And really I do not do that.I may make harmless jokes about them yet at the same time I respect the fact that they have got authority over me.So I must do what they tell me to do,it isn't really so bad,I get along and fit in with the people I have to work with.I am not a slave,I want to go to work.I do not want to do a sloppy job when I punch in It is now their time and not mine.I sold it to them.They own me body and soul.I agreed to that.I have been wonderfully blessed by my company.I ought to be very grateful about that.They did not call me I went to them looking for a steady job and got hired on full time.My son followed my footsteps and got hired too.It was the management level of the company that got him on.Gave him a shot to make good.My boss,Tom Shoemake.So even the music has to take place two.I owe a debt of loyalty to my company.I am not a slave I am there by my free will.I have so much to be thankful for.I am going to concentrate on appreciating that.I still want to have some fun in my life,yet to really have fun you have got to behave yourself.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796682012-02-23T22:41:12-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Are You Also A Recording Engineer?
<p>Not certified no.Yet what happens many times is that my engineers or producers perform on my recordings so I have got to operate the console to record them.This is great fun and most often very unexpected yet when I get my files together on my people I look for engineers and producers that are also great musicians.So if somebody can't show up I have got a good back up to roll on with.I don't have a problem with my session people not showing but it is fun to surprise the recording engineer and say "would you like to do this part on the track?"A major label producer is never going to ask you that.They, in technical terms have been have been building up this song from square one so they have the arrangement down cold.They do sessions all the time for other acts.So the question would be,"can you operate the console? My reply would be "yes,briefly I can."And I did.No big deal.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796672012-02-23T21:01:49-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00What Is the most Important Thing To You?
<p>My relationship with my son.That trumps everything.When I became a single parent everything in my life changed.And I was footloose and fancy free with few cares."They Call me Labre,I keep rolling down the road" as my friend J.J. Cale put it.Then here comes the baby with the state wanting to take him away from you at the earliest possible age.I fought a battle royal with them over this.At the same time turned down the most tempting offer from a major label band to go on tour,a major tour,I had to stay at home and take care of the baby.Plus work a full time demanding job.I have a lot to be thankful for,a white guy as a single parent full custodial is a rare bird.The state did everything they could to take him away from me,planted drugs in my home to arrest me,oh man I was so angry I looked at that big bruiser of a police officer and told him "take off that badge so we can go through this man to man." He said,actually very kindly, "If you want to keep your son you had better not do anything stupid if you expect to bail out tomorrow."As soon as I was released I was taken for a urine test which I passed.I do not want to dwell on all of that.The only thing I wanted to do was love and relate to my son.i won that war with the state and was able to care for and relate to my own child and raise him up.I could not play in the honkytonks anymore so I became a gospel music director.It is easy when they are babies,hard when they become teens you just have to hang with it somehow,advise them the best you can and then they become adults.Here you lose them forever or have them forever.How wonderful it is when your child can call you on the phone and say "I want to come over so we can talk."How did this baby become a man?I mean he is still just a puppy yet I no longer talk down at him,I talk at him.I would guess my parenting skills could be questioned all the way,most harshly many times by those that have aborted their children because they would be "inconvenient."I had a very tempting offer to blast into being a prominent rock guitar player but being "mommy" came first.My own touring band wanted me to put him into foster care with the state because they felt he absorbed to much of my attention,I have to write that off without any hard feelings because they just did not understand.He came to NYC with us to record "(oo)(oo),he was no hindrance to us,he fell right in with the groove.I don't know,all of us ate from the same table was how I saw it.Andre Mack,my guitarist really took Jordan under his wing and buddied up to him.On the plane flight he said "come on Jordan,you are going to sit with me."And they were just the tightest of buddies.Any regrets I would have over things with the band is the loss of my friendship with Andre Mack.We would get together and play guitars for hours and hours.Rehearsing big rock endings.It was not a question of silly things like who plays lead guitar,you just play guitar and interchange the parts.Push each other to the limits.It would all just fall in.He would just stand there flicking his wrist,it was so cool,on (oo) (oo) we are both doing the rhythm guitar parts on a big fat gretch and you see how tight that is.Mike and Gary just put the two of us in a studio to get loose and we did a two hour non-stop blues jam.Gary Lefkowith was licking his chops cause he wanted to play too.I was set to do the solo on the record and composed a really great one in the vein of Santana,played it 600 times in the shared hotel bathroom of The Riverside Hotel.We were catching the subway to the studio and Andre said "You should play Gary's solo." That was enough for me,I had studied it as well.And ripped it out of the frame which set Gary into the mood of moping around the studio until Mike allowed him to put his stuff on the record.Which he persued with an r&b vengeance.We were pushed at this point to do this like a top level major label band.I am very happy with the results.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796662012-02-22T09:47:40-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Internet Marketing Scams,Make Thousands On Autopilot
<p>The lament to my inbox's so full of crap.Yet one must play the game to learn it.The story you are not told is that successful internet marketers are people that have worked very hard at it.The internet tools used are all the same,there is no new or secret thing and you have to find out what these tools are and then you have to apply them.You have got to invest a lot of time and it is going to cost you money in which you are going to want to be very discrete about what you are spending it on because it will bleed you of your paycheck.Would any crafts person who has mastered their bag of tricks over years and years just give it away?That would be pretty noble of them.If it is to good to be true it is.You have to come up with your way and what works for you.Perhaps you don't make millions of dollars but you are doing okay and you enjoy your work.You even still keep your regular job and enjoy a dependable extra part time income.It would be interesting to see a snapshot of the money many guru's have to refund.You have checked the product reviews before you buy.Be careful now to not let them up sell you right away.Keep your receipt number so if you find you are not happy with the thing you can get your money refunded to you.So you have only lost your time and learned another trick or two.Have a personal inbox for your important things and do not publish it.Once you put out your e-mail it is going to be sold.And you are going to get bogged down trying to figure out what to do spending way to much time watching videos that ultimately say the same thing over and over.With the actors and the cars,the houses,the boats...you get it.I have a college degree in business with the focus on advertising administration,no business is a success without advertising.The best form of advertising is word of mouth from satisfied customers.You can get a lot of advertising for free yet you will still have to invest some money into it to generate traffic to your site.And you want Targeted traffic.If you are doing affiliate you want to check out who you are agent for.Avoid link farms,you will be penalized or even blacklisted for that.Hits do not lead to conversions.That gives you a general idea but it is visitors that count.Then it is up to your landing page and your content which you want SEO optimized.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796652012-02-21T19:46:38-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Another Thihng About The Live Band For A Rock Show
<p>My favorite way to do this is with another kick ass guitarist,actually i would like to have two more guys along with mine.All very good guitarists but they are not competing it up they are playing together and weaving.The power that comes out of that synergy.I did many many power trios and solo guitar bands and it just was not as cool as having the second guitar onstage,you have to do all the power,the chords,work largely out of one position,plus most of the lead vocals.When you have a recording that people stream and download that they like on which you have done multiple tasty guitar riffs you have to re-arrange it when you play live.I would prefer two other guys actually.And I am very well developed on the guitar synth as well as a mufti-instrumentalist,so I don't always just want to play the guitar onstage.I don't want to have to carry a bunch of stuff with me.That is the only way I would roll next time.You get a confidence about things from the other guy.He inspires you to do your best.It is not an ego thing.You get this lift from one guy,how about two?But what about the money?Well yeah,the first couple of shows you do there may not be much money to share yet anybody that see's you is going to want to hear that sound again.To develop a project you have to first take the baby steps.When you have a full house waiting and fifty people lined up outside the door,you can pretty well feel that the rent and the bills are paid.You want to be BETTER live than on your record.To me for rock and roll a successful concert is a riot.I don't mean looting and killing and all of that.With all of the versions of my groups I felt we had it made when we could no longer see each other onstage because it was packed with fans.I choose not to remember the dull nights,only the riots,on the dull nights you are being paid to rehearse.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796632012-02-18T09:02:14-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00What About The Big Time Man?
<p>I don't know about that,I think you have to commit to some choices that you can't get out of.I just want to create the best music that I can and enjoy what I am doing,and to do that I have to know what I am doing and be in control of it.There are a lot of temptations and distractions that go along with art.Before you know it the drugs are more important then the art.You are addicted and can't function without it.And they lay the real heavy pharmaceutical stuff on you.I don't want to know,those I know that went that route got wasted and became non-functional,unless they were fucked up they could not operate and they fucked it up for everyone else involved,they are just high,they aren't doing anything that impressive and they are not fun to work with.They are a whiny pain in the ass.The people in my production arena, it is not like that at all.My producer is very intense and would not tolerate it.Well I may have a shot of bourbon whiskey to chill me a little bit but is is mostly good coffee.Espresso.The high is the tune and you don't ever know when you go into the studio if you are going to be able to pull it off.It is a roller coaster ride.I am not a major label artist yet I am a professional,I show up on time ready to deliver the goods,whatever I am doing in the studio has been rehearsed inside and out.I do proper warm ups and cool downs.Constantly I am coached by the best coaches I can find.I want to do my best with this thing I love so much.To do with four octaves your vocals and I mean in control of it too.My producer is just cruising along with it.All of this over singing and auto-tuner shit,and I can spot that right away,you open a precious little music box and it plays this wonderful simple beautiful melody.Now it seems that every big time pro singer wants to push all of this "soul sounding" stuff into it,a wonderful singer too who could just do the melody the way it is written and that is well enough.The songwriter had it all put in there.Then 12 million karaoke wannabe's are copying the auto tuner and the "soul sounding" stuff.Diana Ross does not sing like that,never.I am not trying to be all that,I am trying to help you along some and clear some things up for you.I could not accept some offers that came my way.How many people do you see in the gossip rags who have all of the money in the world and nothing good to spend it on.They are very unhappy in their lives.People that do not have money are aware of what they can't buy,People who have money are acutely aware of the things that money cannot buy.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796642012-02-18T07:23:49-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00You Don't Work Onstage Anymore?
<p>Come on man,I never stopped doing that,since I was what?12 years old.I grew up in a poor family after my Dad passed away and my mother had four children to deal with.I delivered newspapers before and after school.Playing in a band paid good bread,she was not real thrilled about me playing in bars when I was a kid but money had to be coming in.And I am all about working,there were all kinds of places to play live music,not just clubs,high school dances,church dances,The YMCA,picnics,fairs,business grand openings,colleges,frat parties.And to this day I am with that simply as a supporting member of somebody Else's act.I had been through many years and many shows with my own groups,I feel I am in a better space now.when you are young and working in clubs with a good agent you feel you are really going places until you find that you are just going round and round,your life is as secure as your next three bookings.(If you are not double booked!)Again when you are young you are up to it.Sleeping on the beach is an adventure!But oh alas you are not going to stay young.Nor are your friends.Justin Beiber is going to be a geezer someday.Sooner than you may believe!Young guys are going to ride by him on bikes in the park and knock his hat off!You would not want to do that to me because I would have to kick your ass handily.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796622012-02-17T04:32:06-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Why Don't You Have A Live Band Together And Are Working That?
<p>Good question you have there.That use to always be my priority was to have a working live band.And today there are tons of bands around every corner.But it is not like back in the day when we were young and would sleep out on the beach.And the clubwork was an easy 6 nights a week.Plus go and play my hammond organ at the after hours club.Every night these clubs were packed and now you are fortunate to be able to find weekend work.Most of the time I have got to go on the road with T-Blue and play bass for him.Which is all very cool with me.People now want in the local clubs Karoke or a dj.Not live music,the younger generation cannot even relate to live performance.They DEMAND lip-synch,it is not real to them until it is proven to be fake.And karoke,you have a few very talented singers doing that,yet most of that is pure dogshit.And if you can really sing why are you not making your living as a singer?So to audition and put together a live group I have got to gaurantee that we will have the work and that they will get paid.Every week.It is not a selfish thing like you may think,you want to and are happy to pay your people.My guys earned their money and I want them to have it.But to put a live band together today?Maybe tomorrow.I do not have to deal with that anymore.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796612012-02-17T02:31:42-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Davey Boy On Drums For "Donna"
<p>My oh so beloved younger brother,I was very fortunate to be able to catch up with him because he is constantly on tour and in demand.Doing state fairs with Dennis Lee.You meet over time musicians that are so much fun to work with.You don't see what went down behind the scenes,it is a lot of work going into anything you do.He had a week off so we could do two rehearsals before the session and forgive me Lord I was so hard on him "you call that playing the drums?I want the living shit being beaten out of that fucking kit!"These fucking drum machines just bore the shit out of me.I can live with it if I have too yet it is not the same as making your beloved younger brother play his fucking ass off...on a love ballad by the way.And he is a real pro..full time doing 318 dates a year.When I start up a real band again he is going to be the first guy I call.I don't care who you are you are not going to be able to make a drum machine do this.As soon as you use the machine the track is "canned."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796602012-02-17T00:23:50-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Artistically,what is your direction?
<p>I would like to leave behind "Blue Suede Shoes" and do some new things on a higher,more serious and challenging level.Both in doing the music and singing as well.I will still play at the pub and do "Blue Suede Shoes."Yet in session I don't want what I am doing to be only defined by if it is a radio hit.I lived through two indie contracts as a singles artist.Now I want to concentrate on doing some great songs.If I go over four minutes I do not want to have to edit it for radio.I already have my own radio station right here.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796592012-02-17T00:08:44-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00What Is Up With This Rene and Renee Stuff?
<p>Oh,how did you hear about that?She is a very near and dear friend of mine who is my new singing partner.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796582012-02-16T09:00:00-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00The Recording Sessions Are All Top Pro Stuff?
<p>Come on man...give me a break!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796572012-02-10T15:43:02-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Do You Like The Beatles?
<p>Um,yes...why not?This may sound funny to say but I can say it because I was there back at the beginning but I liked The Dave Clark Five much better.The Temptations and the Supremes also.Tommy James and this really crazy american band Paul Revere and The Raiders.Plus The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons.The First US release By The Beatles "Please Please Me" was released by Vee-Jay records,Jimmy Reed's label because Capitol Records,the american arm of EMI did not want to release it as an executive wrote in a memo that exists to this day "we do not think that they are any goddamned good."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796562012-02-09T11:03:15-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Donna would have gladly granted any wish I asked
<p>She was angry with me at first,I wished to share the best ice cream cone in the world with her,and I could have asked for anything.She was angry until she tasted the ice cream,then she was all happy.How can you understand?To be kissed by a laprecaun?She would be kind of angry about that because I would like her to reduce herself to her real size so I could hold her in the palm of my hand.She would make a big show about that yet she would climb onto my palm,reach behind her and pull the full moon down and kiss me.Her lips tasted like fresh apples too.And you'll never know.My focus is upon the results.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796552012-02-09T10:18:05-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Well,I will tell you on my guitar tracks
<p>My producer and recording engineers were already very advanced guitarists.and had worked with so many fantastic guys that it came down to them telling me all about what to play...where and when.They set the tones on the amps and the guitars.Then I balled the jack.I just plugged in and played.Well as set up was going on I was expecteted to be tuning the guitars on the Conn Strobetuner and doing the tech work,which is fun for me and then I would get to plug into the awesome tonal range provided me.I would set up how I wanted to be amped for a track,some really crazy stuff too yet you must understand that at Morrisound with all of those awesome guitarplayers I could have any configuration you could imagine down to the original Gibson Les Paul Amp for My Les Paul Professional
"Black Beauty."A low impedance rig,but I did none of the adjustments anywhere,they would set up the EQ and the volumes,everything was done dry.The disortion you hear on the guitars all come from the output stage of the amps.I prefer to cut solos from the control room,I mean that stuff is REALLY loud,they are all up and down on me about tones and all of the time to play as little as possible."We want to blow it up for you Rene,the less you play the more we can do!"All that I could say is "give me my cord and let me plug in,I am in tune."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796542012-02-09T08:35:44-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Who Is Your Favorite Drummer?
<p>David Hughes,"Davy Boy"The power plus the control.Every time I was on a bill with him,just as a bassit...we always had such fun working together.Then I requested that he do the sessions for "Donna." And I was so rough on him,"I Want you to beat the livingshit out of that kit.I want full extensions on everything you do!"I was cutting the bass composite track and just was watching how magnificent he was working the session,how tight he was rolling the pocket so i just drifted off and naturally he just drifted off too.His stuff is just so badassed.I was yelling at him through ther phones "You can play harder than that!"He is the guy you see on drums with comedic genius Dennis Lee,so he works 5000 seat rooms three times a day.Nobody records like this anymore but this is the way that it is done.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796532012-02-07T22:25:47-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00In The Old days You See You Had To Take A Chance On It
<p>Thanks to God that you had a steady gig going.Nowadays you can be so safe and secure with it.And it is wise to not quit your day job even then until things fell into place.Yet you did not know,you had to get out on the road and play to pay the rent and put dinner on the table.And that is what an artist is.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796522012-02-07T21:45:03-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00So As Executive Producer You Are The Conductor,What Is Your Biggest Rush?
<p>Oh man now you have got it.I conduct a rock symphony orchestra.The biggest rush the same as any conductor when I drop my hands to signal the tympani drums to sound.Real tympani played by a real pro.It is all very studied and charted out.The sheet music to it all is already prepared.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796512012-02-07T18:27:36-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00You Like Colorama Studios?
<p>Oh yes,I do rhythm tracks there.Les is wonderful to work with and they understand where I am coming from.In fact it is always set up to do rhythm trakcs in.It sits on four woody acres and the studio is set up like a comfy livingroom,fireplace bar and all.Pro tools Ten with duel avalon guitar pre-amps,these in digital recording are critical to have going when you are recording because mp3 files really thin out guitar tracks,you have got to even on really clean stuff have to be recording at maximum headroom.mp3 files thinout the guitar tracks.And the the studio guitar collection.When I recorded at Morrisound I met a couple of guys that brought in fifty guitars.i cringed at the thought of carrying all of that around.My personal collection is small,just a couple of axes that I really love and can Pay personal attention to.Yet I also have had collections of guitars to die for and each of them has different types of qualities that lend so much to recording.Different voices.That is why those guys carry those guitars,these are million dollar guitar players.You may see them onstage with just one or two guitars yet when they made their recording they used fifty different guitars.A gibson does not sound like a rickenbacker and vise-versa,neither of them sound like a fender,I hate telecastors,they are very incomfortable to hold,except the newest ones which are their best!Yet nothing sounds like a tele.My producers who are advanced guitar players choose which ones I will use.I love this,it doesn't bug me at all,I know how to operate all of them you see.I know their quirks as well,playing a firebird,if you let your left hand go free the guitar neck will drop all the way down to your ankles.The thing is I songsound like the million dollar guitar players.the atmosphere is totally relaxed,very clinical yes but we know we are going to drop a take today.The thing is to make it your best take.People involved in my sessions,some of them engineering students,they want to have an expierence.I do too,bring something to life.I can't stop doing it,I love it too much.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796502012-02-04T06:37:10-12:002020-01-27T06:47:52-12:00Another Reason To Choose A Pro Studio-The Recording Mics
<p>A shure sm57 or 58 is the best choice for live audio reinforcement.Yet that is not so for the studio.By the time your master hits an mp3 file it is going to sound very thin.Truly the shures are great mics for live work but in the studio you want to be recording into say...Neumans,three thousand dollar mics that pick up everything.You do not want to cut your acoustic guitar parts into a Shure SM 57 because the cardoid pattern of the mic is within three inches of the condenser.It is unidirectional not omnidirectional.Outside of three inches it is not picking up fully what you are doing.It was not designed to do so.I do have an exception for acoustic tracks which is my phillips cassette recorder,I just dump the microphone into the guitar soundhole and record.An example of this technique can be heard on a song I uploaded "she's a tease outtake 11" for the acoustic solo.The signal is re-wired to go direct to the mixing console.The acoustic tracks for "Closer And Closer" "American Idol Audition" "That Little Boy Of Mine" "Coming Home tomorrow" "Trying To get Out Of The Hole""Mambers only" "You Wont get Away This time" "Oh How I Love You" "Mary,Mary" "Tell Me" and "Donna" had the acoustic guitars recorded through the Phillips Cassette Deck direct to the console,also "Crawdaddy County" which also had Neuman mics on the acoustic parts.Technically I don't understand it,I just know that it produces a big and fat acoustic guitar sound.No noise.You have got to hold the guitar very still whilst recording also.Yet now the properties sonically of your acoustic work have been altered to a point where it will go toe-to-toe with your heavily amplified electric guitar work without an avalon pre-amp.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796492012-02-03T09:54:58-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Can You Describe Your Style And Studio Technique?
<p>I am a rock musician and vocalist.The studio technique changes from song to song in terms of what is required.It changes from tune to tune and studio technology has come so very far.Fortunate in my case for what I do.I have got to do a lot of overdubbing because I do so many multi-instrumental things.Yet you really can't tell can you?As high tech as it may be you still have to be concerned with economy.To do a rock record really well and solid you would go into the studio with your rock band and play your hottest live set all as live as possible.You don't have to worry to much about a click track then.And I am talking about a reaaly hot live set.Very basic,you record that in it's entirety and tweak it in the mix,master it and release it.Many top flight digital producers would love to do an album this way.Yet very few rock bands could do it like this.You have got to come with your best to do it this way.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796482012-01-27T14:46:41-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00You Also Play Hammond Organ,Which Model Do You Prefer?
<p>Onstage for years I carried around an m-3,the spinet model, with the multivox little david for the leslie.The B-3 is the most popular model but is a nightmare to transport and my preference is actually in the studio the C-3 with stereo leslies.Yet one also must consider that Hammond organs have been way,way,upgraded.With only one exception all that I ever played were the vintage original rigs.And for all of that the C-3 rules,that is a full church pipe organ and you are not going to move it around to much better than a full church pipe organ.You can get far more tones out of the drawbars than a B-3 and the bass pedals are more responsive.Yet again I say hammond has gone through many innovations the x-1000 for instance.And a full Hammond rig will cost you thirty grand and is worth every penny of it.I loved my M-3 spinet,I used to keep it outside on the porch.I was the house organist at the notorious "Midnight Hour" bottle club.after my regulr gigs I would go there and sit in with all of the different bands that came through.I was not paid by the bands but by the owner Jimmy Nance.A yardnote a night.Every night that joint was packed.I had already done a full show with my band at another place and still had to get to work in the morning.At that time there was a lot of money floating around.People would buy rounds for the whole bar,pay us five hundred bucks to do one more set.Even the police were cool about everything.Off duty they would hang out there too.Mostly I would say it was all about dancing,because everyone would dance until the sun rose in the morning and probably that worked off most of the alcohol.And most of everyone had to go to work when they left the club.So any arrest for DUI was very minimal.As they say "those were the days."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796472012-01-27T13:55:01-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00Are You doing Symphonic Double Bass On the Current Project
<p>Yes,I cut two composite tracks but not very much of it is being used.This was the first track I recorded using my 5-string electric.My fender jazz bass sat out on this session.Onstage I have also only been using the 5-string.I got it from a friend of mine who was stranded in florida and had to get back to LA so he gave it to me in return for airfare back to LA.It is custom made and so sweet.I said no man"I don't want to rip you off like this" and he said "all I need to do is get back to LA and I will be fine,you are playing bass more and more and need to get into 5-string,please just help me get the fuck out of here and you can have the bass.It's all good."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796462012-01-26T12:08:17-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00I Am Very Backlogged At My Desk
<p>Well I did get my copyright situation together and up to date.That is a good feeling and it is expensive,I remember when it use to be ten bucks.Nowadays people say it does not matter but oh yes it does very much matter.It is your claim and registration of first use.The world is always looking for new music,many folks will cheat a bit and perhaps take a part of something you did and use it,and in many ways this is all well and good as long as you are getting paid for it if they are making money for it.Or your heirs if you are no longer in this world.The part I am behind in is registering my titles with my performing rights organization which is ASCAP.These are the folks that collect your royalties for you.If you are dealing with any music supervisor on any professional project it is a given that you both have a PRO and your works are registered with them.Else or you are going to wait a long time to get paid.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796452012-01-26T11:30:25-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00You..Produced By Tom Morris?
<p>He was kind enough to meet with me in his office At Morrisound Studios.We are friends and we sat and chatted for awhile and then I started to cry,"Tom will you please produce my tracks?" "Rene you don't have to cry,I will do it and master them,but you know I prefer to be in on a prject right at the start,during the composition phase."I jumped up and clicked my heels when I walked out of the studio.I won the lottery as far as I was concerned.I present you here my evidence.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796432012-01-26T11:15:26-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00What Lead Vocal Session Blew You Away The Most?
<p>That's an easy question,Billy Shears on "Closer And Closer."It was not a vocal composite.He did three full takes and this was the third take complete from start to finish,I was in the control room with Judd Packer who engineered and we were just fucking laid out flat.Vocal session,professional ones, are just not done like this.They haven't been done this way since the 1950's.It is not a knock on any singers,a technique was developed for them in session to bring out their best which is much different than a stage performance.We were setiing up for him to cut vocal composite tracks and he just dropped this.We were running the session from the control room and listening to where we would have to stop and The Reverand was not playing any games today.He dropped the whole track right then and there.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796412012-01-26T10:47:37-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00You Appear Very Down On Home Recording
<p>My friend I never discount the value of anything, as a scientist I am always open to new vistas.You can sit at your desk and create an excellent first rate demonstration recording.To consider that a master recording session is to fool yourself.I am not saying that it sounds bad or is of poor quality.I am speaking technically here.I have a setup of course to home record,both digital software as well as two reel-to -reel analog decks as well as an ancient phillips cassette recorder for on location stuff and mind boggling acoustic guitar tracks.This is how I get ideas together.As I have explained,a serious home studio is a 30 grand investment and it has to be engineered.At that point even still you are going to have to take the work to a studio (hoping that it will format)and the final mix is going to have to be mastered in a dedicated mastering lab.Now I do know artists that have home studios and the engineering skills to go right from the home studio to mastering.It is one hell of a home studio though,I mean it is a professional studio in a home.All of the high cost of equipment and technical skill,never mind that,a studio is a room designed to inherit,acoustically and sonically the best sound qualities of the work being done in it.When a studio is being built pink and white noise generators are used.The sonic properties of the room are known,you know in a session where to place the artists and how to place the mics, and what mics to use for what purpose.You are set up to begin cutting and the assitant engineer may come out and say "can you please turn to the left about six inches,could you hold the guitar like this?" "Don't sing into the mic,sing over the top of it."Why that,wont it be more powerful if I sing directly into it?Well you see when you are cuttuing vocal composites the big trick after you are warmed up and on pitch is that you have to lean your head in and out of the mic.The mic is extremely sensitive,it is picking up the squeak in your shoe,your keys rattling in your pocket.If you are singing directly into it and leaning in and out you are blowing your headroom.This is really some cool shit ain't it?</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796402012-01-25T21:19:57-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00I Lived As I Believed
<p>Sometimes you have got to put everything you have into something.If you cut corners here you are going to sacrifice quality.Little stuff that you may do may be very motivating and exciting,having many good points to it.At the eclipse of the day though it has to be industry standard.That means the recording has got to be mastered.You may have a final mix in the studio that is to die for,yet when it gets played here and there on different machines and equipment the effect is not the same.You can't even hope to go to radio without a mastered recording.Much less press a CD.I am not trying to be critical here,I am a professional instructor.A respeted scientist and artist.Industry standard is not some mystical thing,It means your recording is of a constant level of quality across any format.You have the relative specs that must be there,someone serious in the industry can tell right away.Unless of course what you are submitting is understood to be a demonstration recording or "Demo.In which case it is expected that the recording will be completely re-worked and mastered.There is nothing wrong with that if it puts a check in your pocket.This could even happen to your master.Your tune that only a few people may ever hear it heard by millions of people.It may be a hige hit for another artist or a commercial or soundtrack or something.It may in the final end not sound anything like what you did.Yet what you did became successful.This is where you want to have your copyrights locked down and your song registered with a PRO.So you get paid for your good work.I know many artists that feel,"if it is not me on the tune than fuck it,it is not going to be done!"That is very childish and foolish in my opinion.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796392012-01-21T14:33:35-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00I Have Got To Finish The Current Project,
<p>The less you do in a studio the more you can do with it.The lead single to the album a big hassle becuase it is a total band project.Plus the soundtrack to a music vid.This production has been a real hassle for me.I love it and enjoy it yet it is not what I wanted.I wanted a female singer to do it.But none of the girls wanted to sing it right.They wanted to be Lady Gaga,very reluctantly I had to do the lead vocal.I just wanted to do the music and the backround vocals.The session was perfect for Michelle Rene she was trained to step in and do this.The old school thing did not bug her,she just wanted to record.None of the other female singers would do it.They were nasty about it even "I ain't gonns sing that shit."This is what tires me.Star trips.Can you just be a part of the crew and dig the adventure?No,piss on that crew shit,it is all about me.This is so boring to me,so trivial,if you are so hot why aren't you already signed,what are you doing here?</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796382012-01-21T12:50:32-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00After All Of These Years And What You Had To Go Through,Are You Tired Rene?
<p>I get that way sometimes and then I get inspired.I am in for the long haul.My material is protected worldwide by copyright.I'll tell you what it comes down to,my Mom,on her death bed took my hand and she squeezed it so hard I am up out of my chair and down to my knees and she said "Rene no matter what,no matter what anyone says or does do not give up."</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796372012-01-20T16:13:54-12:002017-03-14T21:06:53-12:00So you No Longer Play live?
<p>That sounds like some kind of commandment.Yes I still perform live.But i cant rely upon that to pay the bills.In the nightclubs at one time we would work six nights a week.So you were making 500 bucks a week to be a musician.Those days are so long over,most nightclubs just have live music,if at all,on the weekend.And a hundred bands are lined up to play very club.Most of them very amateur,clubowners who want to have live music see a deal they can take advantage of to get a band to play very cheap but this is not a seasoned and expierenced group.They are fresh out of the practice studio.They will play for free draft beer.They sound like that too...they are not tight,they have no dynamics and they drive your regular customers out the door.In a way that was cool because on friday night all of their high school friends came out to see them but on saturday night the joint was dead.People do not have money to go out anymore.That is a fact.Back in the day you would see the same faces every night.And when you went up to play in Georgia they would follow you.It just is not like that now.I chose to semi-retire.I did not want to fuck with a band anymore.In the studio I did not need one.You can't make a living playing the clubs,that is all over and done.I cannot dedicate my life to doing that.I would starve.The work is just not there anymore.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796362012-01-20T03:55:54-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00What Is Your Current Official Project?
<p>To make it through today and play the gig tonight.I am in session doing an album,the session is also a workshop as it is a teaching session in part for recording engineer students.rgis is win/win as it reduces my studio rates and I get to work at a great studio and own the masters.As well as a lot of fun in my role as "Dr. Funkenstein."The lead single has turned into a film project as well so the going is kind of slow.I am still doing live work onstage yet I have semi-retired from that if you can call it that because the work keeps coming in.I am much more into production and composition,it is more fun to me to do meaningful work that is going to last than to be a "rockstar."I do not want to carry the load of having a band right now.I carried that sack of cement for a long time.It led to some fantastic moments no doubt.How can I explain to you to walk onstage with my guitar and hit a chord and a riot erupts...Boom,Boom!you are struggling to get up to the mic to sing still playing your guitar with three pretty girls hanging on you?Your guitar cannot be heard because a sexy tight ass is pressed against the strings.The pedals on your guitar synth are being stepped upon and suddenly you are playing "Philly brass" instead of the piano.How much would you pay for that expierence to happen to you?You look around to see the band and they are hidden by all of the people dancing onstage.Then it is the end of the show and you have got to pack up and go.The girls want to be with you but you have got to roll out and haul ass.And in our case for so many times we also had to escape a lynch mob to get the bus to the interstate.Serious man,people wanted to hang us from a tree.Some of the ladies would follow you from town to town."Where are you next?" "Tuscaloosa,tomorrow night." "I'll be there."Sure enough that was true and these ladies came to understand you as a human being,moreso than even the sex how good it was to have a friend to enjoy a quiet little dinner with or maybe she would help you get your laundry done.But my real lady was my guitar,to this day my black leather jacket smells of the perfume and sweat of these wonderful women.We never had to "shill" an audience to make this happen,pay girls to riot for us as The Beatles did,as The Stones did.a catholic all girls school was pais to transprot the girls to the airport in NYC to greet these two groups annpuncing the arrival of "Beatlemania" to America.Ed Sullivan got that all together and it was brilliant marketing.They even made all of those signs for the girls.you can't blame them for that our call them names,they were selling a concept and America bought it.Elvis did not have to do that.He just did his thing and it happened.His marketing was built upon what he did.He did not have to manufacture girls screaming and rioting,pay them to do it,that was just the way that it was.The girls would riot in the cinemas just to see him on the screen.Nobody had to be paid to do that,it was just going to happen and the marketing department knew that,all they had to do was present it.With out him none of this would have existed for anyone.There would be no Mick Jagger or Paul Mccartney,those are two guys who would have left the business.John Lennon would have returned to school,Keith Richard would have become a plumber who played guitar at the local pub on the weekend.Pink Floyd would never have existed.Such is why Elvis is the king of rock and roll,others will make that claim who followed him in,and they are tremendous artists but this is a business you see,it comes down to sales figures and he was the first rock and roll artist to be heard on broadcast radio and the first artist to sell rock and roll records to the tune of millions of copies.Always a gentlman,a very kind and generous person.His media persona is not to far from his personal life.Of course he was hard and road tested yet at the same time very humble and unassuming.His film contract with Paramount really messed him up.It removed him from performing live for eight years when he was in his prime.Most of the films were pretty lame but not one of them lost money.A claim even the most consummate film actors cannot make.As soon as he honored that contract he got back onstage and remained there the rest of his short life.Every single night was a total sellout.Yes he had a few bad nights in which he was not up to par but for 99.9 percent he delivered beyond the expectations of the audience.coverew\d every style of popular music you could imagine.And made it his own.As a band we cut our teeth in the American South.Our plan after we got the show down and escaped enough lynch mobs was to go to Chicago or NYC together and start out fresh with a good agent.At that time still existed down south the TOBA, or Theater Owners Booking Association.Tough on black artists we called it.Through our agent we were under contract to them.Despite all of the racial problems created by my black rock and roll band we made good commissions for them.And we got our little pay too.So they did not want to let us go.Chip was very angry with me about this."We have the bus to live in,we have the material to do any show,we have all of the equipmsnt,let's split and go to New York,fuck these rednecks!"We also had amongst us maybe 600 bucks and some odd change.A bus with a music city tag that was two years expired and no plan of action,such as touring up the east coast.at that time even if the bus mad it to NYC we would have been eaten for lunch in that big town.Later on of course we did make it to NYC in a jet plane to record for a major league producer.(oo)(oo).But this was an organized thing,the sad thing on it was that the producer wanted me to stay and do sessions for him and drop the band."It would be much better for your son to grow up here and I can give you all of the work you need to do very well."Unlike the band the producer was mostly concerened with the welfare of my son.Who made the trip with us and was no hinderance at all.The band,with the exception of Andre Mack, wanted me to place my son in foster care with The State Of Florida.Just as easy as that,I had turned down a potential spot on guitar with The Allman Brothers because I had to take care of my baby.No way was it possible for me to go on the road replacing Warren Haynes.an ideal spot mind you yet I had to be concerned with more important things,I had to be "Mommy." I would not trade that expierence for anything you could offer me in this world.I had to fight a battle royale with The Great State Of Florida just to obtain sole custody of my infant son.I went from a rockstar wannabe to this guy carrying a baby around everywhere I went and the baby is fast asleep holding on to Daddy.Safe and sound.People would get angry about it,"is that all he does is sleep?"I would put my finger to my lips and say "Shhhh,he is resting up."The band with their cold comments about me giving him up to foster care,I forgive them of that,they did not understand.They did not mistreat him.They were worried about him in their own way.our road trips were very dangerous at times with people shooting at us,no place for a baby.My parenting skills range from being voted "Best Mom On The Block" by NAFE)National Association of Female executives) in 2003 to pretty crappy.Babies are pretty easy to work with,you feed them,clean them,dress them, and make them feel safe and secure and it is all wonderful.When they become teenagers it all changes and they now know that you are not perfect.I say put all of the good into them whilst you can.They will remember and come around again.They will relate to you as a human being and not a harassing parent.Especially when the grandchildren arrive.That is the reward time for being a good parent.so for me it was not all about the music,it is the best thing I do yet I was shown there is much more to life than that.That baby child is a young man now.How wonderful it is to sit down and have a man to man talk with your son.You are learning from him.Now he is taller then you.You both share a good hearty laugh.You might not catch this but after he arrived here everything that I do or have done is for him.He will ride on the steel rails I built for him.My joy was to have work to do that I love with an intended purpose.Far future advanced.It is not a style or a trend you see,it is a feeling and the expression of that feeling.It became a reality.The limelight well i had my moments there I am leaving here to go play a gig to a packed house.But that packed house is not going to be there everynight.Sometimes you have got to play to only six people and are fortunate if you get paid anything.I play to that six people the same way I would play to 60,000 people.The pressure is on me to cave and give up.I cannot do that,failure is not an option to me.To leave me cowering in fear? You have got the wrong guy here to do that.I am a professional entertainer.I have got to move or fall forward if necessary.This is not a dream I am chasing,this is my life and my purpose for being here at all.I am sorry that you cannot respect that and going further that you will not lend your support to it.Not even to the work I have done for chairitable causes.I am not going to be bitter about that,you will catch my drift one day.I have got to go now.I have a gig to play.Thank you for visiting and reading,dig the music,today it is on my nickle.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796352012-01-18T09:46:50-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00The Guitar Work On "American Idol Audition"
<p>What a blast!It all started from a gut string guitar a friend gave me,a really funky little Yamaha that looked hideous but sounded so great.Oh man did I go to town here,There are 168 composite complete guitar tracks, a total dream world for a guitar player.I have a really good friend "Pop" I call him ( Jim Boyd) who has an acoustic guitar collection to die for.Plus some very fine electrics ( he is holding my Les Custom for me)but moreso killer acoustics with the emphasis on guts.!12 strings,So I was hitting him up in session for some of his prime pieces.They are clean,they are strung,perfect intonation.
The electric guitar work was done on my white Les Paul Custom with my multivox little david leading up to the guitar solo.This was the electric rhythm guitar work.
Then came the session for the electric solo.Studio B at morrisound,I set up the design,two marshall vintage plexies ( no master volumes) with one stack apiece,pre-amped by two avalon's patched to the SSL Console.I wanted the distortion to come from the output stages of the Plexies.I arrived at the studio with my white SG Les Paul Custom but my producer Tom Morris wanted me to use his Black Les Paul Custom."I think my guitar would be the better choice,he said."I did the solo from the control room,he did all of the adjustments on the guitar and the amps,I just got so high doing it.The full bodied LP had more boost to work with in the mids and lower end.At this level of power my SG type,which I normally prefer would have started howling whevever I touched her.I could have managed that by muting her yet I think Tom was right.this guitar was stolen from him in the studio heist of morrisound.He would really appreciate to get it back.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796342012-01-17T12:12:37-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00You To Play In The DPRK?They Would Kill You Homeboy!
<p>No they would not.I would be there as their guest.It would just be a very special tour and I would want to come back home.A time of truce and cultural exchange.I don't have a band now so I would have to work with DPRK artists.I find their art,music, and dance to be first rate.Can you even imagine an entire nation of people that have never heard "Johnny B. Goode?"I would be representing my nation that I love and it's people.Not as a big wig power diplomat,as an average American artist.The isolation of this nation is not good for them.it is not good for all of us.There are many problems between our two nations,a lot of tensions.You know sometimes folks can let a little loose and enjoy some good music and good food/fellowship and things don't seem to be quite as bad.I would not plan to defect or anything.as long as I am on the peninsula I would like to perform in South Korea also.The best interest for the people of Korea is a unification.These are families torn apart.I do not feel that communism works,in fact it ends up far worse capitalism a free market economy where you have a select few elite that live very good lives and the proletariate is starving at poverty level or far below.This elite group sets up a tightly controlled police state and if you make any waves at all off you go to the prison camp and not just you but your whole family to to be totally de-humanized.
The entire country with the exception of the capital city has been turned into an unproductive wasteland.All but for the benefit of a select few at the expense of everyone else.The state is far from any type of self-sufficiency,they need the support of foreign aid and loans from the world bank to make it.
In the beginning of the split of The korean Peninsula both sides were essentially equal.And for quite a long time The DPRK was far ahead of South Korea in terms of industrial output and social progression.They had the full support of the former USSR.And they were moving forward living far better than their brothers and sisters in The South who struggled day to day under a harsh and cruel military Regime.So what happened?The DPRK digressed into a weird militarstic totalarian dictatorship and the South threw off their military dictatorship and became a progressive free market economy.Personally I will tell you that a South Korean made Epiphone guitar will rival in quality and craftsmanship anything made in The USA.
The end result either way is the same,the selfish greed of the few overides the benefit of all.Let us take a look in America at the city of Detroit,Michigan.A city that at one time was a marvel to the world.Today it is a junkyard inhabited by wild dogs.What happened..the big three automakers sat down at a meeting with a gentleman who was going to revolutionize the quality and production of American made motorcars.They would be the most reliable and dependable cars in the world.You would be so happy with your purchase that you would by one and drive it for years then you would trade it in (the next guy would buy a good used car) and return as a satisfied customer and buy a new car from the big 3.The internal combustion engine of an automobile was such a simple design for a great engineer,that motor if maintained properly, for would run forever.The big 3 had other ideas and spent tons of money on quality engineers to produce "planned obsolecence."Additions worked into a motorcar that would guarantee it would break down.(what are rod bearings?)So the consumer would be motivated to buy a new car.Even the "caddilac" emblems were built to fall off of the car within two years.The big three said "Thank you for your ideas my friend,now take a hike."And the guy did,he saved up his bread and took a trip to Japan to speak with their automakers who were looking to break into the US market.Now take a look at Detroit,you could buy a wonderful house there for 300 dollars,not down mind you...300 dollars,they were asking for 5 hundred but will take three.Nobody would touch that house with a ten foot pole.The trade unions share in this guilt insisting that the workers be paid more and more with more benefits yet they were no longer on the cutting edge of commercial automoblie manufacturing.They were producing inferior gas guzzling products.The SUV...a musician ought to always own a van,the station wagon was the perfect family car.Yet now you have the SUV.It will hold 8 passengers plus all you need to have a family picnic or weekend campout,and you see one person behind the wheel burning fossli fuel like there is no tomorrow sitting at a red light.A huge v-8 sucking up gas just to idle.Where a 4 cylinder would do just as good of a job at less than half of the operating cost.You do the math if you can.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796312012-01-16T02:57:18-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00If you were to go onto foreign soil to play as an ambassador of good will between nations where would you choose to go and play?
<p>North Korea,the DPRK,If I could make it there I could make it anywhere to be sure.Not with a big show,just and acoustic guitar and my blue jeans and cowboy boots with a leather fringed jacket.I would sing Elvis to them them "That's Alright Mama" and maybe "kentucky Rain." " Rocky top" and "Proud Mary" to be sure do not forget "Johnny B. Goode."The citizens of that country would be hearing it for the first time.Traveling abroad you have to respect the laws and the traditions of the soil you are upon.I would enjoy very much to jam with some DPRK musicians,It would ease so many tensions so much.Much less expensive than to conduct a war.The culture of korea facsinates me.But you are not going to send me there,I would face down all of the hatred they have towards my country and they would fall in love with me.Music is a univwesal language you see.No I would not want to defect there.Just a quick tour.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796332012-01-15T19:19:19-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Which Is Your Favorite Session?
<p>When we did "Closer An closer" It really became symphonic at that point."Tell Me" hinted at this yet this was the full expression of it.The session players were all trained symphonic musicians.Allen,my very dear friend was chosen to play a much bigger part than he expected,He had worked the road with me for many years.He did not expect me to drop the studio on him as hard as I did.He also was syphonically trained as a drummer which he does on this session.Plus the co-write,and the lead vocal.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796322012-01-15T18:48:32-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00The DPRK,are you kidding?
<p>No and I don't think the USA would send me,no army or military,just my Gibson Acoustic and my voice,I would like it if my son could come along too.The DPRK may request me to come for the purpose of a peaceful cultural exchange.I am not a big star yet I could take pto time off from my job to go.Summer is coming.We do have to get it together people.We have got to live together on this planet for the time of our lives.Do you have any children?Don't you want them to live well..when you are old and feeble you will need them to look after you.I would have to bring some crew with me,at least my producer Kenny.I Think I could talk Bill Rodgers,my film producer to come along.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796302012-01-14T13:38:51-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00When I Ran Out Of Steam,I Found Who My friends Are
<p>If you are going someplace you have to go through things to get there.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796282012-01-14T07:44:10-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00American Idol Audition-That Tune Is Jamming!
<p>Yes,it is,I really love it.It was in part taking Michelle Rene from being a singer to being a songwriter and a poet.Yet there was a lot of support going into it from different areas.My first official corporate sponsorship from EEI Recycle,if not for them the session would not even exist,somehow I sold the concept to them,moreso to it's proprietor,Fritz Regner,who also did the fantastic harmonica work on the session.And Tom Morris who took over as producer for the session.It all came from Michelle Rene's heart and soul.And I guess you can tell that I am having a ball doing it!After the NYC sessions I had to get back to something much looses.The band wanted to go home studio but we neeed more time to get ready for that.I cannot do a recording session without a professional recording engineer.And for an even decent home recording studio you need to invest 25 grand and that still is not it,you will still have to go to a major studio to overdub and re-mix.For what I do for very sound reason I want to start a project in the place I am going to finish it.Well lately I like to do the rhythm tracks at Colorama studios with Leslie Payne.the more that I work with Kenney though the more I like it.But Colorama has just got this vibe going and the studio is like a livingroom complete with a fireplace.And I can choose from 300 vintage guitars to record with.The studios,man I make their day when I call in to set up a session.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796272012-01-14T07:14:54-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00On research for an upcoming film project a lot about the Masonic Lodge came up.
<p>I would consider it a committment to join a satantic household.We live a life of free will and are permitted to make that choice if we do so.We are responsible to ourselves and obligated to fullfill our obligations.No matter of how many close friends you have or all of your fraternal fellowships on the day your soul is required of you that battle you will face on your own.It is a good thing for a man to associate himself with honorable men in his life.I came to find that many men who's lives I admired were masons.The only president that we had in my lifetime after John Kennedy that I liked was Ronald Reagan.The way that he spoke in his interviews,he had a way of relating to the common man of good sence..The masonice thing did not even begin with academic men,it began with men of trade skill,very skilled journeymen who in making their living with their hands learned the secrets of their trades,everything they would build was square.When they got together and relaxed from their labors and got into their cups they developed a way of communicating with eachother.If you can work with your hands you are a freeman,I can busk for my supper playing my guitar if need be.I would probably end up making more money doing that than on my job.You have to become and be aware and relate to things in your own life,the one which you are accountable for.I would prefer the company of honorable men to that of blaggards.I see very highly schooled men who are called masons that could not even drive a screw into a piece of wood straight.Nor hammer a nail,just one nail correctly.it is not my place to judge them,I have enough of my own inconsistacies to deal with.And I am busy enough working on that.I decided long ago about what I wanted to do with my life.And persued my craft.Now I know the secrets of it.I am greatly persecuted for that from certian quarters.Called horrible names for it.I have to stop doing what I do best and most love to do to be okay for somebody else.Now that to me is insanity.I am a journeyman bricklayer but somebody will only stop bugging me if I am a Carpenter."Why do you waste your life lifting up those bricks?"I am not a carpenter,I respect them but I am a bricklayer,that is what I do best and I enjoy my work."Try if you can to not follow the crowd so much.Do your thing.Respect one another.I don't know all of what you have been told yet I will tell you this,you have today to live your life and that is ALL that you have.You may care about tomorrow but you do not have that.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796262012-01-12T19:37:54-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Michelle Rene's passing has stopped us in our tracks
<p>We do not always have a female lead singer.We do not always even have any vocals.It depends on the song and the project.Live we like to have a female lead vocalist with us to come out and shake things up.It is a special treat.We have already set the show up with just the boys and it is all going fine and then we bring out the Proncess. too.This of course changes our whole dynamic and approach and it is a good gig for her.Michelle Rene became quite a blessing to us.We knew what we had there.She only came on for her features and then she was gone.She did not sit there and shake a tambourine and do back up vocals when she was not featured.She would just wait in the wings with her Mom and Dad.We had the handle down strong as an all male band in every way.Yet we had much more depth and when Michelle would come out and light up the whole stage,and she was just a kid,only 17 years old.We finally were getting ready to do our first national tour in the USA.She was of course going to come with us.Our female "Black Beatle."Our single (oo)(oo) was rocking the charts way out west and she was set to do "Stagelight lover" as Dewy Ellis's replacement,Dewy wanted to just be a songwriter,she did not want to go on tour.We were a very dangerous indie combination.The major labels got the plug pulled on our airplay overnight.Every station dropped us in one week.We put so much time and effort into it.We got paid by a local club ( Dave's Aqua Lounge) just to rehearse our concert set twice a night.We were all ready to hit the road,to do the same show night after night but it was not to be as that.We were far to dangerous and we would not do rap nor hip hop.We played rock And roll,all funked up.We were set to visit 43 cities on our first USA swing,not big concerts,just good AAA local clubs but when our airplay dropped our gigs got cancalled.And we could not do a thing about it.Yes we could have still played in the deep south but Chip and Marvin were very tired of that.Me too.We would work our asses off for 300 bucks a night.They expected for us now to go out for $1000 a night.We would never see that day and they walked on me.I don't blame them,we had been through so much for so many years.They wabted to have lives "normal" for mucicians,go out and tour and then come home to record.Nice and easy.Every force of everything cam upon us so we had to stop,That in itself so bad ad it ended with Chip and Marvin gatting into a fist fight on stage.It is not that the south is so awful to me...I am from pennsylvania,being stuck to play in Florida is not the worst thing that could happen to you.They ought to check out my provincial and stuffy hometown.No way are you going to make ends meet there as a musician.Maybe for a time when you are young yes but not as an adult.You have to have an identity with some kind of day job.Perhaps that has changed now since there are no longer any jobs in my hometown.People with masters degrees are frying burgers at Macdonalds,to collect unemployment is a way of life more stable than to be a full time working musician.I guess kind of anywhere you are you hate it.You think it is going to be better someplace else.That is the restlessness of youth.My city is still a good place to live.The only reason I stayed here was because of the recording studios.And that really is my life,I am a recording artist and scientist.I sing jingles for a local radio station.There was once a time in my life when I thought playing in a bar was really taking me places,it is better when you work a nice clean club.I hate working in the dumps but I will still take the money,that is the same everywhere.Some of these joints are just such boring ratholes.Some are really cool places.I have been doing it steady since I was 14 years old.Some joints you just don't want to go to but you have got to pay the rent,every month.The studio was my salvation from that.I could still do some challenging things and not just spend my life doing the same old cover shit night after night.I know that there are studios all over yet you have got to be able to produce work that is industry standard.That ain't going to happen in a cheap studio.In digital recording you have got to pre-amp the guitars or you will never have a suitable signal.And to do it right you need an avalon pre-amp on board.In the analog days that was not so,and no cheapshit pre amp is gonna do it for you.In digital recording you can't set up the correct "headroom" for guitars without the pre-amp.The signal sent to the smpte will be weak and you cannot effectively add any gain to a weak signal.I ought to be charging you to tell you that.That is one of the things that is the difference between a major label recording and your home studio.Not to mention the SSL console.What is a VOS,how does it work and what does it do?Well if you insist on not buying my music and you wont help me out a bit why shouldn't I just let you figure it out at your own expense?Well if you write me and ask I would help you.You may have an ass-kicking band onstage yet when you go into the studio it just does not sound that good.The approach is so different.Especially in digital where you must have a producer that knows shortcuts.You may cut a great demo even but that is all it is,a demo,it is not an industry standard master recording.The pro's know that right away.2 seconds in..</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796252012-01-12T14:56:29-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00I Was trying To Find Michelle Rene To Do The Lead Vocal For The Current Project
<p>We do not always have a female lead singer.We do not always even have any vocals.It depends on the song and the project.Live we like to have a female lead vocalist with us to come out and shake things up.It is a special treat.We have already set the show up with just the boys and it is all going fine and then we bring out the Proncess. too.This of course changes our whole dynamic and approach and it is a good gig for her.Michelle Rene became quite a blessing to us.We knew what we had there.She only came on for her features and then she was gone.She did not sit there and shake a tambourine and do back up vocals when she was not featured.She would just wait in the wings with her Mom and Dad.We had the handle down strong as an all male band in every way.Yet we had much more depth and when Michelle would come out and light up the whole stage,and she was just a kid,only 17 years old.We finally were getting ready to do our first national tour in the USA.She was of course going to come with us.Our female "Black Beatle."Our single (oo)(oo) was rocking the charts way out west and she was set to do "Stagelight lover" as Dewy Ellis's replacement,Dewy wanted to just be a songwriter,she did not want to go on tour.We were a very dangerous indie combination.The major labels got the plug pulled on our airplay overnight.Every station dropped us in one week.We put so much time and effort into it.We got paid by a local club ( Dave's Aqua Lounge) just to rehearse our concert set twice a night.We were all ready to hit the road,to do the same show night after night but it was not to be as that.We were far to dangerous and we would not do rap nor hip hop.We played rock And roll,all funked up.We were set to visit 43 cities on our first USA swing,not big concerts,just good AAA local clubs but when our airplay dropped our gigs got cancalled.And we could not do a thing about it.Yes we could have still played in the deep south but Chip and Marvin were very tired of that.Me too.We would work our asses off for 300 bucks a night.They expected for us now to go out for $1000 a night.We would never see that day and they walked on me.I don't blame them,we had been through so much for so many years.They wabted to have lives "normal" for mucicians,go out and tour and then come home to record.Nice and easy.Every force of everything cam upon us so we had to stop,That in itself so bad ad it ended with Chip and Marvin gatting into a fist fight on stage.It is not that the south is so awful to me...I am from pennsylvania,being stuck to play in Florida is not the worst thing that could happen to you.They ought to check out my provincial and stuffy hometown.No way are you going to make ends meet there as a musician.Maybe for a time when you are young yes but not as an adult.You have to have an identity with some kind of day job.Perhaps that has changed now since there are no longer any jobs in my hometown.People with masters degrees are frying burgers at Macdonalds,to collect unemployment is a way of life more stable than to be a full time working musician.I guess kind of anywhere you are you hate it.You think it is going to be better someplace else.That is the restlessness of youth.My city is still a good place to live.The only reason I stayed here was because of the recording studios.And that really is my life,I am a recording artist and scientist.I sing jingles for a local radio station.There was once a time in my life when I thought playing in a bar was really taking me places,it is better when you work a nice clean club.I hate working in the dumps but I will still take the money,that is the same everywhere.Some of these joints are just such boring ratholes.Some are really cool places.I have been doing it steady since I was 14 years old.Some joints you just don't want to go to but you have got to pay the rent,every month.The studio was my salvation from that.I could still do some challenging things and not just spend my life doing the same old cover shit night after night.I know that there are studios all over yet you have got to be able to produce work that is industry standard.That ain't going to happen in a cheap studio.In digital recording you have got to pre-amp the guitars or you will never have a suitable signal.And to do it right you need an avalon pre-amp on board.In the analog days that was not so,and no cheapshit pre amp is gonna do it for you.In digital recording you can't set up the correct "headroom" for guitars without the pre-amp.The signal sent to the smpte will be weak and you cannot effectively add any gain to a weak signal.I ought to be charging you to tell you that.That is one of the things that is the difference between a major label recording and your home studio.Not to mention the SSL console.What is a VOS,how does it work and what does it do?Well if you insist on not buying my music and you wont help me out a bit why shouldn't I just let you figure it out at your own expense?Well if you write me and ask I would help you.You may have an ass-kicking band onstage yet when you go into the studio it just does not sound that good.The approach is so different.Especially in digital where you must have a producer that knows shortcuts.You may cut a great demo even but that is all it is,a demo,it is not an industry standard master recording.The pro's know that right away.2 seconds in.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796242012-01-08T22:09:44-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00I Am Getting Together As Best I Can Michelle's Life Story.
<p>Her step Dad is helping me.After her Mother died she lost all of her ties to Earth.Her family in Mo,with all well intent for her could not accept her for the star that she was so she would run away all the time.She loved to ride the "hounds."She would get her things together and travel to where she wanted to go.All of the trappings of the conventional world were unsuitable to her.Her life story is legend on a par with Robert Johnson.When the world dragged her down she would hop on a "hound."She had nothing,she had no one,she just wanted to sing.Her family just could not accept that.And you can't blame them,don't blame them,who could believe that this was so real?That to a person to sing was everything?I have got to give you this testimony about her when she appeared onstage with us as our featured female singer.Her talent at a tender age was extraordinary.She was always so sweet,she commanded five full octaves in her range.Always showed up on time,was never a hinderance to us as so many demanding "Judy Garland"female singers want to be,they have the temper to be sure but do they hsve the same talent?Only the select chosen do..don't get me wrong on that,I have worked with a lot of female singers that were real pro's and always fun to do an adventure with.But they were pro's you see.Not "star trippers."Our audiences did not expect her,and she was so humble about it,so thrilled just to get her shot to perform.So fantastic when she stepped onstage.She was only 17 years old and such a pro.We had it together as an all male band.The only black nigger rock band in the world,we played to riots,not shows, and blew the roof off of every joint we played.And then out would step this petite young white female child,we would tone it down to her and she would ice the cake just spellbinding the audience.We had the corporate financial backing in place to head out on our first national tour.Not real big time just ther next step,to do AAA clubs in the cites that we were getting airplay.And when we had done all of the work to get ready to rise up they pulled out and left us empty.We were all geared to fulfill out comittitment,delivered on all of our promises,the big one being that "American Idol Audition" would go number one on American Idol Underground radio which it did do,two weeks after our backers pulled out.I do not want to ever have another corporate backer.I would far prefer to have a reputable publisher.My support will be the product of my own effort and my audience.I now too just want to sing my song.I do not have to have a million dollars to have a happy life.I see all of the rich guys,who can buy whatever they want to lay it all to waste,I see the hatred and envy in their eyes.They would give everything they have to be able for just a moment to do what I do.But money is all that everything is about to them.They are so proud and stiff necked.So self righteous.And so already in somebody else's pocket.Who would pay to see Bill Gates suck on his guitar?He ain't going to do shit with it.Play some scales maybe?To a metronome even?I bet he has a fantasy that he is really something on his guitar.And he sucks,his whole world sucks and he knows it.Michelle to do her sessions the day before she died,now that is impressive power.She wanted such a simple thing out of all of her short life,a recording session.These oh so great people sit down to such a finely prepared dinner and will not even take a moment to bow their heads in silence to give thanks for it.They just dig in and eat the same as the pigs do.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796232012-01-06T16:24:36-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00What Does One Need For Success?
<p>A synergy of all elements.Everyone all pulling in the same direction.That is a hard thing to get together and even harder to maintain it,you have got to be dealing with people who are going to sway away.That also is to be expected because success is a journey and not a destination.You don't really learn from success you are savouring it and riding the crest of it,it is the product of a well thought out and executed plan.Success is to be enjoyed.It is a favorable result.If you have it today that does not mean you are going to wear it tomorrow.If you are successful with anything it is going to be copied the next day by many people.If you are wearing it today savour and relish it.Be thankful for a moment to hold it in your hands.Don't be an ass about it,make sure you share the credit for it with everyone that took part in it.Show them your appreciation.We are all just the crew here you see.Allow everyone involved to enjoy the ride and take pride in it.becuase if you are anyone you came through failure to be successful.And it is in failure that you either learn or you quit trying and cave in.That is dismal failure.Success can appear to you in a way that you did not originally plan.It is still success.The journey led you to the same place.Success creates interest.You can build upon that.The journey is now leading you to the next part of the destination.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796222012-01-06T08:58:57-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00I Would Like To See A Plastic Keyboard Create My Guitar Part On "Make It Right"
<p>This was a 2 1/2 Inch scully analog session At Critera Studios in beautiful Miami.I was flown from tampa in a rented lear to do the session.Infomed that if I did not hit the pocket my hands were going to be broken.Handed a 1957 tele esquire to cut the parts.I flew in on a lear and had to catch a hound back to Tampa.It pissed the band and management off to no end that I was a white man.I had a ball and loved it all.Never got paid either.I considered I got to fly in a lear and did not have my hands broken after the session.And they would have done that no question about it.It was not digital I had to play the riff from start to finish perfect.The material was so advanced.I just had to hang through and do my thing.After I was done I was stranded in Miami,the assistant engineer gave me a ride to the Greyhound Station.All of it was a fantastic expierence.The track I cut is point genius.I was treated like a captured prisoner.Flying in a lear jet to Miami.I plugged the tele into a Fender Princeton amp and the drummer Gregg drilled me on how to play it.I was asked what kind of whiskey I wanted and choose Jim Beam Bourbon with Key West Cola.Every word towards me,every action was hard and cold.Like I did not know shit from Shineola.And these were some really bad dudes.I was not scared though,I was getting off on it.The tracks I was going to cut were the ones that may put me on the map.The lear landed in Miami,the limo was waiting.Next thing I knew I was in Critera Studios in the "A" room.For all of the tracks I went direct into the board.11 hours straight.I DID ALL OF THE ALBUM TRACKS.Standing where Eric Clapton cut "Layla."That Tele was the right choice,it felt so fine.And I had to appreciate the moment I had been given here.No white man on Earth ever cut such tight guitar tracks for a black band.And after the expenses paid for me to get there if I did not turn in the cuts they would have stomped my hands and I never would have played again.But I was up for the hunt.I loved working with Shawn and the band.And they loved me and how I fit into the mix yet it bugged them up to no end that I was a white dude and a rock and roller.They would have put me out in a moment in favor of a black guitar player and relegated me to road manager to just do the guitar tracks in the studio.It was a hard lesson to me, yet as I said no other white man on earth could cut such tight and precise tracks,no black guitarist could top it either,that is why I was there.I do not do very many chords,the keyboards covered that and no guitar solos.Tight melodies all up in the pocket that the drummer Gregg instructed me to play in flight.My work here ranks with James Brown's guitarist,I am very proud of it.What I had to endure to cut these tracks is not really of any matter.And the whole attitude of it was so racist against me which I also consider to be childish.This was a project from Florida being set up to go head to head with the mighty "Cameo."Our only major concert was at the bayfront center in St.Petersburg opening for Chaka Kahn and Shawn Brown with the rest of us just tore the house down.Then we were set to do a European Tour.By this time I had become to get pretty aggravated with them.They would turn my guitar off onstage.So the Bayfront was my final gig with them.They were "Blackstar" I would have quite gladly just played my guitar parts in the wings and not even have shown my white ass onstage,the whole concept and the material was genius,yet the attitude going down behind it was really debased.They wanted nothing to do in any sort of way with white people.A huge white market that would have fallen in love with them and would have taken nothing away from their predominately Black following.The art is directed to all people.This attitude cost all of us millions of dollars and relegated this fantastic band to obscurity but for the fact that I also bought a copy of all the tracks when I was in Miami and rode on home with them on the hound.Otherwise you would never had heard this music ever.R.I.P. to Gregg Pruitt,the fantastic drummer and soul of the pocket.My instructor and conductor for the sessions I did.In my opinion he is the finest funk drummer that ever existed.He was the one that insisted that I do the guitar parts.Drilled me like an armed forces D.I. instructor.It is his melodies that I am playing.I was so dismayed out of this,I felt as though I had the number one guitar slot in the world.I would have left my own thing to do this in a heartbeat.Such a soulful funky guitar perfoming on such fantastic songs.The major leagues though wanted to remove the guitar from black music in favor of just the keyboards.Leaving so many great black guitar players out of work.Who are they going to play with,a country band?A heavy metal band? they are not even going to go out to audition for that because this is the thing that they want to play,all clean and clear But they are shut out of it.They can't find any work.James Brown,the godfather of soul did not feel like this,there was always this funky little guitar part leading up the pocket.Controlled and precise with such awesome tone.A keyboard will never be able to compensate that.A lot of sales of even the most cutting edge material are not what they would be with a great guitar part.Puff,LL cool Jay,50 cent,David Ruffin Jr where is your guitar player?Call me!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796212012-01-06T05:52:34-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00My Duties As Executive Producer
<p>Had I of went to NY or LA this prob would have ended up as my job for a major label.I am very good at it and I get quite a buzz off of it.It goes from step number one of selecting the material to record to the final mastering stage.In charge of all phases,initial rehearsals and arranging the material,booking the studio time,finding the session people and booking them.Travel arrangements.Working hands on with the recording engineers and producers in pre-production.Diplomacy and problem solving.Licensing and copyright administration.Performing on the sessions,conducting the sessions,singing on the sessions.Setting up the sessions.Final creative control.There is such a fine art there in keeping everything loose and light to draw in all of the creative ideas yet keep a very strict handle on the direction of the concept.Keeping the thing very serious yet still having a lot of fun.It can get very intense in the studio in a hurry.You have got to deliver an industry standard production.A professional recording.Under an ever tightening budjet.The role of the producer is just huge in this,it was a weakness of mine,partial hearing loss in my high end which is typical of rock musicians that led me to the fact that I was not qualified to produce,I could not mix to industry standard.I could not in any way balance the high mids and the highs.You have to be laboratory standard here,the skill of a surgeon,the touch of a jeweler.The prerequisites to be my producer are:
1.)Perfect pitch hearing
2.}Certified as a recording engineer in both analog and digital recording
3.)Also an accomplished musician
4.)Significant credits,a proven successful track record of honest success.
5.)A brilliant creative mindset
When I find someone with these qualities I am prepared to set up a meeting and grovel if necessary to get them in on the project.Fortunately for me I don't have to go that far because they are intrigued at the possibilty of working with me.It gets them away from their usual grist-to-the mill stuff and into something off the wall.And I give them the free hand of total creative control,in production they are calling the shots.
And I am getting a huge set of pro's here:
1.)I am free to be an artist,I know the layout of the board and everything,but my only concern is turning in a performance,or conducting a performance.
2.)I am constantly receiving an objective opinion on the direction of the project.I desire to come out of a project with more creativity then I came in with.My producers never take away.they only add to it.
3.)The final production is industry standard.Undeniable.
4.)I am happy,I know I am laying down a great track.The artist inspiration and the technical craftsmanship are all in place.They are buzzing too..there is a lot of love in that room.I listen back to the tracks and am never disappointed,and I pushed it to it's limits.Drawn up incredible recording configurations.A thing that is actually expected of me.I go way off the wall and way off the scale.My producers both expect and enjoy this.They enter in as composers if necessary.Performers too,I can run the board if they are laying down a track.Watch them jam with the orchestra!
5.)No matter what you say,I am whole,I am perfect,I am complete.
The sessions are so fantastic.I ought to be on a major label.I do not think I would have huge mass appeal yet would have a very definable market.I would sell cds,a lot of them.If the whole world system falls down I can sing for my supper.I love my country,the USA,she embraces and protects me.I am no longer concerned with being a "rockstar."Working "behind the scenes" has more of an appeal to me.I sing jingles and love to do that.I do not have to worry about an image.I am as a vocalist a trick tenor.I will convince someone to buy their tires at a certain place.Just by singing a tune.You don't know me but you have heard me.I am all good with that.
I stuck with it no matter,I am an educated person,I view the big picture.I own the copyrights.I love my job.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796202012-01-03T23:44:38-12:002020-09-15T22:38:27-12:00What Can You Do When Somebody Beats You Down?
<p>I think that a lot of us face that,sometimes others seek to crush one down,to make nothing of one's hopes,dreams,and talents.One who is evil-intentioned towards someone seeks to bring about their decline.Efforts to improve one's lot in life to become happier in life can be subject to attacks by ridicule and many other means.
What exactly are such people trying to do? They are trying to reduce one downward.To depress one's talents and capabilities.There must be a concept there that one is dangerous to them in some way and you may have to deal with this directly which can be overwhelming if you are already wounded in some way.
There is a long range handling that seldom fails.
The general plan working against you is that if person A becomes more successful they could be a menace to me,therefore I must do all I can to make person A less successful.For some reason it never occurs to them that they may be making an enemy out of person A although they were not an enemy before.It is almost a certain way for a person courting such madness,such an insane course of thinking by a person from all appearances is completely sane.Until say, they start drinking alcohol to excess for instance,Have you ever met anyone like this?Three drinks and it is off to the races.However/whatever circumstance the object is to to make their target grow less in life and ultimately fail.
Unless you wish to embrace such madness and descend to that level,which is very unhealthy for you,spiritually,mentally,and physically...the best way to handle the situation is to flourish in your life and prosper.You may be forced to handle them directly if one must yet you must not sacrifice flourishing and prospering,for that is what they want you to do.That does not specifically relate just to money.Healing,health,and happiness are spiritual values that generate from within you.
If your aims in life are worthwhile with sound spiritual precept.One will surely wind up the victor.Hopefully without harming a hair on their head.
Flourish and prosper my brothers and sisters!
Peace out.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796192012-01-01T11:21:08-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00E-Quest:You Have A Large Grip Of Very Professional Recordings,How Is that?
<p>If you decide to do this,do it right.Don't fool around with it halfway.I got made aware of Morrisound Studios by my friends from the Death Meatal band,The Excutioners,later to be known as Obituary.At this point we were just fellow musicians and friends from our day jobs we worked together.John and Donald Tardy.They let me play some of my tapes to them at their house and recommended that I check out Morrisound.They were about to become huge.On their early tours they still keep working their day jobs when they came home.Very straight up and fun dudes.Quite clean cut,very good manners.Any way that got the thing started but i still had no idea,I had recorded doing guitar stuff for Blackstar at Critera Studios in Miami, and when I was in Nashville had recorded at the Music Mill on guitar for "The Prisioner."The original recording for "Jerico" was done that night.He was sponsored by Sherrod Vans out of jacksonville.I met him at the union hall #251 in Nashville.Wow,here is how nashville works man,he was with his pianist sitting down and said "Man I need a guitar player right now!"I walked up to him and said "I play Guitar."He said "If you shake my hand and join up with me I have got you for $350 dollars a week,rain or shine."Normally I would make $250 to go on the road all over the country.The gig lasted 7 weeks and he was good for the money with no complaint,the sessions at The Music Mill were fantastic.
Morrisound was even more advanced than that.I would still visit "cut rate studios."You know,with egg crates on the wall.I always came to regret this as I would end up having to import/export data.The learning curve here was so huge.I had to become a scientist in the form of an executive producer.a huge transition was going down,from analog to digital recording.The entire platform was going to change.For a time you could still choose yet made aware that you would have to convert.My technique as executive producer was to make the analog approach cross over to the digital format.And digital sounded very "Thin" to me,and cold.It was seperated and not ambient.Then of course,the object of it,Shortcuts and cut and paste.And as a scientist I have got to agree,but what was missing?The guitar was the weak signal.It needed to be pre-amped.Nobody understands why yet but it settles the equasion for now.Even the acoustic guitars have to be pre-amped.Then you have got the warmth of the track.Mathematically it all adds up,Algebra wise the equasion is solved and the track rocks.If you are not as serious about this as me then you will do different.It facinates me more as a scientist than it does as a recording artist.As an artist I do not share the restrictions of the scientist.My job is to cut that track.To jam that track to the fullest.That is what the production people want.Even just a tiny percussion track like maracas.The process is to go way over the top and then cut back as needed.I ought to charge you to tell you that.But how far do you cut it back?I go in super rehearsed,Every poly rhythm attack.Colorama,the studio where I lay down my rhythm tracks,my producer chooses from over 300 vintage axes,all original condition, which guitar I am going to record with.My surprise might be that it is a "62" Les paul Junior.That old guitar be loving me so much and she wants to blow up the track.Intonation all set new strings all set in.A fire in the fireplace keeping us warm.Fully stocked bar,cut the track.Drop it.This is why I am a recording artist and you are not.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796182011-12-30T20:05:20-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Deep Down In Mississippi-My Final Meeting With Satan
<p>The end clue of it was how much happier I would be if I was dead.How sick is that?I get all of the good tips on how to be healthy and instructed how much better it would be if I knocked myself off.He would of course blame my son for that.Each time I go there is a little more desperation for this.What appeal does death have for the living?Everytime it is just a bit more pathetic and a bit more mentally sick.,The so sadly wasted prince of the air.No more of it I say,I do not have an obligation here.I did not want anything from here.This wasteland.All of it nothing but a waste.To embrace death.Your death.Conditions to be put in place on everything I do when I AM ALIVE AND WELL.Enslavement.The end of any type of free will.To submit myself to prescription narcotics to keep me quiet and sedated.My prefererance being to be drug free.My personal physician completly understands that.And totally agrees with it.It is hard in so many ways to accept life on the cutting edge.Yet you ought to know that if they had me they would narc me into a basket case.I would have no more contol over my life which I already accept resonsibility for<i do not need to blame someone else for the times that i failed.no more of this say you.my life has got wonder challenges face.i love my work is it own reward.so am embrace misery and hold head down.like a whipped puppy.that what satan looking for.i all done with it.it so sick depraved.yet let him he had say.i did interrupt nor spoke word in defense.he really have anything say.the power point was lies.because no obligation hear garbage spewed me.every foul garbage.it stank putredness.it intent end purpose too.i never observed weak.so pathetic.to an whatever reason make these meetings.that now concluded.it waste time.you on shit.it belongs you.i longer share any part it.i moved ahead.></i></p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796172011-12-28T10:25:30-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Amanda Gertulla,1st Chair Violin For Stagelight Lover
<p>I am not sure if I can handle this one myself.Yet I got it together as an executive producer.There is not to be found anywhere a more serious and focused musician then a first chair volinist in a symphony orchestra.This is a totally disiplined musical executioner.Philharmonic,symphonic.She went into the studio telling the engineers what mics she was going to use and how to place them.Not being bitchy or anytihng like that.She was so cool about it.And it was just four takes and it was done.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796162011-12-27T12:17:43-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00How About The Guitar Hero Thing
<p>That is Eric Clapton.The world's premier rock guitarist to this very day.He is the cat's ass!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796142011-12-27T11:22:27-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00At This Time In Your Life Are You Still Trying To Be A Rock And Roll Star?
<p>No,that is a couple of chapters back in my life.That is fun you know(the rock and roll thing) and I still love to play rock and roll music which is a young wild boy type of a thing.And I waved that flag for an extended period of time.I chose to progress beyond that.I grew older and wanted to develop into different areas.When I moved to Nashville I could not play nor sing country music at all,in fact I hated it,I thought it was a joke.Corny.Then upon being graced by God to actually find paying work as a lead guitar player in Nashville,This is a town where 700 hot shot guitar players a week come to town carrying their guitars and their dreams on a "last chance power drive."Thousands of guys that not only play country and bluegrass,they play any and everything and sizzle your eyeballs with it.At this time say early eighties there was a big and hard line drawn between rock and roll and country music.With well established heavy hitters calling all of the shots.When I auditioned for The Grand Old Oprey I comitted sacriledge at that time to play "Not Fade away." A large group of people chased me out of the Briley Parkway Facility and they were going to beat the living shit out of me.My wife came running up to the stage with my guitar case and unplugged my guitar saying "you have got to get out of here Rene,They want to kill you!"She was right again so we bolted to our baby blue "66" coupe de ville and she drove out of there as though we had just robbed a bank.I tell you,she had that whole crowd suddenly running away from us instead of towards us.That is another story.We kept running all the way back down to FLA.Yet back at the beginning I found,well in all fairness she found for me my first professional road gig.It was one of those things,a band (Pattie Flores)had to go back on the road in a hurry and the guitarist quit.Form years of club date work I could do my little rock thing to kick up a show and she liked it and hired me and it was not to long before it was discovered I could not play country music AT ALL!To the tune of getting a one way bus ticket back to Nashville.My wife and I were starving,I could not lose that gig so I had to learn how to "Twang."Pattie was a real pro operation for an indie,very well known to the dance halls and casinos out west.She was kind enough to give me one more chance to get it together and the guys in the band all helped me to learn how to do it right.And with it modestly putting bread and butter on the table and paying the rent I began to grow to love it.All of that music they played on the van tape deck was now sinking in and I was traveling the same roads and living the same life as country music artists.I loved Pattie's voice,she is a tremendously gifted singer and artist.And now I had a trace of country music on my soul etched forever.Thus back to the point I had progressed and grown.It is within the production and creative development arena where my real home is.Writing and composing.Executing production from stage one.Recording art and science,licensing and publishing.I have a very strong backround there.Forget the limelight and image hassles.My PRO sends me a check and I live a cool life.I am not rich by worldly terms but I am good to go,the bills are paid with some pin money to spare.The newest boy band scored platinum on one of my little tunes.I did not write "Donna" so much to perform it as I did to shop it.(oo)(oo) was done as much to be an advertising jingle for an up and coming cell phone company just as much as it was done to be a radio hit.The New York production staff who also collaborated on the writing...I was working with brilliance.Mark my words,that chorus and ringtone will see the light of day very soon.Today because you are my dear and faithful readers you can get it on your cell for free.It is the hippest ringtone on the block!If it goes off when you are in court it may put a somber federal judge into a good mood.It is the aftershock thing that I have got going with my catalog.To hear it for the first time upfront you may easily dismiss it as trite.I do not dabble around with my colors,themes,and tones.In creative development yes.Every possible approach is considered and tried out.That period is also very much a joy.Singing and playing around campfire light,cooking fresh fish and drinking homemade wine.Demoing it to reel to reel.The recording sessions though are mastering sessions.Pawn to Queen four,a demonstration of skill,jewelers cutting the fawcetts into the raw diamond.I think it is better if you can walk down the street and nobody bothers you.The paparazzi ignores you.Yet you go into the grocery store and one of your songs covered by a famous major label artist is playing,or an elevator.(Stagelight Sonata For Violin)or waiting in line somebody's phone bleeps your ringtone.These are not passing fads they are lasting things.You are not classified as "In the vein of"...you know,all categorized.You just work one formula over and over and drill it right down into the dirt.Or you play the local dump honky tonk hoping to be "discovered."I don't mind to go and play at the honk for some fun and extra money but I would prefer to go on tour with James Taylor to sing backround vocals or to be in the cast of The Trans Siberian Orchestra in their road show.To sing or to play whatever they think it best for me to do for them.I am very comfortable to be a reliable member of a supporting cast to a good show.A character,performer if you will.I have the time now that my son is grown to be able to travel unlimited in the persuit of adventure.Yet it must be respected that I am a professional.I have the choice and would only consider to work with good people of championship character.People that made it through the rain and paid their dues.I have paid mine in full,both as an artist and a human being.And that is not to say that I am looking down upon anyone,I am both no better and no worse than anyone else.I have my own share of ever present shortcomings,at times I am even an airhead (I hate it when I am an airhead)but I am also a brilliant artist and a genius and more importantly a fine and warm human being full of humilty.I am no stranger to sadness.If it were not for my Mother,my best soldier, being in my corner none of this would even have ever happened.She financed my recorded catlog and wrote the lyrics for my most touching song "That Little Boy Of mine" written as The State of Florida wanted to take him away from me."Rene..I came up with these words while I was working on my lottery numbers,can you write some music for them and sing them?"I put a full production behind it which she loved yet said "all i wanted was for you to just play the guitar and sing."And another unsung hero that I have to name out is my dear friend Sally Robinson who forked out six thousand dollars of her hard earned money to pay for the promotional costs of taking (oo)(oo)to broadcast radio,six thousand dollars that I still owe her.It would be cruelly said that I used my Mother and that I used Sally Robinson for my own selfish purposes.My Mother was well aware of what it was all about.And Sally understood just how hard we had worked and wanted to help us to get it out there when we were high and dry.Nobody does anything of note by themselves,there has got to be wind beneath your wings.Fame in itself is such a hollow thing.you shall one day come to find that all of your idols are hollow and empty...stage props at their best.Void of any compassion or real feeling.They sell newsprint.Sensationalist headlines...The shocking truth revealed!They are not perfect,they are not what we originally duped you into believeing what they are and now in order to sell you more of what our journalstic rag represents we are going to demonize them,we built them up and are now going to tear them down revealing you the shocking facts that they are human beings just like you and me.I guess I am mostly kind of rattled because I am also a single parent,so everyday I have to face up to my imperfections with no place to hide.I am so happy about that,I so love my son,I love to grab him and hug him and kiss him all over his forehead fifteen or twenty times.Tell him that he is all the world to me.We together have been through an awful lot.From day number one.He is older now (20) I am no longer over him,we are now equals,two men.It is really fun I have to tell you when it is like this.Over the teenage hump.When, if it is possible, that they recognize that you are only human too.How fortunate I am that he will take the time out of his busy and energetic life to sit and talk with me.Man To Man.I am no longer lecturing and scolding,if he wants my advise about something he will ask me for it.No more wasting time critisizing eachother's shortcomings.Somewhere along the line he accepted the fact that I am not perfect.I can't say for you,it is not my place to do so yet I can say for myself that I do not believe in abortion,as human beings we do not have the right to decide who is to die and who is to live.Being a parent is going to of course be inconvienent,yet if you search yourself and decide that you just can't make this committment which is going to be lifelong there are very competant and capable couples or even singles that can't have children for one reason or the other who would care for and love that child as their own.And in their elder years that child in return would be concerned about their welfare.A fetus whether you like it or not is a life,a human being that has been created.Better if possible that it would not have been created,that is just common sense.You can without too much trouble enjoy a good romp in the old hay and walk away clean.Abotion of a human life to me,and only to me,I cannot speak for you is the most grotesque from of murder I can imagine.With forceps the child's skull is crushed and it is removed from the mothers womb.The unborn child is then placed in a garbage bag and tossed into the dumpster in the alley.Not even the dignity of a reasonable funeral given.A human being murdered and tossed into the dumpster.And we complain about how tough and unfair life is.Again I speak to you about this with all due respect and we all make mistakes,I certainly have made my share.I am responsible for and have to live with them and so do you.So no, I am not still trying to be a rockstar,I could care less.First I am trying to be Dad,just Dad and secondly an artist.You could offer me the best major label deal going with a film contract as well,I could burn paper money on the table at breakfast without a care and all that I would have to give up is my son,my only one.I would thank you for the offer and if because of my choice I would have to clean toilets for a living so it would be.I would be glad at the end of the day of cleaning toilets that I could go home.And those toilets I cleaned,I cleaned them so well you could eat your lunch out of them.Hopefully I would be on the federal government payroll.I would be knocking down sixty grand a year to clean those toilets and still playing a blues jam on monday nights.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796152011-12-26T12:13:09-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00What About Rock Guitar hero?
<p>Thats Eric Clapton.You might and rightfully say Jimi but Eric is still with us and functioning.That soft spoken man from Ripley in the UK is the cat's ass for rock guitar.The biggest money guy of them all.He does not do splits nor cartwheels,doesn't do windmills or matadors,doesn't dance around nor smash or set his guitars aflame.He just walks up onstage and stands there and wails the living shit out of his guitar.He sings very well also..people say he plays a lot of licks from a lot of guys but that ain't so...those are his licks.Clapton licks man.Never in a hurry and never trying to impress.Never has to compromise to anyone.Always in demand.Always a total sellout show.There are many guys that are fabulous for many good reasons.Just the same of all of it Eric Clapton is and has been for decades the world's premier rock guitarist.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796132011-12-22T09:46:40-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00From Your Last Single "Donna" Your Sound Appears To Have Mellowed Quite Some
<p>The more finite skills crept in.The emphasis was first placed upon the vocals,it was the result of a very large period of growth.The instruments are acoustic instead of electric except for the bass guitar.The drums are totally pounding and you can hear them for a change.For a good feel the acoustic guitar rules,it is so natural and then you pre-amp that signal.It is all about the vocals this time out.And the science of recording which ran much deeper.Studio economy.Never to mind that the night before I was tearing that acoustic guitar apart just hanging out with my friend Donna the leprecaun.She allowed me to borrow her guitar to do the tracks.A real sweet Martin.So I don't know if I have gone mellow or am just pacing the whole thing out.Mixing acoustic instruments is very easy in the studio.Oh wait I did also do some double bass (uprite) tracks on this as well.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796122011-12-22T05:40:26-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00How Did This Thing Start With You Rene?
<p>The 45 rpm recording by The sparkletones,"Black Slacks."When I was barely more than an infant my borther Billy showed me how to work the family stereo.I would play that tune all day and as long into the night as I could get away with it.It made me feel good and happy.And I would be dancing around.It still makes me feel that way.My brother would get mean and take it off and play "little Toot" which scared me to death making mr think my father "big toot" would die,and he did when I was five years old.He was everything to me.He would take me to work with him at his shop,he repaired and ditributed one arm bandits (slot machines)and had lods of pinball machines in the back and I could play them as much as I wanted.So when he took me to kindergarden to start school I was horrified."let me out of here!"When I told my Mother I wanted to play she said,"first learn to play the piano,then you can choose to play anything you want!"Broke as we were and young as I was I was off to my lessons saturday mornings at 7:30 AM with an excellent french instructor,Pierre Leswear.So I learned to read music before I learned to read,that's a bit weird eh?He got me into composition too,asking me as part of my lesson to compose melodies and chords that came into my head and we would duet upon them.I would get the melodies listening to the birds sing on our backporch and play them on the piano and write them down.This became the foundation of my life,I was just a child and this was all I knew.I related everything in life from a musical perspective.He gave so much to me,when I arrived for lesson we would always hug and kiss me.And he was a homosexual yet this was not,ahh that he was molesting me.Nothing was ever out of order in that respect,he did not fondle me or anything like that....just a warm hug and a kiss on the forehead.(In Erie,Pa it was in the winter often time 10 below zero and I had to walk to the conservatory)He would always have hot chocolate waiting.(homemade-ummm)I loved him too,he was a wonderfully adept teacher and quite zany like Hennie Youngman.His lesson plan though was very old world and strict.I had to practice at least two hours a night or risk being beaten up by my brother,I really did not mind,I loved to play.And as I said it became the foundation of who I am.My mother I don't think knew how seriously I was taking all of this.And when she found out it frightened her,but she went along with it.Pierre had passed away and I got into rock and roll.Band practice was a constant priority in my life.And original material right from the start,"If we are really gonna make it big we need our own songs to do that."It was really cool,at first we would write them all together.We asked to rehearse in our elementary school auditorium to get a feel for a real stage,the priciple said yes but what we didn't know was that she was going to bring the entire school in to watch us rehearse.(Longfellow Elementary School-1968)So we were doing our thing setting up and in come all of the kids and the teachers.Romours and guests at our basement rehearsals had gotten us a large interest yet we had never thought of doing a live show let alone to a full house,we just wanted to play and pretend we had an audience.We were all nine years old facing a full house!But we were very well rehearsed and so it was when we overcame our fears 1-2-3-4 and we hauled off into it,to our first riot I might add.We turned the place inside out!Wow!What a rush!My first public performance a huge success!We were requested to come back on class day to perform for the parents and students upon our graduation from sixth grade.Our name was "Mankind" and at The Class Day Show my drummer,Mike Snow and guitarist,Tim Schwenk came up with the idea to have two go-go dancers,Sharon Gallup and Shelia Steel and so now we sounded good and looked even better.We were the pride and joy of my elementary school.On the Class Day show we were super polished and were paid by the school district two dollars apiece.Again we brought the house down!My first professional engagement!We thought that we were and were treated as briefly, as a contender to The Beatles and James Brown.My Mother was in the audience and as I looked at her she was crying.I was rocking the stage with holes in the thighs of my pants,the same pants I had to wear everyday to school.They were always clean yet they wore out in the thighs.When my dad died his insurance paid off our home,we lived in a lovely home yet it left her as poor as owlshit.She tried to patch them and do everything in her power,and all of the kids knew I had holes in my pants but somehow they understood,they did not tease me about it and I didn't care..I had the world by the ass,I sang,I danced around and fell down on my knees to plead.A short ugly fat kid with holes in his pants having a ball!The audience went crazy and as I looked at my assistant principle she mouthed "bow" and so I took my first professional bow to a standing ovation.The applause roars over your head!She had taken me aside during regular class and explained that to me.And taught me how to do it properly,after you bow you raise your head up with a smile and stand as straight and tall as you can.In delivering a performance as such my human shortcomings are going to be overlooked.The fact that I was short fat and ugly and had holes in my pants were overcome by the fact that I am a showman.And the band,we had rehearsed two years almost every night for this moment.We had started in fourth grade.After dinner and homework it was band practice.The rules were very strong,not only could you not miss band practice you also could not be late for it.All of our parents supported this,if we ran behind they would drive us there.I never ran behind for any reason,I was always first to arrive.Yet if I did not show my mom my completed homework from school I would not be going.This inspired me to do my homework.As quickly as I could,as soon as I got home from school I would get that done.My real ambition in life was to become a physician.So I studied as hard as I rehearsed with the band.After school they had The Three Stooges and I had to watch that.Then I did my homework and went to band practice.My Mother came to the point were she would say "If you don't hurry up you'll be late for practice..She also scenced the urgency of this matter.She did not want me to be late.This was everything to me yet she had a thing going in which she wanted me to finish college and get a normal degree."I wish for you to present yourself as an educated man,and then you can rock out!I was so fortunate to be accepted into the Upward Bound Program at Gannon University plus a fully paid scholarship to their open university.On my summer vacations from high school I would attend the university full time and live on campus in the dorm.I was very inspired to present my academic best at this very fine school.When I returned to high school in the fall I was light years ahead.I was a very serious student.I am an educated person,very well educated.Yet remember that is a matter of reading textbooks and attending lectures,You could get very lost in real world applications.The best way to do it is to get started when you are young with what you want to do and learn everything about it from the bottom level up.You ought to be able to do every job in your business better than the people you hire to do it.That is a very old fashioned notion I understand yet still so true.Somehow..amazingly I am still on course.I did not have my records produced,I produced them.And all that is was at the end of the day was the melodies that the birds sang to me in the morning when I was a child.I studied them and wrote them down.I operate in my life totally by the grace of God.In some crazy kind of way it is all going to work out,don't ask me how because I don't know.I dedicated myself to my work and my work is also my pleasure.And I ended up much more popular as a singer than all of the other things I do.Yet the other things are very deep.The level of the skill is amazing.All of it is very tight and precise.Professional.Proof positive.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796112011-12-17T18:26:15-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:009AM Abbey Road South Studios-Successful Drum Tracks Recorded
<p>The absence of Dear Old Davy Boy being out on the road led me to lay the rhythm tracks with just the bass and guitar,actually starting with acoustic guitar and rented a piano to go on the patio of my penthouse.My neighbors shouting requests out their windows at 3 AM.I rehearsed long and hard with a metronome but did not use a click track when I recorded.This is all well and good if you are going for a "feel" type of track,It is really close in and not wavering all over the place yet it still is not as nailed down as when you use a click.(If you want to test this play a little riff along with a metronome for twenty minutes.)If you are going "sans click" you want to have the live drums on the original rhythm section pass.Ideal to have drums,bass,and rhythm guitar going.I have a pretty large list of good pals that are great drummers but I was holding out for Davy Boy cause I really enjoy working with him and he always plays huge rooms at state fairs with Dennis Lee so he plays real loud stadium style in the studio which is what I dig,I want powerful Drummers.Another thing here is that if you are going for a "Feel" track you are not going to be able to go to electronic drums or a drum machine as it will never line up to the SMPTE info.This leads you to overdubbing live drums to a prerecorded track.I had decided after doing the rhythm tracks that I was not going to have drums on the record opting just for percussion with Nemil Chababe.My producer,Ken Veenstra,differed with me on that."We have to have live drums on here...for the single to work and the soundtrack to the film (which he is also producing)the tune is not going to be it's best without live drums." Calling for a session that was going to be a real bugger no matter how you look at it and no matter who you were going to call in to do it.Even for a top studio pro this is a rough go.They are not going to just walk in and nail it.A friend of mine John Virouete,had been bugging me for a long time about doing a session for me.They call him "Rambo"A very popular very heavy metal drummer from a local group called "Vain Rachael."One of my good friend Donald Tardy's (obituary) pals"Every time I saw him he would raise his hands up and say "What the fuck man,are we gonna do something or not,come on man,let's do it!"To myself I smiled the next day when I saw him and said,"I have you booked for a session this friday,can you do it?"Umm.he is a very emotional Puerto Rican guy,a man of honor..."If we can rehearse the night before I will do it."This was so well and good as the tune is a completely different style than he is accustomed to playing so the night before we stood in a huge rehearsal studio with me playing bass and him doing the drums.I wanted just a straight rock beat but he put this latino feel into it.What a surprise I had waiting for him the next day,he was going to be pulled through a knothole!It was truly a very hard session for him,very demanding and very precise.There was no middle ground,he had to be technically on and at the same time responding to the "Feel" of the rest of the orchestra which had done the tracks months before.My producer sequestered himself into the control room saying "do whatever Rene says and I took my position as conducter in studio A in front of the drum booth.My boy,I am so proud of him,came through big and bad.A three hour session expanded into six.It was very,very hard,we took a break for a smoke and some coffee and Rambo said,"I have lost my sense of time,man I am sorry that I suck so bad today!"I had to encourage him again and explained that I neglected to tell him how hard a thing that this is to do and that we were going to just have to keep nicking away away at it until we hit the feel.The thing you have to get right on this type of session is the headphone mix,pulling in and out of the headphone mix different parts of the orchestra and then balancing it out to what he is playing and how he hears it.The headphone mix of course is the key anyway to the recording performer yet here is is "situation critical."I should be charging you to tell you this.And I did not mean to make light of my producer,his primary duties on this day were as the recording engineer.Trust me, he had a full plate to deal with behind the console,constantly re-mixing the orchestra to make it fit for Rambo.All of us knowing I would keep us in session for 12 hours if that is what it took.Ken's secretary,karen,came in with food menu's to the response of "Just more coffee please."We had grown after three hours very weary as an air (spirit) of failure entered the room.The intensity of the work and concentration,to be rolling time after time a perfect take to have it fall down in a part.It had to be a front to back full performance,no punching in.Once you got ahead or behind of the SMPTE track the whole recording just turned into gibberish.It had to make sense to the computer you see when it was recording or the computer would break down and start to release all kinds of nonsense trying it's best to line it all up.The SMPTE track is the signal that lines everything up.True of analog recording science also.It is totally a mathmatical thing,physics,mathematical relationships and equasions,after a time if you are feeding it a things that is not related it,too,begins to flip out and go crazy and your engineer cannot control it much less explain it."Machine go crazy" is the best they can say.But we are all pro's here you see working together,nobody got upset to bad,nobody started blaming eachother out of frustration and the track began to "weave in" the SMPTE stopped flipping out because it was picking up on it's input and realized mathematically it made sense to it.Rambo started digging into it.We started laughing and joking again a little bit,Ken does not tolerate to much levity whilst recording,I waved my conductors wand upon the most high and we got the track.We got that freaky little striped beast corralled into a cage to do our bidding.That same old little dirty rat bastard.We have now got the track.The SMPTE fully agrees.It is going to blow you away my friends.We are professionals,we never take the easy way out.we go through the hottest fire standing up to deliver.So that is why I hook up with good people to work with.That is how I came through.If you are planning to fly you have to have wind beneath your wings to give you lift and drag.You cannot rehabilitate an asshole.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796102011-12-14T12:04:29-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:009AM-Abbey Road South-The Studio Today
<p>It ain't tomorrow somewhere it is today to cut the drum tracks.First thing in the morning.I will let you know how it went.Rehearsals with the drums went down tonight and I am feeling very confident about later today.As I grow older as a human being I become even more cutting edge as an artist,I did not allow life to do me in.To cave and become only a parody of myself.I was to serious about this as a younger man.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796092011-12-12T22:10:59-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Drum Sessions And Congas Are Set t Go Down This Friday At 9 AM
<p>I held out to the last second hoping to get Davy Boy to do the drums.He is so much fun to work with and hopes were left open to me that he would not be to busy on the road with Dennis Lee traveling the USA to and fro yet such at this time is the case.He can't be here and in Phoenix,AZ at the same time,I have had the session guy,John Virouete, holding out at the same time and John is very capable of handling the session.Has actually been bugging me about it."Your going to have to go with me and you will not be sorry about it!"And thus it shall be my fellow frencnman on the session.I have to be done and mastered by contract by Dec 31,2011.I began work on this in November 14,2010,sussing to be finished by April-2011 but the project took on it's own life and flow.I almost just stuck it into the can but it kept calling out to me to finish it as the lead single of the next album.Then add to that that it is now a sountrack to a film project before it is even finished being recorded that meaning it is being arranged to the storyboard of the film and it did not begin like this.Not until My producer got his hand's on it!</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796082011-12-10T02:34:14-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00If You Look At it Their Are many Good Reasons to Not Produce Yourself
<p>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.fully achieving it's concept.And I was quite determined to produce myself,enjoyed the expierence tremendously yet came to find out very clearly,my shortcomings and weaknesses.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-sans the prescription meds.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 misbehaived step-child to you.A product of a compromise.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 by the top procucers of the known world at a standard fee of 25 grand an hour plus expenses,the value of his knowledge,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 pathetic journey which is where I finally left them.Yes the totally sound,idea,and concept of the tune was changed in every way.Which is what I was paying for and expected.I was digging it to death.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.We have agreed to persue perfection.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.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796072011-12-07T15:36:59-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00I Really Want to Be With You-Tearing Apart Transcontinental Studios
<p>Transcontinental studios,I was th first one to call it "Transcon" Louis Pearlmann's paper empire.It was fantastic,I loved it I blew the fucking doors off of it.He gave me an astounding recording enginTraeer,Micheal Tucker.Two session musicians..Chris Valentino on drums and percussion and Doug Matthews on bass.This studio was the bomb!It dripped of finery.They did not want to allow me to record there.The studio was built for "The Backstreet Boys" and it was that group that gave permission for me to come in and rock that joint.Louis pearlman left it up to The Backstreet Boys and they said okay.This was all before Nsync punk sissies,The Backstreet Boys were for real.AJ Mclean showed up to watch the session and shot pool with my son who taught him how to do armpit farts.I did not have a chance to meet him and wish I could have but I was tearing that studio to pieces with Chris and Doug.The recording engineer was Micheal Tucker,the number one choice for Jive records in NYC.Flat out genius-a brilliant young man and it was fully understood by all parties that I was coming in to push that very fine studio to it's limits.Again at that time that studio existed exclusively for The Backstreet Boys only,it was their private studio,Nsync did not exist and The Backstreet Boys were number one on the charts.Nsync were such phonies,The Backstreet Boys were for real.An empire was built upon their backs.I had to fill out 26 forms to get into that studio.The ok to go in was finally given by The Backstreet Boys,I was the first outside artist to record there.At the time I was recording at Morrisound in tpa which was still superior to that but I had a fun fun time at Transcon.You can tell that by the great song I got out of it.I did not go with a band,I had orlando studio guys so I traveled in with the film crew.That was another ten pages of documents to fill out to bring them in.After all of this initial process we were treated with great respect.Mr.Pearlman's private chef took our order to prepare our food.The film crew flipped out as they expected the taco wagon.It is such a shame that Mr. Pearlman chose the wrong way to go.This was all such a good thing.so ah...poppy as it were.Orlando in itself,well this town is all about Mickey Mouse which is cool,I like Mickey,yet in the meantime back at my main studio,Morissound they were getting a big kick out of this and expected a full report of my adventure.Which was technically in terms of state of the art equipment transcon is fully up to speed,this was prior to pro-tools,the recordings were done analog on a skully "21/2" Yet the studio was built into a shopping center complex and thus the acoustic design was subject to question.Not the equipment though-all of that was a first class state of the art ride.And all of the staff were totally professional,first class also.My two session guys Chris Valentino and Doug Matthews were excellent.Though what I was doing was not their normal type of call they rose to the occaison,tight and powerful they rocked.They came through in every way as well as any top LA session crew.We met on this day and did this tune together.Sounding as though we had been playing together for years and years.My film crew,my hangout buddies,they stepped in and got it all.The major question I left with is why the sliding glass door between the rhythm section room and the vocalist?Considering the normal pussy ass shit they do here?The recording engineer,Micheal Tucker,a stone and proven pro,very young-under 25 at this time.Multiple millions in sales to his credit,in demand all of the time,to do again real waffely pussy ass shit music,pop shit.I came in to do some hard rock and he did not bat an eye.He understood what we were doing,and we were pushing it all the way and was a gas to work with.He nailed the EQ on the drums in 25 minutes and we just blew man.Oh wow,it was so loud and hard.He was so cool with it and so pro.He was getting off on it big time.very focused.Most of his work is this mundane pop shit.He commands large fees to do that yet you dig what I am saying "todays project is the Mariah Carey/Justin Bieber duet,oh be still my beating heart-what an intense load of shit that project is destined to be.I think that Mariah is a great singer,I would love to hear her rock out just once.She is so overproduced all of the time,her version of Diana Ross's "Do you know" is so oversung,just God awful.And as I said she is a marvelous vocalist, why does she only sing all of this stupid shit?So pair her with Justin Bieber for a really safe sound.What a waste,get her together with Kid Rock so she can get loose for once in her life.She is such a gifted singer who always get such crappy songs to sing.Well not "Do you Know" but her version of that song is so lame.Oversung,if you are working a tune with a great melody work the melody,that will carry you just fine.Perhaps she needs to write a song about her life and sing it.Maybe hang out with Linda Rondstat and Joni mitchell and discover how to portray an actual emotion in a song.Justin Bieber,well a part of showbiz is that there are always going to be these waffley guys with a hairstyle.I cannot imagine any young american guy who is into Justin Bieber,If you are contact me and I will buy you a Justin Bieber lunchbox of your very own for you to take to school everyday you little pussy.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796062011-12-07T12:52:15-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00The Emmence Importance Of Your Producer
<p>First of all you make sure that they are a genius.And then you desire to find them in a theraputic need of a good project to work upon.Working with you is NOT going to be a mundane drag affair.For them it is not even about the money,it is about the project.Here I am so fortunate as an artist because great producers love to work with me.Guys that work for 25 grand an hour cut me very fair deals.My major function in this is as executive producer,I track them down and book them into projects.I am prepared to beg them even to produce it.Why so?As an artist you have your vision,have selected and gotten together the elements of your project.you have at best a diamond in the rough.A beautiful one yes though it is not going to shine in it's finest light until the jeweler puts the proper cut upon it.Itr is a huge ego thing with many artists to produce themselves and some actually do this very well.Not many,a very select few.As a scientist I am in on all that is being done yet it is most important for me to function as the artist,my focus to be just upon that.I show up at the session ready to drop that.Totally prepared.When we are rolling there is no hesitation,perfection is expected and that is what I deliver.Then as I drop it down I get advice on how to cut it even more close.This is th ultimate truth of the recording session in a pro studio.You want to make the largest effect performing as little as possible.You are primarily concerned with your touch on the dynamics,your tone,your feel for it and especially your timing.The more silence you leave that more profound your performance becomes.What you are not playing is just as much,even more than what you are playing.The tension on a recorded performance is the silence.That is the awesome power of a hit song.The thing of all this you see is the science of it which relates to the mathematical and physics relationships that will occur in mixing,the equalization.Quite a few frequencies are very limited as to what they can hold,how much of it across the whole board and if you are overjamming one frequency it wil decide on it's own what it will carry and do a thing called "phase cancellation" to any other tones competeing for that space.Upon the advice of your producer you can change the tones you are working on sending the signal to a more open frequency.I have it very rough in the studio.My producer demands perfection,between takes we can joke around some yet when that red light goes on I have got to put out the goods.Life or death which will I choose?All of this is such great fun,20 years later you will listen to the track and still love it the same way.No desire nor reget to change a single thing about it.The key to aquire a great producer for your track is first to have a producer that is with the style of what you are doing.They understand and are sympathetic of what you are doing.Empathy more than sympathy,you want them on the project as soon as possible so they can develope their ideas towards it,place their vision within it.And I have to first see that they are qualified as a recording engineer.I feel very strongly that if you call yourself a record producer you have first been a recording engineer,professionally.You had the worthy skill that enabled you to make a living from it.Also you must have perfect hearing.And I could produce myself and have done so for myself as well as other artists.Somtimes that fits for me too yet as a recording artist that is very rare for me.I savour that second very strong opinion upon my work which I so love.I was so sucessful and so relieved to have gotten the best producers I could find to do my sessions.They set the volume and tone knobs on my guitar amps,I have done so may far out things in the studio.I press them hard for all that they can deliver.I push it all to the limits.Inagreeing to work with me they accept that this is going to happen,it is what they want.Plus it is totally advanced high tech.Major differences now exist in how a recording is done compared to how it was done 10 years ago even.As an artist I worked through the complete conversion from analog style to digital recording.Going from a skully tape machine to pro-tools 10.And you had no choice here.Personally for what I do as an artist having to choose i would have preferred to go analog with the skully "2 1/2" machine.Through an SSL console.For my thing this sounds just as good and even better at times than pro-tools but it was not my choice,I had to adapt to pro-tools and they are so fine.My recording method and approach is still analog fashion,I strongly believe in the recorded old school performance.For my stuff this sounds the best although when we went to NYC to be produced by Mike Rodgers that was a very advanced totally digital approach that was on all parts fully equal to a major label act recording.Just blowing the mind of my live band at that time.(oo)(oo)I've Been calling.To me also it was quite different that what I was accustomed to yet I was looking to expierence growth.Mike was a major label big league guy who mde a living doing the final shortcuts for the most awesome producers in the world.The absolute cutting edge of recording technology.That he agreed to work with us was astounding enough.My great friend Gary Lefkowith set that one all up.To do your record Mike Rodgers charges 25 grand an hour.He is the world authority on pro-tools shortcuts called upon by almost every major label producer to do the final mix and the tweaks before the tunes are sent to mastering.A big top gun producer.He agreed to work with us and composed the hook for the tune that over time shall put it up to the top.How cool it was that we had this going.A major bargain and WOW!What an expierence.He would do the tune complete for 5 grand.I wasted not a moment to pack up the band and fly them to NYC,put them up in the hotel and do this song.I put out everything I had for this fantastic opportunity for us.To escape the deep south juke joints and lynch mobs and go to Manhatten for four days to cut a serious record.The band sadly resisted everything that was being done.And very true that our original composition was now a collaboration and was completely reworked for a totally digital recording.A major hit record on every level.Far from our original vision of a tune that was a mainstay for us live onstage and the band was very resentful of that.They had no idea of the level of genious I had tapped to produce us and they argued and resisted all night long and I would not relent.I had signed off creative control of the session to Mike and I was not going to renig on that.I was confident that Mike was doing an awesome job and that my band was being very selfish and childish resisting an important growth period for us and drwaing only negative reactions to a fantastic expierence that I was paying for.It was a free ride to NYC for them.It was so silly to me,the band felt that we could get a home studio and do the same thing ourselves.This may have been because we did a lot of recording in his apartment,in his 80 thousand dollar home studio that he knew how to run as a qualified recording engineer.Then we had to go to Boondog Studios to record the electric guitars because they had the pre-amps.Many thanks to Billy Branigan,Laura Branigan's brother who slid us on no notice into studio A for 100 bucks an hour.Yes,a major studio in Manhatten that gets $350 a hour for that room normally.The band after all we had been through fell out when we got back home to Florida.They felt we could invest into a three grand home studio and do the same thing.Fully misunderstanding the high level of company we were keeping and resentful to be back down south again.If we just could hold it together we would not be here long,they did do so great in the studio,they were so awesome!They wanted to stay in NYC."why can't we stay here and start it all fresh" said Chip,my bassist,he was so unhappy and angry at me for us to go back to florida.This actually broke up the band.He no longer wanted to play any gigs in the south and we could not really go on without him.And no way could I replace him with somebody else and have it be the same band.I did not want to come back either and had been made a very attractive offer by Mike to re-locate to NYC and do sessions for him."I will give you as much work as you can do and it would be good for your son to grow up in the city."Had the band hung on just a bit longer we would have been back in NYC.For so many years we played to nothing but riots.We were all tooled up and ready to go out on tour,small towns first behind the record so we could play and live and then on to the next step.."The Black Beatles" is what our fans called us and I feel strongly that we were capable of reaching that level."finally,America's Answer to The Beatles,which was my concept for us.Just to hang in a few months more and we would have done it after paying so many dues.Chip quit,and that was the end of it.He would not come to rehearsals nor live shows.I could not replace him and have us be the authentic "Black Beatles."The vital chemistry would not have been the same.When I auditioned and hired them my feelings were that I was going to perform with them the rest of my life.They were so fantastic.We were not three different people we are one thing.Just to get black players to come to a rock band audition was even then very unusual.And my concept was to have up and running a black rock and roll band,formed out of the deep american south.Not a NYC or LA pre-fab casting model,the real deal.We knew that when we agreed to be in a band together we were going to be facing some tough odds in the racist south,all of the other groups were going to hate us and it got to be much more than that with people wanting to kill us.We played some towns where we would have to pretend to be the road crew to not get into some big ass fights with some folks in St.Charles,La. that were waiting for us to arrive.The majority of the time it went very well for us,we were a great rock and roll dance band and people even in the Georgia backwoods would let down their hair and dig us.Chip and Marvin were perfect for me.In their own right they were incredibly talented and gifted musicians and singers as well as writers.Rocking stage performers!Yet from time to time through no fault of our own we had to escape shows with people that wanted to hang us from a tree.That would begin with the local police telling us not to come back to the motel after the show on our last night,just head for the interstate after the show.A some restaurants we would have to eat in the kitchen which we did not mind because Marvin is a five star chef and Chip an excellent cook too.We always ate real good.Yet you know we were young and free and wanted to party too and were making a lot of love to a lot of women on the road which in turn led to us getting into trouble with certain locals.Our goal for so long was wanting to get out of the south and go to Chicago.We pressed our agents pretty hard about that,we were strong and tight enough to do well in Chicago.Yet it seemed so that we were never going to get out of the one nighters down south.And we never did.From day one we knew it was going to be hard,this was 1984,attitudes were much different then but we really believed we were going to make it,even just on the fact that we were an amazing social phenomenon.Our shows were riots.It was so amazing.Internally we were a family,we shared everything.The end of it came when Chip quit,for a long time he had gotten into the practice of not showing up for rehearsals nor shows after we got back from NYC.He wanted us all to stay there and start fresh.I could not replace him,I don't think he fully understood how much we needed him.He provided the thump for so much rump and he and I were very visual in the shows with Marvin holding down the pocket.It was so hard for Marvin and I to let it go,and we were so close charting nationally ahead of the fantastic Maroon Five.I had mortaged my home to pay production and promotion costs for the NYC singlw that was blowing up on the radio.We were booked to go to Tacoma,Washington to start touring nationwide on the verge if signing a management contract with Wright Entertainment,Johnny Wright in Orlando.Then Chip quit.No way could I replace him,nobody else would do.Our final show was reduced to the level of him and Marvin fist fighting onstage.And then the final night I had to walk out onstage all by myself.The two of them deciding to form a short lived jazz band leaving me to hold the bag on a thirty city tour that we were not going to make.This of course killed the record.Had they hung on for two more weeks we would have been "The Black Beatles."I had the loans and the backing to get us out on the road to promote our single.We would have gone from $125.00 a night to a three grand guarantee per show.I had sucessfully persuaded investors to get involved to get us out on the road covering our initial expenses.Yet it was not to be.When it really became time to kick down the fence,after all that we had gone through...they ran away.Retired from show business to live regular lives.Walked away from their own identity.This set me back so hard,I was reduced to living with my son on the beach in our Volkswagon Vanagon.So lost and so let down after so much hard work.I returned the money to the investors unspent.This was such a hard defeat but it is the hard lessons you learn in life that cause you to grow.To make it in the music biz you have got to walk through hell first.I suffered a massive clinical depression but did not have a nervous breakdown and got my feet back on the ground and found my way again as an artist and as a human being.so please forgive me if I do not look back,I have happiness ahead so why to cast my eyes and my thoughts back to the sorrows,to the bitterness.That is the plight of the losers.They will never figure anything out.Such shall simply continue to go round and round never getting anywhere.oh yes they will have a very pitiful story to tell anyone that will listen,all about how they are a loser and how unfair that is.Never to mind that it is a result of their own choices.Me? Ionly stop long enough to taste the wine.I am not going to allow anything to put me into a bind.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796052011-12-05T22:24:19-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00I Am Having A Time,The Time Of My life
<p>I am so free for the first time.I am not bonded to anything that I do not choose to be bonded to.Well I am right now under contract to NBC for the America's Got Talent
auditions,me and ten million other wondeful hopefulls.if they are not going to advance me they will officially release me yet as of today I am their property.That is all cool with me.I signed the contract.Just to audition in my city I observed and enjoyed an amazing amount of skilled talent.Just for the Tampa Bay area several thousand people showed up all rehearsed and polished and ready to show their stuff with everything being very friendly and orderly.No pushing and shoving,everyone politely waiting their turn.The network staff was top notch even if you were like me, just another nobody they knew my name and directed me politely to where i was suppose to go.The weather here was also pristeen which helped tremendously.yet at the same time I am very deeply involved with my next recording and film project,working with an excellent class of people driven towards success.The bottom line of course is me and how I am going to handle it.And if you know me at all you know it has got to be perfection.No other standard is acceptable.I give no quarter nor expect any quarter.This is my life.I am free of all blaggards,I don't have to wait on anyone,I don't have to cater to anyone.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796042011-12-05T21:21:01-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00The Professional Recording Studio
<p>That is the only way that I do it.I make professional recording with professional people.At home in my penthouse I use a four track reel to reel to get my concept together.I can't hang with losers.Too much work has to be done.Your goal and absorbsion/direction is towards being successful,to start an interesting journey.The goal of the losers in your camp is to make you lose too.This is such an easy thing,they wait for the moment when you most need them and then they let you down.They fear being successful,success is an unknown and it is not a destination but only a journey.It does not matter either way,if you are looking for success you cannot have losers in your camp.Even if you have to do it all yourself.Because they will always succeed in what they want to do which is to drag you down.This kind of thing tires you,it costs you your time.It NEVER comes around the right way.You may strive hard to get to a crucial point and that is when they are going to burn you.Every time my dear reader.Move forward,do not ever look back.Associate yourself with winners.Work hard and become successful</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796032011-12-02T14:47:32-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00You Co-write With Your Son?
<p>He does the lyrics and the beat,I do the music.He was playing with his toys singing "Oh How I Love you."I came in from cutting the grass and fell over myself to get to my guitar and work it all out with him.He also did "Bad Day At School"</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796022011-12-02T13:17:52-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00From My E-mail...Can You Give Us A Preview Of Your Current Work?
<p>Oh no I can't,due to the America's Got Talent auditions I am temporarily under contract to NBC.Anything I release right now belongs to them.This is through January 31st 2012,once they make their local selections I am released from my obligations or move up to the next step.Right now that contract is ironclad.I am the one financing the current project by my blood sweat and tears.Anything I release currently automatically belongs to NBC as a "work made for hire."And by the terms of the contract they do not have an obligation to pay me anything.I am having the best time of my life in this session which is also a music video.And also after so many years it is time for me to pass "Go" and collect the money that is due me which I need to keep this website up and do my projrcts.The bottom line of that is if you dig what I do and want me to keep on doing it I need to have your financial support,which to you is a couple of dollars to help out.Buy a song for a buck.The physical cd singles are now out of print.They shall not be duplicated.And soon the prices are going to increase dramatically to own one of these jewels.My early days when I was so unknown.The first one,"Heartbreak Hotel" all of the proceeds of that go to St.Judes Hospital For Children in Memphis,TN.Cd Baby is in agreement with this.I deem it all to be good but do I have to buy all of my own records to make it so?I can'tafford to do that.I had to pay to MAKE the records.I have one more album to do which shall be my final statement.So no.there will be no previews to my current work.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796012011-12-02T00:26:57-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00The Studio Date Today-Cutting The Lead Vocals
<p>And they are done.It was a good thing that I arrived fully warmed up and prepped as I was not ready for how my producer wanted me to do it.I was expecting to do vocal composite tracks and he wanted me to sing the song all the way through.Live and on the spot."We will keep the best take."Decidedly different from the normal approach to recording a lead vocal track which is done line by line.I could have insisted that it be done that way yet I was ready and what the heck.Let's do this!So it went down like that.I am very well pleased with it.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61796002011-12-01T13:24:59-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00My Recording Engineers
<p>This is serious.They are into it and what needs to be done.Top notch pro's.Unsung heros.They capture the original sound produced at the highest possible level of fidelity.They make the original decisions on what type of mic is going to be used and how to place it.What the proper EQ is.Totally technical,they are buzzed at doing my sessions,they know it is gonna be crazy!We lay down all respect to them.We record it,if I am out of tune they tell me.We shut down to tune up.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795992011-11-26T03:08:14-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00To Make It In This Business
<p>You have got to have good and solid connections with good people.You must honor you comittments to do what you say you will do.You must decide what you are going to do and then do it with everything you have got.Bad associations can severely compromise your intentions.They can ruin it all for you.Most of the time that is what they endeavor to do.You want to move beyond that and it is scary to step out on your own.Yet more scary and even fatal to stay where you are.You are being ripped off at every turn and you are not moving up,you are quickly moving down.For myself it came to a point where I had to let it all go.Many of those things,such as my home I did not want to lose yet I had to do what I had to do.Thus I cut all of the old ties as it bore no good result.It came to a point where it was just draining my life out of me.It was no longer whatever I had materially to give.It was sapping my very lifeforce away.The session players,that was a different story..they came through all the way, way above and beyond the call of duty.And to my band really the same in so many ways...they were the finest musicians I had ever had the pleasure to work with.I auditioned them and hired them.You have got to hang in there all the way to make it.That is just how it goes.They tried the best they could for many years but when it came to the final cut,the thing that would make us or break us they left me standing all alone to handle it.In effect that was to make all that we had gone through a failure.And it was to the brink my friend,we were charting right up with Maroon Five,"This Love Is Breaking my Heart"...we had a much more solid record going "(oo)(oo)I've Been Calling"That I took them up to New York to record.I paid out of my pocket their way to do the record.Production costs,plane fares and accomodations.And I was so proud of them,They came through like such pro's but when we got back home and had to play our normal gig they were not with that.Just for a short time we had to hang in with it.I had mortaged my home to pay for promotion of the single as well as borrow six grand from my girlfriend to get the song over the top.And they had the nerve to walk on me leaving me holding the bag,to walk onstage all by myself to do our final show.after all of the years of torture and sacrifice we just had to hang in a little minute and with ease would have aquired the financial backing we required to sponsor our first small USA tour of thirty cities that were spinning our single on drive time.I lost my home over this,as a single parent my son and I had to leave our home and live on the beach in our Volkswagon Vanagon.My son was 12 years old at the time and how he hated the band."Dad,after all you did for them how could they just walk away and leave you?"My response was "They will regret the choice they made through eternity.""Dad,no matter what don't you ever play with them again,I mean it!"The record we worked so hard on in NYC died.That tremendous single that ought to have changed our lives forever became an obscure curiosity.I has to pick up and in some way continue to carry on.I am working with good people now and it is thrilling.In the studio I have no need for a band,I just work with whoever I want to work with.With the collapse of the economy the clubs are dead for live bands.You use to be able to work six nights and enjoy a modest full time income that would pay the rent and the bills and put dinner on the table..No more to that unless you still live with your parents.People can not afford to go out like they use to,who can afford to pay four bucks for a budweiser?Maybe once a week and then drink at home on the cheap.Tack onto that if you get a little loose you may get arrested for it and have a lot of hassels to deal with.Three nursed beers and you have got a dui.Three shots of whiskey or three glasses of wine and you are over the legal limit in almost every state.And in many ways this is right too,,,it is very dangerous to drink and drive.You may find this out the hard way.I think that marijuana should be totally legalized,a much better choice for you than alcohol when you want to relax.All of the actors you know smoke it and the film crew too.Most of the film people I know only smoke when they ARE working.It used to be a real secret thing among artists and musicians.There is a time and a place for everything.When you have got to go to work you ought to be straight.It is a good thing to know yourself when you are straight and at your best.That is the way we are supposed to be.In your time off you can relax,have a smoke and go for a walk in the woods.We are governed for the most point by a bunch of alcoholics.Not totally,there are some very fine people in our federal government who will not be bought off.Yet for the most part it is a bunch of drunks,they are drunk at work and drunk most all of the time.I understand,I really enjoy a shot of Jim Beam in a coke.But not when I have to go to my job.Never in the studio.God help me I have to be all straight to cut records.I should admit to you that when I am cutting straight I am thinking about getting high and listening to it.Yet if I were high it would go off this way or that.To cut a record you want your stuff wound up as tight as you can get it.Just to cut the record is to get high.If I wanted to I could prob smoke a joint and do a guitar track yet my mind is all on the guitar being cut you see.And the cut is real dry too.I like to wait till the final mix-post production and have a nice glass of fine merlot and then puff up a couple of hits on a joint.I can relax and dig the groove.Prior to that I am not relaxed,I am totally intense.I endeavor to open all of the doors of perception that I can.In rehearsal it can get pretty loose,that is where you stretch it out,in the studio I am a world champion,I am happy...I do not have to fuck with any losers.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795982011-11-23T16:08:19-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00American Made Guitars Are Very Expensive And Outdated,What Do you Think?
<p>They are expensive for a reason,the quality of the workmanship.Compare a Chinese made guitar to an american made one.The Chinese made guitar is a fucking piece of shit.What you are paying for is hand craftmanship.I am talking about a guitar that a pro would use.The heat is on american guitarmakers.I toured the fender factory in Mexico and you could eat off the floor of that plant.Korean Epiphones are works of art.Not surprisingly they cost almost as much as an American made guitar.My German made Hofner will stand up to any Les Paul you have got.Chinese guitars are mass produced dogshit by slave labor.You get this little wonder shipped to you in a box,the wood is shit,the intonation is off,the finish is cheap,the tuning keys slip,the electronics are faulty,if I were working for 25 cents a day what would I care that what I make is nothing but shit?But I make it real fast so my slavedriver is happy.Throw it on top of the pile over there.If I were going to buy a car the last thing I would want is an american made one.Unless it was used from the good old days.To invest into a good guitar that is the first thing I would want.A gibson,a martin,a rickenbacker,a fender.Handcrafted one at a time by a worker that takes a lot of pride in what they do.Corners are not cut,the materials used are the best that can be found.Not recycled junk.20 years worth of one-nighters and that axe is up for the hunt every single night.After all of that time they are as beautiful to look at as to play.The little old lady at the plant that makes the necks that all of the big stars use.She has been doing it for thirty five years and loves her job.All of the great legends of music have come by to see her.As an artist you wrap your hands around that neck to hit an e chord and it rings out forever.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795972011-11-23T15:02:18-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00You Are A longtime Gibson Player,Which Do You Prefer,The Les Paul or The SG?
<p>First of all my Les Paul Custom is an SG,and an SG is a Les Paul (officially since 1961)Gibson discontinued the original body design of the les paul because they were not big sellers at that time,they were rejected because of the weight and the body style,it was uncomfortable to sit down in a chair and play one.Yet there is more to the story as Les Paul was working a duo at this time with his lovely wife Mary Ford who sang and played guitar with him onstage,yet the les paul in it's current design was much to heavy for her to handle,Gibson responded to that by making the "Les Paul Juniors" which were of much lighter weight plus the two "mini's" that they both used live to duplicate the high speed parts onstage.The original design purpose for the SG was to make a Les Paul that was lighter and easier to handle with the double cutaways and was first dubbed "The Les Paul Custom-Mary Ford type."
You would not know this but Mary Ford was a huge singing star during this time and the new design was perfect for her...light as a feather,big fat neck to grab with a totally feminine design of "Dangerous curves!"The neck played like a dream,the tones were awesome and Gibson was in a much better position to compete with fender solidbody electric guitars.To the point that they discontinued production on the original Les Paul design and Les Paul himself walked out of his endorsement contract with Gibson.The "Mary Ford Type" was the progenator of the later to come gibson solidbody electrics such as the firebird.The entire production of the original style Les Paul was shut down and the guitar considered "obsolete."It was too heavy for most players to deal with and they would go for the semi-hollowbody 335.Until in 1963 a young englishman lead guitarist with The Rolling Stones named Keith Richards purchased a 1958 Les Paul Sunburst custom and came to America playing it.Oh surprise,surprise,it was not Eric Clapton,Jeff Beck,nor Jimmy Page that got it going again,they bought their's because Keith was using it.He later sold that same guitar to Mick Taylor.There was no other guitar on earth that had that big fat tone and the ease of playability on the fingerboard.The humbucking pick-ups would send the sound faithfully to the back wall of the hall and in 1966 Gibson returned the obsolete design to first line production.The surpising thing was that it was considered strictly a jazz guitar until old keith cranked up his amp.My personal preferance is The "Mary Ford Type SG Les Paul Custom."Most guitar players,especially males would go for the original design especially if you just stand there and play.It clearly wins in the depth of the tones you can get.The SG is very close yet not quite.For rock and roll though she has a much more cutting "Bratty" sound that cuts though such things as groups with a horn section.a good one that is,many of them were very poorly made.Very soft necks gave them tuning and intonation problems.I had a 1969 SG Junior-the real Angus Young type that was real bad about staying in tune yet her sound more than made up for it.At this same time I had Les Paul Professional with stacked coil low-impedence pickup's.No matter of what I did this guitar would not distort.The weight was very uncomfortable for five sets and was made matched for a specific low impedance " Les Paul Professional Amp." The amount and color of the tones you could pull and very quickly outdid the "Mary Ford Type" "the Pro was set up much like the Recording Les Paul with stacked coil low impedence pick-ups,phase switch and a ten position "Decade" switch which would completely alter the capacitor setup of the stacked coil pick-ups with just one click plus all of the standard tone controls.You could have spent a lifetime pulling different tones out of that axe,i mean it although it would not distort,even with a fuzz box it just would not play when you stomped the box,it sounded tinny and weird, so I played it very loud and clean.Even with the amp cranked it was crystal clear,in my opinion it was the perfect jazz guitar and I never owned a regular Les Paul Custom of the original design this one was a rare bird.Much later on,I used it for 14 years on the road and then at morrisound studios they had the amp that was made for this guitar,they were sold as a set.You can hear this on "Bad Day At school" and "This Old Train."Mostly I preferred the SG as I am a rock player.It was much more simple to use,it was more comfortable,it did not make my left hand go numb and..this is kind of embarassing,I used that one for 25 years before I really knew the correct way to operate it.At a blues jam in Sarasota I met the young guitar wizard,Derek Trucks and we got to be comparing our SG'S and he told me that he puts the pickup selector in the middle postion at all times and works his tones from the control knobs.Good Lord he could not have been to far past 18 years old at that point and for so long I had been flicking the pickup selector switch and fiddling with the tone and volume knobs.I got good at that over the years you see in the films my hands moving real quick but that was wasted effort.The main axethat I have now is a "Mary Ford Type" white Les Paul Custom and a custom made Hofner Colorama.Thus I prefer the SG.Yet that is just my personal preference.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795962011-11-23T10:55:48-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00I Move Much More With Creative Inspiration In My Day to Day Life,Than Making Money
<p>I have got to be with a creative project that is inspiring me.And that for the most part takes up all of my time.I am very satisfied with my finished works for the most part.That the world may not have caught up to the level that I operate at,I can't stress that.I do not have the time to go into a marketing approach.I place all that I have got into the project behind the intention that a large group of people will relate to it and enjoy it wanting more.And I feel that I have come up short in many ways because I do have a college degree in business management.Yet this I relate more to my functions as executive producer and publisher.Administrative work that I enjoy and get a real buzz off of.This is where the dream becomes real to me,it is first set into motion when it is concieved,then the steps and storyboard are laid out.Demo's are done,rehearsals go on for months sometimes just to do one tune.This hard work going over and over a tune is great fun as the song begins to blossom.Carefully choosing the cast of characters to be involved...the musicians and singers,the recording studio or studio's as it were,who do I want to produce it,who is going to engineer it,who is the assistant engineer going to be,is the film crew prepared for the project?Most of the film crew working making just barely enough to cover their expenses to the point of even losing money to film me instead of a major network sports event.Very high quality people.And this whole assembled crew is getting high off the energy of the project,the timing of everyone in their places is so crucial and every project I have done illustrates that.For every project I change the whole backdrop.The studios are so happy to hear from me and that I am bringing a project in cause it is going to be an off the wall bust.Decidedly different.As executive producer this takes months of preparation for just one song and as a recording scientist I walk in with a smile knowing it is only an experiment that could end up with nothing,a wash as they call it.I use to be very intimidated by that then relaxed knowing the the preparation was done in advance.For an indie with a limited budjet it has to be that way,the result...a thing that will go head to head with a major league production.The money,I would be so blessed to make a living doing this.Pay my taxes and pay my bills,have good health and a roof over my head and dinner on the table..be able to continue production.The grand style and the ostentation,the empty bling bling,at the end of your days you can't take your bling with you,it has no value in the next demension.I would place more value today on having a good and faithful hunting dog than I would in a rolls royce.And I am a working class person,I do not look down upon people.Like it or not we have all got to get along with eachother and respect eachother.If you are doing good it would not hurt you at all to share some of your plenty to help others move along having food,warm clothing,and shelter.As a human species living on the most beautiful garden and farm in the universe we ought to be able to do our good works and have few concerns yet the selfishness and greed of such a minor few has brought the entire planet to the brink of destruction.You have first a group of selfish spoiled children (who have not grown up-they live in the child ego state)and then a group with habitual criminal minds who have found a way to cheat,bribe, and lie all of their lives.In this life of free will you can conduct your life that way and even end up being considered a "respectable person" although in your heart of hearts you are of lewd base and very foul.You cannot be trusted by anyone for anything.You are nothing but a common liar and a pathological criminal,a theif has to steal to feed themselves and you steal because you find plesure in it.Your polluted spiritual karma is unfit for your soon coming celestial journey into the next demension.You are going to have to return to this demension in a lower life form.(the demons you thought you had control of have slipped the leash-you were nothing but a pee-on pawn for them and that freaky little striped beast is going to abandon you and go elsewhere)Try not to be to alarmed my dear reader, as you see these things happening,they have to happen that way.This demension of life for us is a test and not a destination.The garden Earth shall survive the repeated failures of mankind to enslave her.This planet is programmed to be the garden and the farm of the entire universe.Multidemensionally as well.This was established long before we arrived here.The inheirited greed and selfishness of a minor few have driven her to the brink of destruction,the final act of a lost and hopelessly corrupt self serving mankind which shall be halted by a devine intervention.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795952011-11-16T22:07:14-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00America's Got Talent Audition-How Do You Get Ready For It?
<p>A casting call that large is by nature going to be a very daunting thing,lined up around the block you know.And you some way have got to stand out in that crowd.I had just worked a full shift plus did a gig,so I was quite tired as well.yet still up for the hunt.NBC was in town and were going to listen to me sing,I had done a thorough study of the tune,I was ready on all of that.Ready even for a ninety second cut-off.Well that is what I rehearsed.It was very organized,uptempo and fun,everybody that was there gets my vote.The weather was pristeen,three weeks ago it would have been a real drag,welcome to stank-ass Florida!And we all get to be feeling good when it finally cools off.It is to noisy to do anykinf of effective last minute warm-up,your number may be called and you have to be ready to go.You did your best warm-up before you came.They are graceful in the audition you have much more than ninety seconds if you are rolling and if you forget the words or whatever that is permitted and at this point you can still make the cut.(if you can finish strong)The thing you have to be is yourself,you have got to believe inside of yourself,deep down inside that you have it,And you have to love it.No matter of what anyone says.It is so easy to do it in front of your family and friends.Much different when you have to do it to pay the rent.The more easy you can make a challenging thing be,the better.It inspires others to do the same.They can for a moment forget about their own lives and dream the dream with you.Many people that I know that play full time would not submit to this audition.Perhaps because they don't have the spare time.They have got to work the dump tonight.I love to play a honky-tonk bar yet I would not depend on my living for it.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795942011-11-04T12:28:52-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Getting Rich Quick On Complete Autopilot For $97.00
<p>It ain't ever going to happen like that my friends.A 300-500 dollao income streams.all of this is a lie to get you to send them YOUR hard earned money,they bug you all of the time and share your info with any of their asshole friends.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795932011-10-29T15:03:32-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00I Would Think That My Son,Who Was Barely More Than An Infant,Did A fantastic Job On The lyrics
<p>He was sitting on the livingroom floor playing with his toys singing this.I had just come in from mowing the yard and heard it.You would think as the parent I would take over yet I did not.Other than to get him to finish it.Which he did do.He was 7 years old.He would never had expected me to take it into production.It would just be a fun song we would sing just for fun.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795922011-10-29T14:30:51-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Oh my! You Should Hide Your Light
<p>Why,I paid my dues for it to burn.It was created in order that it should burn.Great care was taken to make it explosive,and highly so....The mixes are so fabulous....</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795912011-10-29T12:57:07-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00First Session With Ken Veenstra @ Abbey Road South
<p>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!"</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795902011-10-25T20:17:03-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00But What About The Band?
<p>I am way sure to tell you that I do not wish to have a band going right now.I would prefer to sit in with someone else's band,do two numbers and go back to the hotel.I have more than paid my dues there.If you can get four or more people to pull in the same direction on a thing for six months you are doing pretty good.Live venues for bands are shrinking away.Even a total dump has got fifty bands that would play there for draft beer.The new generation for the most part is not inspired by a live performance.They want a DJ and pre-programmed music.I have seen this before and it is no big deal.It will pass.Karoke to me is so idiotic.That is a thing one would do in the privacy of their own home.I am going to pay hard earned money to go to a club and listen to amateur singers?Yes every now and then you get a good singer,1 out of 100 maybe... yet singing on a professional level is an aquired skill and most people can not sing as well as they think they can.So they have got to get drunk to do it.Hopefully the audience is drunk too eh?</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795892011-10-22T12:53:58-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Grand Piano Session Locked for This Friday-Abbey Road South In Old Soho
<p>I got the music tracks imprted from Colorama Studios and we are set to go.The Colorama engineers were on the road for two weeks in the southeast doing a major label live show.The day they got back they processed the import before they went to bed.Why am I now recording at two different studios?I do the rhythm tracks at Colorama,they have a permanent drum kit of high quality set up and EQ,D,not all muffled like most studio kits have to be.I want to hear the shells ring out!And then I have 82 vintage guitars to choose from to play.Studio A is set up like a livingroom with a fullbar.It sits on 34 acres so if I want to come early and camp out in the woods to rehearse I can as well as catch up on some hunting and fishing.Plus my secret recording weapon a beautiful double symphonic acoustic bass set up and eq'd.I mix this with my electric bass composite tracks.The whole scene very kicked back and fun.
Then it is time to take the tune into town to Abbey Road south down in Old Soho.My producer,KEN Veenstra is there along with my grand piano all set up and EQ'D.On the other side of the controlroom glass is half a million dollars worth of recording/production equipment.I prefer to invest this way than a home studio.In my penthouse i do my demos eithwer on reel to reel or on this fantastic phillips cassette recorder I have which sits on my nightstand.A lot of the things you think are electric guitar on my records were recorded on the phillips with an acoustic guitar,clipped just a bit with the microphone just stuck in the hole.It is very important to do your recorded work always with a metronome.so if you want to import something from the penthouse to the studio it fits right in.Same time sig.My reel deck is in the livingroom all direct analog into my pC.Then you convert the file and do an ftp upload to import it.Analog converts very well and easy to digital and brings along it's warmth and ambience,In LA this setup would be costing me $350.00 an hour.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795882011-10-21T13:22:04-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Christina Aguilera Bloated
<p>She no matter what you may say is an excellent vocalist,top drawer.Much better now even than when she was a kid.Yet now she is a mature woman.The fuller figure of a mature woman is very sexy.For a mature woman to dress like a wayward slutty teenager is a major fashion faux pas.It certainly is not seductive in any way and there was no good angle to photograph her from,those pics are quite laughable.And she is a top professional with expert wardrobe people that would have made her look good with a fuller figure,custom tailored.A short time ago the same thing went down with Britney.You would never see Aretha Franklin go onstage looking like that.I am sad for Christina because she has the pipes better than Britney and more guts.Britney, if she did that Star Spangled Banner for the super bowl surely would have lip-synched it.Had Christina stuck more to the melody,she was concentrating too much on improvising,forcing the soul sound into it.That would have been such a fantastic building block for her comeback.I think she did a fabulous job nonetheless,yet it was Jimi Hendrix that took that whole song apart and re-assembled it,yet there was only one Jimi Hendrix as we all know.At least she did not have that horrible cheezy outfit on when she did it.She looked like a kinky housewife from Omaha,Nebraska on Saturday Night at the Lost Pines trailer park.It would take quite a few boilermakers to make that get up look sexy at all.And for her and Britney it was like "here is my new sexy whore pop diva look,check it out,I picked it out myself!"Expecting the world to go WoW!How sexy!They certainly got the shock value they were looking for(and all of the press) but not in the same way that they used to get it,it was more like "oh Oh Aunt Gertrude had to much to drink at the wedding reception again!"and both of them are beautiful and talented women.Showbiz troopers from when they were kids.Come on ladies,time to grow up and out of it please.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795872011-10-13T16:17:29-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Why Do I Take It So Serious?
<p>I dedicated my life to it.I had to go through whatever I had to go through but I was never going to back down.For some of us that is just how it goes.If you do not go all the way out on the limb you are not going to get the finest fruits.And if you go out there you are working without a safety net.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795852011-10-12T06:38:26-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00It Just Has Been So Long For o Hook Up With You
<p>As I remember it was the last gig.ahh the live gig.No move I could make that you were not watching.When I see a stage I set my line upon it.This is what I have and from this I rule.And I am just a sideman.I am playing bass....Many people want to
3 hear me play my bass!But mostly they want to hear me sing.They want to get off on a pro doing it.For the band this is hard to take,the singer gets all of the attention.I started out on all of this as a lead singer.That is what the guys wanted me to do.I would teach them how to play it,at 10 years old I was controlversialIt was rumored that I had had sex with a girl,I did do that also and she called me "Lover Boy!"She wanted to kiss me so much that I could not get away.We would hide in the bushes to kiss.Oh GOD have mercy upon me.Her kisses were so sweet,her breath smelled like apples.she was everything to to me.How did the world miss "donna"I can't believe that....She,I think should not have kissed me.But You do not understand this,she is a leprecaun only 3 inches tall.Then she would take off her shoes and climb up into the palm of my hand and kiss me!So dainty and fragile and she wanted to kiss me real bad.Of course she did,I was in love with her.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795832011-10-11T20:06:07-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Michelle Coe came to us as a baby child.
<p>And we cover this tune.All of sixteen year old Michelle as our special attaraaction.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795822011-10-06T14:36:25-12:002020-01-27T06:47:38-12:00Oh The Long Grinding Haul Of Life
<p>You can commit suicide,give up and resolve yourself to living an apathetic life,or become inspired by the challenge of it yet in order to do that one must be in shape to compete on the top levels mentally and physically.I live in one of the most unhealthy countries in the world,the united states.People arrive from other countries and are at once appalled by the number of fat people that they see.The unusual thing is these fat people are actually starving to death.This is due to what is called celluar phisiology and the severe lack of colodial minerals in the american diet.The shelves of the super markets are overstocked with foods that have less nutritional value than the food that they buy for their dog.The food supply no longer contains minerals.It was reported to be so by the dept.of agriculture in 1950.And you look at americans who should have it so easy and they are stressed,tired,and burned out.Their cells are starved whislt their bellies are full and crying for more.You want first of all to feed what your cells need to eat.Colodial minerals.You will feel high and happy in a way that you never thought possible without prescription or recreational drug use which is death.Your mind will become sharp as a tack,able to focus.It is so easy in failure to blame "them" or "it" hardly ever yourself and to do this makes you unfit to rise up to challenges that life presents,things that make us stronger.You can makes the same mistakes over and over again with the eventual hope being to learn from them.Rich people know this,what good is it to have a wonderous things that you can't enjoy because you are sick?Thus their daily diets include the strongest concentrations of liquid collodial organic minerals they can find.My challenges are no longer to perform in front of a live audience,that is something that I do more for fun and adventure.I never lose at that know matter what.It keeps me from becoming a hermit.I make sure to get out and about you know?I could make a living just busking on the street.Recording science facinates me.Being a recording artist is a joy to me.A recording session is a grand party for me.Good producers love to work with me.I am easy to work with which may suprise you.I am lving through the project doing the majority of all of the instruments and the vocals too.I am on the clock yes but not worried about it,I have rehearsed it a thousand times every way I could think of out on my front porch to the birds.With a metronome.If you are going to get serious about doing studio work you had best have a metronome.Then you will see what you have really got.So I go into the studio without a lot of apprehension.Normal butterflies yes but very low level stage fright.Then I perform what I have rehearsed and at a point my producer might say "could you try it like this?" and they are always good musicians themselves though rarely good singers,and they lay down something that you just love.So instead of getting defensive and all hung up I say "Yes I can do it like that." It creates a synergy to me,after the mastering is done that may be the part I am most listening to.I blow studios up man,I really challenge them.Enjoying a thing you are doing really infects people,they feel good and enjoy it too as well as get inspired to go a bit further out.Which to me is what a good record does.You may have a tune that is the cat's ass onstage and is dogshit in the studio.and a really good record to me,an excellent one is where people just here four notes in the intro and want to hear the whole song even if they never heard it before.That is what makes it a science equal to it's artistic merit.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795812011-10-04T20:10:08-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00The Real Bone Fact,Inescapable...Of Recording Science
<p>Less is more,always and in everyway more.It is so much mathmatics,a recording is an equasion of a fixed sound versus silence.Every time you add another frequency you add more variables to the equasion.It is the objective also with each frequency you add the it occupys it's own space in terms of equaliztion.At this point in time it is impossible to predict phase cancellation.Each time you do a play back it changes.Until you master it.so in summary,the less you do the more you have to work with.The more you can do with what is fixed.The more you have to focus upon.This is what I handily sold my current producer.As an artist the hardest thing do do is something simple.That you have got to really bear down upon.Because then you are really listening to the silence.This can be quite fearful as silince with a minimum of effort matches each and every one of your most skillful moves.This is realized when your excellent guitarist (onstage) just keeps flubbing a track and a session guy is brought in,he does six takes and it is all over,maybe an hour with some change and his minimum fee is four hours at two yardnotes per.This is what is called "having a cold wind blown up your ass."He barely played anything and it sounds so good!Gary Lefkowith is this type of a session player.He appears for us on (oo) (ooh) a lot of great on that record between Andre Mack,Gary,and myself.All a giant production weave of strong composite tracks.Three mindblowing lead guitarists working together,never stepping on eachother.Recording in downtown Manhatten Island.The complete center of it all.Mastered at Sterling Sound,lying up a huge success for later.You have got as a procucer the go to guy,Mike Rodgers.Every major record producer goes to see him before they master,he is the world authority on shortcuts.His normal fee happily paid is twenty five grand an hour plus a percentage of all sales.And he dug us for what we were.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795802011-10-01T11:32:16-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00The new Tune,What Is It About
<p>It's about the homeless and those soon about to be homless.in Cali now it is a lifestyle.Not a loser but an IT guy who made $150 grand last year,had a 500,000 dollar house and two BMW"S,one a convertable and now is on the street.Not a "loser" not a crackhead,a strong and reliable worker whos job has been sent overseas.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795792011-09-30T09:31:45-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Talent Borrows,Genius steals
<p>A songwriter has to create something original,a personal unique style as it were.The thing about serious artists is that they can not help but to admire another artist doing great work that inspires you so hard as to say "I want to sound like that too!"Yet at the end of the day you have got to come up with it your own way.If you consider yourself a pro.A pro always plays what other people want to hear.No big deal about that.As a publisher i also know and am aware of the work of artists who have no commercail aim at all.They don't care,they are playing the guitar every waking hour.They don't get paid to play...they just play.Can you imagine how good that sounds?How far out that is?Oh don't worry to much,these guys although you don't know them are makin'big bucks.Digital sampling brought this all into view.If you are writing you are working all that influenced you<i grew up in the usa sixties with a transistor radio blasting out influence everywhere you went.if your heart know are taking something from another artist them and pay their fare share.></i></p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795782011-09-30T00:11:01-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Plaguerism-Talent Borrows Genius Steals
<p>This is a very tight area of the business.It is a very different thging to have such an appreciation of a fellow artist that on your own tune you place a bit of their inspiration upon it.Their also are allowances and serious limitations upon that,you can go on as long as you want yet after a certain number of measures you have got to give a co-writer credit.We work you see from our influences,that can't be helped.For the chicago blues musicians it was a flattery for one guy to do another's licks.yet this was not the white guy big money rock and roll world,all of these cats were just doing clubs around the area and that was as big as they thought at the time it was ever going to get.They were not getting paid royalties by their labels and it was all the beginning of something.And it got really big when a bunch of young english kids began to pick up on what america did not notice.Especially The Rolling Stones who were searching for the most obscure chicago blues that they could cover and they credited and paid the songwriters.And when at last they began to write it waS totally original to them,yes some borrowed riffs and this and that but it does not matter as long as the original idea is your stuff.They screwed up pretty bad on this with "Love In Vain" credited to Woody Payne but it was all Robert Johnson and they did not think that anyone in America would ever know who Robert Johnson was at that time.And many American's would not ever have discovered Robert Johnson if the stones had not tried to lift from him without appropriate credit.Not nuances and textures mind you,the whole fucking song!Led Zepplin if you only knew,ripped off everyone they could in their time.Shamelessly so,had to settle many lawsuits out of court to avoid the bad publicity.They would openly take a Muddy Waters,Willie Dixon,or Howlin wolf number and credit it all to Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham and when your album sales are 5 million plus that is a lot of money that you are not paying in due royalties.The most famous song they did "Stairway to Heaven" came from an intro riff from a band they warmed up for in 1968,Spirit featuring Randy California and the song was "Taurus"a direct and complete rip-off.Oh man reallly bad.They never acknowleged it,never thanked him nor paid him a penny.They just stole it and called it their own.Probably they will one day deal with a massive and serious lawsuit over this from Randy's estate.Randy spoke about it before he died "I would have thought that at least they would have called to thank me."This kind of a process in the world of rock and roll,it is okay to take someone else's idea and expand on it and make it your own,but you have to give credit to the original author of it and pay up royalties.They all knew it,Jimmy Page most certainly knew it as randy taught him how to play it.And all of that is okay,one artist inspires another yet you have got to give credit to them and you must pay the due royalties for it.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795762011-09-17T08:42:23-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Any More Spanish Versions?
<p>No,I don't see any point in it.I am an american and my major audience is american,I liked what I did,it was very hard for me to do to as I do not speak fluent spanish.I would really though like to take a moment to thank my hardworking vocal coaches,Robert Ortiz,Tina Prieto,and Olga Forsythe.I did what I could do you know but american rock music sung in spanish does not have a big market.it is a novelty,a joke really.Not to sound bitter either as one day people may catch on to it.yet at this time spanish music is spanish and rock and roll is american.If you have got a good rock tune spanish people will not mind that it is done in english.They will dig it.If it is requested and somebody pays me to do one of my tunes in spanish of course I would do so, and am prepared unlike most english singers to do so as well.Yet it is a lot of work to go through the translation.Even with the music tracks completed.Here is a fact that may be of interest to you that the engilsh language has about 200,000 more words than the spanish language,due to slang and whatever and spanish speaking people will deny that of course yet the entire language consists of about 50,000 words.Yet because you have got to have the proper tense of the verbs it requires many more words to convey the same thought.The same with french,only about 80,000 words.Against english with 300,000 words.If you do not have the proper tense of the verbs you are speaking gibberish.So you have got to put 14 words in the space of 8.I can do that,I learned how but you have got to pay me straight up to do that now.Plus the production costs and my coaches.Otherwise I am total english if you can dig that,I really don't give a shit about singing in spanish anymore.Really it is more than enough work for me to nail the track in my own language.If you want a spanish version I would allow a great spanish singer to cover my version with the original music track.And you see in America you have got a lot of spanish people,children from old world parents who are perfect bi-lingual.Tina Prieto,my coach was that.She did my initial training and set it up and then I went to Olga Forsythe(my landlady-83 years old) who had a masters degree in spanish language from The University Of Havana-Cuba.Olga was amazed at how well Tina had set me up.Yet drilled me with no mercy on pronunciation and verb tense.Sittng at her kitchen table I would sing the tune hundreds of times and she would pound her fist on the table....NO! No! are you kissing every girl in town goodnight or just one girl?And she would get out a pen and paper and drill me through the tenses of the verbs.Plus the pronouncement of them.Spanish has a lot of silent s's yet again this was all a thing that the world missed.They wanted the bullshit fed to them by the mass media.And shoot I don't care,if that is what you want go for it.One after another the major labels are dying.The Capital Records building in LA is being converted to condos.Broadcast radio is dying via ipods,the internet and androids.It is now a free consumer oriented market.That has also in no way diminished the power of a great hit song.If you have produced something that people want to hear you will be able to sing for your supper.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795742011-08-27T06:08:33-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00The Recording Studio
<p>I now have the vehicle.Have committed to a full album deal to secure my producer,Kenny Veenstra and shall lead off with a great track that almost went into the can as I really wanted a female lead vocalist to do it but spent a lot of time trying to find one yet none of them would sing this tune.I think I have been spared of a lot of heartache,hassle,and head games and now can just go in to do the work.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795712011-08-26T10:12:07-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Abbey Road South.....Whaaat?
<p>"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." That was such a big relief cause I did have that together,I don't have to go back to anyone and get their approval for jackshit.They will receive their fair royalties but they do not call any of the shots.As a businessman I have got a powerful catalog totally wired.The session people I worked with were paid in full for the sessions.I can generously bonus them as I see fit as they are worthy of that.Yet now I am free just to be an artist.I have no load that I am responsible to carry.No more drama to deal with.I pay my own fare of the moment and that is it.I had to lay pretty low for a couple of years to lick my wounds,do something different to make a living.I did have my son to care for and the band,oh God,how they resented him,especially Marvin,who wanted me to put him into foster care so I could be 100% about the band and not concerned about raising him.That is some fucked up shit my friend,you think I would abandon my only child for the glory of a rock and roll band?After I had fought a battle royal with the state to have sole custody of him?And so often times he,without complaint would take a back seat to the needs of the band yet I wanted him right here with me where he belonged.The young boy wild life that we once use to live as a band was far over,my life was and is all about him.My baby son.I am an adult responsible for my own actions I am free now to be what I am,an artist.Not looking over my shoulder about anything in the dead and gone past.All of that is nothing but a wasteland to me,an expensive one to boot.Very clear and succinct choices were presented to everyone and they made their choice."I don't want to do rehab and free myself of these pills I want to remain an addict."So be it,I can't hang with you anymore,lest I get all fucked up on these poison pills,let the chips fall where they may.I have a new album to do free of any limitations or expectations.I have a lot of things to do and I can't be back there anymore.And now I have to be razor sharp because like my producer "I want to really get into it man."My concerns go far into the future,not one of my artists had concern that their royalties are going to be of benefit to their children one day.For them it was all me,me,fucking me,my startrip..And for most of us it is our children who are going to be required to pay the debt we and our parents created that they do not owe.The catalog as it stands is worthless,new material is needed to fuel interest in previous work.This is about the big picture and so few can envision that,I must complete my mission here before I can go.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795692011-08-26T07:47:57-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00A Very Exciting day For Me,The Album Project Is On
<p>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.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795702011-08-26T07:17:10-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Live Or Studio....Your Preference?
<p>Both.Live is immediate and in your face crazy.Immediate reward and immediate money in pocket.Such a buzz especially when it goes over the top.Sometimes though very boring and painful.The audience is just like "we ain't gonna get into it no matter what you do."And then you can play for four people that dig it and you are getting into it as though it is four thousand.Live requires an audience response,you are bouncing off of that and getting into it with all that you have got.But sometimes you have to play for pissy people who want karoke or a DJ.They do not want to relate to people really playing and singing.And it makes no sense to get into a conflict with them,you just lay back and get through the boring gig.It is an opportunity for a paid rehearsal.I will tell you this so sincere,if you have a dream you cannot let ugly little people get inside of you who want to ruin you.And you do not do a half-ass show either,you are rehearsing for tomorrow night which may be a whole different set of circumstances.You have got to remember you are getting paid to be onstage and every club in the world now,even the miserable shitholes have got a hundred bands hoping to play there,"we will play for draft beer!" and trust me,they sound like it too...They are too damn loud,they argue onstage and take forever to get to the next song,they get drunk and sound like shit.Maybe they have got a lot of their high school buddies coming out to the show for one night and the bar makes good money but the next night it is empty.And to play a club is not to be a rockstar as you may think,you are being paid to be a liquor salesman which is how the bar pays their bills.I am cool with that and have sold quite a few tons of liqour.The hard thing about this is the anti smoking laws meaning if the bar sells food nobody can smoke in the bar.If I were watching a band that I like I would have a glass of wine and enjoy smoking a cigar.They have systems developed that will pull all of the smoke right out of the club so non-smokers are not troubled by it.And most smokers are prone to drink more.So you are playing to a room that has not got a lot of people in it because the smokers are outside smoking.Smokers pay an incredible amount of tax money for the privelege of smoking and if the club provides a systrem to suck up the smoke they ought to be able to relax and enjoy a smoke and listen to the band and buy another round for the table.We have played two really nice cigar clubs with these systems and you cannot smell any cigar smoke in them thinking that the place would reek of it.When I work a gig at a club and walk into the bathroom and it is cleaner that my bathroom in my penthouse I think "what a nice club!" And we may work a place like that tonight and tomorrow be in a nitty gritty shithole with an audience going nuts for us.Or vice-versa.Such is the life of a musician.It is to look to the end of the night when you receive your music award package which is your money.Paid up without complaint.
The studio so beautiful yet in a different way,it is laboratory and clinical,analytic and mathmatical.Measured fidelity,ambience..synergy..What may work wonderfully onstage may suck in the studio.You are freezing time and space with "fixed sounds."You also are now paying to play.The product is a fixed object that always sounds the same.This enviornment is about now the economy of your playing/singing.You might freak out onstage and do some crazy things with your guitar that the audience loves that will totally suck on a recording.Because you can't just blow over the top of it here,every note has to mean something and every clam will stick out like a sore thumb.The thing that the engineer and producer are listening to is the silence between everything which you are not concerned about yet this is what makes a dynamite recording.Surely this is what the session players know that you don't as you watch a guy come in and cut the part you were struggling with easily.And after several takes a producer will be admant about this especially in New York or LA,they have a first call guy that will come in and set it all straight.You just re-learn it to play it onstage.Don't worry to much about it,you will still get the credit and the session guy will get his bread whilst you set out.All of it gets wound as tight as it can in the studio.It can be such a torture chamber for so many players and singers.Yet the vets are hanging loose and having a ball.The MOST important thing about a recording session is to be having fun doing it.That is what is going to show up on the mastered recording.which is going to be around forever.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795682011-08-26T03:09:50-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00I Am Sending out my Prayers North Carolina And The East Coast For Their Safety In Hurricane Irene
<p>May God watch over all of you and continue to bless you guiding you safely through the storm.Living as I do on the Gulfcoast of Florida and having witnessed the aftrmath of hurricanes that have come through here I can relate.If a cane were to come up the mouth of Tampa Bay you would witness the end of St.Petesburg,Clearwater,Sarasota,Bradenton...there would be nothing left after a category 4 storm such as Katrina,which actually was bearing down on Tampa Bay.If you are ordered to evacuate please do so,do not sit in a bar and get drunk to "Ride it out" that bar may be under 25 feet of water in ten seconds.You can have a nice little party on higher ground.The islands of the carribean are better equipped to ride out these storms because when construction was done it was in anticipation of these stroms,the bulidings are concrete with concrete roof and built 30 feet into the ground.Not so in the USA,many frame houses and even the concrete one's have wooden truss roofs so as soon as your windows get blown out your roof is history and the vaccum pulls you up and out too.Plus you have all kinds of deadly tornadoes and waterspouts created by the storm pressure system,the world you knew is about to be turned upside down and you do not want to hang out.You have got to leave.</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795672011-08-26T01:01:43-12:002017-03-14T21:06:52-12:00Original Or Cover material?
<p>Obviously the preferred would be original material.That has been the concentration here at all times yet without a ton of promotion it is difficult at best to get a good original to take off.Unless you are working a miracle people may not grasp your ahh...message as it were.They don't have anything to base it on.A reference for you.When you do your interpretation of another artist they know it provides a reference base for them and then as long as you are legally licenced you can also tap into an already established audience.Many,many,and many great singers did no original material.Umm Elvis Presley to drop a name. In the great days gone by of popular music artists very rarely had a choice in what material they would do the A&R (artist and repetiore) department of the record label made that decision for them.The material done by the artist was supplied by professional songwriters.For many of your current "POP" artists such as Brittany Spears and Christeen this still holds true.The label,A&R,and the producer make that decision on a thing they feel is tried and true.There was no shortage of material to be sure,in New York there was this place called The Brille Building which housed music publishing companies.Large and small for every type of music.Everyday monday through friday this building would be assaulted by every songwriter in town,they wuld be on window washer ledges outside the windows of the offices lowering themselves down and playing their tunes!This was were all of the "hits" for an artist came from.this is a great synergy to me as a great artist may not be a great songwriter,and a great songwriter may not have the voice or the charisma to have the song done in it's best light.Or you may have a great author of lyrics who can't write or play music and a great composer who can't write good catchy lyrics and the publisher recogognizes this and says "look I want you to get together with so and so and see what you guys can do,here is a five hundred dollar advance...sign here.This is called a collaboration.Have you ever heard of Holland,Dozier,Holland? Carole King was spawned out of this world,She did not even consider being a performing artist.Willie Nelson?</p>
RENE LABREtag:renelabre.com,2005:Post/61795652011-08-24T20:28:02-12:002017-03-14T21:06:51-12:00The Genius Of The Live Recordings
<p>That was direct to the recording engineers.It has a sound as though we were playing to a large stadium which we were not.It was a large club and a high school auditorium.They set a bunch of overhead mics in the audience and then ran us through underpowered amps 50 watts with no master volume,just cranked through the house system.Both audiences were very resectful of the overhead mics which were all expensive neumans that did not get knocked over or crushed and sensitive enough to pick up spare change rattling in your pocket..an ultimate vocal mic costing easy a grand apiece.The thing about the sixties feel to live records was that the audience was louder than the band yet there was still this great groove going.And how fortunate for you that Chip and Marvin grace with their presence these live recordings.Chip on bass and vocals with Brown on drums and vocals.It was all crash,bang, boom when we hit the stage.And we did not drive all of this way to be fucking with any bullshit,we escaped shows at the peril of our very lives.I have got the shots of the bus complete with the bullet holes in it.I had a great agent in those days,Jay Brown,He would send us all over the south working out many problems for us because we were a black rock and roll band.His fee was 10% off the top before expenses.He would call me before closing night after we had been rocking a town for a couple days and say "I got a call from the Alabama State police to tell you to NOT return to the hotel after closing show on Saturday night.Leave town right after the show from the venue and do not stop until you are out of not only this county but the next one too.Rene they are going to lynch y'all if you don't move real quick!" I use to get off on this after the shows...the escape...Jay handled all of the money for us and would forward it to us via wire transfer to the next show so we tore down real fast and had to haul ass.In that worn out old school bus under the hood I had a chevy 283 cu with cross ram carbs and two nox tanks.Bigpipe headers with no back pressure and that big old shit would be rippin' up the road like a chevelle.When I got up to fourth gear I would hit a nox tank and fire would spew from the tailpipe of choice,the police all backed off,there was no such thing as a stop sign nor red light and only one speed..floored!I did not have a cruise control yet did have two throttle cables that I would pull out and lock so I could concentrate on steering and running pick-ups which happened to be shooting at us off the road,we were living the ultimate tale of a rcok and roll band.Going into the two carbs I also had two diesal glow plugs heating the fuel so normally we were getting 72 miles per gallon just cruising to the gig..I could turn them on or off.The reason Chip and Marvin are not on a lot of my sessions is because we just had to stop or get hanged.So they would attempt to return to some kind of a "normal" life.I hope that they find it.We got hit by a lot of racist hatred.and from day one we were more of a family then a rock band and what we got through was way more then a hollywood movie,today you could not even touch what we did.Nor envision the danger we pulled through.We laughed at futile bullets hitting the armor plating of the bus.After we got to the second county or the interstate things had cooled down and Marvin would begin to fix our breakfast.Marvin was a five star chef so our pantry was well stocked but the fave of us all was fish and grits.Cooked right on the bus.So tasty.They would congratulate my on my driving skills and they were so great and so tight for me onstage.So dynamic!Down to the tiniest detail of the show.With a black band you see it is all economy and tone.Then the voices and then the show.They were playing my stuff yet I had to play it by their rules.The engineers cut out with the masters</p>
RENE LABRE