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Aloha Everyone
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Well where do I begin? I suppose if you got this far, then you are interested in some of the musical details
So for what it is worth, here you go!!!
We used many different guitars on this album including my favorite which is a Taylor 614 that is set up 3 half steps down and then often Drop D tuned using medium Elixer Nanoweb strings. Also used on this album is a Semi Vintage Gibson ES 5 Archtop Switchmaster, a Squire Acoustic Parlor guitar, an Ibanez 7 string Electric with scalloping, and a Fender Stratocaster, Eric Clapton Model.
Much to my surprise, I am often asked who are my musical influences? I had not really thought much about this point, until it was suggested that I declare my influences officially for our website
So here you go in no particular order: Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton, the Allman brothers Band and especially Gregg Allman, George Benson, Honk, James Brown, Johnny Winter, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, John Heussenstam, Will Brady, Van Morrison, John Klemmer, Ausie Payton, Buddy Guy, BB King, Joe Satriani and of course Prince !
From the outset, the idea behind this album was to have no filler; and to present a broad range of guitar styles such as Jazz, Blues, Slack Key, Rock, Folk rock, pure acoustic, and even some stuff we are not to sure how to categorize
I desperately tried to avoid presenting 14 tracks that sounded the same; but hoped to offer an interesting variety of tracks that represented my musical styles
This also meant enlisting the help of some of Hawaiis most accomplished musicians to lend their seasoning for a tasty musical journey
Mahalo for listening and supporting us
Stay tuned for our second album which is already 70% completed and is scheduled for release in Spring 2008
Now we're all Pau!
With Aloha
db warren and friends
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Debut Album :
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Once in a Blue Moon
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- Track 1 Lost in the City
- Time: 3:14 / Key of E Flat
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Drums: Jason Smith
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- Tenor Sax: Rockford Holmes
- Keyboards: Fred Thomas
- Wow, how to choose the first track??
Originally, I wrote this tune with Lyrics that I hoped someday a Hottie Jazz Vocalist would agree to sing; but we were lucky enough to enlist the help of Hawaiis Best Sax player, Rockford Holmes. Originally, Rocky just provided the intro and outros; but when we decided to have no vocals on this album, we called him back to provide the melody lead using the sax in a John Klemmer
style of the 70s
Oh man doesnt this just give you Goosebumps??
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- Track 2 dbs Song
- Time: 4:19 / Key of A maj 7 to A min
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitars: db warren
- Other Guitars: Reuben Durham
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- I named it this, cuz its so fun to play; and this tune covers a lot of musical ground. I spent many years traveling for work and carrying a guitar in and out of airports; which is no easy trick these days
Guitar Bags make airport security freak out worldwide
Anyway this song is a product of waiting in airports all over Asia
I noticed that the bored travelers around me enjoy this tune as it developed; so there you have it
Thats
also why we used it in the traveling portion of the Jasmine and Sanook video...
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- Track 3 Angelique
- Time: 2:32 / Key of D flat
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Flute: Rockford Holmes
- Keyboards: Reuben Durham
- As this track developed, we considered it, as a soundtrack for Love at first sight
The deep resonating bass of a force bigger than an oncoming cruise ship, giving way to euphoric feelings represented by the dependable guitar arrangement and highlighted by the light hearted flute work of Rockford Holmes
Isnt this just "Love at First Sight"
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- Track 4 My Lucky Charm
- Time: 3:45 / Key of E
- Composer: db warren
- Electrified Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Electric Rhythm Guitar: db warren
- Electric Lead: Reuben Durham
- Electric Violin: Leslie Kline
- Hammond B 3: Fred Thomas
- Double Bass: Fred Thomas
- Lots going on here! It first starts with my overall acoustic guitar arrangement filled by the incomparable Fred Thomas on the Hammond B3 organ
Think Deep Purple, Allman Brothers and virtually everyone else, way back when using the B3
Reuben Durham doubles up on the tasty lead and dances around Leslie Klines accomplished violin in an unlikely, Call and Answer violin/guitar licks, that reminds us of some Irish Folk tunes mixing
it up with some Southern Rock, layered with a funky Jazz/ lounge back beat, courtesy of Fred Thomas
Makes you feel kinda lucky... Yah?
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- Track 5 Still on My Mind
- Time: 4:13 / Key of F#
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- Flute: Rockford Holmes
- This tune was so much fun!!!
Clean, clear acoustic guitar arrangement playfully interwoven with Rockfords magical flute
Each flute riff represents a host of different private mental thoughts, that all of us seem to contemplate about our lover
, of course some thoughts are happy, some sad, some pensive, some aggressive, some jealous, some melancholy, some erotic; and often all at the same time
thus the title Still on my Mind
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- Track 6 The Gecko Song
- Time: 3:46 / Key of G major
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Parlor Guitar in Slack Key: db warren
- This tune taught me about connecting to the Universe
Of course it was 1:00am in the studio and we had a few Jack Daniels on the rocks
but I swear a Hawaiian spirit visited me and brought me this gift
I am not a slack key player, dont generally listen to it, study it or write it
Just the week before this recording I was introduced to open G tuning by a friend and since my guitars are all set up special, I grabbed my daughter's parlor
guitar too test out the tuning and developed this arrangement
On a whim, we decided at the last minute to just record it and see what happened
There was no pressure to perform; and it was totally like waking up from a dream or a transcendental mental state at the end
I will never forget the guys in the control booth shaking their head and clapping
It was a truly a magical moment, that I long to recapture and will always thank the universe and Hawaii for this special gift. Oh
yeah, we call it the Gecko song because we happen to see two geckos on the control booth window listening
which was also weird!!!
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- Track 7 Always Over You
- Time: 2:40 / Key of E
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Lead Guitar: db warren
- This is another tune that started out with lyrics; and as it developed, there were so many chord changes and slides, that it took on a more pure acoustic character and in my thinking, somewhat of a classical guitar sound. All finger picking without a pick. The light baseline is provided by the thumb in Travis picking sort of style. Another fun tune to play
Maybe we try out the lyrics someday
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- Track 8 Im Lookn Around
- Time: 3:30 / Key of B
- Composer: db warren / Will Brady
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- Keyboards: Fred Thomas
- By now, I guess there is no doubt that this is an acoustic guitar album
My Taylor 614 is drop D tuned and the percussive sounds you hear are me keeping time by smacking the guitar with my hand as I play; all of which is generously augmented by Reuben Durhams bass. Yes we have lyrics for this as well
Maybe someday we will find the right vocalist. Many thanks to Will Brady for his significant contribution to the overall arrangement
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- Track 9 Cant Love You!
- Time: 3:28 / Key of E
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Arch top Guitar: db warren
- Percussion & V Drums: Jason Smith
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- Piano: Tennyson Stephens
- First, I gotta mention our drummer Jason Smith who managed all the odd time signatures with perfection
This is Jasons favorite track
We also have Lyrics that someday we may record; but for now its our Jazz lounge act; hi-lighted by the fabulous Tennyson Stephens whos recording and musical credits are wide, varied, and envious. Tennyson is Hawaiis finest Jazz pianist in the opinion of most on this Island, and we are honored and blessed
that he was part of this recording. Reubens engineering on this mix should be especially mentioned for the clean piano sound in the corner just like it would sound if you were in the Jazz lounge
Close your eyes and pretend
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- Track 10 Smiley
- Time: 3:06 / Key of F #
- Composer: Will Brady
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- This not so simple acoustic piece was written and arranged by Will Brady my famed guitar teacher and musical mentor. You can hear the virtuoso version on his Box works album. This track is my special thanks to Will for all his influence on me musically and as a person
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- Track 11 Trouble in Paradise
- Time: 4:27 / Key of E
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db Warren
- Lead Electric Arch top Guitar: db warren
- V Drums/ Percussion: Jason Smith
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- Sometimes, there IS trouble in Paradise; and the intro of this track attempts to convey that message, yet with the promise of better things to come... On this track I used the famed Gibson Archtop ES 5
Its flat wound strings offer a Newport Jazz sound, with a touch of hopeful melancholy that added the perfect lead in the distance kind of vibe, which allowed the congas, base, and my other acoustic guitar to take you to someplace
else
Also a good track to listen to at night with your eyes closed as it is very meditative in nature
My yoga friends love it!
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- Track 12 Tequila with Lime
- Time: 4:32 / Key of E maj
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Drums & Congas: Jason Smith
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- Having lived a good deal of my life in Southern California, the influence of Hispanic music and culture was as much a part of daily life as Rainbows are in Hawaii
On this track we tried to emulate, that Lazy days in Baja kinda feeling. Imagine sitting at the Tequila Bar during the hottest part of the day, looking out at aqua blue waters, ignoring your life back home, as you sit and sip, top shelf tequila
In the corner of the cantina are
expatriate guys just like you, Jammin live music with no particular beginning and end
On this track each musician ends when he feels like it
It must be the Tequila and lime
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- Track 13 Koto Blues
- Time: 3:29 / Key of C# Min
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Acoustic Base: db warren
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- Here we take a bow to all our Japanese friends
Key of C# Minor with capo at the 7th fret; I achieve a really unusual sound reminiscent of a Bluesy Koto. Cool back beat using both sides of the thumb on the 5/6th strings. Master Engineer Reuben Durham concocted a secret sauce hypnotic flangey beat, that helps your mind jog down this invisible path
Turn up the volume on this one and dance naked in the morning sun.
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- Track 14 Shanghai Times
- Time: 5:12 / Key of B
- Composer: db warren
- Acoustic Guitar: db warren
- Electric Guitar: Reuben Durham
- Bass: Reuben Durham
- Drums: Jason Smith
- Since you have the volume up already, you might just leave it there
Yes, I did write this song in Shanghai, China
Too many years of work related travel to China compelled me to attempt to translate musically this countrys enormous progress, growth, and accomplishment as a culture in so short a time
This also gave us a chance to play and experiment with "controlled feedback" on our electric guitars, in the intro and outro
portions of this song
This track suggests the growth of a determined, newly emerging world power, in the coming future...
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- Track 15 Jasmine and Sanook Bonus Video
- Run Time: 9:38
- Produced and Directed by: db warren
- Now heres a real bonus
Originally, the thought was that me the artist would trek to the jungles of Northern Thailand (I love Thailand) and try to shoot an unusual album cover with a big elephant
Well, the elephant refused to get into the water with me ( I think my guitar freaked him out); and soon it was apparent that he would stomp me squishy if I persisted
Luckily, we had a beautiful model as back up by the name of Jasmine; and
very soon it was astonishingly apparent, that Sanook the elephant had bonded with Jasmine; and would allow himself to interact with her virtually anyway that she desired
Elephants generally will not lay down in a rushing river and submerge their tusks and head for any reason
Even to the casual viewer, it is strikingly clear that something very special and magical happened on that day; which we would like to share with you, since it was truly ONCE
IN A BLUE MOON
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