BOGIE CAME TO VERMONT

A LIST OF ALL WEB SITES MENTIONED FOLLOWS

“My flight arrives at 1:30 in Boston Rockster Dude….I’m coming to see you at the recording studio man!” The excitement in Bogie’s voice was contagious.

Kym Shurbutt, the kind gentle soul, and Bogie, the equally compelling character he plays in the Carolina Opry Show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA, although one and the same… are two of my very best friends.

I hereby declare the intention to claim many stories about us and our musical and other adventures as true regardless of my remembering them correctly.

I furthermore reserve the right to use the names Kym Shurbutt, Kym and Bogie interchangeably throughout this blog. Thank you very much.

Toward the end of our stay in the mountains to finish recording the new CD, Kym and Cindy flew up to spend a few days with us in Vermont. Kimberly and I were honored as they have only four or five days in the Summer when they are able to travel and they wanted to spend it with us! :)

It was great to see them and we had a big time. May is a wonderful time of year there. The weather was gorgeous… mostly cool and sunny with a day or two of unseasonably warm weather. One day even provided a cloud or two passing below us on the mountain top.

(See pictures labeled “The Cabin In Vermont” in the web site list below)

The plan was for us all to spend a couple of days at the mountain side cabin where Kimberly and lived ever so peacefully the previous three weeks ourselves, while finishing up the CD.

We were to then go to a lakefront cabin in New Hampshire for one day and night, then on to Boston for an evening with Kym and Cindy to catch their flight the following afternoon. More on those plans later.

The cabin belongs to Jim, a great friend of Will’s, and is perched on the side of a beautiful green mountain with a lovely view. The mornings brought deer up into the back yard to graze. Baltimore Orioles built their awesome nests in the hardwoods in the forest.

The brook at the bottom of the mountain is called Stickney Brook. I named a song I wrote while there, “Stickney Brook Dance”

The first part of the plan went very well. Bogie and Cindy Loo came to the studio to meet Will Ackerman (producer), Corin Nelson (engineer) and some of the other players that were cutting their tracks those last two days.

See…Will is the founder of a hugely successful record label (now owned by Universal Records) he started - or started itself as he’d say- in the early 70’s named Windham Hill Records.

You may be familiar with some of the many artists, including Will himself, that became very popular and successful as a result of Windham Hill’s and Mr. Ackerman’s belief in their music. Many are Grammy, Tony, Oscar and N.A.R. Music Award winners.

A tiny sampling of the artists/composers/performers/recording artists (now including little ole me) that Will has either discovered, produced, recorded or otherwise played an important, role in the lives and careers of includes;

George Winston - Pianist
Alex DeGrassi - Guitarist -
Michael Hedges - Guitarist
Liz Story - Pianist
Jeff Oster - Horns - (2008 N.A.R. Album of the Year Award winner)

You can visit Will’s web site to see a more comprehensive list of amazing musical collaborations.

But I digress…back to Bogie.

Here’s the thing….in 1986, when Kym and I met at the auditions for The Carolina Opry Show, Bogie already knew about Windham Hill Records.

We hit it off pretty fast after the auditions and became great friends quickly so he turned me on to one of their ‘Samplers’, a CD of various artists in the Windham Hill roster. I loved it. Wore it out and several more. That’s where I heard of Will Ackerman and George Winston’s music for the first time. Very cool.

When it came time to consider recording this music that was bubbling to the surface a couple of years ago, I wanted to find a producer, someone to help me see my music from a different perspective than the one I had as a result of self-producing my last seven Cds.

I thought of Windham Hill Records…the music Bogie had turned me on to and...wrote Mr. Ackerman an email.

That was eighteen months ago . Now, here we are almost ready to press the new work.

Thank you Bogie for turning me on to Will’s music and Windham Hill Records. That one small gesture has changed my entire life as it turns out.

So…Bogie was very excited (as was I) to meet someone so musically influential to his own life personally as well as millions of listeners around the world.

Check out the pictures of Bogie, Me, Kimberly and Cindy doing the vacation thing at the web album named “Bogie Comes To Vermont”

Bogie and Cindy came to Vermont. And I am glad.

Stay tuned…the next blog is from our adventures getting Kym and Cindy to the airport in Boston via our planned stay at the lake side retreat. It’s titled “On To Boston”

Love ya,

Rocky

WEBSITES IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

The Carolina Opry Show - www.CarolinaOpry.com

Pictures - “The Cabin In Vermont” - http://picasaweb.google.com/RockyFretz/TheCabinInVermont

Will Ackerman - producer, acoustic guitar- www.WilliamAckerman.com
Corin Nelson - recording engineer - www.CorinNelson.com

George Winston - Pianist - www.GeorgeWinston.com
Michael Hedges - Guitarist - www.nomadland.com
Liz Story - Pianist - www.LizStory.com
Jeff Oster - Horns - 2008 N.A.R. Album of the Year Award winner - www.JeffOster.com

Pictures - “Bogie Comes To Vermont" http://picasaweb.google.com/RockyFretz/BogieComesToVermont