Just got back (again) from Toronto where Douglas and I and my son Ryan (who has a great ear for music) sat down to listen to the tracks again. Douglas has been working on them since I left them with him in June and this was the first time I'd heard his progress. I'm really excited at how this collection of songs is shaping up.
Douglas has filled out the sound using his own guitars, mandolin, piano, and even some synth cello and English horn! He outlined his plans to me to add pedal steel, accordian, bodhrain, electric guitar and more in the next month, so by the end of October we should be ready to go to the mixing stage.
Danny Greenspoon, a 'musician's musician' in Toronto has agreed to take care of the mixing, working with Douglas to make all the hard final choices as to instrumentation, relative volumes, etc. Then it's off for Mastering.
The highlight of this visit to Toronto was watching and listening as Douglas sat down and played an exquisite piano solo for Silent Night, Starry Night during the playback. Hearing that confirmed for me that I'd made the right decision in handing my 'baby' over to him. He's making it better by far than I could have imagined.
