double fantasy

at last! we’ve released “backroads” and “ghost” to the streaming services… (here’s a link to backroads). we’ve felt that these are companion pieces— “ghost” being created during the height of the pandemic and “backroads” after the peak, as a reflective tome on so many of the themes we all contemplated as the world shared this common experience. pal john baldi graciously described backroads as “a perfect companion for your Spring/ Summer road trips,” and we hope it will be!

“ghost” is lovingly dedicated to the memory of friend and colleague bob crowley, who, while living, requested that i wait before dedicating the album to him. i met bob as i entered the 8th grade in 1968. bob was ever-present in the art room, the kid with the portable tape recorder and an early purveyor of light shows, which were done with oil and food coloring and overhead projectors in those days. bob bestowed these gifts on my band and through these experiences we became friends. we lost touch for a number of years while bob worked at boston scientific corporation as head of r&d, creating world-changing inventions like the intravascular ultrasound device. music reunited us when bob saw the van gogh brothers at TCAN in 2005 where he asked me after the show to take a look at his new microphone business (he had no idea that i had developed a business career, other than his intuition). bob had returned to his roots in music- though his medical inventions used acoustics, which kept this link alive- in creating another revolutionary product; this time in the recording industry. i helped bob build his business, introducing him to my rolodex, which he used to grow his influence. he eventually sold the company to shure in the nick of time in 2008. one of the ideas we had early on centered on bob’s passion for the rf spectrum, which as we all know now has become the world’s most valuable real estate as wireless devices pervade our airwaves. this business became rf venue, which i joined in late 2017 when i returned from california, again in a twist of fate, as bob randomly wrote to me to request help the day after i arrived on the east coast. rfv has continued to grow and it is where i, with a brilliant team of some of the finest people i’ve known over the years, carry on bob’s legacy of creativity and innovation. at the height of the pandemic we shot the video for “down to the river,” the lead track of “ghost,” at bob’s farm in south hadley, massachusetts, with bob starring in the video. i am so glad we have this piece to commemorate this moment in time and another creative collaboration between bob and me. the farm was beautiful and i helped bob create a focus and a name, “bee science farm.” bob studied insect patterns there by recording them and analyzing the results. he also grew a LOT of squash. i’ll never forget the day i saw the farm for the first time— on the banks of the connecticut river— and conceived the idea for the video. bob loved it, and said he had the most fun of the summer that september day.

“backroads” came within weeks of completing “ghost.” i’d written “this is love” and “gypsy rider” in quick succession and it was immediately clear to paul, clayton and i that we had an “acoustic” album on our hands. we started recording in march of 2021 and finished in march of 2022. we lightly experimented as we went, but kept the album within the tight confines of paul and i on acoustic guitars, and this gave the album a cohesiveness and weight that i think is unparalleled anywhere else in our catalog. david minehan produced the record with us at woolly mammoth in waltham, massacusetts, and david westner mastered the record in plymouth, massachusetts. john sands (aimee mann, lori mckenna) joined paul, clayton and i on drums, and david mattacks (george harrison, paul mccartney) guested on percussion for “gypsy rider.” we created an alternate mix for “this is love” produced by anthony j. resta, that we named “only love redux,” which reflects the original title for the song. we love the alternate version (and anthony and karyadi sutedja, who mixed the version) and decided to release it separately as a kind of “bonus track.” make no mistake, though, this is a “backroads” track, and it was the first track we recorded for the album. all of this got topped off with one of my all-time fav paintings by new mexico artist bonita barlow which she kindly shared for our cover art. my pride in this record stems from the “ease” of the writing and recording, which i think was a reflection of the spiritual emptiness that came as a result of the pandemic showing us that our entire world and life is out of our hands- nothing can be taken for granted- and it all comes down to the very basic ingredients- love, life, birth and death. this we stripped down sonically with the acoustic guitars which gave it a “purity” that was unexpected.

we’re running down our last two shows until september at vincent’s worcester on may 14 and june 11. as always, we’ll lay low during the warm months though we’ll probably play at the magical moon farm at least once on a date TBA.

until then, much love to all of you from all of us.

jc