Blog

by on

Singer Songwriter and Artist Kurt Gundersen

Releases New Album ‘Wake Up and Fly’

Produced by Kenny Schick

WHAT KENNY HAS TO SAY ABOUT KURT

Kurt Gundersen is one of those artists who really makes me love my job—he writes thoughtful cool songs and has a wide open mind for where they can go. Kurt contacted me just by chance on LinkedIn—it was mid September of 2017, and Sabine and I had just decided we were headed to Nashville, so Kurt was one of the last people I booked while still living in California.

We recorded tracks for a few songs, and then I worked on them up until the time we left. Kurt’s initial demos gave me a very acoustic, folky vibe, so that’s what I initially came back with…he liked them, but thought the might be a little too tame…then we talked about his influences more—Tom Petty, Camper Van Beethoven, etc., and I knew then I didn’t have to be conservative in terms of production.  that’s when the fun really started and we both were able to really think of many more possibilities for his songs.

We got the first 2 songs done and then we continued to work after I got to Nashville, passing files back and forth via Dropbox, which is actually mostly how I work. We’d get the basics and feel of the songs dialed in, then on my bi-monthly trips back to California, we’d get into a studio and record his parts. The songs would then be completed and mixed here in my Nashville studio. The process was super fun, and I’m super proud of Kurt and his really great 1st album. I’m really proud of the very cool end product we came up with, and now it’s time for the world to enjoy his great songs!

WHAT KURT HAS TO SAY ABOUT KENNY

Kenny is so awesome to work with! He’s gentle, kind, helpful and supportive. He’s a great musician, singer, and producer and has a ton of creativity and interesting ideas. He can take general ideas I have and run with them. He gets what I mean even if I can’t clearly articulate it – we speak the same language. I think of him as my John, Paul, George, Ringo AND George Martin all rolled into one person! He’s really that talented. No seriously. I can’t say enough about how grateful I am to have found him to help me make music!

MORE ABOUT KURT: https://kurtgundersen.com

MORE ABOUT KENNY SCHICK: https://b3pmusic.com/production-recording

by on

WCS Conference (West Coast Songwriters)  Panels

Producing the Best Record & Studio Preparation

WCS Conference – Panels

Join me at this years 39th Annual West Coast Songwriters Conference – September the 14th and 15th in San Francisco!

It’s a conference FOR singer songwriters – you’ll meet industry professionals, your songwriting peers, you’ll be inspired, enjoy panels and workshops, you can share your music, and you’ll make lots of new friends.

I’ll be doing 2 panels on Sunday – at 10am it’s PRODUCING THE BEST RECORD and at 11am it’s STUDIO PREPARATION.

If you’ve never been to one before you should definitely check it out. https://www.westcoastsongwriters.org

If you have been and you are going come say hi! I’ll be there on the friday night ‘Kick Off’ Party as well at the Hard Rock Cafe.

These are always a lot of fun, and I have a LOT of information for you if you want it!! See you there!

Yes the music is mine an instrumental called Funky February 🙂

VIDEO

Kenny Schick Music Producer

 

by on

A road trip to the Bluegrass State, Kentucky!

Where we were seduced by it’s extreme beauty!

 

Kentucky!
This past weekend, Sabine and I were visited here in Nashville by our great friends Lori and Pete. We showed them a bit of Nashville for a day and a half, and then we went on a road trip to the Bluegrass State, Kentucky. We were seduced by it’s extreme beauty—vast fields of lush grass and rolling hills covered in broad leaf forests.

Distilleries!
This was just icing on the cake, as our journey was really about bourbon and music. We toured the Four Roses Distillery, and the really historic Buffalo Trace Distillery… so much information and top notch Bourbon!

our journey was really about bourbon and music

Willie Watson!
Now Lori and Pete have become completely obsessed with songwriter/musician Willy Watson. Though I didn’t immediately recognize the name, I’ve know of him for years as it turns out. Watson was a founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show, and is also a member of Dave Rawlings Machine with Dave and Gillian Welch.

Buster Scruggs!
Many of y’all probably know him now too, as he was in Joel and Ethan Cohen’s recent film, ‘The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs’. He plays ‘The Kid’, who guns down Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson) at the end of the first old western tale in this film. He also sings the song ‘When A Cowboy Trades His Wings For Spurs’, penned by his colleagues Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. So see…you DO know him… 🙂

‘The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs’

The Burl!
Willie’s solo performance was wonderful, and the venue, The Burl, was an amazing old wood building sitting across from a distillery in Lexington, KY. Built in 1926 as a loading dock and hub for Texaco, it is a long room with porches flanking each side. The venue is right by the train tracks and has a ton of vibe. This performance was part of a weekend festival at The Burl called The Rail Roots Festival. We only went on the Sunday but now wish we’d gone the whole weekend!

The Rail Roots Festival – Willy Watson – Lera Lynn….

Lera Lynn!
Also on the bill for this festival was one of our local Nashville favorites Lera Lynn. She plays some dark, brooding post-Americana, just like Sabine and I like. She put on a stellar set as well—her guitarist, whose name I can’t find anywhere, is a great support to her songs.

Every piece of this road trip was magical, and I’ve fallen in love with state of Kentucky. Sabine and I will visit again soon for sure! Thank you to Lori and Pete Chaplin!

See other photography by Kenny Schick

Kenny Schick solo music project

 

 

by on

…so far we’ve made people cry, so ‘my work here is done’!

(drops mic)

My dad introduced me to the Fado Singers of Portugal, they sing songs of love, in all forms, about the country and romantic love. They believe if they don’t make people cry with emotion when hearing them sing they have not done their job.

What a wonderful way to be so dedicated to the craft of music and story telling to feel you must move the spirit totally, not just ‘entertain’. I aim to write like that, I aim to feel like that when I sing. I am definitely not as skilled and amazing as a Fado singer but when I was writing ‘Love Is Slow Motion’ – it made me cry, because it came from the depths of my experiences from my losses and my gains and just the everyday feeling of things.

My wonderful sister made a video for us. She just decided she’d do it, even though she’d never made a video before, she just decided she would figure it out. I think our dad taught us that work ethic. His favorite quote was “if a man can make it, I can fix it” and he could fix anything. He always said if you just put your mind to it, you can do anything. So why not become a performing musician in my 40s (instead of an in the closet one).

This song is about feeling, letting yourself feel, to feel the whole gravity of what you are feeling, despite any fear you have. “We wade in the shallows when the tide is out”. We allow ourselves to feel things when it’s safe but you’re not getting all of what you could get, if you were brave, take risks, don’t fear the unknown. It’s harder, more difficult but worth more.

Watch the video and subscribe to our YOUTUBE Channel BASEMENT3PRODUCTIONS (you’ll get our latest offerings as we put up more videos). LIKE and COMMENT – let me know what you think, be honest, I’ll respond – I love hearing from you. It helps us 🙂

PRODUCED BY: Kenny Schick B3Pmusic.com (who also orchestrated, performed, mixed and mastered)

MORE ARTEMESIABLACK

LIKE | COMMENT | SUBSCRIBE