John Lennon was tuning my Yamaha FG180 acoustic guitar that I bought in 1970, he strummed around on it for awhile then smiled and winked while handing it back to me. I reached out and grasped the neck at the same instant I awoke from this very lucid encounter. I got to my old guitar as fast as possible to see what this insight would sound like. For the next few hours most of the songs from “Atmospheric Conditions” took shape. All sorts of things where happening at once; lyrics, chords, verses, bridges, harmonic structures, you name it, it was there. The first song was ”Abandon”. It took about 30 minutes to write, organize and set up the mics to record into Pro Tools. The first run-through was not happening. Then it occurred to me to use sensitive dynamics in the performance to achieve sadness, so I clicked record and made one take. I listened to the playback and, sure enough, the performance was a keeper! I knew I was on to something with this approach, and after listening to it over the next day I was certain this was the way to go with all the new songs. The emotional atmosphere was to be the destination of each performance.
I have always been a fan of Neil Young and his unique ability to convey his music. There is a lot of his influence that went into the making of this recording. This is the solo acoustic record I wanted to make in 1970. After all this time, the right things have come together to make it possible for the artistic expression to be as it should…… real music made with Love about life’s “Atmospheric Conditions”. Funny what happens when you follow your dreams, isn’t it?
