Rock ‘N Roll Coochie Coo

Thank goodness, my week of rock ‘n roll bachelorhood finally came to an end.

Abbi, Maggie and I were in Wilmington, DE, last weekend for The Keller’s 40th anniversary. I had to get back to NYC for MTV’s TJ Search Finale on Sunday. So it seemed like a perfect, logical solution. Abbi could relax with her family, and I could finish my forthcoming benefit CD, “Forever Young.”

Jeff Jacobson ran my studio (aka Maggie’s nursery) through. Our cover of James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James” is a melancholy, lullaby version of the tune. He laid down the guitar track months ago: gorgeous. I recorded the vocals a few weeks after Maggie was born, struggling to make it through without crying; it’s a moving song (“There’s a song that they sing of their home in the sky/Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep/Singing works just fine for me”).

Then Jeff tracked a simple guitar part for “You Are My Sunshine,” on which The Nadas’ front men Jason Walsmitha nd Mike Butterworth are dueting. We had a ball catching up. I did anyway; I talked his ear off.

On Tuesday, Chris Abad came by to lay down vocals for Simon & Garfunkle’s “The Only Living Boy In New York.”  Chris knocked it out in just a few minutes, then hung out a while swilling beer with my brother and me.

On Wednesday, Bryann Dunn came by to lend his voice (and guitar) to our cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” (no pressure). Bryann so tired of my compliments (he nailed my phrasing and delivered a gorgeous guitar solo) that he took to saying, “I tire of your praise.”

It was great to see all my boys, and to make progress on “Forever Young.”

What I didn’t predict, though, was just how much I would miss my girls. Our apartment was too quiet, too clean, too colorless without them. It didn’t feel like home. And, much fun as I was having, I didn’t feel completely like myself. I’m more than a musician now. More than a media executive. I’m a husband and a father. It completes me.

“Forever Young” is for them. It’s about all of that. And it’s October 2…

1 – Forever Young (featuring Emily Easterly)
2 – The Rainbow Connection (featuring Amber Rubarth)
3 – The Only Living Boy In New York (featuring Chris Abad)
4 – Mr. Tambourine Man (featuring Bryan Dunn)
5 – You Are My Sunshine (featuring Jason Walsmith & Becca Smith)
6 – Sweet Baby James (featuring Jeff Jacobson)
7 – You’ve Got A Friend (featuring Mai Bloomfield)
8 – Golden Slumbers (featuring Casey Shea)
9 – Amazing Grace (featuring Jamie Leonhart)
10 – Moon River