THE MAKING OF A CD… THE LONG WAY!

How long does it take to record a rock & roll CD? Some of the best records have been done in days (Led Zeppelin), and some have taken years (The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac). All together from start to finish Pawn Shop Tattered Heart took just about 3 years BUT only because of the fits and starts – in actual days maybe 3 weeks!

It really started out as a innocent let’s record a couple of songs at Charley Pollard’s Dragonfly Creek Studio’s  – however with everyone’s schedule going ten different directions those two songs took about 9 months to finish.  It might have ended there but the problem was Charley and I enjoyed the process of working together and by the end that first run we had two great songs!

I  proposed that we track three more songs – Charley suggested Gregg and Matt Bissonette on drums and bass – “Sure – why the heck not!”  Blam! they come in and do the tracks in a few hours.  Now logic would dictate that at that point Charley and I would knock out the guitars and vocals in record time?  No – it took another several months – bits and pieces here and there.  Some days we would just track the guitar solo then a month would go by and then the main vocal – you get the idea?

So now we have six songs done (I recorded the instrumental “Morning Song” – that only took one day!) and I say “Why not just track five more songs and call it a complete CD?”  OK – we bring in the rhythm section of Hampton Flanagan and  Michael Sunday to cut drums and bass – which they do in one day!  Then it’s back to us recording the guitars and vocals piece meal.  Add mixing to the equation and there you have it – a long time BUT like a fine wine the results are worth the wait!

Johnny Hawthorn

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Pawn Shop Tattered Heart is Johnny Hawthorn’s third outing and although it may have taken a while to produce, the tones are crisp, crunchy with a coating of  the oils of 70’s classic blues rock!

Producer & engineer Charley Pollard specifically wanted top notch drum tones and classic guitar sounds. The drums were actually tracked in the huge living room of Charley’s farm house!

For guitars tones they employed many different classic guitars (strats, tele’s and Les Paul’s) but the secret weapon was a 1969 Marshall Plexi 50 watt head that the guitar would be plugged into and turned all the way up!

Guests on the recordings include Gregg and Matt Bissonette (drums & bass respectively) and Frank Zappa alum Arthur Barrow contributing Hammond B3 on a few tracks.

The songs run the gamut from mid-tempo radio friendly (Figure Out) to hillbilly thrash (Rocket Ride) and everything in between – essential elements of all the bands of the classic rock era everyone grew up listening to (and still do!).

Sonically this CD hits it out of the park!

Received the GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE’S “Editors’ Faves” for July 2014 and received a glowing review from Matt Blackett who said, “…there are riffs and melodies that will surely appeal to fans of Aerosmith, The Eagles, and Led Zeppelin”.

Produced & engineered by Charley Pollard
All songs written by Johnny Hawthorn
                          The CD is available through CD Baby & iTunes