presents Stu Ross

Hello: Greetings from Stu Ross - thanks for dropping in.

The Harley in Burnt Harley was sold to pay for a new roof for my house. First-time home ownership and Easy Rider freedom collided with the Harley getting burnt in my mind, with a tear on the cd cover.

John and Katalin of Living Room Music were instrumental in the creation and shape of the sounds you hear, and, to their credit, Burnt Harley along with Back on That received ‘Honourable Mention’ in the Unisong International Song Contest with both songs in the top 10% of their musical style categories.

As  much as  I  love  recording studios, 'live' performances especially when everything clicks - are the greatest feeling. There are many variables involved with a desirable musical experience. But with a tight band, a great sound mix, a crowd connected to the music   I'll be having as much fun as anyone and there few things in life that can top this feeling for me. In a similar vein we entered a battle of the bands - AM 96 Musical Challenge - playing my songs in a three piece band - and won. I'm not saying we were better than the competition but that we had the ‘tight band, good sound, audience connection’ thing happening for us. Attempting to capture that energy in recordings is a difficult challenge playing to an imagined audience hoping to connect. With headphones swirling with a rainbow of colour  mixtures,  you  hope  the crystallized sounds will evoke like the feeling the song first had when it came looking for you.

What I miss most is that I'm not currently giving these songs the fresh air of live performance. They are now in ‘musical daycare’ with Steve McPhee, long term bassist and musical midwife, and I looking after them.  We're holed up in an ancient church cum recording environment creating something new and different for our next cd. We've already fallen in love with our new children and hope you will to when you hear them that is. For now let me offer you these first time series of paintings and I'll let you know how things are going and when we expect to give them some live freedom, hopefully in the near future.

...with peace, love and understanding,
 

Stu Ross