The River Keeps on Flowing…
Hello Everyone! Hola a todos, Bonjour à tous, こんにちは , Hallo!
My name is Casey Garland and I’ve been a professional whitewater river outfitter and guide since 1974. I’m grateful to have shared the thrill, power and righteous scenery of wild rivers with thousands of people from around the globe. Throughout this long journey I’ve played guitar, honing my skills and songwriting craft so that one day I could share my musical soul and perspective from a life well lived running rivers.
In 2014 I teamed up with producer extraordinaire Jeff Tassin and special guests George Merrill, Tammy Frost, Leslie D. Shelton, Shalane Miller and Elaine Skeffington to create an album of my songs. Some well known folks in the music business have said we ‘knocked it out of the park.’
To be clear, this is a ‘Songwriters Album’ with professionally recorded songs and some great players putting their hearts into it. There is no band. The effort was all DYI, Indie studio work. Why? Think about it – How could an ‘unknown’ musician convince his musician friends to devote thousands of hours of practice to prepare for recording a quality full length album? Your buddies can’t play like Nashville session players. I could have hired those cats but this album would have cost at least $60K to create. (yes, it’s that good) You got that kind of money? Neither do I.
I created this body of work mostly as a recorded legacy of my time on earth and my love of rivers and music. Thousands of people have memories of their experiences on the rivers with me but I wanted to leave behind a tangible legacy in song as well. However, once the project was done it became clear that the quality of the songs, performances and recording was top shelf and this music needed to be shared more broadly.
Some people want to become famous rock stars and go on tour. I don’t. Never did. I knew going in to the project that I cared more about song craft, melody, harmony, message and fun! I was never under the illusion that “If you build it they will come.”
All that said, I have learned that the music business is a moving target. In the evolution from vinyl records to cassettes then CD’s and now to downloads and streaming, it’s clear that someone other than the creator makes the money. If you subscribe to the notion that musicians and creators should all be starving artists and that music should be free, I can’t help the way you think.
Another aspect of the music industry that I find strange is how they try to pin artists down into a specific genre. “Oh he’s a country artist or a Heavy metal shredder type guy.” It’s amazing how many genres exist these days. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know a soul who says “I only listen to Blues” or “Hip Hop” or “Grunge”. or you fill in the blank. Virtually everyone I know listens to a broad range of musical styles, including me.
To that end, the songs herein are written in different styles because that’s what I felt at the time they were written. Some are humorous, others insightful or adventurous, even jazzy. I will say in general the 14 songs fall into a broad category of adult contemporary soft rock. Similar to the works of James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet, Loggins and Messina.- you know, after Hendrix and before Rap.
Even though this full album effort was a ton of work and expensive, I really had a lot of fun doing it! So much fun that I would love to do it again in my lifetime. I hope you’ll find solid entertainment value in what we’ve created and choose to support my songwriting by purchasing a song or two. Maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to do it again with your help.
Rivers are everywhere and they are the life blood of our planet. Like the ever changing temperament of moving waters, the River of Life runs mild to wild and everything in between. These songs are performed in a variety of styles, just as rivers are different every day.
Casey Garland