About a year ago a boarding school friend's status update mentioned the presale of a CD by Charles Danek, who I remember as a Beatles obsessed teenager. He was preselling CDs to raise the money to produce the album. I said, "Hey, why not? I'd love to help Charlie out." I sent him the payment for the CD and totally forgot about it. Yesterday, to my surprise, the CD arrived in the mail accompanied by a long and thoughtful thank-you note. His band (of collaborators, according to his website) is called "Coin" and the CD title is "Ride What You Can't Change." Here is his website
After 22 years, I had no idea what sort of music to expect from Charles Danek. Luckily, it says right on the cover "a Jazz/Americana travelogue" and that's exactly what it is. Some of the songs are jazzier, some are more Americana/Folksy. It's all a little sleepy and rather lovely. I'm trapped in the house by 1/2 an inch of snow and ice today and Coin is making it harder to get out of my jammies. One thing is for sure, I am going to listen to this album more than I expected to when I prepaid for it. It will get loaded up into itunes and enter the shuffle. It may become my snowy day album.
My favorite song on the album is "American Vespers". A design professor once told my class that it's better for a product to be interesting than pretty, but if it's both, that's ideal. "American Vespers" is both. Additional voices join Charles and the song sounds like one of the desert travel photos on the inside of the CD case. I asked Charles who the voices are, because the credits aren't specific. The gravelly older voice that starts the song, setting the mood, (and this is cool, so brace yourself) is Ronny Cox, the actor who played Drew, the banjo playing canoer, in "Deliverance".
I prefer the songs on the album that skew in the direction of Americana to those displaying strong Jazz influences because I'm not a big Jazz fan. Despite my prejudices, the jazzy and rather groovy "Get it in Gear" has grown on me in a few listens. The song I would love to hear recorded by a singer with some twang, a big set of lungs, and large noisy band is "Ride". Country radio? (and I say that most affectionately)
So finally what is my point? First, take a chance on an old friend. I could not be more pleased with the outcome of this exchange. I asked Charles how many CDs he presold via Facebook and other social networking sights and it was a very small number. This approach did not fund his project.
On one hand I'm surprised, because buying an album from someone you like, before it's even recorded, doesn't seem like something one needs to over think. The worst that can happen is the CD never gets recorded, and you lose $15. The best case scenario is that in a few months you receive an enjoyable CD in the mail.
Alternately, I'm not surprised at all that the response was so weak. I am bombarded every day with buy this/listen to this/look at this/vote for this status updates and Tweets from musicians, and at some point one just stops reacting to them. Unfortunately, Social Networking sites have become one big promotional mosh pit.
Looking forward to your next album, Charlie! Now how many versions are there of Strawberry Fields?
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