By the time I’m finished producing an album, I don’t ever want to hear it again – at least for a year.  It’s not that I don’t like it; it’s just that I’ve heard it – over and over and over again, way too many times for any human.

The process of creation demands the repetition.  Often I’ve also written the songs, or some of them anyway, and that only increases the ear and brain fatigue.  Repetition is definitely a large part of the writing, producing, engineering process, and since I do all three, that also extends the repetition.

On top of it all, by the time I’m deeply into the making of a CD, the songs go coursing through my brain all night as well, over and over while I sleep just to add to the number.

So when I listen to that last master reference copy back from my masterer and approve it as final, I always breathe a sigh of relief that the prolonged grind is finally over.  If you were to ask me to listen to a CD that I produced when it comes in from the manufacturer, I would go screaming into the night.

Last night, while testing the ecommerce end of the new Watchfire Music site, I arbitrarily decided to download El Amor from Julia Wade’s Spanish CD, Alabado sea Dios.  Thrilled by the simple and intuitive process of purchasing and downloading, (a blatant plug) I decided to check the MP3 download as well.

As I sat and listened to the song, my mind went back nearly two years to the time when the CD was made.  I listened to Julia sing, in Spanish, and though I don’t speak the language, I reveled in the beauty of her voice, the powerful emotion that poured through her performance and the magical guitar work of Chieli Minucci.  When the song was over I had tears in my eyes and said out loud, “Hey, that was good!  Lemme hear another one.”

So I bought another single off the site.  The title song, Alabado sea Dios.  It too knocked me out.  So I bought another one and another one after that and on and on until I had bought the entire CD and listened to it right there.  I could have reached over to the right of my desk here literally 4 feet and taken the CD from a shelf and put it on, but instead, I bought my own album and paid for it with my credit card off my own site.  Figure that.

I just had such a great time listening to it that I totally lost track of time and the fact that I was supposed to be checking out the new site and got swept up in the beauty of Julia’s voice, the inspired musicianship of Chieli Minucci and Bobby Stanton on guitars, the wizardry of James Graseck’s violin and the haunting sounds of Margaret Dorn’s impeccable background vocal arrangements – all best-selling Watchfire Artists.

I also was deeply joyful of my own work.  The album is a beauty, and I found myself being especially proud of Julia, but also satisfied with the whole.

When I finish the long process of making an album, I have a hard time seeing the whole anymore – my concentration is on so many little aspects of the music, the mixes, the arrangements, the words and so on, that it’s very tough to just hear the song as a whole.  A year or so later, the mind is kind.  It glosses over the minutiae of detail and once again, or perhaps for the first time, allows me to listen to the whole.  It is not until then that I can sit back and enjoy it.

I will say, I think a lot of people missed the boat on this CD.  I think a lot of you thought, “Well, this CD’s all in Spanish and I don’t speak Spanish, so it’s not for me.”  An easy mistake to make.  But the fact that you don’t speak the language doesn’t matter here.  The beauty of the album simply transcends language.  Check it out.  Spend 99 cents and give the title song or El Amor a full concentrated listen.  You’ll hear the artistry of all involved and rectify the mistake.

Am I pitching my own album?  You bet!  If I don’t do it, who will?  I’m the one who made the rediscovery!

Julia chose these songs from her favorite 40 that she sang over the first couple of years of singing the weekly Spanish service as soloist in Boston.  (She also sings 2 services in English.)  We whittled the songs down to 11 choices and I wrote 2 more bringing the count to a lucky 13.  Each song is a gem.

Last night I rediscovered this album.  Alabado sea Dios.  I’m urging you to now perhaps discover it for the first time.  Don’t let the language be a barrier to the beauty of the album.  Put it on late at night when you’re alone or with that special someone, take that long-stemmed rose and stick it in your teeth, grab those castanets and strike that pose.  Get into it!