A Look Back at ‘Roots & Wings’ (2009)
Roots & Wings, was released 12 years ago today, January 27th, 2009. To commemorate the date, Gary Waldman chatted with recording engineer/mixer/producer Don Sternecker about his memories of working with Neal and shared some of the stories on the recording sessions.
Revisiting the sessions
For this rootsy folk album, Neal returned to western New Jersey and Mix-O-Lydian Studios, where he recorded Rain, Wind & Speed 13 years earlier and assembled a great collection of songs.
Photo by Megan McIsaac
His New Jersey crew of Dan Fadel, John Ginty and Angie McKenna are joined by Jeff Hill and Jon Graboff from the Cardinals, along with overdubs from his California pals Johnathan Rice, Farmer Dave Scher and Darren Rademaker. “The Losing End Again” kicks off the album and its mix of folky rock songs like “Back To Haunt You,” “So Far Astray” and “The Cold & The Darkness” next to ballads like “Cold Waves” and “Chasing Her Ghost.”
There are also versions of some of his lost 90’s demos that hadn’t made previous albums- “Turn For The Worse,” “Superhighway,” “Keep The Peace” and “Pray Me Home.”
