I got a slick email last night from Matt Koelsch announcing the official release of the Take Good Care EP, a record that I recorded with him at the tail end of 2010. In the studio, we had Griffin Nash filming the entire session. That footage is all summed up in this great 15 minute documentary that comes with the record:
In the it, you’ll meet all the players: Matt Koelsch on rhythm guitar and vocals, Andy Herrera on lead guitar, and Ole’ Greg Settino on drums (and triangle).
I learned a lot from Matt on this project. As you can see in the video, it’s his first record, but the dude knows how to make something happen. That’s a rare quality for an individual and even rarer quality for a musician. Most important, it’s a quality that I feel myself lacking in some times. So cheers to Matt for giving me the experience of working with him. There has been a noticeable change in my productivity since I met him.
After we recorded this, I had to make a tough choice of supporting the record live or bowing out after the session. Ultimately, I decided to bow out because I felt and still feel in my heart that I have a lot of work to do in regards to developing my own music. I’ve met so many professional bass players out there that carry very similar desires as I do, but I’ve seen that even in a developed stage of their career, they have not yet taken the leap into creating their own artistic Universe because they became increasingly bogged down by their responsibilities as a side man. I’m fortunate enough to have my day job at Source Audio to not only perpetuate my identity as a bass player, but to give me a platform to challenge myself and to repeatedly present my best work on the instrument.
It’s a tough call, but if you’re out there in Internet land wondering about a similar situation for yourself, you have my choice laid out for consideration. It’s tough to listen to the wind and fly straight at the same time.
Take Good Care is now available digitally on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Last.fm and Napster.
The EP is also available physically in the Boston area at CD Baby and at Newbury Comics (Newbury Street, Harvard Square, Faneuil Hall).
If you would like to download the full length songs for free or make a donation please do proceed to :http://mattkoelsch.bandcamp.com/
