In the late Autumn of 2008, I was getting more settled into my Master's degree program in Audio Production at the University of Westminster, London (U.K.), and I had had enough classes with my professors in how to setup a live studio recording session and how to work the mixing desk to start practicing on my own without much help from the staff engineers on duty. I want to say this was maybe around November or December of that year. During that time, outside of class, I was still playing live gigs as a part of various bands playing around London, as well as playing at jam sessions at a few open mic spots. One of the musicians I met, in such scenarios, was an American expat guitarist from Florida named Myles Kayne (his last name threw me off because I instinctively mistook it to be the same as a certain well-known, controversial artist, but then I saw the spelling and it was simply pronounced like "cane"). I don't remember exactly how I met Myles, whether on a gig or a jam session, but all I knew was that he was DOPE! He could hit you with some stanky Blues riffs, some mind-blowing funky licks that James Brown would have made many faces and "ughs" to, and then he had that touch that could turn poetic and beautiful like something you'd hear in a somber flamenco or bossa nova ballad. Basically, that cat was nice with it!
I remember inviting him over to hang at one of the studios on campus, as he was really feeling my style of playing and wanted to jam when we both could meet up, and so when he dropped through, I set up the mic for his guitar and recording space so that if we had any good ideas, we'd catch it in the moment (which is how my comedic but true song called "I Don't Like Bananas" came to be that same day/session, but that's another story).
He asked me if I was working on anything, so I let him hear an idea I had that would be the basis of "Warm Rain", but it was only some chord progressions of soft pad sounds that seemed like what you would hear during a yoga session or meditation. He started fiddling around with it, but then I suddenly had a concrete idea for guitar, and since I don't know music theory or read music at all, I had to sing the lines to him (a la George Benson style) for the arrangement I had in mind, and this man mimicked me on guitar to perfection! For the parts that were harmonic (since no one I know but Lalah Hathaway can sing more than one note at a time, simultaneously or harmonically), I played them out on keys. So, quite frankly, the guitar parts you hear in this recording are, note-for-note, my vocal guitar arrangements that he followed me perfectly as I sang them out, and it's one of my favorite tracks, as it is for many others who've told me such over the years, since it and the project were released.
I added the rain sound effects later, after I had recorded and mixed the other keyboard and piano parts that I had added to the final draft. I am honored to have this piece collected by a true music lover, and I hope if this ever is passed on to other collectors over time, they will also appreciate the quality of the work that went into this impromptu but nonetheless inspired session that created this piece of music that I hold dear to me and am proud of.
If I had space, I'd include the stories of fans who've written me about their experiences connected to this song. They are some really moving stories, and are from different parts of the world.
@dutchyyy owns this record
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