Americana Alt.Country CD Reviews

Wyatt Easterling
'Goodbye Hello'
(Phoenix Rising Records, 2014)
www.wyatteasterling.com

Wyatt's BIO:

Growing up in Chapel Hill, NC, Wyatt Easterling released his debut album, 'Both Sides Of The Shore', on Moonlight Records (Warner Bros.) in 1981. With his album tucked under his arm, he moved to Nashville and began striving to make his way in the music business in whatever way he could. While looking for another record deal, he wrote for various song publishers. In 1990, he became head of A&R for Atlantic Records Nashville.

That same year, he wrote and sang on "This Time I'm Takin' My Time" for Neal McCoy's album 'At This Moment'. This collaboration launched more than two decades of gold and platinum winning releases with Wyatt Easterling acting as songwriter, producer, executive and / or session player.

Wyatt's partnership with Miles Copeland's (The Police & Sting) Bugle Publishing Group and Firstars Management occupied him in the late '90s and early 2000s. Leaving Bugle / Firstars, Wyatt's next step was to work on his own, writing songs like his title track for Dierks Bentley's chart-topping, million-selling album 'Modern Day Drifter', followed by his own critically acclaimed album 'Where This River Goes' released on High Horse Records on May 4, 2009.

"In Nashville, there's nothing a songwriter likes better than a co-writer with a broken heart." A quote Easterling laughingly coined. "You can really mine that for great stuff." The songs and performances on 'Goodbye Hello' are rich with wisdom, acceptance and optimism. "I must say it's the most personal album I've recorded to date." Easterling's career has been full of chart-topping songs including cuts with Dierks Bentley, Joe Diffie, Billy Joe Royal, Paul Thorn, Neal McCoy, Sons of the Desert, Robbie Hecht, and others but these days, Easterling is embracing the life of a troubadour, focusing his energy on bringing his music and his stories directly to his audience. "Playing for new audiences reminds me why I fell in love with music in the first place."

"I've known Wyatt since he was a teenager and even helped him make his first album way back in the 80s, so a few years ago, I was delighted to hear that he'd stepped back over to the other side of the microphone after years of success as a writer and producer in Nashville! Even as a youngster I loved his songwriting and smooth vocal style but now he has matured into a legitimate triple threat - producer, writer and (this 'and' should be in italics for emphasis) performer. 'Goodbye Hello', is a peerless collection of songs sung with quiet conviction and effortless style." (Don Dixon)

Wyatt tells about the making of his ALBUM:

The studio:

Back in September of 2012 I went into my friend Bill McDermott's Dog Den Studio in Nashville with the intent of doing some guitar / vocals on a new batch of songs. Being old hands at recording we made sure that each song was structurally sound and exactly how we wanted them before we set up the first microphone. I'd never worked with Bill on a production and the outcome was so pleasing that I decided to spend a little more time and energy to record more tunes. At that point I didn't have any grand designs on recording a new album and more than anything else, I simply felt a need to chronicle the songs I'd written over the past couple of years, some by myself and some with my favorite co-writers.

As this collection of guitar / vocals grew, the idea of turning them into an album began to take shape. Sometimes you just have to be open to the possibilities and, besides, we were having so much fun, why not go for the mother lode. There was no question I needed a new CD and a voice in my ear kept asking me, "If not now then when?"

The production:

Bill and I are both seasoned record producers (Bill's arranged more number one charting songs than he can count and I've racked up more studio hours than I can remember with such artists as John Michael Montgomery, Paul Thorn, Neal McCoy and Keith Urban, to name a few), so it was important that we agree to check our egos at the door and allow the songs to take us where they needed to go. I'm in awe of Bill's sense of music, and his production is world class. I can honestly say this album would not exist without Bill McDermott.

Recording an album is an all-encompassing process. You're holed up in a windowless lab for days on end creating what you hope will be well-received music, all the while learning to trust the mad scientist in the room pushing all of the buttons and pulling the levers, or in this case, my producer Bill McDermott. We spent six months finishing out this album. Between recordings, we talked about the different artists we admire, great bands and albums, songs and production styles. We drank our weight in Starbucks coffee and shared war stories about life on the road and in the studio and of course the latest gossip on Music Row... and we laughed a lot!

The making of the title:

The creative process is such a curious beast. As I was mulling over what song should be the title track, I found that none of them could speak collectively for the others. I went through the process of picking through the lyrics for that all-inclusive line that would express what the CD as a whole was about and again found myself stumped and at my wits' end. My dear friend and co-writer Jennifer Smith suggested that perhaps I was too close to see it. She pointed out that to her the songs were about endings and new beginnings, and with that she promptly said how about 'Goodbye Hello' as the title? That resonated with me.

I've gone through some major life changes in the last few years and have relearned for the umpteenth time that life is about learning to accept change and to embrace it. The sooner you learn to accept it and deal with it, the smoother your ride's going to be. This bigger picture began to come into focus and it dawned on me that these titles were written throughout these various personal upheavals and that these songs are indeed about change, some good, some not so good, some happy and some sad, people coming and going, songs about living and one or two about dying; yes I'd say 'Goodbye Hello' pretty well sums it up.

The talent:

My years in Nashville have given me so many friends that wield huge talent and this little endeavour allowed me to call on many of them to bring their touch to these songs. As I mentioned earlier some were co-writers and some brought their voice. Paul Jefferson, Robby Hecht, Celeste Krenz, Jason Eskridge and Lisa Brokop are some of the finest singers in the world, and I get to have them with me for all time on these recordings. My musician friend Catherine Styron Marx, Brian Fullen, Mark Hill, Jeff King, Bill McDermott, Dan Dougmore and Jim Horn all played with such finesse and once again proved why they're world-class musicians.

To quote Bill McDermott at the last, "If you can hand someone your CD without saying a word or offering any apologies... cross your arms and just give 'em a nod... well, then you've done something that perhaps folks will talk about".

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