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Part of these collections: Best Selling Instrumental, Cool Guitar. Customers who bought Heavy Mellow also bought: Shiva in Exile, DAC Crowell, American Bach Soloists, Jami Sieber, Rob Costlow, Doc Rossi, Altri Stromenti, Shira Kammen, AlmaNova.
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| - Acoustic Abstracts | play hifi lofi, license, BUY |
| - Horizons | play hifi lofi, license, BUY |
It is a collection of original instrumental tunes played by Sulkin in a jazz
finger-style on dobro, 12-string, 6-string, and classical guitar, recorded in
Leipers Fork, Tennessee at the studio of musician and fellow environmentalist
Gene Cotton.
On lead acoustic guitar is Paul Hadley, a college pal from the University of
Virginia with whom Sulkin also helped form the Nashville folk-rock band Back
Creek in the 1980's. Originally from Memphis, Sulkin lives in Nashville and in
addition to playing as Heavy Mellow, performs solo and with various other
musicians. Hadley is currently living in Sylva, North Carolina pursuing a degree
in Chemistry and Physics.
"ACOUSTIC ABSTRACTS" - HEAVY MELLOW
Album notes and all songs written by Sulkin except "Midnight Chimes" by Sulkin &
Hadley
1. Weaving (3:00)
2. Maybe It'll Rain (4:30)
4. Double Time (2:28)
5. Midnight Chimes (2:50)
6. Snake Bite Suite (2:11)
7. St. George Island (2:30)
8. To Shea (2:12)
10. Delight (3:00)
11. Bright Side (5:00)
The Musicians
Heavy Mellow is Barry Sulkin and Paul Hadley. We met while attending the
University of Virginia in the early 1970's and where we both worked putting on
concerts. After parting, we re-met in Nashville in the mid 1980's and helped
form the folkrockcountrygrass band "Back Creek".
In response to a request for an event that needed instrumental music we decided
to try some original songs and covers we had been trying as instrumentals. It
seemed to work and we got other requests to play, and thus Heavy Mellow was
formed - named for the sound the name implies.
This recording sat in the can for a while as we pursued other directions, but
finally made it to completion. Currently Barry is still living in Nashville, TN
and doing free-lance environmental work, and Paul is in Sylva, NC studying math
and physics, and Heavy Mellow plays whenever we can.
The Instruments
Paul plays: Martin D-28 guitar with normal tuning
Barry Sulkin is best known for his environmental work in
Tennessee and around the country, but in the 70's he moved to Nashville to also
pursue music. His latest effort with Paul Hadley, under the name Heavy Mellow,
is a new CD entitled "Acoustic Abstracts".
Barry - dobro
Paul - guitar
While writing this tune, my wife Minda was working on her first big commission
as a weaver. We had set the loom up outside in the back yard on a sunny day and
I watched her weave. The music was inspired by the interweaving of treads to
form an image.
Barry - 12 string guitar
Paul - guitar
Sitting on the porch of the log cabin where we were living in Knoxville, I
played guitar and watched as a thunderstorm formed, burst into loud rain, and
then the sun came out.
3.
Oh My God (2:30)
Barry - 6 string guitar
Paul - guitar
On a whitewater trip down the Obed River my canoe flipped and I was sucked up
under the giant rock in a rapid know by paddlers as Oh My God. I survived.
Barry - classical guitar
Paul - guitar
This was written as a slow tune called "One More Song" about not wanting to get
up when the radio comes on in the morning on a work day. I had been taking jazz
guitar lessons and put a few chords together that I had been learning to come up
with this arrangement. Paul suggested playing it twice as fast as an
instrumental, and thus the name.
Barry - 12 string guitar
Paul - guitar
We decided to write a new song that was the heaviest mellowest, and wanted to
keep it simple. I started playing harmonics on the one and five chords and Paul
went nuts on lead. A few more pieces were added and a song was born.
Barry - dobro
Paul - guitar
While hiking with some friends in East Tennessee in Clear Creek canyon I was
bitten by a copperhead snake on my right hand - my favorite hand. To make a
very long story short, I survived, but lost the use of my hand for a while. As
it came back to life I made up this song as an exercise to help regain my finger
picking skills.
Barry - 6 string guitar
Paul - guitar
After my daughter Shea was born we took a peaceful vacation to Florida and
stayed at a beach house on this island near Apalachicola. This song tried to
capture that sense of tranquility.
Barry - 12 string guitar
When Shea was a baby I had trouble making time to play music. I found that I
could sometimes sit her in a little rocker and lull her into a trance as I
played. I experimented with sounds that worked best, and this tune was created
for her.
9.
Long Ago & Far Away (3:00)
Barry - dobro
Paul - guitar
When it was my turn to drive kids to school, I would often make up stories to
keep them contained. I always started with "Long ago and far away..." and then
just rambled on about castles and princes and such. They always wanted more.
Barry - 6 string guitar
Paul - guitar
I was experimenting with tuning the bass string of the guitar down a step and
playing in that key, with a combined rhythm and lead finger pick. This ditty
with sort of a light feel emerged, and was of course in the key of D.
Barry - 12 string guitar
Paul - guitar
We had been through a time when things had gotten a bit stressful with a child,
jobs, health problems, and life in general. I wrote this song that said to
focus on all the good that far out weighted the bad and, look on the bright side.
Barry plays: Dobro resonator guitar tuned to open G played fretted
12 string Guild 212 XL guitar tuned to open D
6 string Gibson J45 with normal and drop D tunings
Ibanez classical guitar
