New Music: Everytown

The first studio album from the Rocky Maffit Group, Everytown is available now.

Rocky on Everytown: I have always been attracted to art, literature, and music that seem to come from a geographical place, that conjure a landscape or a people. Without intending to, I believe this album reflects the place it was created, which is the Midwestern United States. Longtime fans of our music may be a little surprised by how "American" it may sound. Our usual international influences and rhythms are there, to be sure, but they are in the service of songs sung in English.

Evelyn Shapiro (who designed and spearheaded Rhythm & Beauty) created the album art which visually captures the feeling of reminiscence and nostalgia, that bittersweet longing for a past time. The music moves forward as the lyrics gaze backwards.

The recording of Everytown was done in a new way for us. I had spent years toiling in dark windowless recording studios. Rather than working in a "proper" recording studio we purchased a multitrack recorder that fits in a suitcase. This enabled us to record anywhere and anytime we wished. Much of the album was done in our living room, a place bathed in natural light, where the coffee is excellent. All of the guest musicians are friends or family, many of whom would be enlisted on the spot, when the inspiration struck. One of my great pleasures was singing with my wife, Kate Kuper, on many of the songs.

The Brazilian tinge on the album is courtesy of Chad Dunn. Some of the tracks were built on overdubbing him many times to simulate the sound and feeling of a room full of samba drummers. This is something I had always wanted to do and we will continue to experiment with this approach in the future.

Of course, the indispensable hand of Neal Robinson is everywhere on Everytown. Composer, keyboardist, vocal arranger, recordist, producer and mixer— if he wore more hats he'd be a hat rack. And as always he takes any musical idea you may give him and makes it better.

Anyway, we all hope you enjoy the music as much as we enjoyed making it.

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