Darin and Brooke Aldridge and Jerry Salley- Studio City
Folks, I have secretly commandeered the studio computer while these guys work. Don’t tell ’em I let you walk right in.
They are near the end of the session. Everyone is tired and I see a bit more gray hair this week than last week. I want to be the first person on the planet to tell you this will be a groundbreaking CD. I hear country duets here that deserve international exposure.
Darin Aldridge is as much a music perfectionist as I am a Doc. He’s driven to dig deep and give his best; always has been. So is this Salley guy. Every note, each phrase; it has to be right or it won’t fly. Brooke sings in the stratosphere, the harmony is solid down to the last trill, and the instruments ring acoustic true as Darin somehow coaxes out a tone old Doc can’t comprehend.
Read ‘Appetite for Self Destruction.’ The end for business as usual is at hand. The Internet and grass roots word of mouth is gonna free us all, and music will be by musicians and for people. And for my money, that is as it should be. I’m for the artists. They are the ones who move me.
The money folks who have exploited the artists will have to buy a ticket to the show. Don’t worry, they can afford it. Who knows, maybe they’ll come to love the music.
Dr. B
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Dr. Tom Bibey: Stories of the Bluegrass Music Road 
August 12, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Doc it sounds like a good fit for Bus of Real Country
August 12, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Bus,
I am but a foot soilder in the country music war, but I can’t wait for the courier to report to my General. I believe he will be pleased.
Follow their progress. I am certain you are gonna like their work.
Dr. B
August 12, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Wow, Doc! That’s quite a mouthful. I tend to agree about Darin and Brooke (and the band, too) as well as thinking the musical world is changing into something many of us won’t recognize. Marketing a music group takes a whole bunch of approaches that didn’t even exist five years ago. I’ll be blogging on some elements of this story tomorrow. But, meanwhile, I’m more than eager to hear Darin & Brooke’s work with Jerry’s production skills.
August 12, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Ted,
When I left tonight I told Mr. Salley, “Do what you can for them, Sir. The artistic level they have reached is beyond where Doc knows how to help them.”
He assured me he would. They are strong in every type of tune, but their country duet style is so new and fresh and yet sounds old at the same time.
Mr. Salley knows far more about it than I do, and he told me he thought in this style what they had going on was at the very top level in the country.
I figure guys like Jerry Salley and Tom T. Hall don’t have their songs on a project just for their amusement. Darin and Brooke have always been very, very good, but now they are at a serious level in the music biz.
Dr. B
August 13, 2009 at 9:11 am
Maybe I’ll finally give bluegrass a real chance and listen to this CD when it comes out, Doc! 😀
August 13, 2009 at 9:30 am
msslightly,
You have been one of my most loyal readers. When this CD is released if you will drop me a note I’ll send you one professional courtesy; one writer to another.
I’ll be shocked if you don’t love it. It just isn’t stereotypical of ‘your father’s bluegrass,’ although I love that too.
All I ask in return is that you tell people of my friends. They deserve to be heard.
Dr. B