If you're not a family member or friend of one of the musicians, you may not know that local youth fiddle group Bad to the Bow completed the recording of their first CD last week.
The group, which includes 25 youth, ages nine to 19, from all over the Coast, as well as four adults who accompany the group on guitar, piano, bass and cello, fundraised all of the money for the CD themselves, with the help of donations from generous community members and businesses.
The group recorded six tracks during an intense four-day session at StraitSound, which will be combined with another six tracks they recorded in July 2011.
The CD, titled The Joy of It, will be a fundraiser for the group.
"I'm the proudest teacher in the world," said musical director and producer Chelsea Sleep. "The musicians were extremely mature and professional the entire time they were in the studio, despite growing increasingly weary towards the end of each day."
The students recorded from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and the rhythm section came in to add their parts in the evening. They were very long days.
"I was a part of the Coast String Fiddlers back when they recorded their two CDs. I know how special it feels to have someone want to record you - it makes you feel like you've been justified as a musician and I wanted my kids to have that. They've earned it," she said.
Bad to the Bow is very fortunate to have two special guests joining them on their album. Barry Taylor (kit) and Celso Machado (percussion and guitar) are both phenomenal professional musicians who donated their time and talent to the project.
"The best part about having them join us is that they seem to have as much fun playing with the group as the group does playing with them," Sleep added.
The group brought in friend and fellow musician Adrian Dolan from Victoria to engineer and co-produce the album. Dolan has worked with the group as a guest instructor over the past four years and was excited to be a part of the project.
"It's been a total privilege to record such an energized group of young musicians," Dolan said. "They have worked incredibly hard to prepare for this project, and every bit of it paid off in the studio."
The Joy of It will be released at a concert onMay 5 at Gibsons Heritage Playhouse.
- Submitted
