Here’s a new feature I’m starting.
I’m selecting one album per week that I will call my “New Key Album of the Week!”
I’m not reviewing the choice and I’m not saying it will end up on any of my other lists.
What I am saying is that I think this is a good album and deserves more spins and analysis.
I hope you will sometimes join me on my journey for new and exciting music!
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As always, for this week’s New Key Album of the Week, I had several options.
I really want to choose a double album which has just been released, but in my mind it presented a slight problem.
Or did it?
I’ve played Indiana/California Singer/Songwriter Joe Peters many times over the past few years.
If you need a refresher, check out a post I did on his “Water Rising” song as part of my Awesomest Songs List in December.
In the post, I explained that Joe was part of an amorphous group of musicians that he refers to as The Joedai Warriors, as well as Joe Peters and Friends.
With his new album, “Collaboration,” I felt that I couldn’t pick it as a key album because I made a resolution to pick two artists weekly that I had never played before.
As I contemplated my dilemma, I kept listening to songs from the album.
Although Peters has demonstrated several that he believes it takes a village to make an album, being kept from his normal musical routine may have caused him to get a little stir crazy.
He also got a head start on social distancing because he suffered a pre pandemic broken bone.
Going digital and teaming up through any means possible, this time Joe used a small town of collaborators to record his record!
The supporting cast of musicians on this album are as follows: Amanda Palmer, Barrett Myers, Bill Price, Charlie Walmsley, Chase Cotten, Cheryl Fletcher, Eric Hicks, Ethan and Kelsey Bates, Jeffrey All, Gary Allison, Gini Graham Scott, Jim Brehm, Kitty Campbell, Kyra Allana, Lee Anna Atwell, Linda Hicks, Liz E. Brooks, Melanie Hahn-Greene, Michael Longcor, Mike Stephens, Rick Mummey, Scott Greeson, Sharon McKnight, and Vickie Maris Greene!
Michael Kelsey, Peters’ longtime utility arranger, shredder, and engineer–along with Joe himself on guitar, provide the matrix for the others to create.
“Collaboration” as a project is itself most unusual.
Typically, when there are so many guest artists on an album, it’s usually a tribute album for a songwriter or a band.
The songs are typically fairly well known, or at least the artist is, and the musicians create their own interpretations.
On “Collaboration,” as well as several of his other back catalog works, Joe Peters allows his guests to make themselves at home as he hands them the remote control for the TV!
As a somewhat annoying commercial that’s popular now likes to ask the question, “Who does that?”
Well, I’ve seen him in action and I feel that Joe truly likes to let other’s talents shine! On most songs on the album, it’s hard to tell where Peters is as he performs some of his guests’ songs and only sometimes materializes as an apparition.
That is confidence in both himself and his collaborators!
I am fascinated with this approach! It doesn’t fit into most album experiences!
As I arrived at this conclusion and how to solve my problem, I noticed that on the cover in the lower right hand corner in fancy script are the words: “Music by Warriors, Zombies, and Other Joedai Pilgrims.”
And that is exactly the name the musicians are calling themselves.
Problem solved!
That is a title for a group that I have never played before. I would also say that I haven’t played anything by 75% of the artists on the album. There’s plenty of chances to meet my weekly goal when I return to the studio!
So……………………………….
I decided to make my first choice my final one.
This may seem like a bunch of hooey over nothing important, but I try to stay true to my own guidelines because they matter to me.
I will say one last thing about “Collaboration.”
The variety of artists and their interests and styles make the album an eclectic collection. It’s like an Americana “White Album!”
Well, at least maybe this collection of musicians’ “White Album!”
There’s a lot of music here, 27 songs, and it will probably take me a while to process all of them.
Just like the “White Album!”
As an example of what to expect, “This Time Has Come” is a wonderful song featuring a beautiful vocal by Melanie Hahn-Greene!
And here’s a song featuring Joe Peters explaining in song his process for “Collaboration!”
The New Key Album of the Week is “Collaboration” by Warriors, Zombies, and Other Joedai Pilgrims!!!
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If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!
#Collaboration #WarriorsZombiesandOtherJoedaiPilgrims #ThisTimeHasCome #MelanieHahnGreene #PhilMaq #NewKeyAlbumoftheWeek
