I’ve talked about my work with songwriter/producer/recording artist Kenneth Makuak?ne previously here. Well, the big day is inching closer. Kenneth picked up the master CD today, and after some final tweaks to the liner notes, the CD and graphics head off to be pressed. The entire process has been a three-pronged effort. I wrote all but one of the Hawaiian lyrics (“mele”), did all of the text layout, worked with Kenneth on the liners, developed his website and taught him how to maintain it. Kenneth wrote all of the music, two of the English songs, arranged and performed every instrument (except three steel guitar tracks) and every single vocal, engineered and mixed the entire project. His wife Tasha handled all of the behind-the-scenes coordination and business. We couldn’t fit everything we wanted into the liner notes, so we’re doing an enhanced 27 page eSongbook which will be available from his website.
This is the total extent of other people’s involvement:
- cover art (Louise Donaghue and Scott Waters, though I had a hand in it, too)
- mastering (Kit Ebersbach)
- three steel guitar tracks (Greg Sardinha)
Release is set for Sept 28, and it has already been entered for the 2007 Grammy Awards in the Hawaiian Album of the Year category. What a feeling of to accomplish so much between just the three of us. The most gratifying part of it has been to experience the growth in our friendship, and to know that this project is just the beginning.
