Jason Bourgeois - Strawberry Cactuses - CD
Jason on Strawberry Cactuses
After I had seen the announcement of a McCartney III release, I realized it was high time I work on a solo album where I play and sing everything. I thought, I'm not getting any younger... and I haven't even released my own McCartney I! The McCartney trilogy and one-man-band recordings by Emitt Rhodes, Todd Rundgren, Stevie Wonder, and Roy Wood were all Strawberry Cactuses inspirations.
Annie (of Beach Honey fame) and I had drove up to Big Bear to buy a used Ludwig drum kit. After setting it up in our living room, I began dusting off a few older numbers (they appear as the last three tracks). The rest I approached with a "jamming with myself" strategy to see if any good tunes would emerge. I originally wanted this project to be sparse and all off the top of the head, but I can't help adding bells and whistles.
The first song that came from this approach was the title track. It's a little instrumental named after a postcard we have on one of our bookshelves. I liked the overall sound and felt that I could pull this off a few more times. All in all, it was an interesting experiment, and I'm pleased with the end result. It sounds like the things I like: simple rock & roll that's rough around the edges with some digression into silliness.
Annie co-produced the album with me. We bounced a lot of ideas around, and I needed her seal of approval before moving on from a tricky lead vocal, fuzzy guitar solo, etc. She's also responsible for many of the harmony arrangements you'll hear throughout.
Additional thanks go out to Grant Wicks and Henning Ohlenbusch who mixed the album. Grant oversaw the final mix and many tracks feature both gentlemen in various combinations (along with me behind the board from time to time). Meanwhile, somewhere in Canada, Phil Shaw Bova mastered Strawberry Cactuses so it all congealed in just the right way.
Well, I hope you enjoy this homemade record.
