Acclaimed keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer David Garfield has recorded with icons of all genres – from Smokey Robinson to Cher, Spinal Tap and others – and performed with some of the best musicians in the world. Being in the business over four decades, Garfield has worn many caps including bandleader, arranger, recording artist, touring musician, musical director and record label owner of Creatchy Records and has made many friends – some of who join him on his newest release “Shufflin’ Nashville,” an instrumental trip through Music City that captures its character with stops of guitar, pedal steel, lap steel and more along the way. Available across digital platforms on Friday, May 7th, “Shufflin’ Nashville” can exclusively be heard today via The Country Note.
Those ties of friendships and talent that Garfield has embraced through his career are a who’s who in music, and when those friends are brought together, well, as they say it’s “music to the ears.” When asked to give the inside story about this toe-tapping track, the passion Garfield has for every aspect of music was shown: from the creation of the idea via one word, to gathering the musical troops, to the finishing touches:
“I was flying down to Nashville to record a pop song that I had co-written with Smokey Robinson and, with the help of my friend Shannon Forrest, the drummer for Toto and one of Nashville’s most popular drummers, we had lined up some of the best studio musicians in town. I’d met Shannon while Toto were rehearsing in Los Angeles. He’s worked with all the big names and has produced world class artists like Michael McDonald. We were scheduled to record at his studio in Nolensville, TN. On the plane ride down, I realized we’d have time to record a second tune so I wrote ‘Shufflin’’ in my head, jotting down the main themes on music paper. The next day in the studio, I showed it to the guys and they promptly re-wrote the chart using the roman numeral system that’s popular on Nashville sessions. I watched in awe, asking questions about what they were doing and how it worked. We cut the track and got it on the very first take!”
“I continued to work on the track after I returned home, adding top LA session guitarists Tim Pierce (Michael Jackson, Roger Waters) and Michael Thompson (Whitney Houston, Madonna). I reached out to some of the internationally-known guitarists with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working, including Japanese phenomenon Toshi Yanagi (Jimmy Kimmel Live), Israeli guitar sensation Oz Noy and Italian guitar star Davide Pannozzo. My goal was to round out the guitar solo duties and provide some contrast to the original Nashville picking. I sent them mixes and they worked independently in their own studios. Recording in 24 bit 96kHz audio, the clarity and quality of what we did at Shannon’s studio transferred perfectly to my setup at home. In particular, the bass work from country music veteran Jimmy Lee Sloas was especially solid and tasty. I completed the track with my Wurlitzer electric piano and Hammond B3, both vintage instruments and in excellent shape, in addition to percussion from longtime Toto member Lenny Castro (Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder). The song was mixed by Shannon in Nashville and mastered at Aftermaster Audio Labs here in Hollywood.”
“The track spotlights ACMA/ACM/GRAMMY-winning session guitarist Brent Mason (George Strait, Shania Twain, Neil Diamond) and pedal steel guitarist/ACMA nominee Paul Franklin (Dire Straits, Vince Gill, Barbara Mandrell), each doing two solo spots. Backing them up is two-time ACMA specialty instrumentalist award-winner Dan Dugmore on lap steel (Linda Ronstadt, Tim McGraw. Faith Hill),” concludes Garfield. “The song basically goes back and forth between two different keys (G and E), and there are subtle differences between the two sections. I thoroughly enjoyed working with these great Nashville musicians and continue to use them on my projects.”
Listen to the Exclusive Audio Premiere of “Shufflin’ Nashville” here:
Watch the song’s teaser here.
Download/stream “Shuffllin’ Nashville” here.
For more information on David Garfield, visit his website: http://www.creatchy.