Let’s Be Frank!

Nice and easy does it, every time. Frank Sinatra circa 1960 with Nelson Riddle orchestrating the heck out of some classic tunes. At our house, growing up, our Dad had this record on endless spin. Up loud too, taking over the living room. Swinging Del Mar with Tripp and I learning jazz whether we liked it or not.

Bringing us to now and I’m stoked to announce the emergence of a recording project that taps into the Sinatra influence. I’ve known a fellow who lives in Coronado whose really into songwriting. His name is Peter Rahill but my nickname for him is ‘Nado Pete. He came to me with this idea of co-writing some songs in the Sinatra style and recording them. I did a little updating R & D session with some Frank music, wrote some melodies, passed them onto him for the lyricization and ta-dah, five new sonic vehicles to express the love torn, Las Vegas swagger, secrets to life emerged. 

Next step, find a vocalist that sounds like Frank and where else could you find that person but in Mexico. True story! Four years back Dwayne Lawson recorded at my studio and this fellow IS Frank Sinatra. The sound, the attitude, the vibe, it’s all there. AND he moved to Mexico a year ago to pursue his music career. Not sure why there but alas, through the magic of Facebook we found him and cajoled him to come to El Norte to do some recording. We tracked with a great rhythm section and then added a horn section, mixed it all together and finally “Let’s Be Frank” is ready for it’s time in the sun. 

If you want a listen and maybe even purchase the CD head over to ‘Nado Pete’s website here and take a tour. 

Gearing up for live music this week, we’re looking forward to Friday night at Ki’s Restaurant in Cardiff with vocalist Rebecca Jade, Tripp on sax, and me on guitar. This is the first time Rebecca has played there and we’ll mix in some Cole Porter, Stevie Wonder, Beatles, and Bach (Tripp and I have a few of the 2 Part Inventions stashed in our back pocket). It’ll be a good night of music with killer food and the beautiful bohemia of coastal Cardiff. See ya!

Tripp, Rebecca, and I at a concert in LA a month back.

There’s the music story folks and thanks for reading along.

all the best, Peter