Recording - January 2021 - 45

Collinwood Yards, a 14-track
progressive rock album
that intertwines classical
and cinematic writing,
featuring Carl (composer,
guitarist) and Nick D'Virgilio (drums and vocals) of
Big Big Train and Spock's
Beard, and further supported by some great London
symphonic players at Abbey Road Studios.

Marquee, a compilation
of 19 tracks suited for the
film and TV industry. A
diverse and entertaining
journey of genres, sounds,
and time periods.

Grand Boulevard, a diverse
16-track rock album with
several subgenres including
blues, Latin, reggae, adult
contemporary, pop and musical theatre, all held together by up-and-coming lead
vocalist Charles Iverson
and keyboardist/producer
Phil Naish.

Striking Chords, a compilation of 21 guitar-oriented tracks pulled from the
72 tracks Carl has written.

Retroduction, a 15-track
album inspired by the
great songs, artists and
writers of the late 50s
through the early 70s.

This certainly begs some questions: First of all, who does
this, and where do they come from? Why are they doing this?
And, why are they doing this at (wait for it) 60 years old? Well,
instead of speculating, let's go to the source.

Studio II, an 18-track
classical music album inspired by some of Carl's favorite composers of classical music past and present.
It features conductor Rick
Wentworth
(BAFTA-nominated) and again, some
of London's most talented
philharmonic players.

Silent Night Bicentennial
Suite, a 10-track suite of
varied harmonic settings
from the 200 year-old melody of Silent Night. This
collection
demonstrates
the power of theme and
variation when applied to
a historical piece.

Album Cover Design
Collinwood Yards & Grand Boulevard: Erick Anderson
Retroduction: Erick Anderson with Alex Coven, Studio II: Alex Coven design
Silent Night Bicentennial Suite: Erick Anderson design/Alex Coven consult
Marquee: Erick Anderson design/Alex Coven consult
Striking Chords: Erick Anderson and Alex Coven

Carl, you grew up playing music like a lot of people.

In a nutshell, I was on my own at 17, but I was always attuned
to music. Fortunately, I had an older sister who was the target age
for the Beatles and that kind of music back then. So, I grew up
around that. Throughout the 60s, I hadn't played an instrument
yet, but I was exposed to incredible music, and it had a power
over me. What really lit the flame is when my sister came home
from college in 1970 and started playing me things like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, The Moody Blues-my head exploded! It was just a whole new world. I didn't pick up the guitar
seriously for a few more years until my teenage years, and when
I wound up living on my own, I started playing guitar for real.

What does " for real " mean?
Were you playing in a band?

When people ask, " How did you get into music? " I say, " I didn't;
it got into me. " Music was the only thing in my life. I was isolated in
a room, 12 hours a day, just playing guitar, lifting the needle, trying
to learn. It felt like it was my lifeblood. It was like I was remembering
how to play, not learning how to play. The prior fifteen years of listening to music were feeding into me and dying to come out. Within
a year, I was a lead guitar player in a band that became regionally
successful. We played 200 to 300 dates a year during four years on
the road, an incredible experience, but it seemed like a very natural
thing. Unfortunately, that came to a pretty abrupt end in the early 80s.
There were some problems within the band, and there was a theft
that involved all of the equipment; there were loans I had to pay off...

All album cover photography by Erick Anderson
RECORDING January 2021

Recording - January 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - January 2021