It’s been called to my attention that I haven’t posted anything recently. I checked, and sure enough it’s been at least 9 months! Hard to believe, since there’s been plenty to report:

Lots of guitar-oriented Christmas music from renowned composer/keyboardist Tim Janis, featuring yours truly and David Surette on guitars with orchestration by Tim.

Local singer-songwriter Harrison Guptill continues with his second major project. We’re producing this one with a small team of Nashville session players doing bass, drums and electric guitars (Byron House, Chris Brown, Chris Leuzinger). Harrison and I are doing vocals, acoustic guitars and arrangements up here at MPM Studio, and it’s working pretty well. Here’s an in-progress recent track.

Portsmouth bed and breakfast maven and highly knowledgeable 60s-era folksinger Meg Hunter is no stranger to MPM-she’s recorded two other projects here (or is it 3?). This time she’s put together a zany collection of deliberately corny, hilarious country songs with her sister Cathy Aguiar and Linda Atherton. These ladies know how to have fun!

Skip Gorman is an international renowned singer of authentic ‘Cowboy’ songs of the Old West. He’s also the leading authority on Bill Monroe’s mandolin style. But there’s more: during his globe-trotting years he’s soaked up a rich treasure chest of Celtic fiddle music in the company of most of the great Celtic musicians of our time. About 7 years ago, Skip and I started recording tune after tune until just this year when we decided 4 CD’s worth of material was enough! Skip Gorman’s Celtic Fiddle Rambles is the sprawling result, with guest musicians such as David Surette, Gordon Perry, Randy Miller, Nick Appollonius, Roger Kahle and myself providing accompaniment to his unique style. Both Skip and I have a weakness for lovely Celtic airs. Here we are on O’er the Muir Amang the Heather.

Meg Devlin Irish is always a welcome presence at MPM, entrusting me with the production of her lovely, spiritual-themed folk-country songs. This winter we finished another collection of songs, which were promptly snapped up by European Country radio stations.

Boston songwriter Jerry Glass has been active again. We work in a unique way: Jerry sends me a piano score, a MIDI file of his piano performance with the melody highlighted, and a lyric sheet. I create an instrumental track and we send that track along with the lyric sheet and piano melody to a stellar team of Nashville singers (Kim Parent, Perry Danos, Ron Wallace, etc.). A great way to work!