Over-40 musicians capture tunes on CD
By Debra Thiegs, For the Camera
June 30, 2005
Wearing leather boots, Wranglers and a cowboy hat, Al "The Asphalt Cowboy" Mehl croons into the microphone at Globalsound recording studio in Broomfield. The 50-year-old pediatrician from Boulder has no experience living like a cowboy, but he loves to sing like one.
Mehl is one of several locals older than 40 who are taking their voices, instruments and compositions to professional recording studios to make albums that will make them some memories, a few fans, and maybe even a buck or two.
"We think of music and the whole recording industry as a place where young people are," said Tony Fiore, owner of Globalsound. "But we've got a surprising number of older folks who are just trying to keep in touch with their artistic side."
Fiore said 35 to 40 percent of his clients fall into the 40-plus category.
Mehl, who currently is working on his second CD, doesn't deny that he's having a midlife crisis. That, as well as a desire to make music and cheaper production costs, is why others like him say they are are recording. They don't see their interest waning anytime soon, either.
"It's not an inexpensive hobby, but on the other hand, people spend lots more money than this on their cars; their fishing expeditions," Mehl said.
Recording a CD can cost upward of $70 per song, plus $140 for an album design and about $3 for each CD, said Lydia Fiore, Globalsound's co-owner and marketing director. Most artists, like Mehl, buy their CDs 100 at a time, she said.
Mehl sells his 17-track Asphalt Cowboy CD to friends, family and audiences at cowboy poetry festivals, where he often plays.
"I might recover all of my investment, but I'm not holding my breath," he said.
Trinidad native Anthony DeGourville, of Denver, says the investment is worth it. He's been playing the steel drums since age 8 and now plans to take his skills — and his CD — back to his homeland, where he'll bring his album to sell at a Calypso music competition next winter. DeGourville, 54, said he can use Try Something, his first CD, to keep his music in Trinidad even when he is not there. He'll soon finish a second CD with Globalsound and has plans to make a music video this fall.
"I think since I started recording I'm more at peace with myself," he said. "I think it's a blessing to see a creation, not only to hear it in your mind."
Becoming the king of Calypso is one of many reasons people are finding to head to the studio. Deb MacNeil, a 45-year-old piano teacher and mother of two from Frederick, recorded a CD to accompany a cookbook she's writing. She had never tried to write a song until a couple of years ago.
"I never would have actually thought a year ago that I would go into a recording studio," said MacNeil, who is now working on her third album at Globalsound. "But you see people do it. You hear professionals, and I think, 'Why not? Why not Deb MacNeil?'"
Ann Blonston, general manager at Airshow Mastering studio in Boulder, said Airshow masters many albums by musicians who began recording after age 40.
"I think this is a byproduct of the indie-music explosion," she said. "Even if you're just learning your craft, you can come in and record it."
Blonston said about half of Airshow's older clients record CDs in local studios and the other half use their own equipment at home. For $750 to $1,800, they can have a homemade CD mastered to sound very high quality, she said.
Playing and composing music isn't new for Lee Wilson of Arvada, who plays at open stages in the Denver area. But recording it professionally is something that's come about only within the last few years, he said.
In his younger days, he dropped out of college to make it big in Los Angeles. When that didn't happen, Wilson went on to become a technical writer, he said. After moving to Colorado, he picked up his guitar and pulled out some old songs he'd written.
"Music can strike you at any age," he said. "Now that I'm older, I'm not dreaming of hitting the big time. I'm more interested in finding an audience."
Wilson, 54, explained that years back, a cassette tape was doable, but it wasn't of the same quality as the vinyl records used for recording by the big names. He said he sees recording as more plausible in the new millennium, because even the stars record onto the same medium: CDs.
We're able to look very professional," he said. "Where 20 years ago, we weren't able to."
Whether music is a new hobby or someone's been playing for years, Lydia Fiore said, there are advantages to recording later in life. Having the money from working in a career for years is one of them, but knowing a little more about business is another.
"They don't expect it to be easy," she said. "The younger guys get discouraged when they start seeing that it's hard work."
The Fiores said it often is easier for them to work with older artists who have taken to the microphone.
"Our most consistent clients are this older crowd," Tony Fiore said. "What we find with the younger crowd is that they get together in bands and they break up and they're really unsettled with their music. But fellows like Al (Mehl) are just doing their thing."
The hours spent writing and recording music doesn't usually serve the same purpose it does for many younger musicians who have dreams of making it big.
"Usually they just want to do something for the record. They just want to have something for posterity," Blonston said.
Mehl, DeGourville, MacNeil and Wilson said they want to share what they do with whoever is interested, but besides that, it's just plain fun.
"I'm 46, but I don't feel like it," said Gordon Wolfgang, who plans to record a fourth CD with Globalsound. "The music kinda keeps you young."
|
