In the years after we stopped playing together regularly, every time DJ and I would cross paths, he would rave about the “great record we made.” He was talking about a live-to-2-track session our band recorded in one long day at The Control Center in Hollywood back in 1991.  Nowadays, I wonder why we didn’t put it out as a record back then. It just wasn’t “how it was done,” I suppose.  But there’s something special we captured, and Duane’s magic is all over the place. My favorites are his noisy chaos at the end of “Is That Right?,” squeezed out of our 3 a.m. fatigue; and his spontaneous “woo!” during the violin solo on “When Ya Gonna Come On Down.”  When I learned of Duane’s passing in 2009, I knew I wanted to put the record out for him.

What you have here are those sessions, sandwiched between new recordings of two songs DJ and I wrote together, “Back of Beyond” and “Dove in the Snow.” We did these at the studio of Kevin Jarvis (DJ’s brother), where we borrowed some magic from Duane’s guitars, wonderfully brought forth by Rich McCulley. The last track is a little window into DJ’s 1994 Santa Monica apartment as he and I worked up a 4-track demo of “Back of Beyond.” 

The title “Back Of Beyond” came from Duane- I hadn’t heard the phrase before he mentioned it to me, speaking something about the spiritual realm.  I like to think - and perhaps you’ll join me in the thought - that he’s listening right along with us, sending us that mischievous smile we all loved, from back of beyond.

50% of proceeds from sales of this record will be donated to Sweet Relief Musiciands Fund in Duane's honor.