| The Boys In The Band... |
Denny Wrote the following about the musicians that accompanied him on his
new CD. He said, "Now a word about the musicians that helped to create my CD,
Kindly Keep It Country."
We'll start with a gentleman that is working during the day as a psychologist at a
high school in Eau Claire. Wisconsin. His name is Scott Benson and his job was
to keep everyone together and Scott gives a new meaning to the phrase: The
Beat Goes On. Scott is my drummer on this CD. He is a very talented musician,
one heck of a nice guy and a lot of fun to be around. Scott also did some of the
vocal background on my new CD. Scott's Bio is also quite interesting as he has
been a professional drummer for over 30 years. Scott Benson played on stage
with Rock & Roll legends Chuck Berry and Little Richard and has done recording
with Richie Yuckovich & Polkariety Band, the Mike McIntyre Band and myself,
Denny Lee. He has also performed on stage with Fender Guitar's top clinician,
Greg Koch and has appeared with Multi-Grammy winner, polka legend Jimmy
Spurr, and played on the nationally syndicated television program, "The Big
Polka Show." Scott is a much sought after independent studio musician. His
hobbies besides music are camping, working out, watching his kids' activities
and riding with his wife Linda on their Harley Davidson.
The next man on the list also contributed to the vocals on the CD. But more
importantly, Karl Wallin did the bass work that was done on the CD. Karl also is
capable of playing banjo and guitar. Karl impressed me even more with his
knowledge of the music world. Karl is responsible for most of the sounds we
achieved on this CD. I was mainly interested in developing a 50's and 60's type
of sound using the technology and instruments from the 21st century. Karl was
our man. He was able to direct everyone at the sessions on just how to go
about achieving what I was looking for, even though I didn't have the foggiest
idea of what I was trying to achieve. Karl's daytime job is being a teacher at
Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Karl is truly an accomplished musician that has
more knowledge about music in his little finger than 99% of people have in their
whole body. He is also a co-founder of the group “Atomic Tailfins” and has
performed with groups of all styles of music. His travels have taken him to
Nashville where he was a regular performer on the “General Jackson”, to
Wisconsin Dells as a banjo player in a “Honky-tonk” act, to the Twin Cities as a
summer time musician at “Valley Fair”. He also entertained on a cruise ship,
done some USO tours, plays part-time in the Richie Yurkovich & Polkarioty band,
full time with a blues group and still finds some time for the “Grandview
Orchestra”, and a local blue-grass group plus time in the recording studio.
The next man is yet another schoolteacher. In fact, he is the band director at
the Medford High School. Rob Wernberg played with Danny Davis and the
Nashville Brass and in my opinion is probably the best guitarist I have ever had
the pleasure of hearing. Rob is responsible for the guitar leads, the guitar licks
and fill-ins that you continuously hear on the CD. He is also responsible for the
steel guitar sounds and the banjo picking. Truly a pleasure to work with and to
listen to, Rob gets the job done in style. Rob is as comfortable playing up
temple and crazy things like Deer Hunting Season Again and Pain In My Past as
he was playing things like Your Memory and Ruby. Then when he needed to, he
did something entirely different in Its Still Raining and Listen to The Children,
the two blues numbers that we picked for the CD.
Jeff Walker. Say No More. Here is a gentleman and a scholar and there are
damn few of us left. Jeff is an up temple guy. If Jeff hears a good song he
knows what to do with it. He proved that with Hello Mister Bartender. He put a
dazzling organ part behind the whole number. His part made the whole song. It
was missing something before Jeff got there, but after he left, that song took on
a whole new meaning. I liked Jeff the first time I met him as I did all of the guys
in the group, but the two of us really hit it off. Jeff Walker has his own radio
show called Northwoods Polka Jamboree at radio station WNBI 980 AM in Park
Falls Wisconsin, and works for a wood product factory and has his own band.
But the thing that impresses me about Mr. Walker is he is so very versatile. One
minute he can be playing the piano Floyd Cramer style and the next he can be
playing the accordion like Frankie Yankovic. He not only can do that but he is
also a pretty fair hand with an old flat top guitar not to mention the banjo and
electric guitar and then turn right around, grab a pair of drumsticks and beat the
skins on a drum set. Oh, did I mention he can also play the button box? Jeff is
truly a very talented musician.
Richie Yurkovich. This is the man behind the scenes. This is the man that
makes everything and anything happen on the CD he produces. If it weren't for
the technology and the knowledge of how to use that technology, there
wouldn't be this fantastic sounding CD called Kindly Keep It Country. Richie
Yurkovich is also a very talented musician in his own right. Richie has 24 CD's
and albums on the market. He is constantly booked and he plays on the
average about three to four times a week. Richie plays the accordion and plays
it very well. I'd hate to quiver over the difference between him and Jeff
Walker. Richie's playing can be heard on the song Your Number One Fool.
While we were in the studio doing the song Listen To The Children Jeff was
sitting at his Yamaha piano and Richie suggested an organ sound to be used in
the song. Once again, it proved to be the thing that was needed on that
particular song. Richie is from Willard, Wisconsin and has his own recording
studio band and owns the studio where this CD was recorded in. It may be
located out in the boondocks in the middle of nowhere, but the sound that
Richie gets is truly amazing. The man knows what he is doing. Thank you so
much for everything Richie Yurkovich.
My son Brandon. Brandon is a large part of the recording studio that we have.
He has done all of the technological things on the CD's that we produce.
Without him these CD's wouldn't be what they are. All of the artwork and mising
and engineering is done in our own studio using the computer as the main
source of sound. My son Brnaodn is my right hand and my left hand in this
business.
All of these individuals are the best we could find and what's more important
there was no selfishness and there was no "I'm better than you" attitude out of
any of these guys. We had a lot of fun doing this CD and that's the way I wanted
it to be. I've been through recording sessions with attitude problems and I've
been with musicians that I'd just as soon never play with again. This session
was not one of them. This was a beautiful experience and I look forward to
working with these people in upcoming CD's.
Chet Atkins told my father and I one time in the RCA studio located in Nashville
Tennessee about 45 years ago: He said and I quote: "If you surround yourself
with excellent talent, you can't help but make yourself sound good." I did and I
only lived to prove what Mr. Atkins said was true. I sound good because of the
talent of the other people around me. Yes, I wrote the songs on this CD, but if it
weren't for the people around me, those songs would never sound the way they
do on this CD. I give credit where credit is due and I take my hat off to all of the
very talented musicians that did this session with me. Thank you Boys!!!
new CD. He said, "Now a word about the musicians that helped to create my CD,
Kindly Keep It Country."
We'll start with a gentleman that is working during the day as a psychologist at a
high school in Eau Claire. Wisconsin. His name is Scott Benson and his job was
to keep everyone together and Scott gives a new meaning to the phrase: The
Beat Goes On. Scott is my drummer on this CD. He is a very talented musician,
one heck of a nice guy and a lot of fun to be around. Scott also did some of the
vocal background on my new CD. Scott's Bio is also quite interesting as he has
been a professional drummer for over 30 years. Scott Benson played on stage
with Rock & Roll legends Chuck Berry and Little Richard and has done recording
with Richie Yuckovich & Polkariety Band, the Mike McIntyre Band and myself,
Denny Lee. He has also performed on stage with Fender Guitar's top clinician,
Greg Koch and has appeared with Multi-Grammy winner, polka legend Jimmy
Spurr, and played on the nationally syndicated television program, "The Big
Polka Show." Scott is a much sought after independent studio musician. His
hobbies besides music are camping, working out, watching his kids' activities
and riding with his wife Linda on their Harley Davidson.
The next man on the list also contributed to the vocals on the CD. But more
importantly, Karl Wallin did the bass work that was done on the CD. Karl also is
capable of playing banjo and guitar. Karl impressed me even more with his
knowledge of the music world. Karl is responsible for most of the sounds we
achieved on this CD. I was mainly interested in developing a 50's and 60's type
of sound using the technology and instruments from the 21st century. Karl was
our man. He was able to direct everyone at the sessions on just how to go
about achieving what I was looking for, even though I didn't have the foggiest
idea of what I was trying to achieve. Karl's daytime job is being a teacher at
Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Karl is truly an accomplished musician that has
more knowledge about music in his little finger than 99% of people have in their
whole body. He is also a co-founder of the group “Atomic Tailfins” and has
performed with groups of all styles of music. His travels have taken him to
Nashville where he was a regular performer on the “General Jackson”, to
Wisconsin Dells as a banjo player in a “Honky-tonk” act, to the Twin Cities as a
summer time musician at “Valley Fair”. He also entertained on a cruise ship,
done some USO tours, plays part-time in the Richie Yurkovich & Polkarioty band,
full time with a blues group and still finds some time for the “Grandview
Orchestra”, and a local blue-grass group plus time in the recording studio.
The next man is yet another schoolteacher. In fact, he is the band director at
the Medford High School. Rob Wernberg played with Danny Davis and the
Nashville Brass and in my opinion is probably the best guitarist I have ever had
the pleasure of hearing. Rob is responsible for the guitar leads, the guitar licks
and fill-ins that you continuously hear on the CD. He is also responsible for the
steel guitar sounds and the banjo picking. Truly a pleasure to work with and to
listen to, Rob gets the job done in style. Rob is as comfortable playing up
temple and crazy things like Deer Hunting Season Again and Pain In My Past as
he was playing things like Your Memory and Ruby. Then when he needed to, he
did something entirely different in Its Still Raining and Listen to The Children,
the two blues numbers that we picked for the CD.
Jeff Walker. Say No More. Here is a gentleman and a scholar and there are
damn few of us left. Jeff is an up temple guy. If Jeff hears a good song he
knows what to do with it. He proved that with Hello Mister Bartender. He put a
dazzling organ part behind the whole number. His part made the whole song. It
was missing something before Jeff got there, but after he left, that song took on
a whole new meaning. I liked Jeff the first time I met him as I did all of the guys
in the group, but the two of us really hit it off. Jeff Walker has his own radio
show called Northwoods Polka Jamboree at radio station WNBI 980 AM in Park
Falls Wisconsin, and works for a wood product factory and has his own band.
But the thing that impresses me about Mr. Walker is he is so very versatile. One
minute he can be playing the piano Floyd Cramer style and the next he can be
playing the accordion like Frankie Yankovic. He not only can do that but he is
also a pretty fair hand with an old flat top guitar not to mention the banjo and
electric guitar and then turn right around, grab a pair of drumsticks and beat the
skins on a drum set. Oh, did I mention he can also play the button box? Jeff is
truly a very talented musician.
Richie Yurkovich. This is the man behind the scenes. This is the man that
makes everything and anything happen on the CD he produces. If it weren't for
the technology and the knowledge of how to use that technology, there
wouldn't be this fantastic sounding CD called Kindly Keep It Country. Richie
Yurkovich is also a very talented musician in his own right. Richie has 24 CD's
and albums on the market. He is constantly booked and he plays on the
average about three to four times a week. Richie plays the accordion and plays
it very well. I'd hate to quiver over the difference between him and Jeff
Walker. Richie's playing can be heard on the song Your Number One Fool.
While we were in the studio doing the song Listen To The Children Jeff was
sitting at his Yamaha piano and Richie suggested an organ sound to be used in
the song. Once again, it proved to be the thing that was needed on that
particular song. Richie is from Willard, Wisconsin and has his own recording
studio band and owns the studio where this CD was recorded in. It may be
located out in the boondocks in the middle of nowhere, but the sound that
Richie gets is truly amazing. The man knows what he is doing. Thank you so
much for everything Richie Yurkovich.
My son Brandon. Brandon is a large part of the recording studio that we have.
He has done all of the technological things on the CD's that we produce.
Without him these CD's wouldn't be what they are. All of the artwork and mising
and engineering is done in our own studio using the computer as the main
source of sound. My son Brnaodn is my right hand and my left hand in this
business.
All of these individuals are the best we could find and what's more important
there was no selfishness and there was no "I'm better than you" attitude out of
any of these guys. We had a lot of fun doing this CD and that's the way I wanted
it to be. I've been through recording sessions with attitude problems and I've
been with musicians that I'd just as soon never play with again. This session
was not one of them. This was a beautiful experience and I look forward to
working with these people in upcoming CD's.
Chet Atkins told my father and I one time in the RCA studio located in Nashville
Tennessee about 45 years ago: He said and I quote: "If you surround yourself
with excellent talent, you can't help but make yourself sound good." I did and I
only lived to prove what Mr. Atkins said was true. I sound good because of the
talent of the other people around me. Yes, I wrote the songs on this CD, but if it
weren't for the people around me, those songs would never sound the way they
do on this CD. I give credit where credit is due and I take my hat off to all of the
very talented musicians that did this session with me. Thank you Boys!!!
| Updated: September 5th, 2007 |
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