Remastered by NoteWorthy Music October, 2020
Love and Sabotage
by David Starr
David Starr at Ouray, Colorado, 2015 | Staff photo
When I set out to record my latest album, Love And Sabotage, I was worried that I might not have enough material for it. I only had a few songs written that I really liked at the time, and I experienced that “Where will the songs come from?” moment more than once. I had a direction in mind, but material seemed to elude me. But one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had one song and then another to add to the list of possible tunes to be recorded. Some were mine, some were co-writes and two were covers of wonderful songs written by friends.
I wanted the sound on the new CD to be a bit more diverse.
My last CD was done in Nashville with some great players. And while I knew I wanted to use many of those folks again, I wanted the sound on the new CD to be a bit more diverse. Since I only sang on the previous project, I was also anxious to add some guitar and keyboard parts to the new one.
David Starr and John Oates | Photo by Sandy Wilt
Secrets and More
Along the way, some pretty cool things happened to make the project a lot more interesting. I had written a song in 2014 called “Secrets” with John Oates (Hall and Oates). He was kind enough to stop by the studio in Nashville and add vocal parts to the record. He even helped sing Happy Birthday to me in the studio as it was the day after my 59th!
I had played a writer’s round in Denver in April of 2015 with three other artists; one of them was Richie Furay of Buffalo Springfield and Poco fame. As that evening came to a close, I asked him if he’d sing a bit on my next project and he said he’d do it. As a bonus, he ended up singing on two of the songs on the CD. He was very generous with his time and talents!
Along the Journey
A longtime friend in Nashville suggested that his former neighbor Steve Cropper (Booker T and The MG’s, Blues Brothers) might lend his talents to a song. I jumped at the chance to have such a legendary guitarist/songwriter/producer on my project. He added a signature guitar part to a song that I thought I’d finished. Now I can’t imagine the track without Crop on it!
In the end, it’s all about good songs, good people and strong relationships developed over time.
As the recording/mixing phase of this project came to a close, I couldn’t help but feel a real sense of accomplishment about the journey to get this CD made. In the end, it’s all about good songs, good people and strong relationships developed over time.
David Starr
David Starr’s reach extends beyond the stage. He launched Starr’s Guitars in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1998 and relocated it to Cedaredge, Colorado, in 2001 where it remains a centerpiece of the small mountain town—as is David himself. David was instrumental in the 2018 opening of Grand Mesa Arts Center and helped design it to attract musicians and visual artists to southwestern Colorado.
David says his newest project, Beauty and Ruin, is important to him for many reasons—the family connection via his grandfather and the collaborative nature of it as a whole: Produced and arranged by John Oates, who joins Jim Lauderdale and others as songwriters, collaborators and performers on the album. For more, read NoteWorthy Music’s David Starr: Beauty & Ruin.
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For more David Starr read our David Starr: Beauty & Ruin.
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