tanner bechtel

The past two weeks have had me on the road a lot.  I’ve spent time in NYC, Houston and Atlanta for my employer, the Dachis Group.  I’ve had the chance to spend a great deal of time with some amazing folks and learn from them–the way they approach their businesses and how they interact socially.  This has prompted me to give my music a new approach.

In 2009, I released my first album, “Story of Our Lives” through the traditional route; write, record, produce, cut and publish–all in a creative vacuum.  The album was good, yielded a great deal of traction and established me as a performer and songwriter, but something was missing.  I didn’t get to hear any feedback from that music until it was out of my hands–already pressed and shrink-wrapped.  Since then, I’ve been performing, working and socializing my music hand-to-hand, show-to-show.  This is all good and well, but the couple years since that album went to press, I’ve learned and experienced a new way to make great music.  I’ve learned that the best music is what happens when people are in the room, listening, reacting and engaging.

This experience has led to me to make a decision with my new album, Muse.  This time around, I’m going to violate some antiquated laws of songwriting and producing.  This time around, I’m going to expose the entire album–from songwriting, initial music production, mixing and testing to the final pieces.

I know I may get a little flack from my musician brethren, but I want to give it a go.  I recently dropped my first recording run of “Rented Sheets” (available a post below) for public consumption.  It’s not perfect and its not done, but its infancy is there for the taking.  I’ve received some great feedback, from the composition to the actual mix of tracks–which I’ve responded to and revised, accordingly.  I’ll be posting the new songs, including, “Shock of Red”, “Terminal”, “Keep Me Hanging On” and “Oppressed” soon.

I want your participation and I want to see where this goes.  As a musician, I write to please myself, release pent up creative mojo and, most importantly, to please an audience.  I want this to be your music and mine–I want you to own the tracks you’ve all inspired and to help me create a great album.  It’ll all be released here, as an experiment and testament to the fact that music in a vacuum is just for me.  Music created for and with people creates a true performance.  Care to join in?

–Tanner

River City Singers performed live for the Missouri Special Olympics Leaders’ Conference in Lake Ozark, Missouri.  It was a great show, both for our group and for the audience.  I take great pride in moving an audience to well, literally move, and this show had to rank among the best for crowd participation.  

Unbelievable audience for our Tan-Tar-A Resort show! Wow! Dancing on tables, conga lines and one heck of a Margaritaville chorus. You guys made that our best show, ever!  Thanks to the Special Olympics organization, for KWRT for promoting the show and last and best; our audience!

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