River Gone by Alec Betterley
Mostly the result of a "30 songs in 30 days" project that took place in May 2022 - with a few old melodies thrown in for good measure - "River Gone" was written and recorded in the very late/extremely early hours before the kids awoke. A record about parenting, anxiety, insomnia, sweet dreams, golden hour light, violence in America, longtime partnerships and all the sparkle and sorrow in between. The li'l stuff.
Thanks to all the musicians who helped me bring these songs to life, with a special cheers to Missy Lees who added her wonderful voice and presence to multiple tracks including the entire opening song.
As always, thanks for listening.
-Alec
Tracklist
| 1. | Tell Me a Story | 4:00 |
| 2. | We'll Never Go To Heaven | 2:43 |
| 3. | Anastasia | 3:56 |
| 4. | In City We Swing | 3:52 |
| 5. | Spectators | 3:34 |
| 6. | We Talked About Everything | 4:02 |
| 7. | Mama's On Her Way | 3:22 |
| 8. | They Walked Again | 2:34 |
| 9. | Only Me | 3:31 |
| 10. | River Gone | 3:05 |
Credits
Recorded at Mini City in Delmar, NY and:
Ari's, Colin's ship, Dawda's, Eckel's, Greg and Eves', G.H. Apt, Missy's &
Electric guitar (1, 9, 10) and vocals (2, 6) recorded by Danielle Warman at Chiller Sound, Pound Ridge, NY.
Drums (1, 3, 4, 6, 10) recorded by Ben Kane and Abbey Lewis at Electric Garden, Brooklyn, NY.
Drums (2) recorded by Joe Rogers at Room 17, Brooklyn, NY.
Written and performed by Alec, plus:
Eve Bates accordion (6)
David Dawda electric bass (3, 6, 10)
Andrew Eckel electronic vibraphone (6)
Ari Friedman electric guitar (10)
Missy Lees vocals (1, 4, 10)
Michael Riddleberger drums (1, 2, 3, 4, 6,10)
Colin Summers electric guitar (2, 3, 6)
Elizabeth Weaver violin (7, 10)
Many thanks to Ben Kane at Electric Garden, Danielle Warman at Chiller Sound & Philip Weinrobe at Sugar Mountain for mixing help, arrangement/production advice (including any good ideas I failed to take) & sifting through my messy & jumbled sessions. To Colin & Eckel for the 20+ years of mutual song & mix advice. To Nicole, for allowing me the many hours of space and time to let my music come to fruition. And to my kids, who previewed tunes at home & mixes in the car, and gave me their unvarnished truths about which ones sounded like shit.
Mastered by Josh Bonati at Bonati Mastering NYC - bonatimastering.com
Artwork by Gregory Hedderman - gregoryhedderman.com
License
All rights reserved.
Alec Betterley is an upstate NY-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music therapist. He was a founding member of the groups My Friend Other & Toys and Tiny Instruments, and supports other artists on keys when he can find the time amidst a busy schedule of corralling three youngsters.