Ethan Carey and Son, Ethan James Work on Leaving a Lasting Musical Impression

Even though my son EJ and I have contrasting personalities, what we do have in common is our passion for music.

My musical collaborator and good friend from our would be rock stars days in the '70's, Garry Manuel and I got together this past weekend to begin our SonsUp recording project. The two of us each have adult sons, Ethan James and Marshall Manuel, who are both aspiring singer/songwriters. Marshall also a degree in audio engineering.

Last year, Garry came up with a compelling idea he named, SonsUp, which would unite the four of us together in the recording studio where all of us would play and sing on each others selected original songs. It would be a kind of "generations apart - generations together" sort of thing that we could leave behind as a legacy for our grandchildren and their kids and grandkids.

We began our studio sessions in the basement at Garry's home in Victor, NY first thing on Saturday morning, but everything came to a screeching halt when EJ came down with a debilitating migraine during the mid-afternoon session and he was down for the count for the rest of the day. The following is just a short blurb from one of Garry's songs titled, "Tendencies." His son, Marshall is producing.

EJ came back strong on Sunday morning and was able to lay down his vocal and guitar parts in easy fashion. The tunes we tackled were,

1. "Everything Melts" - Sunup
2. "Tendencies" - Sunup
3. "Brand New View" - Ethan James
4. "Ride It Out" - Ethan James
5. "Read My Rights" - Ethan James
6. "Don't Wanna Be Let Down" - Marshall Manuel
7. "I'll Be Back" - Beatles

The entire weekend was an incredible bonding experience between fathers and sons, writing, recording, and sharing each other's original songs. All the vocal tracks are complete and then guest musicians will be added to lay down the guitar, bass, and drum tracks. Hopefully our producer, Garry's son, Marshall will be able to deliver the final mix down by August 1, and I can't wait to preview some of the project on I-95's Ethan and Lou Morning Show.