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

This article about fathers and sons recording an album together was originally posted in May 2017, after the album titled 'SonsUp' was released. This is an updated version of that article.

Even though my son EJ and I have contrasting personalities, we have one thing in common: our passion for music.

My musical collaborator and good friend from our would-be rock stars days in the '70s, Garry Manuel, and I got together this past weekend to begin our SonsUp recording project. We have incredibly talented adult sons, Ethan James and Marshall Manuel, both aspiring singer/songwriters. Marshall also has a degree in audio engineering and produced our album.

In 2016, my Sunup partner, Garry, presented an exciting idea he called SonsUp. This concept aimed to bring the four of us together in the recording studio, where we could play and sing on each other's chosen original songs. It was designed as a "generations apart - generations together" project, creating a legacy that we could leave behind for our grandchildren and their future families.

We started our studio sessions early Saturday morning in the basement of Garry's home in Victor, NY. However, the day came to a sudden halt when Etha James developed a severe migraine during the afternoon session, leaving him unable to continue for the rest of the day. Below is a brief excerpt from one of Garry's songs, "Tendencies," which his son, Marshall, is producing.

Ethan 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, who wrote, recorded, and shared each other's original songs. When all the vocal tracks were complete, guest musicians were invited into the recording studio to lay down the guitar, bass, and drum tracks. After all the recording was complete, the SonsUp album was sent over to Garry's son, Marshall, the album's producer, who was responsible for the mixdown. The album SonsUp was released in August 2017.