JAN/FEB 2010 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM SPOTLIGHT Earth Sweet Essential Oils Don’t Miss Performances Due To Illness! Avoid Going To The Doctor. Take Care Of Yourself Naturally. Just $4 ss than the cost o 0 le f one doctors visit. Our Emergency Home Care Kit contains medicinal grade essential oils. Chris Carroll It includes: Tea Tree Eucalyptus Tropical Basil Geranium FREEDY JOHNSTON Peppermint Lavender After eight years, he’s back thanks to some Rosalina Coconut Oil discipline in the studio Instruction booklet FREEDY JOHNSTON DIDN’T MEAN TO The producer also pushed Johnston spend eight years between albums. “I tried toward a recording process featuring a to make it a couple times on my own, and combination of live adrenaline and studio it didn’t work out for various reasons,” says craft. “We did live band tracks with the the singer-songwriter. He discovered the key drums, bass and guitars,” says Johnston. to his new Rain on the City album when he “But Richard said, ‘Freedy, I know you don’t brought in producer Richard McLaurin as his want to do this, but I want you to overdub collaborator. “You learn some lessons and go your vocals, because it’s going to sound down one hallway, fi nd a dead end, and turn more rock.’ So I went with it, and I agree! I around and head down another hallway.” like hearing really good, well-done vocals— Chasing down those possible directions and you don’t always get that with a live Small enough to fit in your led Johnston to cover a lot of territory— vocal.” Also helping the album to sound pocket, but powerful enough literally. The Kansas native spent time living in more rock was bringing in what Johnston to cover any problem. Nashville and Austin before returning to his calls his “Ludwig John Bonham kit with longtime home of New York City. “I needed the 26-inch kick drum. That was the key to This kit can help you manage: to learn more about the music world that Bonham’s sound, and that’s what you hear headaches, infections, colds, I’m living in, and those two towns are the on this record.” As the album’s principal cuts, burns, bruises, nausea, two you need to know,” says Johnston, who guitarist, Johnston says he used his trusted enjoyed modern-rock radio success in the Fender Jazzmaster electric and Martin D-28 fatigue, digestive health, ’90s with songs like “Bad Reputation” and acoustic. cramping, stress & sleep issues. “This Perfect World.” After such a long spell out of the public To order contact us at: Recorded in Nashville, Rain on the eye, Johnston is eager to share his new tunes City benefi ted from the discipline of having with listeners. “It’s a kind of group therapy,” EarthSweetEssentialOils.com an outside producer. “Richard was the guy he says. “The best thing about the job is the sitting there, twiddling his thumbs waiting for person coming up to you after the show and the songs to be fi nished—which I don’t like saying, ‘Man, that one song of yours got me to do,” he says. “I really would love to have through a tough part of my life.’ That’s a pretty a record that’s fully written before going into good job, isn’t it?” the studio. Maybe it’s not destined to be.” –Bob Cannon 23 M mag_HB.indd 23 1/11/10 9:02:11 AM.