10 Covers by Richard Turgeon

I started this "covers" project in earnest with the release of Nirvana's "About a Girl" in October 2018. Before these past several months, I'd never put a lot of focus into covering songs by other musicians. Working on my own version of that song made me realize how much I'd learned by really digging into the songwriting, arrangement, performance, and even mix from another artist.

After releasing two original records in two years, I also needed a break from composing my own work, so this new LP became a bridge project after releasing my most recent LP of originals last summer, ’Lost Angeles.’ Working on a collection of covers became, ironically, a new way for me to flex my creativity and knowledge as it related to my music and process. Mostly it was just really fun.

It’s an understatement to say that each of these songs was a labor of love. Since I record, perform nearly all the parts, mix and master my own recordings (the average production time take about 3-5 weeks each), it requires that I listen to the original and my own version countless times before I call the recording final. You really have to love a song to do this. Being musically OCD doesn't hurt, either.

I consider this resulting collection, ‘10 Covers,’ to be some of my finest work. I'm not sure how I feel about that, since my original songs are of course my babies. But the fact is that every artist grows and gets better as they develop their craft, and I'm no exception. It's been especially gratifying for me to learn bass, drums, and guitar parts of these songs, while putting my own spin on the performances and the production.

I also consider ‘10 Covers’ to be part of a collection of LP releases I'm informally calling my "California Trilogy.” Living on the West Coast these past 13 years has been a huge source of inspiration for this music, and even the selections themselves. Many of these artists have lived on the West Coast (Nirvana, Emerson Brothers, Tom Petty, Echosmith), and I've come to realize the profound and sun-baked influence living in California and the West Coast in general has had on my art—life experiences and one's music being intertwined.

The last thing I want to say is thank you—thank you for listening to indie artists like me. I work nights and weeknights and whenever I can "in between the spaces" (job, family, doing the dishes, etc.) to make music for you to enjoy and leave as my legacy to my family, friends, and music community.

Mostly, thank you to each of these artists for creating and crafting such beautiful, timeless work in the form of their music. They don’t need the promotion, but if you haven’t already, please go listen to their versions, too. I consider the pop song to be one of our most important, enduring art forms, and it requires unwavering time, dedication, practice, and craft. I'm a lifelong fan of the artists that created these songs, and I truly believe that, like me, almost all musicians start out as a fan.

Thank you for being a fellow fan. And as always, thank you for listening.

Tracklist

1.	Downed	4:02

2.	Hey Jealousy	2:59

3.	I Saw Her Standing There	3:10

4.	Don't Fight	4:11

5.	Damaged One	4:09

6.	Found Out About You	3:57

7.	Cool Kids	3:39

8.	Woman in Love (It's Not Me)	4:37

9.	About a Girl (Nirvana cover)	2:47

10.	Into Your Arms	2:47

11.	Remember	3:29

Credits

released December 25, 2018

Richard Turgeon — Recorded, performed all parts, mixed, and mastered except:

Ron Guensche — Bass on "Hey Jealousy" and "Cool Kids." Invaluable critical listening and feedback on the recordings along the way. Please check out Ron's wonderful band Spidermeow on Facebook. (I'm a huge fan of both Ron and the band).

Jimmy Hobson — Drum recording for "Damaged One," "Cool Kids," and "I Saw Her Standing There." Jimmy is an incredibly talented musician in his own right, and is so easy and fun to work with. Super-mellow and supportive. If you live in the Bay Area and need a fantastic recordist/producer, please visit jimmyhobson.com

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