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Virginian-Pilot Newspaper The Virginia Beach Beacon section Thursday March 24, 2005
"Musician's dream comes true with release of CD" by Laine M. Rutherford
Oceanfront - When musician John Baldwin decided he was ready to cut a CD, he thought it would take a few months to complete. More than two years and thousands of hours later, the CD, "Wide Alive and Dreaming," is finally out. Released in February, the CD includes 17 original songs Baldwin calls modern blues rock. "There's a little bit of funk, blues, jazz and rock in it," Baldwin, 34, said. "It's all very upbeat, energized bluesy rock and roll - not necessarily your 12-bar blues." The oceanfront area resident started the process by choosing songs from a large catalog of tunes he'd written over the past 10 years. He then laid down rough guitar and vocal tracks at home on his Roland portable digital workstation, a piece of equipment roughly the size of a small electronic keyboard. Members of the John Baldwin Group, bassist Berkley Smith and drummer Darick Felter added their parts and, with Felter's help, Baldwin began the arduous task of producing the CD. "I basically learned by reading the manual," said Baldwin, a single father. "I figure each song took at least 100 hours to do. You have to download and upload, then you've got to mix it, then you run to your car and listen, or to your neighbor's stereo and listen, and then you come back and work on it some more." After Baldwin felt the mix was right, he had a recording studio in Norfolk master the CD. Two months later, he had the finished product in hand. Danny Morgan, band leader of the local group The Janitors, has known Baldwin for seven years and said he should be proud of his accomplishment. "I know how hard it is to do what he did, but John's very driven and focused and he's a well-respected guitarist," Morgan said. "Wide Alive and Dreaming" is sold at Birdland Music in Providence Square Shopping Center, AL&M on Military Highway in Norfolk, and on Baldwin's website. "We're very happy to add John's CD to our library of local artists," said Barry Friedman, co-owner of Birdland Music. "So far, the reaction we've gotten when we've played it on the store is very positive." Baldwin attended Berklee College of Music for two years and is now a student at Old Dominion University, majoring in music and journalism. In addition to playing gigs with his band, he teaches 40 guitar students locally. Although the production process for "Wide Alive and Dreaming" was lengthy, Baldwin said the time he spent making it as good as possible was important. "The first impression, at least in music, I think is your only impression," he said. "That's why it's worth it to totally take your time. If people like this one then I'll be able to do another one."
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