One Little Promise

The album title Each Waking Hour comes from the first verse of track 9 (Simple Things) –
"The simple things in life
empty time and space
surround ourselves with things -
fill each waking hour
wasn’t meant to be this way."

In 2012, Steve met with acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and producer David Hyams to plan an album. After working their way through numerous songs, 10 were chosen for Each Waking Hour.

During the course of 2012 and 2013, Steve and David worked up arrangements for each of the songs and recorded demos. Some of the arrangements took an unexpected direction; most notably King and Castle, which ended up with a country and western feel, despite the decidedly urban subject matter!

Once the demos were in place, bass player Roy Martinez, drummer Elliot Smith and singer Kris Kingwell were recruited to perform on the album. Roy and Elliot added their own musical insights and laid down the tight, stylish rhythm groove that flows right through the album.
The album was recorded at Crank Studios in Perth, run by highly respected musician and sound engineer Lee Buddle. The recording process went smoothly, apart from a day’s interruption when Justin Bieber (on tour in Australia at the time) decided that Crank was the ideal place to record a song for his next album! By all reports, Justin was a perfect gentleman and very professional musician ……

Perth singer/songwriter Kris Kingwell provided the backing vocals for the album, as well as the sublime lead vocals for 2 of the verses of Things That Money Just Can’t Buy. She showed just how adaptable she is, providing very different grooves including latin (Wasting Time), folk (Things That Money Just Can’t Buy), country and western (King and Castle) and the high notes of Saving Me, with equal ease and class.

Wasting Time features 2 searing instrumental breaks - Lee Buddle on sax, and David Hyams' break on electric guitar to close out the song.

It was a happy coincidence that cellist Melanie Robinson was in Perth whilst the album was being recorded. Melanie has strong and diverse musical CV, performing and recording as part of award-winning original duo Mr Sister, APRA/AMC award-winning quartet Overlander, and as arranger, cellist, singer and occasionally co-writer for various Australian artists including Tim Rogers, You Am I, Washington, The Audreys and John Butler Trio. Melanie’s work on One Little Promise and Things That Money Just Can’t Buy greatly enhances those songs.

David Hyam’s multi-instrumental skills shine through on the album. His well-worn Stratocaster, Louden 6 string, Gretch hollow body, mandolin and dobro were all put to good use in playing a variety of styles including rock, blues, folk and country and western. But David’s versatility doesn't end there; check out his blues harp playing on Simple Things.

Lee Buddle finished mixing and mastering the album in early 2015. A launch is planned for about August 2015.

The overall vibe from the recording of Each Waking Hour is perhaps best summed up in the following note from the sleeve of the CD –
‘Most people agree that music is one of the graces of life, and the musicians who have contributed to this album have embodied that notion....'