Just before Christmas 1992, I finished work on what had been a dream of mine up until then. My own album of original material, "The Things I Love". The entire eleven song album was recorded in a home studio owned by Jim Gerkin. He produced the album and played bass on it too, while I played rhythm guitar, lead acoustic guitar, keyboards, and sang my own harmonies. Not because I could do any of the above exceptionally well…I just couldn't afford to pay studio musicians. The album lacked high dollar production, contains a missed note or two, and is no longer reflective of the type of music I play today… but it brings back memories of what I used to sing before making the move to Mexico. Lots of country and folk influences. Steel guitar on several songs. And lots of things I would have done differently, if I had had the money and recording experience I now have.
Someday, I plan to rerecord some of those first songs with studio musicians. Like "Me and This Old Guitar","Here I Go Again", and "A Song For You". And I've already rerecorded "Waiting for You", in Spanish, for my wedding song to my wife. (The Spanish version, "He Esperado Tu Amor" is on 1999's "Going Coastal" album.) There are other songs I probably wouldn't rerecord since they no longer have a place in my live show. But it was a first project, a learning experience…an album I'll always be proud of. I still get requests for "A-1 Mountain Road" to this day.
Until "The Things I Love", my father really had no understanding of what I did for a living. I had kept it a secret that I was recording the album, in the hopes of surprising everyone at Christmas with a copy. When my dad opened his gift, he looked a little confused. Since my dad really isn't into the music scene, I told him that he didn't need to listen to it… just that I had written and recorded these songs and was giving one to everyone in the family. While everyone sat around the Christmas tree, my dad disappeared for a while. He tried to find a cassette deck in his bedroom, with no luck, so he went out to the car. He came back in pretty irritated a few minutes later. The car had a CD player, not a cassette deck, which he never realized 'til then. So dad had the CD player taken out and a cassette deck put in, and soon he was listening to my songs on the way to work. He and mom even came out to a couple of shows…once driving all the way up to Morristown, about an hour away, just to hear me sing. It was so cool to watch mom and dad dancing to my tunes in that trailer park recreation hall in Morristown. I think of that when I think of that first album.
After the album was finished, I took a few months off to do some volunteer work at a Catholic mission in Guaymas, Sonora, a few hours south of the Mexican border on the mainland Sea of Cortez. Teaching English, volunteering on a construction crew, working with kids….it was an awesome experience that changed my life for the better. When I returned to the States that summer, I knew that I'd be back. In fact, I wanted to sing there, rather than just teach English. But everyone I knew said working as an independent artist in Mexico was impossible. Immigration laws were enforced (a novel concept that some argue should be attempted in the United States one day) and work permits were not granted in industries like music to foreigners who would compete with Mexican citizens for work. Nonetheless, I returned to Mexico for another stint of volunteer work after performing around Arizona that summer.
One day a woman named Irma Delgado just happened to sign up for one of my English classes in Guaymas. She worked for the Department of Immigration. . We got to know each other, and several good grades later, along with a copy of my first album, she was hooking me up with all the right connections. It took a long, long time; a couple years in fact, and involved quite a few hassles, but eventually I got it…the only permit the Mexican state of Sonora has ever given out to an American musician to work as an independent contractor. I could sing anywhere I want, legally, as long as I pay taxes and meet the required obligations. Every time I put out a new CD, Irma is still the first person in Guaymas to receive one. God bless Irma Delgado.
Over the years, San Carlos has turned out to be an incredible place to sing. We don't have chain hotels, traffic jams and crowds, but we do have plenty of year-round residents and enough visitors to keep me in business. Folks here get the word out about where I'm playing, so that when people come into town for a week or two, often times they'll catch my show on their first night. And sometimes they'll catch me every night they're in town. The weather is great, and hurricanes are rare. And the Americans here are unlike any others I've met south of the border. This isn't a "tourist town". This is home.
