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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
This is from the original run of compact discs, manufactured way back in 2012. CD comes with a download of the entire album, plus bonus tracks.
Includes unlimited streaming of Awake, Awake 10th Anniversary
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Original run of compact discs, manufactured way back in 2012, plus songbook with art by Brother Josh, and a download of the entire album, plus bonus tracks.
Includes unlimited streaming of Awake, Awake 10th Anniversary
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
A few reflections on key moments, on friends made, on songs discovered, 10 years ago, when “Awake, Awake” was recorded and released:
In the basement of a historic church in old downtown Canton, I met Ron for the first time. This bespectacled, enthusiastic man once cut his teeth in the Nashville gospel scene before growing disillusioned with the industry. He had moved back to Canton to raise his family and rediscovered his love of music, building a recording studio in his living room. I began making frequent trips to his house where we would drink tea, talk and learn to record and be recorded. There was no rhyme or reason at first. I had very little ambition. I was out to document my experiences, my journeys for whose benefit or for what sort of posterity, I have no idea. I just wanted the songs out of me and into the recorder, so that I could move on to other songs, to other experiences. Eventually, these many takes on faith and doubt, death and resurrection began to look like an album. I started to see them as a push and pull, to and from a Heavenly Father I was desperate to understand.
There is no one like Ron. He is a man of passion, of conviction, of tears and laughter. For a musician, there is no better advocate behind a recording council. He is eternally patient with his artists, allowing them to follow any tangent or whim, no matter how superfluous. He views every moment he spends behind that council as an opportunity to evolve as a listener and as an engineer.
This was my experience throughout those many months, and I would wager that almost everyone who passes through Realgrey could share a similar reflection.
As the album took shape, I enlisted friends to help me fill out the sound of the songs, providing textures that a chord strummer like myself was unable to do. The Kurtz brothers had become like brothers to me and are to this day. I could always count on them to bring harmony, fine guitar licks and a steady beat to whatever I was working on, and our collaborations continue after ten plus years.
Ryan Gerber became a true friend in those days as well—another kindred soul I met in that church basement. He devoted countless hours to the Awake, Awake project. He brought ethereal, oceanic guitar to “I’m Gonna Sail…” and is responsible for the ebbing, rising power of “Sinking Ship”.
Anya, another lifelong friend made in that time, was already a powerful songwriter in those days. I was blessed to know her as she was finding her voice and have warmly enjoyed watching her artistry evolve and intensify over the years.
I also must give an enormous amount of credit to my dad. Though he didn’t play or sing on the record, he was the one who encouraged me from note 1 to put myself out there, to write my songs, to play and be heard, even if he was the only one doing the listening. I couldn’t ask for more supportive parents, or a more supportive family for that matter. When Awake, Awake was released at Canton’s Auricle in 2012, you would find in that packed, joyous, booze-filled room, my Grandma Mary, my Grandpa Neil, my brother and many other aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
There are others who worked on the project—Ben Payne, Alex Krob, John Owen, Alyse Flack—who I don’t know well or that I don’t see often, but who I am grateful for the short time we worked together. And there are those who, although they didn’t work on this particular project, through this album and its aftershocks, I have gained lifelong friendships--my Killbuck brothers and the many friends, musicians that have come together in the Canton and Akron areas, around Ron’s studio and other local haunts, to sing out their hearts and pour out their guts. You will find a few of them on the Awake, Awake anniversary album.
I should also mention my wife and 2 daughters. Though they weren’t around for the original incarnation of Awake, Awake, they have been sources of inspiration and motivators for the songs I continue to write.
credits
released November 3, 2022
originally released January 20, 2012
Recorded mostly by Ron Flack in his living room studio, with bits and pieces recorded by Ryan Gerber and Benjamin Payne in their homes. Songs 2 and 7 recorded by Matt Kurtz in his bedroom. Mixed by Ron Flack and Josh Compton with help from Ryan Gerber, Benjamin Payne and Matt Kurtz. Mastered by Benjamin Payne.
Musicians:
Ryan Gerber- electric guitar on 1, 3, 5, 11 and 16; tambourine, percussion, bass, accordion and background vocals on 6; tambourine on 16.
Alyse Flack- background vocals on 1 and 5.
Jon Owen- cello on 1 and 15.
Matt Kurtz- keys on 2; drums and percussion on 7 and 8.
Benjamin Payne- drums and percussion on 3 and 14.
Ron Flack- background vocals on 3; keyboard effects on 9, keys on 11 and 12; handclaps on 11.
Joe Kurtz- lead guitar on 7; lead and rhythm guitar on 14.
Anya Antonavich- background vocals on 9.
Alex Krob- fiddle on 13 and 14.
Austin Wolfe- background vocals on 14.
Josh Compton- whatever's left.
All songs by Josh Compton except: 4 (I'll Fly Away, Albert Brumley copyright 1932 in "Wonderful Message" by Hartford Music Co. Renewed 1960 by Albert E. Brumley & Sons/SESAC admin by ClearBox Rights. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission), 7 and 16 (traditional). Melody changes by Josh Compton. Contributors to arrangements throughout the record include: Ron Flack, Ryan Gerber, Alex Krob, Joe Kurtz, Joe Kurtz (senior), Matt Kurtz, Jon Owen and Benjamin Payne.
Bonus Tracks
The Badge of Sin is Changed into Glory (Alternate Take)
Josh Compton (acoustic and vocals), Ryan Gerber (lead guitar and recording), Ron Flack (background vocals and recording)
The Fisherman
Josh Compton (acoustic and vocals), Ryan Gerber (lead guitar and recording), Ron Flack (recording)
A Death and a Resurrection (Alternate Take #1)
Josh Compton (guitar and vocals), Ryan Gerber (whistling and recording), Ron Flack (recording)
The Apostle Thomas (Alternate Take with Drum Loop)
Josh Compton (banjo-guitar and vocals), Ron Flack (drum loop and recording)
Bound for Glory
Josh Compton (guitar, harmonica and vocals), Joe Kurtz (lead guitar and harmonica), Matt Kurtz (drums and recording)
The Fisherman (Demo)
Josh Compton (guitar, vocals and recording)
We Climb Trees to See You (Josh & Joey Live Take)
Josh Compton (guitar and vocals), Joe Kurtz (guitar and vocals), Matt Kurtz (recording)
A Death and a Resurrection (Alternate Take #2)
Josh Compton (guitar and vocals), Ron Flack (piano, background vocals and recording)
O' Sleeper (from the Makeshift Podcast)
Josh Compton (guitar and vocals), Brandon Noel (recording)
What Was Lost (Demo)
Josh Compton (guitar, vocals and recording)
To Be Humble and Holy (Demo)
Josh (guitar, vocals and recording)
Many thanks to Ron Flack for helping with the mixing and balancing of volumes for the bonus tracks.
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