Intro
Like children, songs are born, nurtured, and then allowed to fly on their own. The joy is as much or more in the process as in the release. At some point you must relinquish control and see where they go on their own.
Hola Amigos!
Well, here we are again. This could be considered album number four if you count the live video album. For those compiling a discography, albums include “Bubbasan’s Bait Shop and Sushi Bar,” “Roll Your Own Sushi – Live at Steve’s,” “Expat Blues,” and now “Just Another Gringo.” I am quite prolific for someone so underground that I only register on seismic soundings.
This album took the longest to make; over 4 years. Writing the songs was easy. Producing the record was a challenge. There was really no singular reason for this; just a lot of happenstances and so it happens it was recorded partly in Atlanta at the studio of Ryan Almario; partly in Managua, Nicaragua at Rodrigo Castro’s La Gotera Studios, and partly in the Managua suburb of Carretera Sur at the Recording Cabin of Victor Marin. Live band rehearsals were on my terraza and garden at my home in Las Cumbres, Managua. The songs were written on airplanes, boats, beaches, bars, balconies, and golf courses. Any way you describe it, this album was quite a journey, and it somewhat chronicles the odyssey on which I have been journeying the past half decade or so.
It should be pretty obvious, but if it is not, let me point out that this album was inspired by my migration to Nicaragua that occurred over the same time frame that the songs were written and recorded. I believe one of the first songs I wrote that got me thinking about a concept album based on Nicaragua, was Güegüense. What is most astonishing to me is that I wrote it in Spanish when my vocabulary was limited to little more than Otra cerveza por favor. A living example of holding the pen as it channels inspiration from higher powers. Speaking of powers omnipotent, thank you Google Translate for the assist on this one, but I keep all the royalties.
I have always believed getting there is more than half the fun. And while this journey has been full of minor challenges, overall, it has been one big bag of fun that has given me much enjoyment. Songs, like children, are born, nurtured, and then allowed to fly on their own. The joy is as much or more in the process as in the release. Nevertheless, at some point you must relinquish control and see where they go on their own.
While the making of this album was clearly the focus rather than the act of publishing it, now it is time to release these grown-up songs out into the world with pride. Looking back over the pictures and videos as I compiled this collection was like pulling a family album down from the attic and flipping the pages in a leather chair by the fire with a glass of smoky whiskey. Thumbing through these pictures I found myself reliving my transformation from businessman in Atlanta to Just Another Gringo in Nicaragua.
The musical diary started innocently enough. I had a few good songs and went to my go-to producer Ryan Almario in Atlanta with the idea of making a 4 or 5 song EP. But once the Nicaragua theme had taken hold, the songs kept coming and I decided to make a full concept album. After arranging the rhythm track on a few of the songs, Ryan suggested, why not finish it with live musicians in a studio in Nicaragua – old school recording style. And so, the journey took a distinctively southbound turn to my adopted home in Nicaragua.
I remember writing each of the songs, including the ones that didn’t make the album for considerations of concept, continuity, or considered political discretion. I recall the first rehearsal on my terraza with Mario Sacasa and his rhythm band – consisting of Harold Lopez on drums and Orlando Morales on bass. That’s when I first heard the songs that I had originally banged out on my acoustic guitar come alive in three dimensions. The process of creating the arrangements as we experimented was so inspired as to cause the occasional outbreak of goosebumps. The creative juices were still flowing so strongly by the end of the first session, I had as much trouble falling as sleep that night as a 10-year-old who just built his first treehouse.
I cannot thank Mario Sacasa enough for producing this album including providing his virtuoso guitar licks and bringing in a cast of Nicaragua professionals to do it right. And of course, I must thank my friend and now brother-in-law (who is no shabby guitarist himself) for putting me in touch with Mario. Thank you, Oscar, and of course your better half, Ida Patricia, without whom you would be “Just Another Nica.”
One of the highlights of the process was having my daughter Leah fly down to Nicaragua – on Fathers’ Day no less – to arrange and direct the background vocals. She took over the studio like a pro and soon had everyone including engineer Victor taking cues from her for every move. I have always said that I am not a control freak as long as I get things done my way. Watching Leah in the control both made me realize, the apple hadn’t fallen too far from the tree. If you like the background vocals on any of these songs, you can thank Leah.
As I reviewed this musical and poetic collection, I realized that I used the term “little house by sea” in two distinct songs, and the essence of the idea in several. Upon reflection, I realize the that my search for the perfect “little house by the sea,” is not about being by the sea at all, or even about a house. Rather, it is about searching for and finding a home, and a home is made up of the people and passions you love and value in your life. I realize now I am home here in my little piece of heaven, long after the big goodbye and full of peace. In reality, I’m just another gringo living in the sunshine on the edge of the Milky Way until I give it all away and disappear like a sunset and am no longer here manana.
This album in dedicated to many people, some of whom I will mention in certain song introductions and others I will not for reasons of political forbearance. Most of all, however, this album is dedicated to the one soul who makes my house a home, Bertha Carlina Towery Silva.
December 2022
El Capitan Gringo aka Bubbasan aka Mark Towery