Greetings! I'm excited to present my first solo album, SANCTUARY. This is the most ambitious project I've ever embarked upon, but alas - after 2 years of its creation, I finally have a product that I feel best represents my musical passion more than anything I've ever done. Most people who know me will be surprised to learn that, in addition to just being a sideman drummer, I wear many other creative hats that include composing, arranging, producing, and engineering. For this album, I’ve meticulously sculpted every stage of the process: from writing every melody line, chord voicing, string arrangement, and bass line, to tweaking every EQ, compression, reverb setting, and volume fader. This has been no easy task, as some of the songs are epic and involve almost 100 tracks! Furthermore, I couldn't have done it without the fine skills of the 25 musicians who contributed to the album.
Sanctuary consists of 10 instrumental compositions. Stylistically, the closest category that it falls under is "world music - new age". The spark came from an amazing South American band that I became involved with in 2010. After falling in love with the Andean music and beautiful instruments represented, I set out to write some original tunes that would blend with the traditional Andean repertoire. And then, for variety, I ventured beyond into influences from other parts of the world, like Brazil, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and even the Middle East. On one hand, I have a deep appreciation for groove and feel, which is clearly represented on Sanctuary (naturally - I'm a drummer). However, there is a prevailing tapestry of lush harmonies and soaring melodies, giving every song an almost cinematic quality.
Sanctuary is available on just about every streaming and download service. Click on the links below:
For Those of you who received a promotional copy of the CD, or who listen to Sanctuary on streaming services, keep in mind that this album wasn't created without considerable cost. Of course, I don't need to mention the struggles of being an independent artist, and I'm sure you're aware that streaming services pay notoriously low amounts to artists. With this in mind, I'm happy to get my music to the ears of whoever will appreciate it. If you enjoy my music and feel so inspired as to help fund my artistic endeavors, then any support you could give would certainly be appreciated.
Sanctuary Credits:
Patrick Carmichael: all compositions, arrangements, string programming, synth programming, mixing and production
Featured Musicians:
Celebration song:
Premik Russell Tubbs: flute and bansuri
John Benthal: acoustic and twangy electric guitar
Luca Tozzi: electric funk guitar
Jon Price: bass
Doug Hinrichs: percussion
Patrick Carmichael: drums
Vocal ensemble: Angela Marin, Jefferson Thomas, Kevin Ray
Ode to Quena:
Jorge Olmedo: quena (South American flute)
Ann Kim: cello
Juan Castillo: charango
Angel Marin: guitar
Eric Kuriminski: guitar
Skip Ward: Bass
Doug Hinrichs: shekere
Patrick Carmichael: drums
Soul Snakes:
John Isley: flute
Walt Szymanski: trumpet
John Benthal: acoustic guitar
Chris Biesterfeldt: additional guitar and cavaquinho
Skip Ward: Bass
Patrick Carmichael: drums, percussion, marimba, kalimba
The Truth Fairy:
Ann Kim: cello
Brad Whiteley: piano
The City of Z:
Premik Russell Tubbs: flute, Bansuri, and EWI
Ann Kim: cello
Braden Palmer: acoustic guitar
Brad Whiteley: piano
Juan Castillo: charango
Jake Schwartz and Hernan Romero: additional guitars
Patrick Carmichael: drums
The Pyramid Scheme:
Premik Russell Tubbs: flute
Brandon Terzic: oud
Walt Szymanski: trumpet
Chris Biesterfeldt: guitar
Skip Ward: Bass
Patrick Carmichael: drums and percussion
Sugar Cane:
Premik Russell Tubbs: Flute
Uli Geissendoerfer: piano
Hernan Romero: acoustic guitar
Chris Biesterfeldt: cavaquinho
Skip Ward: Bass
Doug Hinrichs: percussion
Patrick Carmichael: drums
Pan Festival:
Jorge Olmedo: quena
Ted Cruz: piano
Eric Kuriminski: guitar
Skip Ward: Bass
Doug Hinrichs: steel drum and congas
Patrick Carmichael: drums
Andean Serenade:
Jorge Olmedo: quena
Ydar Borda: charango
Angel Marin: guitar
Skip Ward: bass
Patrick Carmichael: drums
Sanctuary:
Ann Kim: cello
John Benthal: acoustic guitar, cavaquinho, and cuatro
Braden Palmer: acoustic guitar
Geovanni suquillo: charango
Brad Whiteley: piano
Skip Ward: bass
Patrick Carmichael: drums, percussion, synths, strings, and horn arrangements
Photo by Ryan Cheng on Unsplash
Song Descriptions and Notes:
Celebration song:
On this song, I flip back and forth between and a dancable South American rhythm, and a samba, which is Brazilian. In the middle, I break down to an atmospheric EDM sound. This and the last song on the album are the only occurances of electronic instruments. Noteable
Ode to Quena:
This song is dedicated to Juan Castillo, who played an amazing charango part that added a nice South American ambience. Juan unfortunately died of cancer about 10 months after he recorded this song for me.
Soul Snakes:
The melody for this song came to me while driving in the car. Of course, it has a Reggae like quality, but I gave it a bit of African Flare by adding all sorts of ethnic instruments.
The Truth Fairy:
This wound up being one of my favorite songs on the album. I'm not a piano player, but I composed this piano part note for note, and when Brad Whitely played it for me, he helped me flesh out the second part where the cello takes the lead. Speaking of cello, Ann Kim played her part beautifully right in the comfort of her living room.
The City of Z:
This song was, by far, the most exhausting to complete, consuming almost a third of the entire production budget for the album. I scrapped so many guitar, cello and piano performances in search of the perfect take. However, now that I hear the results, I feel the hard work paid off.
The Pyramid Scheme:
This song has mainly a Middle East vibe, sort of like Lawrence of Arabia. I had the idea of superimposing a Mariachi horn sound, which I think works as splendidly as peanut butter and chocolate! Noteworthy performances on this track are Premik's flute solo and Branden on the oud. Ironically, though I'm a drummer, this is the only song that has a drum feature.
Sugar Cane:
Kind of a light hearted Bossa Nova. I tried to add a production few bells and whistles to make it sound like one of those martini lounge tracks.
Pan Festival:
This is the first song that was recorded, and was originally meant to be on an album for Agua Clara, a South American band that I had played with. In a sense, this song gave birth to the conception of this album.
Andean Serenade:
Jorje, Angel and Ydar, all amazing South American musicians, really brought this song to life. I composed this song to sound like it was a traditional South American folk tune. Like the song before, it was meant to be played by Agua Clara.
Sanctuary:
I had to go out with a big finale. This song is, to date, one of my proudest compositional and production achievements. Almost 9 minutes in length, it meanders through different styles and moods, finally resolving the album with an "Amen".
"Ode to Quena" music video - footage from north India:
"Andean Serenade" music video - footage from Chile, courtesy of Quinn Carmichael: