Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Dec. 1: Made in Aurora, Vol. 2 at Backthird Audio in downtown Aurora

Aurora, Ill. –Next week, music lovers will get a glimpse behind the scenes of the Fox Valley’s latest – and largest – local music project.

On Thursday, Dec. 1, recording studio Backthird Audio at 67 S. Stolp (behind River's Edge Cafe) will host an open house entitled “Making Made in Aurora.” In September the studio produced "Made in Aurora Vol. 2: City of Lights," a 16-song collaboration featuring almost 50 local musicians on two LPs. The record is slated for release on Black Friday, November 25.

“The album takes just over an hour to listen to – but it took about 200 hours to make,” said studio owner Benjie Hughes, the album’s producer. “We wanted to give the public a taste of what that process is like.” Hughes and recording engineer Kyle Schmidt will discuss the evolution of two very different songs from the album, starting with initial vision and proceeding through the recording process to the final stages. They’ll play samples of the songs in progress to show how each developed.

The studio will also play the record in its entirety at a networking reception.

The open house begins at 4:30pm, with a presentation from 5:30 to 6pm. A second open house will begin at 7:30pm, with presentation at 8pm, for – according to the event’s Facebook page – “musicians, flying reindeer and festive vampires who don't come out until after dark.” The event is free.

Made in Aurora Vol. 2: City of Lights is the second in a series of collaborative album projects spotlighting the musicians and songwriters of Aurora, Illinois, and the surrounding area. The projects were created by Steve Warrenfeltz, who spends a lot of time talking with area musicians in his record store, Kiss the Sky, in downtown Geneva, Illinois. Albums in the series are released in “dual format,” with both vinyl and CD included in one package.

Made in Aurora Vol. 2 features both original holiday music and new recordings of a number of seasonal favorites. It spans a wide variety of American musical styles including blues, country, pop and jazz. There are traditional carols, an 80-year-old blues song – and a song co-written by Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner.

For more information, contact Steve Warrenfeltz at skykiss@sbcglobal.net or Benjie Hughes at Benjie@backthird.com. Album previews, artist information and a track listing are available at www.madeinaurora.com.

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