www.paulbryan.us/You Go Your Way

Amy Correia- You Go Your Way

produced and arranged by Paul Bryan

In early spring 2009, I read in the LA Weekly that Amy Correia was going to be playing at The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. We were friends from back when I lived in Brooklyn. I had always loved her unique feel, singular soulful voice and imagistic songwriting but hadn’t seen her in quite a while. It was a great show and we made plans to have lunch while she was in town. A day or two later, we reconnected and the idea of making a record together came up.

As we talked about what kind of album her new songs suggested, the idea of simultaneously recording two records came to the fore: one that leaned to the orchestral and another one with more of a gospel feel. Amy had written songs that suggested both of these directions and it seemed like a thoughtful way to go.

It was ‘thinking big’ to be sure and though noble in concept, it quickly became clear that budgetary considerations were going to put the kibosh on our grand double-album idea. Amy would be self-funding this project. The notion of Amy asking her fans to contribute on the front-end like so many artists are doing these days was just dawning and not quite a fully formed idea- we just wouldn’t be able to count on the budget calvary.

So we forged ahead, learning and rehearsing the songs as a trio with drummer Jay Bellerose. The sound was heavy and full with Amy’s feel front and center. The two new groups of songs met in the middle and it occurred to us that if this trio was all we had to work with then it was certainly going to be enough.

It also became apparent to me that the orchestral and the gospel sounds could naturally co-exist on the smaller scale that we had accepted. It wouldn’t need to be so grand or so divided to work. We tracked the album over three days in late June with Ryan Freeland recording. I then spent most of July writing arrangements for the album: string quartets and the occasional 5-piece horn section. Two lovely singers, Chavonne Morris and Alethea Mills joined the band for the record and all of a sudden there it was...

The finished music sounds tough with Amy’s special feel and singular vocals front and center with the top shelf strings and horn section wrapping around her. Ever since I first heard Amy years ago in Brooklyn I always knew the record I wanted to make with her: rugged but elegant.