Gerald Albright Interview Page 4

Smitty:  Yes, sir!  [Both laughing.]  I like that, man.  That’s definitely cool.  [Both laughing.]  Wow.  So now let’s talk about the release, my friend.  When’s this record hitting the street?

GA:  The release date for the record is March 28^th.

Smitty:  All right.

GA:  And we’re right around the corner.  I’m real excited about it.  And we’re going to be doing some extensive touring to help promote the project and a lot of….hopefully a lot of TV and radio and print interviews and whatever else we need to do to get the music to the people.

Smitty:  Yes indeed.

GA:  And we hope that they love it and embrace it.

Smitty:  Yeah, I think the public’s going love it, I think radio’s going love it as well.  You’ve got some great tracks on here, some fantastic musicians of support, and this is just a record waiting to bust out.

GA:  Well, thank you.  I appreciate you saying that.

Smitty:  Yes, my friend, this is really cool and I can really see some great live performances as a result of this new record as well, yeah.  He’s also doing the Guitars & Saxes tour this season with Richard Elliot, Peter White, and Jeff Golub.

GA:  Well, thank you.  As we speak, I’m trying to figure out which tunes off the CD we wanna do live and obviously we’ll do the very first single, “We Got the Groove,” and the title track, “New Beginnings.”

Smitty:  Yeah.

GA:  But, you know, we also have the cover tune “And the Beat Goes On” by the Whispers, which we have to do live, man, because that’s just one of those anthems from the Whispers that, you know, it can turn out to be a 25, 30-minute tune if we’re on stage.  [Both laughing.]

Smitty:  Yes indeed.

GA:  So I’m eager to do that song and, you know, I’m real close to all of these songs.  I wish I had enough time on stage to do every single tune.

Smitty:  I know.

GA:  But with 12 CD’s under my belt, man, you gotta pick and choose from each CD all the favorites that the people wanna hear, so we hope to balance that out strategically.

Smitty:  Yeah.  Well, you know, you’ve got a great opportunity the entire summer to mix it up and really have a great time with it, man.  It’s great.

GA:  Yeah, thank you, man.  We’re looking forward to a lot of fun with this one and, Smitty, we appreciate all your support throughout the years, man, and you’ve always been right there for us writing those great articles and doing the great interviews.  I mean, we thank you for that, you know?

Smitty:  Hey, it’s my pleasure.  Thank you very much.  You’re very welcome.  And I understand you’re gonna be on the All Star Smooth Jazz Cruise in early 2007, January 2007.

GA:  Yeah, the Brian Culbertson tour [cruise].  We’re very excited about that.  I haven’t done a cruise in a while.  I think the last cruise that I did was the very first Tom Joyner cruise….which was several years ago, and so it’ll be nice as a change of pace and to get to be a little closer with the fans, we’ll be on the same boat together, and playing some music in January of next year, and Brian and I will be sharing the stage along with an array of wonderful guests, and I’m looking forward to that.

Smitty:  Yeah, that’s gonna be cool, I tell ya.  That’s a great environment for music and fan-musician interaction.  I think it’s a wonderful environment. You’ll love that.

GA:  Definitely.

Smitty:  All right. Gerald, my friend, thank you so much for visiting with me and talking about this great new record and all the fantastic things you have going on right now in your career. This is just wonderful, I tell ya, wow.

GA:  I’m a happy guy, Smitty.

Smitty:  Yes, you are, my friend, and rightly so. You deserve it.

GA:  Everything is wonderful and we’re just pushing the music, man.  We’re keeping it coming and, you know, I just wanna thank my fans for all of their support over the years, man.  They’ve been right there with me and it’s the greatest compliment for people to take the time to go buy the CD’s and dress up and come to my concerts and things like that, so, you know, I don’t take that with….I’m very humble to that and I don’t take it lightly, you know….

Smitty:  Yes.

GA: ….it’s a great compliment.

Smitty:  Yes indeed, my friend.  Well, Gerald, listen, man, I look forward to seeing you out on the road and thanks for this great new CD and for all the wonderful things that’s happening in your life because I think it’s a wonderful vibe that carries over, not just for you and your family, but everybody’s happy for ya and it’s just one of those transcending kind of things.

GA:  Well, thank you, man, thank you, and always a pleasure to talk to you and hope to see you soon.

Smitty:  Yes indeed.

GA:  Maybe here in Colorado.

Smitty:  Yes, I must do that, must get up there.  [Laughs.]

GA:  Okay, you got it.

Smitty:  All right.  We’ve been talking with the fantastic and wonderful Peak recording artist Gerald Albright.  He is about to release his great new CD, it’s called New Beginnings and, trust me, you must have this one in your CD changer.  Gerald, thanks again, my friend, and let’s talk very soon.

GA:  You got it, Smitty.  All the best to you.

For More Information Visit www.geraldalbright.com or www.peakrecords.com