JIM HITCHCOCK
Grateful
(JH Records)

 

Like the best music of bands like The Byrds and The Eagles, the music of Jim Hitchcock is heartfelt jingle-jangle pop-rock with a solid beat. Hitchcock comes alive with the 2008 release of Grateful. On his CD Baby site Hitchcock openly espouses his love of The Byrds and specifically the guitar sound of Roger McGuinn. On Grateful Hitchcock makes loving pop a worthwhile experience. Hitchcock also cites guitarist The Edge of U2 as another big influence and you can hear that as well on Grateful. With Hitchcock handling the vocals, acoustic, electric and 12 string guitars, Grateful also features engineer / producer Richard Bredice (keyboards) Frank Cotinola (drums) throughout the ten track CD. The CD features great studio sound and the lyric sheet that accompanies the release. With Grateful Jim Hitchcock brings the classic ‘60s pop sound of the Byrds up to date with a fine set of memorable, heartfelt toe-tapping melodies and driving pop rockers.


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an interview with
JIM HITCHCOCK


Musical Background

I've been playing guitar for over 30 years ever since my mother bought me a Fender Telecaster and Reverb Delux Amp for X-Mas in my early teens. I played in bands in high school in and around Newport Beach, California, at the University of San Diego where I went to college and then at various clubs in L.A. like the 32nd Street Cafe and Saloon near U.S.C. I recorded my first demo at Riff Raff Recording Studios in S. Central L.A. where Chris Isaac did some early recordings.

New CD

My new CD is called Grateful and was recorded both at my home studio in South Orange County, California and at Woodland Bredice Studios in Irvine, California. I did my guitar, bass and vocal work on Pro-Tools at my home studio within my external Seagate hard drive, took that in to my co-producer's much more expansive studio where we then tracked the drums, performed by the great Frank Cotinola, keyboards, performed by Richard Bredice along with vocal and guitar adjustments. Richard then mixed the songs and Pat Woodland mastered them. Richard, also one of the finest guitarists in Orange County, did a mean guitar solo on the second track. It took about 9 months to complete. We wanted a "California Sound" - sort of a 60's Byrds jangly rhythm guitar feel with strong Eagles-esque vocal harmonies. We wanted to layer the result with digital guitar riffs for a U.K modern mix reminiscent of The Edge of U2. I've been a "digital-delayer" guitarist for many years and wanted to blend that effect with more traditional chordal structures.

Favorite Guitars

My favorite guitars are the ones that I used on the CD. First and foremost is the crown jewel: my 2006 Rickenbacker 360 Blue-Burst 12 string electric for many of the rhythm chords - a pronounced Byrds "lushness" is what I was after. I love Roger McGuinn's majestic 12 string Rick guitar sound on "Turn,Turn, Turn," "Mr. Tambourine Man", etc. and wanted to replicate that to the hilt. I also used a Fender Strat for power chords and digital delay parts, my Ovation for acoustic and Yamaha bass. I did other bass parts on Richard's Peavy in his studio. My 6 string 360 Rickenbacker was used for one track as was my producer's Fender Telecaster for a Pretender's "Back on the Chain Gang" feel on another track. I ran the 12 and 6 string Rick's thru my Orange AD30 Twin Channel amp for that bright "Manchester" feel. My Fender Deluxe amp handled all power and digital guitar for that warm tube distortion. Electric strings used were Black Beauties and D'Addarios while acoustic were Martin Marquis. My effects were all Boss: Distortion, Super Chorus, Compression Sustainer, Digital Reverb and Digital Delay pedals.


Musical Influences

My musical influences are The Byrds, U2, The Eagles, Chris Isaac, The Stones, Santana, The Who, Cold Play, The Editors, Angels and Airwaves, Tom Petty, Luke Ducet and The Pretenders. My favorite guitarists are Roger McGuinn, The Edge, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana and Pete Townshend. My favorite albums are U2 War, Santana Abraxas, Chris Isaac's self titled debut and greatest hits packages from The Stones, The Who, The Pretenders and Tom Petty.

Web Site


My Web sites are: www.myspace/jimhitchcock.com
and www.cdbaby.com/jimhitchcock
My email contact info is: jhitch20@cox.net

 

 
   
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