''Owsley'' is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Owsley, released on

Giant Records In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

in 1999. The album was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Engineered Album. Critics have noted musical influences from 1970s pop rock, including

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

, and

The Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), ...

. Owsley recorded the album in his own home studio, funded largely by his work as guitarist in

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

's touring band.

Track listing

Personnel

* Will Owsley – vocals (except 5-instrumental-out), all guitars, bass (2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11),

Echoplex The Echoplex is a tape delay effect, first made in 1959. Designed by Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s—it is still regarded as "the standard by which everything else is measured." It was used by some of the ...

(2),

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

(3, 11),

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptua ...

(3),

Hammond B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

(3),

Chamberlin The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by the American inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. There are severa ...

(3), acoustic piano (8, 10) * Jonathan Hamby – Hammond B3 organ (1, 4, 5), Minimoog (2), Wurlitzer electric piano (5, 6), Chamberlin (6) *

Phil Madeira Philip Kamm Madeira (born 1952) is an American songwriter, producer, musician and singer. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island, and attended Taylor University, graduating in 1975. His songs have been recorded by The Civil Wars, Buddy Mill ...

– Hammond B3 organ (9) *

Millard Powers Avery Millard Powers III (born December 24, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and Grammy-nominated recording engineer. While a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the 1980s, he collaborated wit ...

– bass (1, 3, 5-instrumental-out, 6), backing vocals (3),

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

solo (7) * Spencer Campbell – bass (4, 8), string parts (6) * Bob Parr – bass (7) *

Chris McHugh Chris McHugh (born 1964) is an American musician. He began his career as the drummer of Christian rock band White Heart from 1986 to 1989. He also worked in the recording of several of their later albums. Chris McHugh is on the Nashville "A" li ...

– drums, percussion (4, 5, 7, 9) * John Catchings –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

(3) *

John Mark Painter John Mark Painter (born c. 1967) is an American multi-instrumental musician, composer and arranger. He is best known for his role, with his wife, singer Fleming McWilliams, in the rock duo, Fleming and John. Painter grew up in Miami, and beg ...

– string parts (3) * Rebecca Walker – backing vocals (7, 11)

Production

* Chris McHugh – executive producer * Will Owsley – producer, engineer (4, 8), mix assistant (9) * Millard Powers – producer (1, 3, 6), engineer (1, 3, 6, 7), mixing (9) * Jeff Balding – producer (9, 10, 11), engineer (10, 11) * J.R. McNeely – engineer (2, 5), mixing (5-instrumental-out, 6, 8, 10, 11) * Shane Wilson – engineer (3), recording (5-instrumental-out) * J.C. Monterrosa – assistant engineer (2, 5) * Todd Gunnerson – assistant engineer (6, 8, 10, 11) *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– mixing (1-5, 7) * Mauricio Iragorri – mix assistant (1-5, 7) * Fred Paragano – digital editing *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering at Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine) *

Warren Entner Warren Entner (born 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, organist and guitarist for the rock and roll band, The Grass Roots. He then became a manager for several successful heavy metal/rock groups. Overview Entner is best known for his vo ...

– career direction * John Dittmar – booking (Pinnacle Entertainment) * Mike Dewdney – international booking (ITB) * Jeff Aldrich – A&R direction * Karen Lichtman – album coordination * Stephen Walker – art direction * Airedale Brothers – photography * Sean Dungan – photography * John Clark – photography

References

{{Authority control 1999 debut albums Owsley (musician) albums Giant Records (Warner) albums