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"in my dreams you walk dripping from a sea- journey on the highway across America in tears to the door of my cottage in the Western night"

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Dear Listener,

I co-wrote all of the songs on "Born Again Blues" with Joseph Ripple, with the exception of 'Milestone', which was written by Brandon Mitchell. Our songs are published by Fifth of November Music (which is a BMI-affiliated publishing company), and 'Milestone' is published by Peterbran Music (which is also a BMI-affiliated publishing company).

I performed all of the songs on the album - that’s my voice, as well as my guitar. Joe plays lead guitar, banjo, and reed organ. Peter Levine plays the cello. Chris Fazio plays the fiddle. Alex Riedel plays the pedal steel. Joe, Chris, and myself all took turns playing the piano.

I engineered most of the album myself, with some additional help from the other musicians while recording their instruments. We recorded onto a Tascam Portastudio 424, and a very special “thank you” is due to David Pokrivnak for providing it, as well as for first suggesting that it would greatly suit the kind of music that we were making (it does).

Joe and I mixed the album together using the Portastudio and his MacBook.

The photograph on the cover of the album was taken by Shannon Powers, and is used with her permission. I added the effects to the photograph afterwards, and I designed the cover layout.

Lastly, I must assume responsibility for the album's overall conceptual arrangement. I wanted to create something that would be an all-encompassing listening experience, with songs that would fit together like puzzle pieces, coming and going like ghosts, bleeding and blending together. I hope that you enjoy it.


Thanks,
Jeff Betten (extraneum inter extraneos)

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This album is dedicated to Mrs. Boyles, whether she hears it in this life or the next…