Phil Thomas Katt and I met at the Fish House, an iconic Pensacola restaurant, for lunch to discuss partnering. If you couldn't tell from my waistline, I'm a big fan of Shrimp & Grits. So Phil and I chowed down. I ordered a Bloody Mary, too.
The most wonderful part of our meeting, besides the view and the food, was our conversation.
I only had two songs, and I couldn't really figure out what niche it was. The first song was "Outta Da Blu". And the second song was "U Dunno Whut U Got".
Phil listened to me drone on and on about how these two songs were the beginning and the end of the album, and how all other works should be guided by their vibe.
I told him how I think I had the marketing figured out, because I didn't really have an audience to release an album. It was a completely new thing for me to "go it alone". For that matter, I explained to Phil, I wasn't even sure how to pull off playing gigs because I didn't have a band for support. And on top of that, the last time I played out was over 10 years ago. I'm very rusty now.
But Phil listened to those two songs, and thought they were very strong. He said the sound was very cool and unique. So he had an idea. We could make 2 music videos and do an interview. And that's exactly what we did. You see, the idea was to launch some of the tunes on his "PTK Late Nite" to "build fame" as he said. He felt the music we had at that point was actually good enough to play on the radio, after a few tweaks (the vocals weren't that great first time through) put them out there as kind of an introduction.
He also suggested using Spotify. The idea is to get on playlists to build on and get royalties. Click HERE for the Spotify link.
After we ate our food and drank our drinks, it was just a few short weeks later that we shot the video at Phil's studio. Just before the video was finished, Phil asked me to drive around in my car and shoot some video of the beach being closed due to Covid-19. It was a Ghost Town.
That said, the song gained more relevance. U Dunno Whut U Got was supposed to be a song about no financial education in the public school system. But, when put in context of Covid-19, and American way of life, the world has changed. And many Americans are still sitting it out, hoping the government will come to the rescue. It won't. As always, we the people must do what the government can't, save ourselves. We have to turn back and help our brothers, and turn our backs on the Corporate lie.
So, Phil really dug into the song and brought it to a whole new level.
Our little lunch at the Fish House became something more than just the two of us. It became a partnership where our synergy created something better. It became a bigger message. I created the CD's title, "Bait & Switch", after the fraud scam where one thing is promised, but something else is delivered right there at The Fish House. This is why I wear a fish hook necklace, below. Phil loved the CD's title.
The rest Bait & Switch needed to get filled in. And I had no idea what was going to come out. But within 12 weeks, the album was recorded on GarageBand in my home studio. And during that time, Phil and I recorded the videos.
Now that we're nearly finished with the last video, "Outta Da Blu", everything's really come together.
You can hear the rest of the songs at RussMainesMusic.com.
Thanks for reading. Get your CD today. I promise you'll like it.