Steve Ferrone has been around a long time, he has played in numerous bands and on thousands of records over the years. He is mostly known for his work with Average White Band, Eric Clapton, Chaka Kahn, Jeff Golub, Duran Duran, and for the last ten years Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

"It was in working with Tom Petty that my urge to create and perform my own music was rekindled. Every member of the band is creative and writes music. Tom really bares his soul and tells great stories of personal beliefs and experiences. Mike Campbell works constantly on his writing as does Benmont Tench and Scott Thurston. 

They kind of swept me up in their thirst to express themselves, so when I found myself in some pain from a break up, I decided to let it turn itself into some music. Woody Creek and CC & 7 were the result of that little interlude, and I just kept on going. A good friend Marcel East, brother of that great bassist Nathan East, helped me to write the sometimes strange mixtures that are found on this album. He then suggested that I get a band and play at La-Ve-Lee, a local jazz club in Studio City. Fearfully I put this together. 

I have never tried to be a front man before, I was always safely hidden away in a group or as a sideman. But I faced my fears and slowly started to make a band. I called on some of my oldest friends and favorite players to help me put together enough of a program to play a set. Mixed in among my tunes were songs that I had always liked to listen to and to play.

Alex Ligertwood, one of my oldest friends and fantastic vocalist, David Garfield and his extraordinary keyboard work were key in getting this off the ground. Steve Farris (Mr. Mr.) and Michael P. O'Neil (George Benson) with their two styles of guitar work that enrich the music so much, Jimmy Earl, powerhouse bass player with Robben Ford and Chick Correa, Bikki Johnson, a wonderful artist, bassist and the only girl in the band to play second bass on Woody Creek, and to top it off Gerald Albright (Sax's) multi instrumentalist, and a star in his own right, Jason Weber (Sax's) a very talented newcomer from San Diego, and Lee Thornberg (Trumpet and Trombone) session master and resident of the Leno Show Band.

Marcel East decided that it was too good an opportunity to pass up, so he brought down his pro-tools rig with engineer Mike Aarvol and recorded the whole thing. It was a great night!

About a year after the recording was complete I finaly got around to listening to what Marcel had recorded, and I was stunned by the quality of the sound and playing. Because it was all put together in such short notice I felt that some of the arrangements could be better. 

By that time, I had befriended Clarke Rigsby, a real journeyman guitarist, engineer and producer in Phoenix. I played him the tapes and he loved the performances and immediately got stuck into making things happen.

We set to work touching up the songs. Sam Pilafian, a tuba player and music professor at Arizona State University offered to help with the arrangements as did sax player Jerry Donato. The section comprised of Tuba virtuoso Patrick Sheridan, Phoenix Symphony trombonist John Lofton and trumpeter Peter Green worked wonderfully together on the arrangements so that they seemed like they were there on the night of recording.

Then there was that one song that just didn't have the sparkle of the others. "Put It In" was on my hit list. We had played it well on the night, but there was something missing. It was at this point that another friend came to the rescue. Phoenix area drummer Mike Florio was at Clake's house listening to the work-in-progress one day, and trying to figure out a way to stop me from axing the song from the album, though they agreed that something was missing. After some discussion they called me out on the road with Tom Petty in some hotel room and told me their idea. Would I object to them asking the legendary Joey DeFrancesco to play on the rogue song to tie it together. 

With THAT I had no problem at all. A couple of days later they called me up to let me listen over the phone to what he had done.... SOLD! Listen to that track and weep... Joey nailed it in a couple of takes... Just listen to how he listens to the other musicians and plays off of what is going on with every instrument. What a player!
Clarke then went on to mix the tracks and master the album with Dave Shirk at Sonorous Mastering in Tempe.

That brings me to the album cover. Tony Amato was the art director for this project. He had a conversation my girlfriend Delia about how, when I sweat on stage, the heat from the lights makes my head steam. He thought that would be a great idea for a cover, so he got photographer Mike Woodall to figure out how to make my head steam in Phoenix when it was 100 degrees in the shade. The answer THE ICEMAN. A crazy man that makes beautiful ice sculptures in Phoenix' very hot climate. He has a giant refrigerator that he works in, and he kindly loaned it to us. Wrapping my head in a scalding hot towel, whipping it of and shooting the resulting steam plume was the way the album cover came about. All artists suffer for their music, I guess I went the extra yard for mine.

The end result is this wonderful album It Up. If you decide to buy this CD I am sure you will love it as much as I do. If you want to let me know how much, please write to me at DrumrollRecords@aol.com.

I am continuing to write and record songs and arrange other covers for an upcoming studio album. I hope that you will be ready for that too. Until then I hope you will enjoy the 1 hour and 5 minutes of great playing on this CD."

Peace,
Stephen Ferrone

Buy "It Up" at

• http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ferrone