This is a song I wrote the day I found out my friend Mike Freas had passed away in 2017. Mike was a bluesman and a friend/mentor to many musicians in LA. This song and lyrics came to me after listening to his music that day. I feel like he helped write it
THE WEIGHT OF THESE THINGS is a raw, soulful look into the sound & depth of Joel Eckels. Recorded w/ producer Steve Rizzo in Rhode Island during the winter of 2014, the songs come to life thru Eckels' live performances & the magic of Stable Sound Studios.
http://thewreckards.com/album/the-joy-the-pain-ep
This is a 6 song EP from Joel Eckels and the Wreckards recorded in early 2011. Aside from using a couple of the original tracks from the "Dunsmuir sessions" and tracking vocals with Chris Fuhrman, we recorded everything ourselves for this one. All of the rhythm and guitar tracks were recorded live in full takes.
"Gogo Nikki, the Spy" is the first song that the band has written together from scratch. credits released March 15, 2011
http://thewreckards.com/album/whats-to-come
These 5 songs were picked from sessions we did in November of 2009 after the band was mentored by the legendary soul man, Bill Withers. Bill taught us important lessons about nuance, dynamics in arrangements and helped strengthened our sense of groove. An unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience to say the least. More of the tracks from those sessions will be appearing on the upcoming full-album release.
During those sessions, we spent 2 weeks taking over our friend, Ben Skerker’s house in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles. Brandon Duncan brought together a bunch of vintage recording equipment and setup shop; running cables through all parts of the house and engineering the whole 2 week session. The band all set up in Ben’s living room with couches turned over to lower the mic bleed and guitar amps in the coat closet. It was raw, guerilla recording at it's best. An amazing experience for all of us.
Our good friend, the amazing Dan Rothchild, took over production duties after the tracking sessions and helped put everything together and add any extra overdubs. We brought in Adam MacDougall, Arlan Schierbaum and Bill Purdy to lay down keyboards, along with Dawn Thomas and Sky Nicholas on backing vocals.
What we got was the first chapter of the Wreckards story. We hope this is only the beginning of a long journey with much more music ahead. Enjoy... credits released May 15, 2010
Joel Eckels - vocals/guitar Mark "Babyhead" Corben - upright bass/electric bass Tamir Barzilay - Drums/Percussion Shawn "Chinky Binks" Eckels - guitars/keys
Adam MacDougall - keys on Mr. Mojo and Bad Blood Arlan Sheirbaum - melotron on Little Brother Bill Purdy - piano on The Joy, The Pain Dawn Thomas - backing vocals on Mr. Mojo Sky Nicholas - backing vocals on Little Brother Dan Rothchild - backing vocals on The Joy, The Pain/additional percussion
Engineered by Brandon Duncan Produced by Joel Eckels, Dan Rotherchild Arranged by Joel Eckels, Mark "Babyhead" Corben, Tamir Barzilay and Dan Rothchild
Special thanks to Bill Withers for his wisdom and direction
http://thewreckards.com/album/little-brother-ep-2005
Recorded in the fall of 2005 at Eggchair Studios in Hollywood with Chris Fuhrman after the breakup of Paper Sun. It was the first group of songs I had written after the Good Things album. We recorded these songs all live in the same room. I borrowed a Gretch archtop guitar from Jenni Alpert for these sessions, which is what inspired me to get the '57 Harmony I now use as my main guitar. credits released December 5, 2005
Joel Eckels - vocals & guitar Dawn Thomas - backing vocals on "What That's About" and Little Brother Chris Lovejoy - percussion
Engineered by Chris Fuhrman