Gary Powell, Composer/Producer

by Gary Powell

Larry Seyer and I met in 1978 at Wink Tyler’s Austin Recording Studio when we both arrived in Austin to start our careers. I only have a few hours left to celebrate this 30th anniversary before 2009 hits, so I’ll write the book later. Cheers Larry. Another thirty years might be possible given the advances in medicine and our continuing good looks!

Filed by Gary Powell at 4:49 pm under Winning People
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by Gary Powell

Coming home from the dentist in the spring of 1997, I found an unusual message on my answering machine. It was a female voice with a very proper British accent asking, “Gary, Sir George Martin is calling from London. Would you please ring us back?” I was not used to the title of Sir being in front of the Beatles’ producer’s name, so it took me a minute to snap to.

Of all the musicians or producers I would want to meet, George Martin would be at the top of the list. I took a deep breath, hoping this was not a prank, and ‘rang’ back as requested. The operator said, “Gaaaary, Sir George is at home awaiting your call. Would you please ring him there?”

“Yes, I will do that!”

Oh my God, this is beginning to sound like a real call. My pulse quickened, but now encouraged, I dial again. On the line is yet another sweet British accent, but this time it is Sir George’s wife’s voice, who responds to me with “Gaaary, George is so pleased you called. Please hold and I’ll get him.”

He answered with a gentle, “Hellooo, Gaary, so glad you called.” I quickly said, “George Martin, before I even learn why you called, and I know you probably are sick of hearing this, but it is because of you that I am in the music business. There is no individual in our business that I would rather meet than you.”

“Thank you, Gary, and no, hearing this is not something I have ever tired of.” He went on to report that a producer at DreamWorks in California had referred him to me when he’d inquired as to whom to call in Texas about an upcoming recording session with Goldie Hawn. He explained that he was producing his “swan song” album and Goldie was in Houston shooting a movie, so he needed to come to Texas and find a studio and a jazz trio of our best session players. My job was to be the session “fixer,” which is British for what Americans call “contractor.”

Within a few weeks, we were all gathered with a film crew to record Goldie singing “It’s a Hard Day’s Night” with a jazz trio of Austin players at Ray Benson’s Bismeaux Studios. That Austin recording session became part of the album entitled “George Martin – In My Life” which we already know ten years later was not Sir George’s swan song.

As I thanked Phil Ramone, I also thank you, George Martin, for your contribution in raising the bar of our popular musical lexicon and for your important influence on my personal musical journey.

My thanks to the Austin recording session musicians who played this memorable “Hard Day’s Night” session for Sir George Martin:

Piano: Jeff Hellmer
Upright Bass: John Fremgen
Drums: A.D. Manion
Recording Engineer: Larry Seyer

Filed by Gary Powell at 11:07 am under Winning People
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by Gary Powell

Just thirty years after earning his MFA, the University of California at Irvine (UCI) awarded Walt Disney Records’ Vice-President of Artist & Repertoire (A&R), Ted Kryczko, with a Distinguished Alumnus Award on May 8th, 2008.

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UCI has adopted the motto, “Create. Explore. Innovate.” Certainly, no one has ever reached Ted’s achievement level in the music business without understanding the full intentionality of these three verbs. Now, continuing his relationship with his alma mater, Ted is currently serving on the Dean’s Leadership Council at Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Ted Kryczko brings a big presence to my studio in Austin and now the students of drama and music at UCI will also benefit from his years of experience.

Here, you can view a beautiful UCI Adobe pdf in your browser with news and photos Ted Kryczko and Gary Powell holding a vocal audition at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts.

You can also read Ted Kryczko’s full biography and also learn more about our UCI Disney audition here at www.garypowell.com.

Filed by Gary Powell at 12:52 pm under Winning People
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by Gary Powell

Glenn Richter, a longtime ally of mine and professor of music at the University of Texas, called this morning and invited me to have lunch with Phil Ramone. There are two producers in this world that would make me get dressed this fast. One is Sir George Martin, whom I have already met and briefly worked with. Phil Ramone is the other. Also present at the lunch were Executive Director of the NARAS – Texas Chapter, Theresa Jenkins and Project Director Jennifer Vocelka along with Ed Evans, Director of Technical Operations for Villa Muse and UT Recording Technology professor Mark Sarisky.

As a producer and composer, I am conscious about who my musical and production influences have been. I have many of these producers’ albums hanging on my “wall of influences” in the cutting room of my studio. Igor Stravinsky is hanging there right beside George Gershwin, Aaron Copeland and Leonard Bernstein. But wait, also present are Simon and Garfunkel, Peter, Paul and Mary, Chicago and James Taylor. It is seldom the artist themselves that attracted my attention.

So, what was it about these particular artists that make me listen more closely and why are they on my wall of influences? It was Phil Ramone!

Following lunch, Mark Sarisky facilitated an interview with Mr. Ramone in the UT Music School’s Recital Studio for students, faculty and NARAS members. My sense was that these college students had little appreciation or knowledge of Phil Ramone’s contribution to the American musical lexicon. Culturally, we tend to buy into the myths sold to us about the capabilities of our recording artists. This was a brief moment for us all to look around the curtain and now would be a good time for us all to contemplate Phil Ramone’s Discography!

Thank you, Phil, for mentoring my ears ever since introducing Lesley Gore in 1963 and for now writing your book, Making Records – The Scenes Behind the Music. My best wishes for your continued success and for making our popular music more nuanced, more powerful, more meaningful and simply better than it would have been without you.

Filed by Gary Powell at 7:38 pm under Winning People
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by Gary Powell

No single person has influenced me musically more than Al Autrey. For six years at Sam Houston State University, he was my choir director, my voice teacher, my conducting teacher, my mentor and my friend. I was a pall bearer at his funeral in 1988 and I miss him dearly.

There is hardly any piece of music I’ve written that does not reflect some portion of what Al Autrey instilled in me as a conductor, composer and person. I can only hope my contribution to the whole of the musical lexicon honors him as my friend and my teacher and in some small way honors all music educators who have touched us in profound ways beyond simply reading eighth notes and quarter rests.

I will share this one piece of advice from Al Autrey’s incredible musicality.

Every musical event or moment, has both a
preparation and release. – Alvis Murray Autrey

Contained in this simple statement, every instant within a composition or performance or even a life becomes purposeful. Thank you, Alvis Murray Autrey, for the gift and depth of your musical understanding.

Filed by Gary Powell at 3:14 pm under Winning People
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by Gary Powell

My goal is to drop more words than names on this weblog to try to explain, and even understand myself, the components of success. This success story should be helpful to us as artistan entrepreneurs. However, over the past six months I’ve been noticing my preference for the word achievement over the word success and the word aspiration over dream. In any other city, the story below might be called, “The Key to Success”. In Austin we would probably call it “The Wholeness of Achievement”.

Achievement and aspiration have context while success can be JPL….Just Plain Lucky. In other words, all success is not created equal.

Meet Teri McCarthy, owner of McCarthy Print in Austin, Texas. How did this five-foot-something blonde-tornado build this successful Austin printing business from scratch? Off the top of my head: she is competent, creative, industrious, personal, consistent and ethical. And now Teri has a newcomer to her printing business. It is a Heidelberg 5 Color Perfector (SM 74-5-P) capable of printing on paper 29.13 inches wide.

To put this in musical terms: outside of KLRU-TV, the home of Austin City Limits, I don’t know of a single recording studio in Austin whose total expenditure on gear is equal to the cost of this ONE printing press…… and this is her second one!

So, how did she do this? This I know: Heidelberg 5-color presses don’t come in a cereal box, from the U.S. Government or from getting lucky. They are, however, freighted in….. cash-on-delivery to people and businesses who have a long history of affecting the economy in a positive way. One trusted method of affecting the economy is to create and maintain professional relationships using that list of Teri’s attributes above.

This machine sits atop an isolated slab of layered concrete six feet deep. The slab alone could have built many a musician’s dream studio.

A successful business cannot be understood by inflating one person’s contribution to mythic proportions, so here’s one simple true story. When I began teaching at the University of Texas in 1985, I wanted more than the typical one sheet black and white printed programs for our shows. Teri adopted me and my singing group while she was working for Dividend Printing creating color programs for us with individual photos and bios of every singer. Broadway didn’t have programs this nice and still doesn’t. This effort happened while she was “just” an employee and “just” working for a client, me, who was paying next to nothing.

What’s to learn from this story? Talent and persistence win and aspiring people find each other. Once found, they tend to be loyal and supportive networkers. So now I’m writing about Teri McCarthy because of her loyalty to me, her achievements, her company’s beautiful product and……. she’s my friend.

And, I’m seeing some 29 inch wide business cards in my future!

To contact McCarthy Print
E-mail or Call James Adame at 512.484.0785

Also, my special thanks to Tim Koderl, Michael Mack and all the staff at McCarthy Print for the great work they have done for me and my projects.

Filed by Gary Powell at 1:49 pm under Winning People
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