From the Artist
"I learned a lot. I learned that it's not all about me, but it's about coming together and creating the songs together. I learned that I could let go a little. Let somebody else control the production. For me it was a comfortable place to be. I feel like I had to go through what I was going through in order to get to where I am today."
"I had an amazing experience with Grant Lee Phillips. I had a verse of a song and I had no lyrics for and couldn't find a chorus. So we worked on it together, found a chorus and then let it go for awhile. When he sent it back to me, I was blown away."
"A lot of people in this day and age just want to you to come to their house and use Pro-Tools because it will save thousands of dollars. But it's about the experience. That's what I want to feel. I want to touch the walls there. I want to sing into the microphones there. That's what recording is all about, being in those places where people have been before."
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Product Description
On Pass It Around, Donavon collaborates and injects new sounds in ways he had not attempted prior. "I definitely had a lot of ideas and it was fun putting trust in other people."
One of those people was producer Joe Chiccarelli, who aside from being a multiple Grammy Award-winner, has worked with everyone from Frank Zappa to The Raconteurs to My Morning Jacket. Donavon also enlisted some of his dearest musician friends including, Ben Harper on the title track, and Philadelphia's most famous surfer G. Love, who adds harmonica on "Sing a Song."
Collaborators can bring out a side of their creative partner that had previously been untapped. This was the case with Grant Lee Phillips and Frankenreiter on the track, "Mansions On The Sand."
If there is one song on Pass It Around that is snapshot of Donavon's organic and non-contrived lifestyle, it is the opening track, "Life, Love and Laughter." "Don't look back it won't do any good/Don't look ahead you'll be misunderstood/Everything you need could be right in front of you." For Donavon that maybe packing up his family and going to a far flung destination or he could be lazing with them at home in Laguna Beach, as long as there's love in the room, he's there.
With some old buddies, new compatriots and a new M.O., Donavon Frankenreiter is more than pleased with the music they made together. He concludes, "I feel this is the best body of work I've done. This is where I am now and where I've come from."
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.