Mindi Abair "Forever" (Official Making Of)

“Forever” is my first solo single since 2014. I’ve lived so much life since my last solo album Wild Heart. That album gave me my first GRAMMY nomination, and it was a coming together of forces that changed my life. I wanted to make an album that showed all of me… that allowed me to give everything and play with abandon, write with abandon, and express it all through my music. I had this amazing solo career in Smooth/Contemporary Jazz, but I’d find myself moonlighting playing with Aerosmith, Duran Duran, Keb’ Mo’ and appearing on American Idol. I was loving rootsy blues, soul and rock music so much… it’s the music I grew up with, but I wasn’t bringing it to my own career. I asked my friends to help me find my way to accomplish this. I wrote and recorded a duet with Gregg Allman. I had Joe Perry from Aerosmith play with me on a song. I opened the album with Trombone Shorty. Booker T. Jones and I wrote a song and performed it. Keb’ Mo’ joined me for a song, and so did Max Weinberg and Waddy Wachtel. I found a way to bring my love of rootsier music to my sound as a solo artist. That led me to create my first “band” joining forces with The Boneshakers to create Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers, and we toured and made 4 albums together, rocking the blues and rock world. In that time I was constantly writing music that was more personal and more melodic. It didn’t fit the band… it was all me. I’ve come back to me to make new music and take all that I’ve learned along my musical journey and make it personal and heartfelt. My new song “Forever” represents a coming back to myself as a solo artist and feeling this sense of belonging, of knowing who I am and what I stand for. This song to me feels like a chant .. a statement of power like “Mindi Abair Forever!” I hope you hear the heart and soul in it.

I recorded this song in Los Angeles the first week of March 2020. We knew there was a pandemic, but it wasn’t real in America yet. In the studio we touched elbows instead of hugging, knowing that we needed to stay safe, but we had no idea what was to come. The musicians and people associated with this track are epic. Abraham Laboriel, Jr. is the drummer. He and I were best friends and classmates at Berklee College of Music. He played on my Stars album back in 2010, but he’s hard to nail down for any studio dates, as he’s been Paul McCartney’s drummer for 20+ years. He brings so much spirit and friendship and good vibes to this song. Sean Hurley plays bass. If you’re a John Mayer fan, you’ve seen and heard Sean in his band for years. He has this incredible touch and approach to his playing. And he’s just a great spirit, again, to add to this song. Tim Pierce is someone that I worked with when I did the movie “Danny Collins” with Al Pacino. Tim was Al Pacino’s guitarist, and I was his sax player! Tim is the guitarist to the stars… he’s played on so many albums. I think my favorite Tim Pierce appearance is on the song “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. He plays all the mandolin and that vibey slide guitar solo. He brought so much to this song sonically. And my keyboard player of 19 years, Rodney Lee, is on piano and B3 organ. He’s been the rock of my band for a long time. You’ve seen him as Dave Koz’s musical director for his cruises for 5+ years and I love the series of children’s albums he’s made as Groove Kid Nation. He’s like a brother to me after so many years playing with him, and I can’t name a better keyboard player. He’s the man. My engineer was Niko Bolas, who’s been at the helm of everyone’s albums from Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Steve Perry and Neil Young. He made sure we all sounded good… it was crucial to have someone that could take real instruments being played in real time with each other… sound great. There were no synthesizers or samples or anything electronic… it was all earthy and warm to capture the personal feel of this song. I produced the track alongside my friend and manager, Bud Harner. Bud signed me to my first album deal with Verve Records back in 2002 and has been an integral part of my career since. What an honor to produce this song and bring it to life with him.

I hope you love “Forever” and I hope you feel the same emotion I feel playing it.

Listen on:

Apple Music: https://apple.co/355JLLa

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3gYHDqw

Google: https://bit.ly/3jXq38D

Deezer: https://bit.ly/35426rR

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