Dockside Saints – Cary Morin

Dockside Saints is a powerful 12 tracks recorded at Dockside Studio in Maurice, LA. April 2019. Produced and engineered by multi-Grammy winning producer/engineer, Tony Daigle. Mastered by Jim Demain at Yes Master in Nashville, TN.

This recording project came about in 2018, at the urging of a friend of mine from Lafayette, LA. He thought that my Piedmont blues style of songwriting and guitar playing was a good fit for the rhythms and sounds of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music. He took me out to tour the infamous Dockside Studios in Maurice, LA, and encouraged Dockside’s founding engineer/producer, Tony Daigle, to attend my show in Lafayette that evening. Tony did come to my show that night, and upon leaving, told me that if I were to want to come to Maurice to record, he was my man. With the help of Tony Daigle and local drummer, Dave Nezat, we began to assemble an all-star cast of Lafayette area musical heroes and make a plan.

The lure of working with such an illustrious & talented group in this multi-award winning Louisiana studio was too good to resist. I went home from that tour and began to write a collection of songs, specifically for this project. I returned in April of 2019 to spend one solid week with Tony and the guys, laying down all of the foundational tracks. Over these past several months, we have added various instrumentation and harmony vocals and as of February 2020, completed all aspects of recording, mixing, and mastering.

The ancient Native culture of the South has been an inspiration as it relates to our travels and what has become an annual pilgrimage to the Mississippi Valley. This collection of songs represents our annual migration, just as my ancestors migrated from this region to the Western Plains so many centuries ago; sharing culture through music and more along the way. It is the product of our imagination of what was, and what has become our love of the sounds of the south.

Personnel

Cary Morin - has been described as “one of the best acoustic pickers on the scene today,” Cary Morin brings together great musical traditions of America and beyond. With deft fingerstyle guitar, vocals that alternately convey melodic elation and gritty world-weariness, Morin crafts an inimitable style often characterized as acoustic Native Americana with qualities of blues, bluegrass, jazz, jam, reggae, and dance.

“ ‘Cary Morin is a unique and brilliant guitar player, songwriter and singer, ‘ says renowned folk musician David Bromberg, extolling the virtues of one of his favorite players… As a guitar player, I have huge respect for Cary’s style and technique on the guitar. If you haven’t heard him yet, you should. Try to remember that it’s only one guitar.’ “ - Dan Forte for Taylor Wood & Steel Magazine, June 2018.

Cary has won numerous awards for his work, particularly for his 2017 release, Cradle to the Grave and 2018 release, When I Rise. Most recently he is the recipient of the 2019 Indigenous Music Award for Best Blues CD, 2018 Independent Music Awards for Best Blues CD, and has earned a host of other awards for his artistry.

Lee Allen Zeno - grew up immersed in the Louisiana music scene from the age of 11, when he started playing in public. Having demonstrated a natural ability to cross the genres of blues, zydeco, gospel, country and soul music, Lee Allen became an in-demand bass player while still in his teens. Lee Allen hails from the Lafayette, LA area.

Perhaps best known for his long tenure as the bass player for the Buckwheat Zydeco band, Zeno has also worked extensively as a session player, having recorded with Dalton Reed, Charlie Rich, Guitar Shorty, Lil’ Brian Terry, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Jean Knight, Major Handy, Archie Bell, Barbara Lynn, Bobby Allen, Willie Cobbs, Leon Sam, Henry Gray, Lazy Lester, Chick Willis and many others. -(excerpted from https://forbassplayersonly.com/interview-lee-allen-zeno/)

Brian Brignac - is a drummer from Gonzales, LA, just west of New Orleans. He has recorded and/or toured with international artists such as Fats Domino, Sonny Landreth, Bobby Charles, Jo-EL Sonnier, T., Graham Brown, Gregg Wright, The Spinners, Foy Vance, The Little Band Of Gold, Cindy Cashdollar, Wayne Toups, Chubby Carrier, The Williams Brothers, Melvin Taylor, Peter Novelli, Bruce Daigrepont, Tommy Malone, C.J. Chenier and Lisa Mills.

Brian has played on a Grammy Award winning album with Jo-EL Sonnier and two Grammy nominated albums with Sonny Landreth. Brian owns a music studio and also works for Advertising Agency, Bionic Monkey. He has engineered thousands of radio and tv ads all across the country. Brignac has also engineered and/or produced many other artists' projects. Brian studied Music Education under the esteemed Dr. John Raush at Louisiana State University. -(excerpted from https://dreamcymbals.com/artists/usa/brignac-brian)

Corey Ledet - was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but spent his summers with family in small-town Parks, Louisiana. Grammy-nominated Zydeco innovator Corey Ledet is a world traveler, having performed in 15 countries. He's done numerous tours across North America, including countless festivals, private parties, major company corporate events, and weddings. In 2012, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for his "Nothin' But the Best" album, which is available on all digital distribution stores. Having studied his Creole culture and music thoroughly, Corey's versatile and traditional sound guarantees to please and rock any audience. Corey remains true to his roots. He keeps one foot firmly in the tradition while exploring surrounding influences in order to create the "Best of Both Worlds." He is able to infuse old and new styles of Zydeco and blues into his own unique sound.

John Fohl - "...came down from Montana in the old century and made himself an indispensable member of the New Orleans music community. His signature gig was a decade-plus-long residence at the Dr. John school of funkology during Mac’s Lower 911 days, a period that included some of Dr. John’s most political writing in the wake of the Katrina flood. Fohl has been much in demand elsewhere as well, teaming up with Johnny Sansone and Anders Osborne for the acoustic workshops at Chickie Wah Wah that turned Osborne’s career around, and supporting a variety of musicians in the area...

Hands On You, Fohl’s third solo album, is a classic from start to finish, a step forward from the excellent Teeth and Bones. The songs are all Fohl originals and he has assembled an exceptional band of old friends to record it: Eric Bolivar on drums, Cassandra Faulconer on bass, John Gros on piano and Hammond B-3, Johnny Sansone on harmonica and Rod Hodges on accordion..." - (excerpted from http://www.offbeat.com/music/john-fohl-hands-independent/)

Beau Thomas - started playing music at the age of 17. Within 5 months he was touring the world professionally. Beau Thomas & Cajun Power released their first CD in 2003, which quickly sold over 50,000 copies. Beau has travelled to over 27 countries. He has toured and played many great Louisiana artists. Beau has performed for two American Presidents and three Vice Presidents, numerous Ambassadors, Senators, Foreign Diplomats, a King and Queen, and numerous Presidents on foreign soil. A native of Abbeville, Louisiana, Beau currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Eric Adcock- As one of Louisiana’s most rockin’ piano pounders, you can count on Eric to put on a great show. Raised in Lafayette and calling Abbeville, LA home, he credits great blues and boogie-woogie pianists Professor Longhair, Dr. John and Jerry Lee Lewis as sources of inspiration. Adcock began playing the piano at age five and began formal lessons at five-and-a-half.

Adcock and Roddie Romero first teamed up as musical colleagues when they were teenagers — and their legacy of musical partnership continues today. Together, they have been writing music and touring internationally for almost 20 years.

Keith Blair- is a veteran Lafayette, LA blues guitarist and singer. A master on the Stratocaster, Blair is widely known as one of the best on the instrument in Acadiana. Blair has also lent his lead guitar talents to stars like Texas soul man Delbert McClinton, Louisiana country star Dustin Sonnier, and frat party accordion favorite Jamie Bergeron.

Celeste Di Iorio - has performed for many years as a vocalist, guitarist, dancer, and in theatre. She currently tours with Cary Morin and works in the music biz as an agent/manager for Cary Morin, Pura Fé, and Ray Bonneville.

Budget & Funding

First, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to consider my request for your support. I greatly appreciate all the support you’ve shown me over the years. Without your contributions, from monetary donations to moral support, I don’t think I’d have been able to reach my current level of success. I have embarked on another artistic journey titled, Dockside Saints. I’m hoping you will stand by my side once again.

While this will be my most expensive project to date, it has the potential to be my breakthrough CD. I will submit this project for Grammy consideration, The Blues Music Awards through the Blues Foundation in Memphis, accolades I could not have imagined before now. The time is right to put this level of effort into my next project. With all the attention I have garnered in 2018 & 2019, this has significant potential to drive my career to a level of self-sustainability that I have been unable to imagine before now.

Here is the breakdown of expenses:

Studio time - $4500

Producer - $2000

Mixing - $1200

Mastering - $900

Promotional Video - $5000

Graphic Design (CD cover art, logo and branding, posters, etc.) - $1000

Publicity & Digital Marketing (professional publicist & professional digital marketing specialist, both time limited to the marketing of the new CD to include print reviews, radio station promotions, submissions to participate in Grammy nominations, Blues Music Awards, etc.) - $18,000

Manufacturing & Distribution - $2000

Postage - $1600

Additional personnel - $4,650

Merchandise - $2000

2018 Tour budget (publicity – shows will be marketed individually by a professional service & travel expenses- fuel, vehicle expenses, lodging, food, tolls/fees, parking, etc.) - $10,000

Misc - $1000

Total = $53,850.00

As I have already funded the first $15,000 of this project, that leaves at total of $38,850.00 to go! If we can meet our goal of $25,000 for publicity/video/digital marketing, we feel the project can be publicized at the highest level, reaching millions of folks.

As you may imagine, funding for the arts in The United States has been and will continue to be a challenge through 2021. Record labels that once supported many artists have gone by the by, and the recording industry has changed to one of independent, self produced and published works. I have attempted to create several revenue streams for my art, particularly for my 2020 project.

All rewards/merch mentioned below may be viewed on Cary's website at carymorin.com. Please note that all physical rewards mailed out of the United States, will have an additional $15 postage due.