9/9/94 Live is available for purchase at Danny Gatton Music

The recordings we did on September 9, 1994 at the old Birchmere in Alexandria, VA were intended to be the first of a series of recorded shows in an effort to come up with a live album for the Danny Gatton Trio. We all felt we had something very special happening musically (and personally, too). We wanted to release an album that captured the essence of what we were doing; one that could bring the raw excitement we felt when we played together to a wider audience.

The experience we had recording Relentless earlier that year, where we used the studio more like a camera to photograph what we were doing live rather than a tool to actually create the music in stages, was the first step on what we felt was a new path for all of us. A path where we were actually in control of what we were doing, where we had support from those around us, and where the options were limited only by what we wanted to achieve.

Much has been written about this period of Danny's life, but I want to say that the truth of what was going on inside our group has never been accurately protrayed. The vast majority of people doing the writing, the talking, and the conjecturing weren't there - and haven't really spoken to those of us who were. We were all extermely excited about the music we were making, especially Danny. None of us saw what happened coming, and we were among the closest people to Danny at that time.

Danny and I had several lengthy conversations about the recordings that would become 9/9/94 Live. Both of us agreed that, while we didn't think the night showed the best we could be, we certainly weren't sucking. I kept that in mind through the mixing process whenever I would start to cringe at something I'd played. "This is only a picture of a moment in time and I was doing the best I could at that moment" became my mantra. That thought has helped to make this record one of the few I've done in my career that I can actually listen to and still be excited by.

Just listen to the excerpt from "Sunnymoon for Two". It's one of my all-time favorites, and it really gives you some insight into the unconscious communication that went on between the 3 of us. Especially when you know that this was really the first time we'd ever played the tune together! Nearly two decades later, the interplay still blows me away.