You could say a whole lot of serendipity went into the making of When The Magic Hits, the first solo project from Adrian Sutherland.
Like connecting with two co-writing brothers because one them was brought in as a session player on some of Adrian’s earlier recordings. Or arriving at a session with another collaborator only to discover they both shared the same song idea. Or being randomly paired on stage at a tribute show with another musician, which ultimately led to a small tour where Adrian would meet his album’s producer.
Those are just a few of the many ‘magic moments’ that found their way into the making of When The Magic Hits, the beautiful nine-track album that is out now and ready to find its fans.
Says Sutherland: “My new album is about deeper meaning for me. These songs allowed me to explore some personal stuff I’ve never been able to on past albums. Some of the themes are sensitive but it was important for me to write about them, like fighting through losses and traumas, and learning to appreciate everything I have today, because it hasn’t always been clear to me.”
“The world we live in seems to be in chaos, with no signs of settling back down to ‘normal’ anytime soon. Some of these things scare me at times. Not knowing where all the love is, not knowing where we’re heading as a country. Are we truly ready to walk with each other in a good way? I was thinking about all of these things as I was writing this album.”
When The Magic Hits features co-writes with brothers Chris Gormley (The Trews) and Matt Gormley (Daylight for Deadeyes), Tim Vesely (Rheostatics), Colin Cripps (Blue Rodeo), Jay Semko (The Northern Pikes), Scott Dibble (Hemingway Corner), and Serena Ryder.
Seven tracks were produced, engineered and mixed by GRAMMY Award-winning Canadian-born producer Colin Linden, who worked remotely from Nashville while Adrian remained isolated in northern Attawapiskat First Nation. Colin lent his legendary guitar talents to the tracks, helping bring Adrian’s music to life with a whole new depth of heart and soul.
Featured on the tracks are Linden’s wife Janice Powers who delivers keyboard and organ performances. Jerry Roe (Nashville) and Gary Craig (Toronto) both contributed drum tracks, with John Dymond (Toronto) on bass.
Adding to the magic is Chris Carmichael. It was Linden’s 11th hour decision to bring him into the mix, with Carmichael adding stellar sounds of a full string quartet to two ballads – Once That Was You (written with Semko) and Walk With Me (written with Ryder). Sutherland found out after that Carmichael has performed on seven GRAMMY winning records and 25 gold and platinum recordings.
Two of the album tracks – Right Here and Make Me Better – were produced, engineered and mixed by Tim Vesely at The Woodshed Studio in Toronto. Adrian worked remotely with Vesely, who also plays guitar and bass on the recordings. Vesely brought in Colin Cripps for electric guitar (and co-writing on one track), and Lyle Molzan for drums.
