I am a musician. I am an artist. I'm not just a singer or just a pianist. I try to be everything. I love arranging. Arranging is one of my favorite things to do. As far as studios, we went from Boston to New York to L.A. to Nashville. We did so many different studios and had so many different amazing musicians. It's just a blur at this point. I guess the only story I can think of is recording the last song, “Every Step,” which ended up being the first single.
And it's funny because I broke up with this girl that I wrote that song for in mid-September of last year. Wrote the song at the end of September, maybe took three or four days to write and record. We were mastering in October. If you're an artist, you're never satisfied. You just get to the point where you say, “All right, it's good enough. Here. Put it out.” But I remember being in a studio practically in tears because this girl broke my friggin' heart. I had a glass of wine, because that was the only thing that was paying me from all the crap that she was putting me through. And that's how – unfortunately – I remember finishing my album. But like I said, every song has a story to it. And we'd be on the phone for about four hours [laughing].
I absolutely adore “Could.” Tell me how that song came into being.
“Could” is actually a McKnight tune. I recorded it last Christmas – actually, a year ago Christmas. It was recorded with Brian, after I sang it during one of the rehearsals. Once he heard [my rendition], he said: “You’ve got to record that.” So literally that night, I went home, just put a quick piano track down – which is not the piano track that's on the album – sang the song through and did those background arrangements.
I'm a big jazz, vocal buff. So I love six-part harmonies and things full of parts. I love that kind of stuff. So I added those to it and it got around. Brian loved it. A lot of people loved it. A month before the album got mastered, a guy named Bill Meyers – who is one of my musical soul mates; he's one of the most talented orchestrators, string arrangers that I know of – he called me and said, “What are you doing?” And I said, “Oh, nothing. Just mixing the album, working on stuff.” He said, “Why don't you come down to the studio. I'll throw some strings on it.” And that was like a dream come true.
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