Long Live Rock  video

Submitted by Tom

I am the drummer in a band called the Dipsomaniacs.

Tommy Conwell recently recorded a version of The Who's "Long Live Rock" for a Who tribute album with my band, Dipsomaniacs, acting as his backing band. It was a thrill for me to play with one of my musical heroes.  The recording session took me back to all the great times at Rumblers' shows, and reminded me how much "real rock & roll" is missed!

Tommy Conwell was a total professional, a great guy to work with, and his performance was, as expected, awesome!  Recorded mostly live, the song captures a raw, high-energy feel that fans of both Tommy Conwell and The Who are sure to love.  Tommy's brilliant guitar work showed me why he has to be considered among the best guitarists in the history of rock & roll.

 

Here is what happens at a recording session…….

The recording process took place at Indre Studios, which is located in South Philly near Pat’s and Geno’s. Yo Philly! The session took about four hours in Studio A, which is a huge area with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. We recorded the basic tracks playing as a band: Tommy on guitar with the Dipsos (Mick - piano, Ron - guitar, Matt - bass, Tom - drums).  Tommy then sang it, followed by a recording of the lead guitar tracks, and then we added the backing vocals. Down time was spent watching Sponge Bob Square Pants………Seriously!
We jammed to a number of Who songs, including “Can't Explain”, “Won't Get Fooled Again”, and “Substitute” while the engineer was setting up and getting the proper levels.  Tommy was itching to record “Won't Get Fooled Again” but we didn't have enough time.   Someday! On a technical note, Pete Girgenti was the engineer at Indre. The song has already been mixed by Drew Mazurek at Highview Studios in Baltimore, and really rocks. As I said, we hope to have the CDs available by September.

On a humorous note, two young ladies were taking photos of the recording session for the label and, at the end of the night, one approached Tommy with a “Rumble” CD and asked for his autograph.  As Tommy courteously obliged, she added, "It's for my parents."  We all shared a laugh and Tommy good- naturedly conceded that his MTV days are long past.


The album will be produced by FaceDown Records www.facedown.net Tommy expects to play at a CD Release Show in the Fall, and hopefully he remains active in the music scene for a long time! Cheers Tommy!!