How It All Came Together…
What began as a fun idea to put a few singer/songwriters together with some random top notch musicians, turned into a full album with multiple bands and styles that reflect a variety of sounds from Austin’s vibrant music scene.
The Holiday HAAM JAM All Star Band and benefit CD developed from a whimsical thought by Dr. Shane Matt of Authentic Smiles Dental Studio in early November 2011 in downtown Austin after hosting a show with Rod Williams, Shelley Mac and Jimmy Ruggiere. Rod and Dr. Matt loosely concocted a plan to have a holiday party, record it, and sell CD’s to raise money for HAAM.
Dr. Matt approached Mark Addison, of the Aerie Recording Studio, to engineer the recording but Addison convinced him to do it right and volunteered his studio and services to make an album. It became a dream come true after recruiting singer/songwriter Wendy Colonna to organize the project. Bassist Andrew Duplantis (Son Volt, Jon Dee Graham) and percussionist Dony Wynn (Robert Palmer, Brooks & Dunn, Robert Plant) were the first players to commit to the project, only to be followed by a windfall of many of Austin’s finest musicians.
In less than two weeks the idea went from conception to recording nine songs in ten hours on a Sunday afternoon. No small feat with nearly thirty musicians to play! At the same time Daddies Juju and David Garza recorded their songs at studios in New Orleans and El Paso. The remaining five songs had been previously recorded and were added before mastering at The Congress House Studio. Mark Hallman graciously offered his services at the encouragement of Addison, who called him on the night between recordings. In less than a month nearly forty musicians and industry professionals came together to produce a true masterpiece.
The album features original songs and a few holiday classics by Shelley King, Kevin & Dustin Welch, Wendy Colonna, Vallejo, Rod Williams and Shelly Mac, Jon Dee Graham, David Garza, Dan Dyer, Laura Scarborough, Daddies Juju, Alfredo Y Tortilla Factory, Patrice Pike with Craig Hella Johnson & Conspirare, Haydn Vitera, and Dave Madden. Also performing in house band capacity were Michael Hale, Brad Houser, Peter Mazetti, and Jimmy Ruggiere.
Volume 2 is currently in production. For more information about sponsorships, please contact marketing@haamjam.com.
