Eliza Hope is an up and coming singer/songwriter whom I’ve known for a LONG time – she was a student of mine in high school, for starters. She has a really interesting mix of influences, with Lana Del Rey and Stevie Nicks at the top of her list, and a singing style that is unique and immediately recognizable. We started working on her EP towards the end of 2020. COVID-19 was raging, so we had several outdoor writing sessions in my backyard, with everyone socially-distanced so that we could unmask for a bit. “Show’s Over” was the first song from that batch that we finished recording. Eliza brought the original idea and the verses, and Jacob and I added the chorus and arrangement bits. We were so happy with this that we immediately released it as a single (impatience is an issue), but there’s a lot more to come and we can’t wait for everyone to hear it. Especially Eliza’s other former teachers, some of whom can’t believe her first single has an f bomb in the opening line.
“From the Inside, Out” is the first full-length album released by Mt. Hope Music, the catch-all for music published by our high school groups. Each of the songs were recorded at home, during the pandemic of 2020, and almost every one of the seniors in that year’s Vocal Ensemble took a turn out front, singing a solo. It’s a testament to these students and their hard work that this ended up being an eclectic, yet enjoyable, collection of music. The video for “You Love”, which was directed by Mark Bettencourt, was very popular in Rhode Island, and was used as the theme song for a fundraiser for the homeless and underprivileged, who were affected so terribly by COVID-19. Read the blog for the behind-the-scenes story of the making of this album!
Atlantis, At Last is the collected set of recordings by D. J. Lauria Band from 1993-2000. It brings together several cassette singles, the Satellite Pictures album, a few unreleased tracks, and assorted demos. It’s not even close to containing all of the music from that time period; we closed up shop just as it became cost-effective to record your own releases. Still, it’s great to finally have it memorialized, if for no other reason than that my kids will believe I once actually had a band.
Song info, in chronological order: Original demos and the “Barn Owl” single Recorded Jan-Apr 1993 at Lakewest Studios, West Greenwich, RI. Engineered by Jack Gauthier “Belinda”: Drums – Mike Stamp, Jr. Bass – Todd Stiles All other instruments/vocals – DJL Barn Owl”, “Top Cat”, “Town Librarian”, “House With Yellow Shutters”: Drums – John Andrade, Jr. All other instruments – DJL Belinda was originally recorded with the Ted Stevens Band for their self-titled cassette release in 1992. We kept the drum and bass tracks for this demo, and re-recorded all of the rest. More info on the “Barn Owl” single
Live to DAT and the “Time That I Forgot” single Recorded Feb 1994 at Lakewest “Time That I Forgot”, “Previous Engagement”, “As The Sun Fell”, “Play This, Pete”, “Actual Condition”, “All I Need”: Bass – Todd Stiles Drums – John Andrade, Jr. All other instruments – DJL More info on the “Time That I Forgot” single
“Another One Like Me” Recorded May 1994 at Celebration Sounds, Pawtucket, RI Engineered by a recording class, for practice (!) Bass – John Sundström Drums – John Andrade, Jr. All other instruments – DJL
Satellite Pictures sessions Recorded Sep 1996 at Lakewest “Day Before We Met”, “Emergency Stop”, “Huddleston Pond”: Bass/vocals – John Sundström Drums/vocals – John Andrade, Jr. All other instruments – DJL More info on the “Satellite Pictures” album
Public Therapy single Recorded Sep 1997 at The Music Grind Engineered by J. Brien “What Is It About You”, “Public Therapy”: Bass/vocals – John Sundström Drums/vocals – John Andrade, Jr. All other instruments – DJL More info on the “Public Therapy” single
“Christmas Morning, 5:00AM” Home recording from Dec 1999. Remastered for this release, 2019 Bass/vocals – John Sundström Drums/vocals – John Andrade, Jr. All other instruments – DJL I wrote and recorded a demo version of this for Mike Davidson’s All Star Christmas, Vol II (with Mike on drums) the year before. This was the first song I ever engineered at home, and it was a mess, so I’m particularly happy to have this remixed version ready for the twenty-year anniversary!
“Show Me An Angel” Home recording from 2001. Remastered for this release, 2019 Bass – Sean Finnerty Drums – John Andrade, Jr. All other instruments – DJL
After we had performed “To Belong” for the final time last year, Alycia Tierney, a rising senior (and Vocal Ensemble president-elect) came to me and declared, “I’M writing next year’s graduation song”. My answer was something like, “yah, ok, can we talk about it in six months or so?” As it turned out, we sat down with only a title at the beginning of April, and by the beginning of May we had this beautiful song finished, with a studio-quality demo and choral arrangement. It’s so wonderfully personal, with great details about her life, while being just wistful enough to make you miss high school and your friends, even if you’re not the one graduating. It’s one of my all-time favorite co-writes. The 70s Fleetwood Mac vibe was entirely intentional, and stands as a pretty significant contrast to last year’s pop-oriented arrangement. There are great background vocals from Colby, Jacob P., Jenna, and Sam, and, of course, that’s Jacob Lauria on drums. We were severely pressed for time the day we did the tracking, so I cut the lead guitar track in one take. Sometimes we make our own pressure for fun, I suppose. Released as an online single in June, 2019.
This was a fun piece to write, and it’s one of my favorite choral works, so far. It’s dedicated to Fr. Robert Hawkins, the former pastor at St. Luke’s, and was originally performed at his retirement mass in June of 2018. The title is taken from one of his best-loved homilies. It wasn’t easy to record, since we were so scattered (Caroline literally ‘phoned’ her part in from Maryland), but as always, the vocalists of Listen Above brought the words to life. It has also been performed by the Mt. Hope Vocal Ensemble, who featured it at the Providence College Choral Festival in February, 2019. Released as an online single in October, 2018. Please check our website for tour dates and more information about the band.
