Cameron Mizell

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Here’s one final track to preview before the music on Tributary is finished. “The Return” is the musical response to the title track, which you can hear as a work in progress in this previous post. Much like the title track, this isn’t a funk tune, and there are no open improv sections. The tune serves as a compositional anchor for the rest of the album, and many of the musical elements you hear in the song are pulled from the tunes that precede it (it’s the penultimate track). Of course, it’s also a chance for us to rock out a little bit–when I wrote this one, my wife first referred to it as the “monster ballad.” I guess it’s sort of my nod to the epic rock bands I listen to from time to time!

“The Return” features some tasty drumming by Kenneth in the middle of the tune, and I got Lauren Zettler to record some background vocals at the end. Brad is playing the Hammond organ, and I handled the guitars and even added a little glockenspiel.

The album is headed into the mastering studio next, and then the music is finished! Meanwhile I’m working with designer Philip Manning on the artwork, and we’ve just about chosen the album cover. His ideas are so great I may have to turn one into a t-shirt! There are several more pieces that have to fall into place before I’ll be able to release the album, but I’ll discuss those in a later post. For now, just enjoy the music.

Here’s a video of an early performance of “The Return” from over a year ago, shortly after writing it: