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Before we get into pictures, I first wanted to draw your attention to the unbelievable talent that participated on this CD. My good friends listed here donated their time, gas, and talent to help put this CD together and it could not have been done without their help! Here are the ones that made it happen and the ones in red are linked to their social media pages:
 

  • Bob Warwick - He played drums and congas
     

  • Matthew Godsey - He played lead guitar, rhythm guitar and keyboards
     

  • Anthony Huff - He played lead guitar, and rhythm guitar
     

  • Renee Huff - Keyboards
     

  • Tony Costa - He provided backup vocals
     

  • Sarah Yeattes - She provided backup vocals
     

  • Henry Smith - He was the engineer for the CD and it was his recording studio, "Outback Studio" that we recorded in
     

  • Emmanuel Worship Center Congregation - On the first song, "Amazing" I had the entire congregation sing backup on the chorus section of the song.
     

As I recorded, I was surrounded by notepads full of songs and soon to be songs, boxes of his own CDs and photographs of family and him with other artists. Did I mention, Henry Smith wrote one of the most popular Christian songs sung in churches today, "Give Thanks." To prove it, when I recorded, I stood in front of his Platinum Record on the wall behind me. Talking about inspiration! 
God totally blessed me by leading me to this humble, soft spoken and very talented sound engineer. Praise God!

This was my normal view for years while we came together every so often to work on the recordings. Henry was in front of his computer and Mat and Bob were going at it.

Bob hard at it. One thing you should know, Bob played in pain every day. God allowed him to play the drums and congas long enough to get the songs recorded and after we rapped, his health conditions changed, and he can no longer play the drums. 

Henry has written hundreds of worship songs over the years.

Bob's unique creative style of playing was perfect for the songs. Next time you listen to one of the songs, listen for Bob's special drum beat. His favorite song on the CD is Dead Man Walking.

Bob's granddaughter who is a young fan of her grandfather and of his music. You might have to unmute it to hear her singing along to Bare Bones.

Mat is one of the most gifted musicians I know. He can play almost any instrument and played bass guitar on all the songs and rhythm guitar, keyboard and lead guitar on some of the songs. Listen to the songs and see if you can tell which lead guitar is his.

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Just listen to the lead guitar in songs like Angels Sang, Dead Man Walking, No Matter What, and Rejoice and you can hear the unbelievable creative style of Anthony Huff. Anthony is not only a great lead and rhythm guitar player, he also teaches guitar and guitar theory as well! 
Mat is the best bass player that I've ever heard and its not even his instrument of choice. His bass playing was so unique during the recording of the song Bare Bones, I made the bass the lead instrument. Next time you listen to that song, focus on Mat playing bass and you will see what I mean.

During the recording of the song Dirt, I asked Mat to come up with a heartbeat sound with his bass and he did. He also wanted to show me some other sounds he thought would be great for the song which turned out to be the keyboards in the beginning of the song, sounding like creation was taking place. He made the song Dirt come alive. It was originally written to be just a simple song with me and a guitar. But his creativity made the song so much better! 
Renee brought her musical expertise, ideas and talent to the recording studio. Even though her keyboard is quietly playing in the background, it brings so much to each song. You can hear her creativity and style in the song, "No Matter What" and gives the song its upbeat flavor.   
Renee Huff has her Doctorate of Musical Art and Voice Performance. She teaches piano, voice, guitar, song writing, Western Culture, the humanities and music history at Shenandoah Valley Academy and is the Director of Music Ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Staunton Virginia. Wow!
Tony is one of the humblest men I know and has an incredible singing voice.  When he gets up to sing at church, everyone gets excited. When I asked him to sing backup on the CD, he came running and I was blessed to have him sing beside me.
Tony and Henry Smith posing next to Henry's Platinum Record.
Sarah plays guitar, writes her own music and sings. I've known her since she was a little girl and her and my youngest daughter used to play together. When I decided I needed a female voice to accompany Tony as a backup singer, I knew I could count on her joining in and she did a great job!
I look old in this photo. It must be the lighting:)
Our last recording session together. These three beside me were the backbone of the CD. Mat, Henry and Bob. What a blessing from God!

What many do not know is I tried to record the CD several times over the years and had nothing but trouble and I did not like the results, so I stopped trying. God kept putting this guy in Richmond, who had a recording studio in his backyard in front of me. One person after another would bring up some guy in Richmond. God ended up moving me back to Richmond and I happened to meet the guy. His name was Henry Smith, and he had a recording studio in his backyard.  After recording with him and hearing the results, I knew I was at the right place, right where God wanted me to record.
I dedicated the CD to my friend Tim Gainey who was going to sing backup on the CD but died before he could. Tim was a backup singer on the worship team I was on and loved to sing my songs. He had a certain step and movement on stage he was known for while keeping with the beat of the songs as he sang. Those are two of his children, Allison and Timothy. 
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I know you are dying to see me in action. Here are a couple of pictures someone took of me through the glass separating the two recording areas in the studio while I was recording. Henry and I would work on effects, volume and mix together. It's hard to tell in the picture on the right but I happened to look up and see someone taking the picture and smile. 
I spent a couple of years recording in this studio. I told Henry when we first started, I would drive him nuts, but I had the sound of each song in my head, and it was going to take a while to get it out and just the way I wanted them. I said, "Henry, you remember one thing. No matter how long it takes, how bad it gets and how badly I drive you crazy to get these songs the way I want them. I'm paying you lots of money!"
Well, I hope you like the picture show of the making of Dirt. I pray that the songs lift you up, help you to stand strong in your faith and shows you God's unbelievable love for us. 

Things are about to get really bad in this world, these songs have a message of hope, love and marching orders for all born again believer!
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