It’s a real pleasure to finally announce the release of Lisa Saunders’ much anticipated CD, Infatuación! This project actually began in August of 2014 when Lisa decided that it was high time to record her own CD. At this point the concept of the project was a blank canvas. We decided that her first recording should be an album of popular cover tunes. They would be rearranged in a fashion that would give each selection an identity reflective of Lisa’s amazing voice and her sparkling personality.

I felt the need for a common thread that would tie these tunes together to give the album cohesion. That ‘thread’ – as it turned out ‒ was the Latin influence evident in most of the newly arranged tunes. We turned to some of Lisa’s good friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for help in the production. Lisa had met the house band for the Rock hot spot in town known as Cabo Wabo (Sammy Hagar’s club) and had sat in with them. The performance was memorable. Drummer extraordinaire Geovan Olachea took the reins and agreed to do all of the rhythm tracks at Green Sugar Studio in Cabo San Lucas.

Meanwhile in Colorado, Lisa and I waited for completed rhythm tracks to roll in as MP3 files. We had certain suggestions as to the production of the tracks and all were corrected almost immediately. Geovan finally flew to Colorado with the finished rhythm tracks.

Geovan ‒ affectionately known as Geo ‒ and I hit it off right from the git-go. In the past two years I have grown to love my co-producer, not only as a world class musician but as a delightful human being. He has become a surrogate son to me. Without Geo and his fellow musicians this album would not have reached the level of musicality and emotional breadth that is evident on this recording!

We set up shop at Eagle Sound in Durango, Colorado and began adding all of Lisa’s vocal tracks. Then I hired sax, trumpet and keyboard players to enhance the rhythm and lead tracks. We also added additional guitar and percussion parts. At this point we actually changed some of the original arrangements to conform to the new overall sound.

Meanwhile, Lisa and I began working with Colorado graphic designer Bill Hudson, to create an 8-page booklet to accompany the album, based on a poem I’d written on, based on the spiritual and romantic journey Lisa had been taking during the production process. The booklet cover and interior blended surrealistic views of the “Cabo-rado” experience:

My poem reflected the same spiritual journey:

A Fantasy of Infatuation

Lost in a dreamworld, haunted by the beguiling specter of romance,
finding her way by moonlight to the dizzying heights of elation…

The muse is her constant companion guiding her through this mystical realm,
a world built on the lilting lyrics of lust and temptation…

From misty mountains high where rivers run cold and lonely souls seek warmth,
she floats on a song, seeking her destination…

On this sensuous journey where time is measured in heartbeats,
and the stars become stepping stones, love is her only salvation…

Cast into the Valley of Heartbreak and Despair, she stumbles and falls,
losing her way through God’s great Creation…

Frustrated by fears, blinded by tears, she carries on, searching for the elusive prize:
the mythical, magical peak of sensation…

In the end, it’s the singer, not the song, that she had the power all along,
to be a part of this joyful jubilation…

Finding herself in erotic paradise, enchanted kingdom by the sea;
in her lover’s arms there’s a revelation — the fantasy of infatuation.

The CD was nearly completed when Lisa halted production. She was not pleased with her vocal tracks and wanted time off, to work on her voice and presentation. Venita Burch, Lisa’s professional vocal coach and confidant, began a rigorous regimen of vocal ‘calisthenics’ and went over each tune until Lisa was pleased with her performance. All the while Lisa had been singing with different bands and performing Karaoke. By the time we went back into the studio, Lisa had developed a more mature voice, one with strength but at the same time more relaxed. Her phrasing and delivery were much improved from the year before. Geo and I were impressed with her pursuit of excellence which seemed to transcend the music.

In August of 2016 Infatuación was finally mixed, mastered and manufactured! It took exactly two years but in the end we feel that Lisa has succeeded, creating a CD that is both listenable and straight from the heart ‒ a tall order for a first album.

We are now considering a new CD that will consist of original songs written by me and other songwriters expressly for Lisa Saunders. Geo and I look forward to helping our friend grow musically and emotionally, and the next recording should be a killer!

Please keep in touch with us on this website, and start a dialogue with Lisa and the rest of our international crew. We appreciate any comments or critiques and hope to hear from you, our dear friends, soon.

Thanks,

DC Duncan, Producer

DC hails from Dallas and was part of the Texas music scene for many years. He studied with Mitchell Peters, formerly Principal Percussionist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra & the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and studied music at Richland College under friend, Paul Guerrero, of Woody Herman fame (1975-1976). He and his band, The Bee’s Knees (Derrick Records), featuring “Texas Guitar Master” Anson Funderburgh, won two Texas Music Awards in the late seventies. DC has also drummed in the studio and on stage for such illustrious headliners as Johnnie Taylor, Marc Benno, Bo Diddley, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Chuck Leavell, and others; he has opened concerts for Linda Ronstadt twice, Elvin Bishop, Spirit, Savoy Brown, Edgar Winter and many more. Mr. Duncan lived and played in Santa Fe, NM in the ‘eighties where he recorded his Eat a Chiquita album with legendary Brazilian percussionist Airto and Jimmy Carl Black from the Mothers of Invention. “Deece” lives with his beautiful wife Jaye and their dog Sophie in the sleepy little mountain town of Pagosa Springs, Colorado.