It seems like whenever there's a tragedy, there's a good-hearted musician out there ready to lend a hand. Most, however, are not usually as speedy and organized as Eric Swanson, who has just released "Weathering the Storm: Hurricane Relief from Musicians Around the Globe," which benefits Hurricane Katrina victims via the American Red Cross.
"We managed to get the project from start to finish in 60 days," says Swanson. "A lot of people had a hand in making sure this project came to fruition."
The disc includes 20 songs by musicians from across the globe, all of whom Swanson says he met online.
"I'm a member of an online community of many musicians; we all met through various message boards over time. My relationship with many of these folks dates back several years and is more on a personal level than a band level. In fact, what you hear on the disk, in most cases, are not bands, but individuals like me, who write and record songs in bedroom and basement project studios."
According to Swanson, the musicians on the disc come from such far-flung locales as France, Spain, Canada, the UK, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Delaware, California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and, of course, Wisconsin.
Some songs on the disc were created by musicians in more than one place, too, Swanson says.
"One good example of this is the song 'Out Walking.' One of the musicians hails from Spain and the other from Canada. The song 'Poor Man Knows' was written and produced by a gentleman in Texas, but crucial parts of the song also came from individuals in New Jersey and Minnesota. Other songs, like mine, were done start to finish by a single individual who handled all aspects of writing and recording the song.
"I am the sole musician on the disc from Wisconsin, but there are other musicians in our circle who are from Wisconsin. My associate producer Charles Rathmann, like me, hails from Milwaukee. He doesn't appear on the CD, but simply put, this project would not have gotten done without his assistance."
Assistance was what helped Swanson make "Weathering the Storm" a reality and in just two months.
"I merely suggested to the group that we might consider putting a CD together to help the hurricane victims (and) my friends echoed back that it was a good idea," Swanson recalls. "After considering all that would be involved for a couple of days, I announced to them that I'd make the effort if they'd be willing to pitch in and within two weeks I had all the material that you hear on the disk."
Musicians uploaded their tunes -- which range in style from blues to jazz to new age to rock, country and contemporary Christian -- to Swanson's FTP account and he was on his way. What he needed next was financial assistance and that came from his employer Metavante.
"Without a fiscal sponsor, it would have been very difficult to get this project done in a timely manner. I am blessed to work for a company that cares deeply about the well-being of people. Metavante is a subsidiary of M&I bank and ... over the years they've forged a strong relationship with the American Red Cross, so when the time came to searching for someone to fund the project, Metavante/M&I was the obvious choice.
"All I had to do was present the concept and let them listen to the music," Swanson says. " It became quickly apparent that it was a good match. All it took was a single conversation and the funds were secured."
M&I set up an account to get the money directly to the Red Cross and Swanson was ready to release the disc.
"I am honored to be among this group of talented musicians and it's totally gratifying to know that we've created an album that can be both high quality and of great purpose. And besides, it makes a phenomenal stocking stuffer."
"Weathering the Storm" is available at the project Web site, reliefCD.com.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
