Grant Mitchell studio

News

A very warm welcome along to my website which will hopefully give you some idea of my experience and passion as a producer and musician. Although by no means completely comprehensive, you will find a wealth of variety in the links to some of the records that I have arranged, played and produced over the last 30 years or so.

Some of the music you may well be familiar with and others perhaps not. I have though, been most fortunate to work with some of the most gifted and well known artists, musicians, arrangers, and engineers through the course of my career. I hope you will take a little time to check out some of the tracks that I’ve worked on.

The Music Industry today is a rather different animal than it was when I began my professional career some 30 years ago. Formats and sales figures have changed and certainly the way that people consume music now is vastly altered. However, Music has always been about connecting with others and there is certainly no shortage of great young singers. writers and musicians out there waiting to be heard.

It may well be increasingly difficult to break though or to make a living in music, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow your heart and your passion. I believe that if you work hard, learn your craft and of course, have ability, tenacity and soul, then talent will out. Keep at it!

Update – February 2020.

Apologies friends, for the lack of updates on the site. I have been extremely busy though, spending time working in both the US and in the UK. I am very much looking forward to a series of shows that I am doing with my dear friend and enormously gifted singer-songwriter Julia Fordham this year in both the East and West coast of America. I have listed the forthcoming shows below. Julia is also planning to record more material for release through the course of this year, so please look out for that.

I have been spending a great deal of time over the past 3 years or so, writing and working on a Musical with my other long-time collaborator and friend Marti Pellow. It does seem to be now coming to fruition and we had it performed by 12 actors and singers recently at a very exciting workshop in London. I’m extremely hopeful that we will soon see it go into full production in theatres in the UK.

Marti and I recently performed several songs on the Late Late show in Ireland. We were given such a warm welcome there with the most wonderful crew and house band and it was such a blast to be back in Dublin, one of my favourite cities in the world. Marti will also be touring the UK later on in 2020 and I hope to be joining him on at least some of the dates. He has been working on a new album with the legendary producer/engineerAndrew Scheps and I have been fortunate enough to have been involved in the making of that too.

I do hope that I will be able to meet some of you over the next year at some of the shows and thank you for your continued interest in my work.

Grant. x

Due to phenomenal demand, a THIRD show has been added at Joe’s Pub in NYC on May 3rd. Tickets are on sale now.

Lat few tickets remaining in Philadelphia, Cambridge and Evanston – Get Them While You Can!!

The New Magic, Old Memories tour sees Julia perform her first USA tour in over 8 years and visiting some of her favourite singer/songwriter venues.

Finally, an update……March 2017.

Driving along the freeway in the “Tang” (Mustang) to United (Ocean Way), LA

Just a quick update to tell you about a very exciting album project that has just been released. It’s a new album by Marti Pellow titled “Mysterious” which I have produced and arranged. I co-wrote all the songs with Marti and my old friend and wonderful singer songwriter Conner Reeves, and also the incredible Allee Willis (“September”, Boogie Wonderland- Earth Wind & Fire amongst many others).

It was written predominantly in Los Angeles and recorded at Ocean Way Studios (now called it’s original name “United”)with some of the worlds finest musicians including the Tower Of Power Horns (Santana, Grateful Dead. Little Feat, Aaron Neville), the world renowned rhythm section featuring Lenny Castro (Percussion), Freddie Washington (Bass), Herman Mathews (Drums) and Dean Parks (Guitar), who have also worked with musicians as diverse as Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, The Crusaders and Elton John. Truly, people at the very top of their game.

Recording “Mysterious” in Ocean Way. L to R- Freddie Washington (Bass) Me (Keys, Producer) Scott Moore (Assistant Engineer), Herman Mathews (Drums), Mr Pellow (shy and retiring singer) Ren Swan (genius Engineer and Mixer), Lenny Castro (Percussion), Dean Parks (Guitar).

The Album has a very “retro” feel to it and I made a conscious decision to endeavour to keep the production techniques and arrangements rooted very much in a 70’s vibe. We were hoping to tip our hat to the glorious sounds of people like Earth Wind and Fire and Quincy Jones who has been an inspiration to me as an arranger and producer. It’s a very soulful, hot and also upbeat record.
 
It really was an absolute joy to work on and the whole process of writing and recording happened very spontaneously and pretty swiftly. In actual fact, Marti and I had initially only planned to write a few songs for future recording, but because it happened so quickly and I was able to source the most wonderful musicians to come on board with the project, we just decided to go full steam ahead and record the whole album.
Everyone who gradually came to the party was energised and inspired by the songs and the stellar company. I think it’s actually pretty rare these days to make an album like this, with people of this calibre and I believe that was reflected in the enthusiasm and performances that we captured in the studio.

Me playing the famous “Frank Sinatra” Piano in the studios at Ocean Way, Los Angeles.

It was an absolute joy to be part of, and interestingly, these legendary musicians and performers felt the same way. They were so very complimentary about the songs, the arrangements and Marti’s singing. And it certainly helped to spur Marti and I on to complete this album…. Something we’ve been talking about doing for 10 years!!
M&G with the T.O.P.
We are also now currently on a 10 date tour of the UK which kicked off last night in Carlisle. Marti is performing some of the tracks from the new album as well as re-worked versions of some of his older solo and Wet Wet Wet material which we’ve had great fun re-arranging for a stellar 9 piece band complete with a stunning horn section!
I’ve out a list of the tour dates for Mysterious below. I do hope that some of you might catch the show. It’s tremendous material, brilliant musicians and great fun.
Look out for the first single “Sound of my Breaking Heart” from the album which you can see here –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NaSjFnqGic
 
Much more info on the album and Marti here-
The next single will be the title track “Mysterious” which has already been playlisted at Radio 2. This and the album in general has been receiving very favourable reviews so far and critical acclaim, although it’s very early days.
I am though, very proud of this work and I hope people get to hear it and enjoy it too. It’s definitely a celebration of good songwriting, arrangements, great old school grooves and some absolutely fabulous performances and musicality………
 
 

March 2017
15th Carlisle
17th Manchester
18th Llandudno
19th Cardiff
21st York
22nd Glasgow
24th Gateshead
25th Birmingham
26th London
27th Plymouth
I’ve also been writing and working with an extremely gifted young singer-songwriter called “Connie Talbot”.
Connie actually won Britain’s Got Talent at an implausibly young age some 10 years or so ago and has now developed into a quite extraordinary talent. We wrote a couple of great songs together with my dear friend Mark (Kipper) Eldridge who is a very gifted songwriter and producer in his own right.
You can see Connie and I performing a version of the song that I co-wrote with Emili Sande, “Clown”. She did an amazing job and her performance really does belie her years. Although, this was just for fun because she loved that song and was at her request. Check her out on her Youtube channel receiving literally millions of hits here-
Definitely someone to look out for in the near future.
I am also lastly very thrilled and honoured to have been asked to be invited to act as a judge in the Ivor Novello awards for songwriting this year. I am. of course, sworn to complete secrecy, but it was a great privilege to be asked, and also good fun too.

On the way to the Ivor’s judging.

Older News.-

Please do also check out, if you can, another album that I recorded last year with my old musical partner and dear friend Julia Fordham – “The Language Of Love”. It really does have some beautiful performances on there and was recorded in Los Angeles with some of the worlds foremost musicians. It is largely a covers album, but with a twist. These are jazz re-interpretations of well known pop songs and Julia sings them so beautifully.

Here are some of the things that people are saying about it-

Long time Julia Fordham fan although not a fan of Jazz I was somewhat surprised how much I absolutely loved this album. Beautifully produced and arranged tracks with stunning vocal performance. There isn’t much Julia Fordham can’t sing and sound like an angel. Perfection!

A remarkable piece of work from one of the most underrated artists from the UK. Classic songs given the ‘Julia’ stamp. You could so easily just lose yourself in the velvet tones. Well done Julia

Please everybody, buy this – you will not be disappointed. Loved Julia’s voice forever & it seems to be getting better. This is a brilliant album – superb arrangements, stunning vocals -superb!

You’ll find some links to a few of the tracks on Julia Fordham’s “The Language Of Love” on my “Music Production Watch/Listen page.