DESCRIPTION:
EVERYBODY’S RECOVERING FROM SOMETHING

It’s just the truth. When we were younger we thought recovery was something “those people” needed to do… certainly not us. In fact, more often than not, a part of us took a certain amount of pride in the fact that whatever we were going through we weren’t as bad as “them”. Then we grew up, lived a few decades and discovered we’re all in the same boat. We’re all facing some sort of affliction or addiction that has shaken our world, or the world of someone we love, and the only way “our is “through”. This album is for those of us on the road to recovery.

In the spirit of full disclosure, we’re songwriters who’ve been around a while and grew up believing in the power of music to change lives. It isn’t arrogance that wrote these songs, our egos aren’t that big. We’re not pretending this collection of tunes will be all anyone needs to recover from whatever has broken in their lives and needs repair. We’ve learned that often the songs that “trigger” substance abuse (or any other addictive behavior) are easy to identify, though not always that easy to set aside. Unfortunately, upon re-entering. the world outside the clinic there isn’t a readily available “soundtrack to recovery” to help trigger the hope, the courage, the endurance or the faith to make it through the next few moments, hours, days or years. Everything we’ve written and recorded here has been done with the hope that this album might be part of your soundtrack to recovery.

http://www.2recovery.org“Soundtrax 2 Recovery”
John Batdorf & Michael McLean

“Everybody's Recovering From Something” it says on the back cover. Alcohol, drugs, gambling, a broken heart, the loss of a loved one, you name it. Some are lost forever, some are struggling to overcome, some just need a helping hand or something to inspire them to begin the long journey. John Batdorf and Michael McLean, two talented songwriters and musicians and in the case of John, awesome vocalists, have put together just such an inspiration, but more to the point, a celebration and a tribute to everyone who has tried and is trying and who hopes to try to overcome their own addiction to whatever that “Something” might be and make a speedy and permanent recovery.

To those of us who have followed John Batdorf's “Solo” career, some (many? most?) of the songs on this CD will sound familiar because we've heard them before. Sort of... in a different context, in a different mix or even in a different recording session. But these are not repeats of previous songs like in a “greatest hits” collection. They are much, much more than that! These aren't even re-interpretations of the songs you've heard before. They are re-inspirations. They are... refinements. They are... gripping, haunting, exhilarating, inspiring, saddening, proud, poignant, hopeful, soulful, determined, and all very completely heart-catching.

But don't let me mislead you: there are new songs here too, and they are as inspiring and original and soulful as the refined ones. The most personal is the first where John introduces the “soundtrack concert” with the profound statement that defines the whole project as a gift to all of us: “These aren't just my songs; I'm passing them along because I heard them first.” And, while all of the songs aren't newly written, it feels as if they were all new with the chrome and polish still on them, shiny and sparkling in the sun, and the new-car smell, of course. Harmonies and vocal deliveries and counterpoint melodies to the music all build up a new sense of purpose and a spine tingling, poignant swelling of emotion like you haven't felt in a long time.

If there is one flaw to this album, it is that it is almost too good. You can't go from one height to another without descending into the valleys between, and the sheer mass of inspired music-making and soul-searching and gut-wrenching and tear-welling songs here can overwhelm you. It is difficult to “get your arms around” the whole of this long and lovely and inspiring mix of songs. It's almost too much of a good thing. My suggestion is to play one song a day; listen to it without interruption and with your full attention. If you have the opportunity, listen to it several times. Then the next day, move on to the next song. If you're not moved every day by the Song of the Day, then you're just not paying attention!

Okay, there's one other flaw: It does nothing to cure me of my addiction to the music of John Batdorf and Michael McLean, it only deepens it.

Dennis Wasnich
December, 2013