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Sounds Crazy

A word from Robert:

I never expected this.

I never expected a record producer would suggest I release a CD of my songs – with me doing the singing. But Eric Copeland did just that back in the spring of 2017, when he dared me to put this project together.

I never expected some of these songs to ever be heard by anyone other than close friends. Every songwriter has his favorite songs that have yet to find a home. Maybe the songs aren’t radio-friendly. Maybe they don’t say what recording artists want to say. And maybe, as is the case with several of these songs, they are ironic – and Christian music has never been big on irony.

I never expected to finish this. A project with no budget, no deadline, and no official beginning is a project with no definitive end. You work on a piano track here, and add a guitar track there. Three weeks later, you might lay down some BGVs. The tracks for this CD were recorded in fits and starts over a stretch of fifteen years.

But I do expect this record will come as a surprise to those familiar with my choral music, CCM songs, and musical theater work. These are not those kinds of songs. But they are as authentically a part of me as anything I’ve ever written.

So here it is – Sounds Crazy. An appropriate title, if ever there was one.

Robert (October, 2019)

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CREDITS

Produced by Robert Sterling
Executive Producer: Eric Copeland

Doug Sarrett recorded the rhythm tracks for “Love Is the Better Way,” the drums and B3 for “Sounds Crazy,” the piano & strings for “Church”, and the choir for “Riverside.”

Aaron Sterling, Gary Lunn, Mark Baldwin, Frank Hames, and Robert Sterling recorded everything else.

Doug Sarrett mixed the piano & strings on “Church.” Robert is to blame for the rest of the mixes.

John Mayfield of Mayfield Mastering, Nashville, TN, mastered the project masterfully.

All the vocals, keyboards, programming, and arranging are by Robert, except where noted.

SOUNDS CRAZY
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Guitars – Larry Rolando
B3 – David Hamilton

LOVE WORKS WONDERS
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Bass – Gary Lunn
Guitars – Larry Rolando

RIVERSIDE
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Guitars – Mark Baldwin
Choir – Nashville Session Singers
(Melodie Kirkpatrick, contractor)

NOT ABOUT ME
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Guitars – Larry Rolando

CASUAL OBSERVER
Just Robert

OUTTA HERE
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Guitars – Larry Rolando

STUPID PEOPLE
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Guitars – Larry Rolando

THE TRIO
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Bass – Gary Lunn
Guitars – Larry Rolando
Piano Solo – Frank Hames
BGVs – Cindy Sterling & Robert Sterling

CHURCH
Piano – David Hamilton
Strings – Nashville String Machine
Piano & Strings recorded & mixed by Doug Sarrett

BIGGER THAN THAT
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Guitars – Larry Rolando
Harmon Mute Trumpet – Stephen Spink

MEDITATION OF MY HEART
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Bass – Gary Lunn
Guitars – Larry Rolando

LOVE IS THE BETTER WAY
Drums & Percussion – Aaron Sterling
Bass – Craig Nelson
Guitars – Mark Baldwin
Keyboards – David Hamilton
BGVs – Cindy Sterling & Robert Sterling

WE PRAISE YOU
Drums – Aaron Sterling
Guitar – Larry Rolando
BGVs – Cindy Sterling & Robert Sterling

LEAVING US TO SAY GOODBYE
(Written in memory of Luke Garrett)
Just Robert

All songs by Robert Sterling © Robert Matthew Sterling Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved except
“Bigger Than That” by Warren Sellers & Robert Sterling © 2002 by Warrensong Music & Two Fine Boys Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved.

Thanks to...

…Eric. This would not have happened but for your persistence.

…John Mayfield. You made the mixes sound like a real record.

…all the musicians who contributed to this labor of love. In particular, thanks to my son, Aaron. It’s a rare pleasure for a dad to get to work with his son like this.

…Cindy. You not only put up with this nonsense, you encouraged me to do it.

A word from the Executive Producer:

Several years ago, Robert sent me some songs that didn’t exactly fit the “Christian music as usual” mold. But the demos, sung by Robert himself, were magical. These songs stayed on my personal playlist, and my wife and I enjoyed them very much.

I began joking that he needed to put these songs out on an album. Robert didn’t believe me, so I got serious. People inside and outside Nashville know the amazing talent in the Christian music industry, but not many know the unique musical talents behind some of Christian music’s great songwriters, arrangers, producers, and musicians. 

I’m so glad I kept on him, pushing and cajoling until finally…we have what you hear now. I even got the title I always dreamed of – Robert Sterling Sounds Crazy. I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I have.

Thank you Robert for being a (mostly) good sport, and also for being a mentor, friend, and one of my personal playlist favorites.

Eric Copeland (October, 2019)
EricCopelandMusic.com