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Greg Maroney has been one of my favorite artists since I was asked to review his 2002 CD, “Sentinel.” He recently released his seventh album, “The Garden Gate,” which contains some of his best work yet. Over the past several years, I’ve worked with Greg to get his most popular pieces into sheet music form, and I feel very privileged to be able to know his music in such an intimate way. Much of Greg’s music reflects his natural surroundings, and he is equally adept at conveying a delicate breeze or a raging storm. Greg is a wonderful composer/pianist, a trauma nurse, and a gentleman farmer, so enjoy getting a glimpse into his world! We did our first interview back in 2005, so it seemed like a great time to do an update. The older interview is also on this site.
KP: It’s hard to believe it’s been more than three years since we last did an interview! Tell me everything that has happened to you since November 2005. (Kidding!)
Maroney: Hi Kathy. It IS hard to believe that it has been so long. Time flies like the wind. My wife and I just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, and we are also wondering where the time went. But, I must say I have been busy with music, the garden and fixing up our old farmhouse. I have released two CDs since the last interview, “Seven Valleys,” and the most recent CD “The Garden Gate.” I have also been transcribing the songs into sheet music, and recently finished a complete transcription of “The Garden Gate.” Having you proof all the scores has been invaluable - it really makes the music solid and playable. If it passes your red pen, I know it’s ready!
KP: That’s great, and I always thoroughly enjoy working on your music! Love it! Let’s talk about your new CD, “The Garden Gate.”
Maroney: The new CD comes out of our land and our life here in rural south central Pennsylvania. We have a small farm with a large vegetable and flower garden that we tend. Not only does the land provide us with wholesome food, but the pure act of nurturing the earth and having green plants grow that sustain us is truly a wonderful thing. It nourishes our souls. I tried to capture that feeling in the music for this CD.
KP: Where did the title come from?
Maroney: The title came from the piece “The Garden Gate,” which is about walking up to a garden gate and peering beyond it to all the green, lush plants that are on the other side. What magic lies beyond? What mystery lies beyond this gate? Life? Adventure? Love?
KP: I know that some of your earlier recordings were done digitally on your home MIDI grand and then sent off to a studio with a MIDI concert grand for mastering. Is that what you did this time?
Maroney: Well, it’s a long story. I did have a Yamaha C6 Disklavier. It certainly took the anxiety out of recording in a studio. I could play the song in my home studio, capture the MIDI data, do some slight editing with a MIDI program, and then send the finished disk to LA where a great technician who has a Yamaha CFIII Disklavier Pro would insert the disk and run it through in straight time to record the album. It cut the cost of the studio to about a third of what it normally is to record a whole album. But I recently sold that piano and purchased a Yamaha CS, which is an 8’2” grand. It has a beautiful tone and great action. We spent about a week recording the new album, but at the final cut I did not like the way it sounded. At the risk of getting too technical, the attack of the hammers was too harsh and sharp, and there were overtones that I did not find pleasant. It just did not sound right for the music in this album. I decided I needed to change the hammers to a softer felt, but did not really want to wait for that to happen before I recorded the album. I was ready! So on to plan B. I found a recording studio about an hour’s drive from my house, Schoolhouse Productions in Reading, Pennsylvania. The recording engineer is Marty Mellinger, an incredible musician who has a wonderful Yamaha CFIII 9 foot concert grand. The piano has a nice round, rich tone. He gave great advice and encouraged me to play with deep emotion and a clean sound. He really pushed me! I was happy with the end result, and we released the CD a couple of weeks ago.
KP: Is working in the garden still a big part of your life?
Maroney: It is a big part of my life. Not only do we get good food from it (strawberries are just in now), but I love being out in the open air around green growing things. The plants have no other agenda, and if you give them a little water, compost and sunlight, they grow. I am also a trauma nurse, which can get a little, shall I say, exciting? And, I see my share of tragedy. Just being in the garden is tremendously soothing and washes me clean from the inside. Music also does that.
KP: Let’s talk about some of the songs on the new CD. What inspired you to compose “Rolling Joy”?
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