Blessid Union of Souls - Part 2
Signed a Record Deal Blessid Union of Souls story
At this time Matt, Eliot and I decide that Eliot and I would be the artists in the band and Matt would be the producer. And Matt decided to make CP Roth an associate producer. So there it is. Eliot and Jeff at this time are the Blessid Union Of Souls.
As fall of 1992 approaches, the demo is mixed and ready for delivery to all the major record labels. After sending the demo out I noticed this small label with some pretty big artists on it named "SBK Records". (Vanilla Ice and Wilson Phillips) I asked Mark if they sent a demo to them. He said no so they got one out right away to go along with all the others.
I think it was Bruce Carbone of Polydor that first called back and scheduled a visit to Cincinnati to see the band showcase. But wait, Blessid Union is two guys, Jeff Pence (me) and Eliot Sloan. So we decide to have CP Roth play keyboards and we flew in Eddie Hedges to play percussion. We did the showcase unplugged with just an acoustic guitar, a keyboard plugged into a small amp, Eddie with a tambourine and shaker and we would all sing with no microphones with the record exec sitting with our manager in some chairs just a few feet away. The showcase wasn’t even in the recording studio but instead it was in a photography studio down the hallway at Longworth Hall. Thank you Teri Campbell.
So CP Roth always said he was going to play keyboards in the band if that day ever came, and he called first dibs on the front right top bunk in the bus. Eliot and I had played with Cincinnati native drummer Eddie Hedges in two separate bands and thought he would be perfect but he lived in LA now. After many phone calls and flight arrangements Eddie was in for the showcase.
So the showcase was an acoustic set with just an acoustic guitar, a keyboard controller with a piano sound, and some shakers and tambourines. No mics or PA. Just sing into the room. The first showcase went on without a hitch and Bruce was very happy. He had to go back to New York and discuss things with the company and would get back with us. There were a few other labels as well that came in for those few days and listened, and most were impressed but all went back to discuss things with their companies.
Less than 24 hours after Eddie gets back to California he gets a call from the band saying "Eddie you gotta come back. 3 more labels want to come right now to see us". They were Fred Davis with EMI Records, Debbie Southwood-Smith with Chrysalis and Pete Ganbarg with non other than SBK Records. EMI owned both Chrysalis and SBK Records. Fred Davis worked for EMI and was the boss of both Debbie and Pete which were A&R executives of their respective labels. Fred was interested in the group and both Debbie and Pete had been in Fred's office within a few days of each other saying they liked the band.
The showcase of acoustic songs went well again for the 3 record execs and after going back to the studio down the hall to listen to some more song demos they had not heard yet, they all said, "Give us a few minutes to talk in private". They came out of the room 15 minutes later and announced "You have a deal". That never happens! So in January 1993, Eliot and I signed a record deal with SBK/Chrysalis/EMI Records and would spend the next 9 months with producer Matt Senatore, associate producer CP Roth, Engineers Jerry Lane, Ashley Shepard, me (Jeff Pence), and manager Mark Liggett recording our first cd "Home". And let’s not forget our South American intern Felipe Torres Espinosa. Many great times and memories with that crew!
Here is an updated version of “Hey Leonardo - She Likes Me For Me” by our new group “The ReUnion of Souls”