“Before the Storm” is the first single from Laurasia’s new album, “Brotherhood: The East River Songs.”

The music was composed by guitarist John Houshmand, with lyrics by violinist Jonathan Levi. The band performed an earlier version of this song in 1975-1976.

Guitarist/producer Patrick S. Noonan describes the process of updating the song for the new recording:

“Like most of the tunes we have revisited for this new recording, we slowed things way down and opened them up. On this song in particular, we invited Jonathan’s old friend and band-mate, Chucho Merchán , to play the bass part. Chucho brought in a fellow Colombian Kike Cuao, Jr., to add the percussion. So the foundation of this new version is a fantastic rhythm section. We open the tune with John’s slide acoustic guitar, which was his original inspiration for his composition. I join on acoustic guitar harmonics, and Jonathan’s entrance in violin is with him multi-tracking a string part. Of course, the highlight of the song is Jonathan’s daughter Rebecca on lead vocals. Plus we get our longtime collaborator Paul Lieberman on flute and piccolo. It was really fun cooking up that studio stew!”

Violinist Levi adds:

“Yes, of course it’s a thrill having daughter Rebecca – who also lives in South America, by the way – take on the vocal part. Back in the 70s, we had a wonderful set of lyrics by our vocalist Galen Brandt, but given the theme we had chosen for this album – the island of Nantucket, where the band spend so much time in our prime – I saw an opportunity to recast what once had been ‘Slide Song’ as a stylized biography of a real person we knew on the Island. Her life, not coincidentally, also serves as a great platform for the other themes of the album. Those will become clearer as the entire album becomes available.”

Music by John Houshmand
Lyrics by Jonathan Levi

• • Rebecca Levi vocals
  • Patrick S. Noonan guitars, mandolin
  • Jonathan Levi violin
  • John Houshmand guitars
  • Paul Lieberman flute
  • Chucho Merchán bass
  • Kike Cuao, Jr. percussion

Produced by Patrick S. Noonan & Jonathan Levi

Recorded by:

• Trammell Starks, StudioMagic (Atlanta, GA)
• Tim Stambaugh, Word of Mouth (New Orleans, LA)
• Alfonso Astudillo, Rama Studios (La Unión, Rivers Region, Chile)
• Additional recording in Atlanta, Bogotá, Boston, Cetona (Italy), Greensboro (NC)

Mixed by Trammell Starks / Mastered by Bruce Barielle