Headphone Work In Progress 1998-200- CD

PromiseLab was born out of a shared vision between Shayne Hudson (vocals, guitar) and Larry Rohleder (drums). As roommates in an East Baltimore row house, Shayne, a singer-songwriter and blues devotee, recorded songs in the basement of their building, aka 'the lab,' while Larry, more rock oriented, as well as a sucker for a good pop song, plotted the formation of his own label, which would become TbN AUDiO. 'The stuff coming out of the basement was just great, even in its primitive form. I thought I'd start a label, sign Shayne, and build a band around his material,' Larry recalls. But the two found that finding the right players was a bigger challenge than making the music. 'We had more difficulty than anticipated in finding people who not only shared the vision, but were without circumstances (baggage/commitment issues),' said Shayne.

Undiscouraged, the duo decided to enter Wright Way Studios with Steve Wright wearing the producer/engineer hat, to lay down the basic tracks on their own. As fate would have it, a few of the best session musicians in the area were available. They hired a guitarist and bassist to complete the sonic portrait. The sessions were a breakthrough. 'Vocally I did a lot of things I never did before - different kinds of phrasing. I approached the songs very soulfully, which I think comes across on the album,' says Hudson. Rohleder adds, 'We treated each song differently and used instruments that were like a dream come true for us - organs, mandolin, horns, lap steel, multiple snare drums, etc! We kept it very organic, but weren't afraid to go beyond where either of us had been before.