Adventures in Reality: Songs from the Words of Real People (Mostly) (The Michael Friedman Collection) [World Premiere Recording]
Adventures in Reality is a collection of Michael Friedman songs mostly created for various Civilians shows and cabarets, with lyrics taken from verbatim transcripts of interviews. The Album also includes Michael’s collaboration with playwright John Guare in a song about Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” with lyrics written by Guare. Meet an art curator and an art patron grappling with beauty, sex, love, and race in two songs created during The Civilians year-long residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hear from Occupy Wall Street activists navigating the exhausting work of political protest and democratic change. Step inside the wild imagination of visionary poet Arthur Rimbaud and experience his poetry through a theatrical lens. From a modern-day match maker to an aging porn star, these songs use the real words of various ordinary and extraordinary people, proving that truth is indeed stranger and more wonderful than fiction.
Album Producer(s): Steve Cosson & Kurt Deutsch
Album Executive Producer(s): Sh-K-Boom Records and The Civilians
Album Co-Producers: Ian Kagey, Wiley DeWeese
Mixed by Ian Kagey
Mastered by Oscar Zambrano at Zampol Productions
Recorded at Power Station at Berklee NYC, and Sear Sound
Recorded various dates 2019, 2020, 2021
Recording Engineer Ian Kagey
Additional Engineering by: Neal Shaw and Ben Miller
Edited by: Ian Kagey
Assistant Engineers: Ben Miller, Matthew Soares, Owen Mulholland
Music Supervisor: Wiley DeWeese
Music Directors: Wiley DeWeese, Dan Lipton
Orchestrations by: Wiley DeWeese
Recording Project Coordinators: Iyvon Edebiri, Al Parker, Melissa Hardy
All Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman
Musicians:
Conductor/Keys: Wiley DeWeese
Guitar: Alex Nolan
Bass: Mary Ann McSweeney
Drums: Jeff Fernandes
Violin: Brad Bosenbeck
Cello: Susan Mandel
For “Sydney H.” and “Three Sisters”
Conductor/Keys: Dan Lipton
Guitar: Kevin Wunderlich
Bass: Alex Eckhardt
Drums: Spencer Cohen
Violin: Brad Bosenbeck
Cello: Susan Mandel
Flugelhorn on “KFC for Christmas”: Kate Amrine
1. Like A Virgin - Lauren Molina, Michael Friedman, The Civilians
2. Four Letters to Verlaine - Jo Lampert, Tony Torn, Dito van Reigersberg, Ada Westfall Michael Friedman, The Civilians
3. We Were Giants - Nick Blaemire Michael Friedman, The Civilians
4. Little Match Girl - Jackie Hoffman, Michael Friedman, The Civilians
5. John Brown - Heath Saunders Michael Friedman, The Civilians
6. Consensus Is Hard - Jo Lampert Michael Friedman, The Civilians
7. I Have Not Slept - Nick Blaemire, Heath Saunders, Lauren Molina, Carla Duren Michael Friedman, The Civilians
8. Sydney H. - Brian Charles Rooney Michael Friedman, The Civilians
9. KFC For Christmas - Cindy Cheung, Alison Weller Michael Friedman, The Civilians
10. Three Sisters - Mary Testa Michael Friedman, The Civilians