Long time friends and songwriting duo Eb & Hal have won Best Album of the Year at the 35th New Mexico Music Awards for their album On My Way Home. They received 6 total nominations and also won Best Mastering Engineer (Andy Rogulich). To date, the duo have earned 12 nominations total at the New Mexico Music Awards since they reunited 4 years ago.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Eb & Hal about the award winning album, dream collabs, their songwriting process and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Congrats on your recent success at the New Mexico Music Awards. What does winning Album of the Year mean to you guys?
It was such an honor. There are so many talented musicians in New Mexico and to win The Best Of the Year was phenomenal.
How does the album I’m On My Way Home compare to your first album?
The first album “From There To Here” was such a pleasure for us because we reuniting after 50 years of not playing together. That album is very close to our hearts and where Hal and I harmonized very closely on the majority of the songs, reminiscent of the Everly Brothers. With close harmonies and steel string acoustic guitars. Hal’s and my blend vocally reached a place we had never experienced in our youth so “From there To Here” is a special album for us. “On My Way Home” Is a step up in production and a few more musicians. We added Violin, Carla Kountoupes , as well as adding a third harmony on many of the songs from Anna Darrah who also sang a duet with me. The blend we found is amazing and is throughout much of that record. We used the musicians John Bartlit on drums, Milo Jara millo on bass, Lisa Donald on cello, Andrew Tumason on piano, Aiden Ellsworth on guitar, David McRae and Kristen Loree added vocals.
What is your writing and recording process like, living on opposite sides of the country?
The songs I sing, I wrote and the songs Hal sings, he wrote. Hal fly’s out to New Mexico and records with us at Dave McRae’s recording studio, Third Eye Studio’s in Tijeras, New Mexico. During 2021 at the height of Covid, I recorded at “Third Eye Studios” and Hal recorded at “In Your Ear Studio’s” in Richmond Virginia. I sent my tracks that we recorded in Tijeras to Hal who then added his vocals and guitars. It was challenging but I was on a live Zoom collaborating with him until we got his side of the album. Then they sent those tracks back Dave and we mixed and then mastered the album with Andy Rogulich at High Fidelity Mastering in Albuquerque New Mexico.
What motivates you to create music?
All my songs come from what I am feeling at the moment from a relationship that I am experiencing or have experienced, ie; daughter, wife, parents, best friend, horse, dog or cat. A moment that resonated with me from either a moment of realization or a moment I thought was a universal truth about humanity that is in my face right now. Also I love humor and try to find the funny bone in a song. The Music is what comes first for me, then the lyrics. Sometimes I will have one sentence or phrase that keeps running thru my mind and then I expand that theme or story as I write the music.
If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why?
Cool question…I feel like I am collaborating with who I resonate with musically and lyrically, Anna Darrah, Hal Howren, Clydene Jackson, Dana Walden, Dave McRae, John Bartlit, Milo Jaramillo, Lisa Donald, and Carla Kountoupes.
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
Just thank you very much for your interest in Eb & Hal
