The idea is to travel to distinct music cities around the U.S. (L.A., Las Vegas, Chicago, NY, Nashville, New Orleans, etc.) to find the great studio/touring musicians in each area, and put them in a room together telling stories and sharing memories with cameras rolling before a live audience. The concept is to capture the musical flavor of each city along with behind-the-scenes shenanigans, insights about celebrities, and the realities of making music for a living, through the eyes of some of these unsung heroes who actually created the hit records we all know and love. Then, as a follow-up, we put them in a studio with their instruments and let them re-create some of those 'magic moments,' accompanied by more stories and memories. Each show should feel like a 'no-holds-barred' storytelling jam session, often with details never before aired in public. They also lend themselves to small edited ‘viral vignettes,’ keeping in mind that each musician has a fan base of their own with which to network. Furthermore, mindful of the fact that some of these aging artisans are perishable witnesses to a generation of unparalleled creativity, stirred by the racial and political tensions of the past halfcentury, these actual eyewitness accounts should not be lost to posterity.

The pilot program was shot in front of a live audience in December 2010, at The Clive Davis Theatre in The Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles, followed by the studio session the next day at the legendary East West Recording Studio, once the recording home of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley (among others).

The Musicians included: Don Peake (guitar- The Everly Brothers, Ray Charles, Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Jackson Five, etc.) Jonathan ‘Sugarfoot’ Moffett (drums - Michael Jackson, Madonna, Elton John, Janet Jackson, etc.) Ellis Hall (keyboards & vocals - Ray Charles, Tower Of Power, Kenny G, George Duke, Stevie Wonder, etc.) Ray Pizzi ( wind instruments – Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Zappa, Henry Mancini, Madonna , James Brown, etc.) Leland Sklar (bass - Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carole King,Toto, Phil Collins, etc.).

The project was co-produced by Don Peake and Leonard Kalikow with Don as a musician/participant and Leonard as moderator. All filming and editing was handled by Kyle Schember and the team at Subtractive , with sound engineering by Grammy Award winning Producer/Engineer, Richard Corsello.

The pilot program includes:

VIDEO FOOTAGE of:

1. Individual bios of each musician/participant, in their own words accompanied by a collection of private personal old photographs provided by each.
2. Three-camera footage of the moderated panel give and take, including reaction shots, questions from the audience, and the standing ovation we received at the conclusion.
3. Three-camera footage of the studio recording session with footage prior to, during, and after the session.

AUDIO RECORDING of:

1. A full soundtrack of the dialogue of all shooting as outlined above.
2. The basis for an album of the classic hits by these legendary musicians, professionally recorded and mixed in the studio by Grammy Award winning producer Richie Corsello, based on charts written by Don Peake. The songs recorded for the pilot were:
   1. “Let’s Get It On” – The classic Marvin Gaye hit on which Don Peake originally played guitar and used the ‘wha wha’ pedal he brought to our session. What’s more, one of our background singers actually sang on that original session as well.
   2. “Flip Flop And Fly” – Which Ellis Hall performed for the movie “Chicken Run”
   3. “PYT (Pretty Young Thing)” – A Michael Jackson song on which ‘Sugarfoot’ Moffett played drums on tour with Michael.
   4. “Days Of Wine And Roses” - from the Henry Mancini film of the same name, on which Ray Pizzi actually played the sax.
   5. “Fire And Rain” – Leland Skar played bass on all the major James Taylor hits, including this one, and this particular recording captured something special when performed with a touch of gospel by Ellis Hall.

FUTURE SPINOFFS

It’s worth noting, that future spinoffs might eventually include Road Stories the “Road Managers,” “The Agents,” “Record Producers,” “The Music Attorneys,” etc.