Centre County musician plans to release 1 record for every season he can’t perform live
One of the Centre County’s most prolific songwriters is in the midst of a wave of inspiration.
Ace guitarist and music icon Ted McCloskey — of Ted and the Hi-Fis fame — just released his 11th album, “The Lost Sessions, Vol. 1: The Big Pause,” a reflection on what life has been like the past few months as billions of people have been sheltered in place due to concerns regarding COVID-19.
“I’m always writing and recording,” McCloskey wrote, “but this record was a different process for me. When the virus and lockdowns began in March, things changed for me as they did for everyone.”
The changes resulted in McCloskey turning inward, redirecting his creative energy toward recording 10 of the 25 songs he has written over the last year, performing, recording and producing them on his own.
“I am used to playing close to 300 shows a year and to suddenly go from that workload to absolutely nothing is an intense shock on so many levels,” McCloskey wrote in an email. “In order to keep my mind distracted and to try to keep somewhat sane, I started writing and recording eight to ten hours a day.”
On “The Lost Sessions, Vol. 1: The Big Pause,” McCloskey taps into what it has been like to be sheltered in place during a time when there have often seemed to be few reliable answers, and how many people are having shared experiences. Songs like “To Be Quarantined” and “’Till the World Starts Spinning Again” go to the heart of the matter.
“We are all dealing with similar experiences right now: isolation, some sort of longing, and some sort of financial insecurity,” McCloskey wrote. “These collective themes run through the entire record. It’s extremely relatable for everyone.”
McCloskey is a prolifically diverse musician. I’ve seen him perform in multiple settings over the last 10 years, and it just seems like there’s nothing he can’t do, whether entertaining crowds at The Phyrst every week, headlining shows at The State Theater or writing music for television. He’s an incredibly clean guitar player, who has lickety split fingers and a command of a wide range of tones, from throaty rock guitar crunch to pure acoustic. What’s more, I’m particularly fond of the way he can blend tones that may seem like dissonant matches in a way that the song really couldn’t do without.
The songs themselves are elaborate compositions, which may seem like something simple to write but it’s an important qualifier because McCloskey’s music is the result of what must be a clear vision. The first song begins with an electronic melody backed by snaps, then after a few measures McCloskey strums a big, electric, crunchy, single coil, open G chord backed by a pulsing rhythm section underneath, and 13 seconds in the song is a driving, swampy, rock meditation with McCloskey singing, “Everybody’s feeling/The spring fever/This one’s gonna’ last all summer long.” The rest of the album follows suit, with shimmering electric and acoustic guitar playing and McCloskey’s often contemplative vocals.
“I titled this record ‘Vol. 1’ because I plan on releasing a record for every season I’m not out playing live shows,” McCloskey wrote. “I’ve written around 25 songs since March and have already started working on Vol. 2 — let’s just hope there aren’t too many volumes.”
Moving forward, McCloskey has plans to continue recording his wonderful music, and he hopes, of course, to be performing as soon as possible.
“My ambition is to play in front of people again but that’s not under my control,” McCloskey wrote. “As the last line of the record states, ‘I’ll be out when the world starts spinning again.’”
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.