Category Archives: Production Management

Partnering with Clarence Collins & Pat Thrall

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Last February, I found myself in front of a microphone in Studio B at The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the hallway on the way to the studio, I walked past lines of gold records on the walls, prickling with the awareness that many people whose names you know have recorded there including Billie Eilish, Journey, Shania Twain, Santana, and Celine Dion among many others.

I have cultivated the ability to experience two completely opposite feelings at the same time and be fine, and I needed it. I was out of my head nervous and absolutely certain that I belonged there and would nail the parts I came to record.

And nail them I did, even the ones I learned a few minutes before recording them.

Just a few months earlier, John Simpson, my Artist Relations & Production Manager, introduced me to Clarence Collins (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Little Anthony & The Imperials), who works with Pat Thrall, whose credits as a guitarist are legendary (Pat Travers Band, Hughes/Thrall, Meatloaf, Asia, etc.) and who has guitarist, producer, and engineer credits on nearly 500 albums with 4 Grammy nominations. John had been bugging me for more than a year to allow him to send them a song called Be Right Back with a request to produce it. Their answer was yes, on one condition – that I come to Las Vegas to record with them. I usually write my own harmonies, but I left that to the harmony master – none other than Clarence himself – who taught them to me on the spot just before I turned to the mic and recorded them. It was a day like no other.

The session went so well that they agreed to do a 6-song EP with me, and on Friday, January 16, 2026, I will release the first song – BE RIGHT BACK. If you sign up for my email list now, I’ll send you a free, pre-release digital download a few days before the official release. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel to see the full, official music video we shot when it releases on January 23, 2026, followed by the lyric video on January 30, 2026. Please also consider following me on social media – Every follower helps, and I am so grateful for your support.

And most importantly, please listen, let me know what you think, and if you like it, please share.

It’s not every day that a person gets to record their own music with folks like Clarence and Pat, but it’s becoming normal for me. We recorded two more in July, and those will be out in due course.

I am beyond grateful to John for these introductions (and to Kenny Schick, my first producer for his work on my earlier projects), and I can’t wait for you to hear my new music. My goal is that it will make your socks roll up and down so intensely that you can’t help sharing it with a few friends.

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Meet John Simpson: Artist Relations & Production Manager for Martha Groves Perry

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“How do you know what to do?” My mother asked this question after she came to my show in Chicago during the tour with my rhythm section to support my new album last year. She asked because she had never seen me perform my own music, and certainly not with a band on a tour.

“I’m making it up as I go along,” I replied with a laugh.

I am smart and have a great imagination. That has been enough to get me where I am in my music career, and I’m relieved to learn from knowledgeable people that so far I’ve been doing almost everything right. I have had the feeling lately, however, that I need guidance and expertise if I am to reach the level of accomplishment I want in this business.

John Simpson and Martha Groves Perry

Then John Simpson dropped back into my life. I met John more than 15 years ago, and although we were still Facebook friends, we had not interacted in years. Then, out of the blue, he reached out to me last November and offered to photograph my December show in San Jose for free. I was startled. I was surprised that he thought enough of my abilities to warrant a free photography offer. Turns out, he does.

Our friendship and working relationship grew from that moment, and recently I asked him if he’d consider being my manager. John was already offering so many valuable suggestions and has decades of experience in the music business. I am very, very lucky because he said yes.

It is not a coincidence that now that John is helping me, my life is So. Much. Better. I no longer worry about what I’m not doing because he is organizing exciting projects I have had no time to consider. I am no longer stressed about tech questions because he is honing my and my band’s live sound with his unparalleled ear, knowledge, and expertise. Plus he takes ridiculously fabulous performance photos.

Most importantly, he believes in me: in my abilities as a songwriter and a singer, as a performer, and as a force to be reckoned with, so much so that for the first time, I came home from a gig truly believing I had killed it. My family and close friends have always believed in me, and I have always believed, too, but with lingering doubt. John’s confidence in my ability and my talent buoys me. Suddenly, my doubts haunt me less, and the true spirit of who I am on stage and as a singer-songwriter is blossoming, rapidly and fully. And my band’s live show is getting better and better with every suggestion John offers.

So thank you, John. You dropped into my life as the perfect person at the perfect moment, and I could not be more grateful for your help as my Artist Relations & Production Manager. Can’t wait to see where this takes us.

You can reach John at john.simpson@marthagrovesperry.com.

Curious about my music? Listen to (and buy!) all three releases >>HERE<<

Come see for yourself how John’s ministrations make my amazing band *pop* on Sunday, August 25, 2024 at the historic Savoy Tivoli in San Francisco. Singer-songwriter Nate Walker, who performs under the moniker Redemption Breaking, will open, and everyone who attends will receive a free Martha Groves Perry wristband and will have a chance to win a free CD and MGP T-Shirt! Show details >>HERE<<