Ray Pearson and the Insiders Where Can It Be Re-mastered 2017 - originally released 1982 A Little “Insider” History by Ray Pearson, founder of Insiders band. Insiders (a.k.a. Insiders Band, The Insiders and The Insiders Band) was formed in the summer of 1977 in what was then a small mid-western town named Sioux Falls located in the southeast corner of South Dakota. While “Insiders” has been a popular name for bands over the years I named the band “Insiders” long before NFL Insider and insider trading and other similar phrases were coined. I feel I was the first to name a band Insiders and build brand recognition around the name. Several friends and I felt there should be an alternative to the stranglehold country music had on the region. Like many bands Insiders started by covering many popular rock songs of the era playing live to large audiences in the area. The Insiders Band began writing and arranging original compositions with the goal of releasing a full album in 1977. Rough demos were cut in the band’s rehearsal studio and so began the long legacy of the Insiders… Studio work on the Insiders first album “Where Can It Be” began at Creative Communications with Will Prines at the console on a Tascam 80-8 8 track recorder sometime in 1979. The album was completed and released in 1982 and titled Ray Pearson and the Insiders. This first release was planned to be on vinyl and cassette. Test pressings were made but only cassettes were released. The album had a lot of good press in several music magazines and play on several commercial radio stations. Recently, I spent a year out in Seattle where I was fortunate to collaborate with some talented musicians and made many new friends. While in Seattle I met Rick Ruskin who is a master at restoring audiotape. I wanted to start transferring the first five earliest Insider albums from the original tape masters to digital media so they could be re-mastered and re-released. The first five Insiders albums were recorded between 1979 and 1992. Rick explained to me one of the major issues the music industry suffers from is the deterioration of audio tape. The audio world refers to the peeling off of the layers of the magnetic media as "tape shedding". This was a huge concern to me. However, using a “baking process” Rick was able to “bake” the old Insiders masters and convert the songs to digital media. I returned to the Midwest where Carl Holloman at VIBE Studio did an excellent job re-mastering the entire “Where Can It Be” album. Carl will also do all the historical preservation and re-mastering on the remaining 7 Insider albums as they are transferred from analog tape to digital media by Rick Ruskin in Seattle. Carl also plays drums on our “Unwind” CD and upcoming CD titled “One More Day” (look for “One More Day” to be released soon). Carl has also played a big part in production and marketing of Insiders music since 2008. Mark Pollard, a very talented local graphic artist, designed the newest Insiders logo for us several years ago for our website and marketing materials. We will also be using the new logo on all of our new albums and re-mastered releases to set us apart from other bands with a similar name making it easier for our fans to be sure they are listening to and purchasing authentic Insiders music and merchandise. Insiders Band hopes you enjoy our re-mastered albums and our new albums as well. Look for more re-masters of our earliest albums and new albums to be released soon. Daddy Ray