Wilcox resident Tracie Pretak has recorded a debut album of original music, and the songs will be released on Friday on 75 digital sites worldwide, including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, Sirius, iHeart Radio, and YouTube Red.
The songs were recorded, engineered, mixed, mastered and produced by Remember to Breathe Studios of Sharpsville.
The self-titled album is a singer-songwriter style in genres that are a blend of contemporary jazz, blues, soul, indie, and pop. Pretak is featured on piano and vocals on every track.
She said, “Four of the songs are originals. I wrote the lyrics, the music, and even the instrument parts. This album has challenged me in a lot of ways, especially creatively and personally. But I am thrilled with the sound and style that we have produced and can’t wait for the world to hear these songs. I was joined by some incredibly talented musicians who are all Elk County natives.”
Pretak described some of the songs.
“‘Baby, You Changed Everything’ has an upbeat, throwback 60s jazz vibe that puts me in a great mood every time I hear it,” she said. “The song is about falling in love with someone really special. I wanted to try something outside the box on this, so it actually starts with my daughter, Bailey Pretak of Wilcox, tap dancing. We are joined by Nathan Taylor of St. Marys on drums and Isaac Neureiter of Ridgway on trumpets.”
She said her song “Crying in the Rain” is probably her favorite one she’s ever written.
“I fell in love with the opening jazz chord and had to find a way to build a song on it. The result was this heart-wrenching ballad about a break-up,” Pretak said.
Her song “Distracted” features her nephew, Johnsonburg native Kip Jones Jr., on bass guitar. And “You Got It” features an alto saxophone played by Zack Dickey of St. Marys.
Pretak said she will have a limited number of CDs for sale herself.
“One of the biggest surprises with this album is the cover art. I wanted to use abstract jazz art instead of a photo of me,” she said. “I actually painted it myself. The cover actually has a lot of symbolism contained in it.”
