Quiet Town, USA – Progress on the fourth collection of original Rick Dill music, Songs From Quiet Town, has taken a totally unexpected direction. Adhering only to the maxim that the best laid plans don’t mean squat, Rick and his bassist/producer Paul Gaita have been recording songs on laptop, desktop, and studio consol.

“I knew this project was going to be different from anything I’d done before,” Dill said, “but the level of flexibility and freedom has been almost disconcerting. Where studio work is all about economy of time and resources, here we have the luxury to record at will, wherever we feel. Frighteningly liberating!”

The concept for the album revolves around a local cemetery in Little Silver, NJ, just around the corner from Rick’s house. It’s a small plot, but it’s rich in stories, and for some reason Rick is drawn to them. None of the songs are historical or based on any truth, but he swears he heard them coming over the cemetery wall first.

The first night of recording was at Embury Methodist Church, and the title track for the album was recorded there. “We caught the spook,” Gaita said, “and it’s determined the direction for the rest of the album.”

They hope to have the album ready for Christmas 2010.

Recorded with top-notch musicians from the Garden State, Dill went into the studio with dozens of songs and whittled the lineup down to 14, along with the help of studio owner and engineer Steve Jankowski. The result is full of power and urgency.

“I hear two or three hits on this collection,” Jankowski said, “but any one of these songs stands on its own.”

Jankowski, trumpet player for Blood, Sweat & Tears, opened his new studio in 2008, with construction help from Dill. The first sessions for the CD were held among ladders and buckets of spackle. By the final mix, the studio was gleaming from top to bottom with Jankowski’s platinum records on the wall.

Playing on the album are Marc Muller, original multi-instrumentalist for Shania Twain; James D. Pappas, touring keyboard player for Smokey Robinson; John Perry, bass player with Tom Principato; and Andrea Valentini, drummer for Blood, Sweat & Tears. Many other talented players came in to lay down tracks, as well.

Just getting to record a third album is a blessing to Dill, who was almost forced out of music. Not long after his first album was released, Dill was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor behind his right ear. He lost hearing on that side permanently, and the use of his right arm for three months.

Hard work and prayer brought everything back, and he keeps on pushing. It’s evident from the progression of style and energy on the three albums: from mostly acoustic, through bluesy rock, to full-blown ass-kicking country rock.