Sitting here in the studio listening to the newly mastered Delivery is Possible debut full length “Dearest Betty Bug”.

The lyrics and music are inspired by original letters, artwork, and photography of students of Herbert Hoover Highschool of Glendale, California. Somehow three Hoover High yearbooks (“The Scroll”) from years 1941, ’42, and ’43 turned up at a shop on Valencia St. Then soon after the books and their ghosts arrived in my studio. The kids from these books have been haunting me for a couple years now, and the songs are all dedicated to them. The story is loosely based on their stories. I hope you’ll get the songs so the kids can haunt you instead of me. Ha ha.

Thanks to all of the great San Francisco musicians who contributed.

Akos Kokai’s viola playing and arrangement ideas are everywhere. This recording wouldn’t have turned out without his great enthusiasm and clever parts. He appears on many tracks, playing viola, cello, and as lyricist on “Betty Bug Part 1″.

Adam Webb-Orenstein and his cello sounds were essential to the track “Good Luck in the Future”. Adam and I worked together for a good period in 2008. We created a lot of content, and though only a small portion of it appeared on this record, all of it was an important part of the process of creating this record.

My brother Jamie Osborne brought some architectural concepts and playing that helped tie many parts of the program together. He appears on several tracks, playing synths, guitar, and accordion. He and I have been making records and performing together for a long time. Check out Whitey on the Moon and The Overhead Lines.

Jennifer Faust sang flawlessly and helped improve the vocal mixes overall. She appears on the track “A Storybook Ending”. The poem she recites mid-song is adapted from an unidentified poet from New Jersey (that doesn’t sound true but it is). The poem came to our attention in an interesting book called _Pinelands Folklife_, Rutgers Univ Press, ’87.

Lessley Anderson appears on the track titled “How Friends Are”. Lessley spent a few weeks with the books and invested a lot of time into writing lyrics for the song. This was a turning point for the project. She taught me some things about Betty that I hadn’t fully appreciated prior. Of course she sang beautifully too. Later, during mixing, she offered good clean ears and helped improve vocal treatments on a number of tracks.

Amanda Wixted appears on the song titled “Distances Are Nearer Now”. Amanda joined the band in early 2009 and brought a lot of creative energy. She put her heart into the project and we had a lot of fun working together.

Rebecca Bortman is brilliant and full of good ideas. She appears on the song “Let Yourself Go (Yeah)”. She came to the studio and quickly improvised an impressive amount of material.

John Kosim has been regularly rehearsing and performing with the band. He’s been a great source of musical ideas.

Greg Marasso was a helpful critic, sounding board and gave useful feedback on rough mixes.

Matt Lieber made a brief and important guest appearance on sax (on “Fiesta Queen”). He’s the 10th (!) artist on the project who was/is living within a mile of the studio.

Justin Weis at Trakworx shared some honest and influential editing ideas while mastering; and he gave the whole sound a warmth and presence that would have been impossible otherwise.

Thank you!