The Joe Hughes Project

A very dear friend of mine was inspired by his upcoming anniversary with his lovely wife Vickie to create The Joe Hughes Project in 1997. Joe, who at the time was the drummer for the Calvary Chapel Huntington Beach Praise Band, approached me with an idea.

As a first-time songwriter, Joe had penned lyrics for two songs he wanted to use in a gift for his wife for their anniversary.

At this point, Joe had only lyrics. It would be up to me to find a key and melody matching the ideas Joe had in mind when he wrote his lyrics. One of the two songs (Before It’s Too Late) would also require a chorus and a bridge to complete it.

I began crafting a musical arrangement for the songs and tried a few ideas that would eventually work as the final chorus. We had to meet the anniversary deadline, and we completed the final arrangements rather quickly.

One element of the project that was essential was having Joe sing lead vocals himself, and this would be Joe’s first outing as both a lyric writer and a vocalist. But I had no doubt Joe could pull it off.

The two tracks below result from months of work by Joe and myself. I would add all the instrumentation and background harmonies to both songs. I would also complete the song’s production. It was a very cool project. And that’s why I selected it for this week’s Flashback Friday.