When Montrose resident Joe Duraes turned 40, he "got the itch" to revisit a part of his life he thought he had left behind: Music.
Fast forward four years and he's on the verge of releasing his debut album, a dream Duraes thought he said goodbye to when he gave up writing and performing years ago.
"I had no plans of getting back into," he said.
When the big 4-0 arrived, he knew it was prime time for a mid-life crisis, Duraes recalled with a laugh. But buying a sports car was not the priority.
"My wife said, 'Start writing,'" said Duraes, a publicist by day and father-of-one. "She knew there was a skill there. The idea from the beginning was to write songs and make a CD."
Since then Duraes has poured time and energy—not to mention vocals— into writing and recording 10 songs for the album. It's called Ebb and Flow after a track that he said "always felt like a perfect song," and carries a lot of emotion.
A few of the tunes deal with love, while others focus on the Hudson Valley and New York City. "Eyes Upon the Skyline" is a tribute to those lost in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"It’s a collection of songs that capture the changes and experiences in my life over the last decade,” Duraes said.“They reflect who I am and where I come from. They are experiences and feelings most of us can relate to.”
He worked with local musicians along the way and recorded at Woody’s House in Croton-on-Hudson and The Groove Room in Southeast. Some of the tracks were done at Singleton Studios in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"Joe's music and style is very clear and individualist," Kevin Hupp said. Hupp runs The Groove Room from his home in Southeast, and he's worked with Iggy Pop, Eddie Van Halen, Joan Osborne and other well-known artists. "He is who he is, and he doesn't try to be anyone else. I find that refreshing."
Hupp, who plays drums on many of the tracks, loves the album. He describes it as very alternative rock, and "not highly polished" or "overproduced."
Between the Nov. 26 release date and his experience playing at venues across the Hudson Valley in recent years, Duraes is hoping area radio stations like The Peak and WFUV will pick up his songs.
"It can go as far as Joe has the energy to take it, in my opinion," Hupp said.
And it looks like the energy is there. Duraes, a big fan of Led Zeppelin, KISS, Black Sabbath, Elton John and more, is already thinking about a second album.
"Those were my teachers; they taught me, inspired me," he said of the musicians whose work he fell in love with as a child and a teenager. "This album is a translation of that."
The album will be available online through sites such as CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon. Learn more about Joe Duraes by clicking here.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
