With the current auction running of a recording session with Jon Carin, renowned producer and musician for the likes of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, and David Gilmour, we've had a report from the winner of last year's auction. Our thanks to Mark Owen Nutto [click thumbnail, Mark pictured right] for sharing his experience, which hopefully will inspire other Brain Damage visitors to bid in this year's auction:

"Last year your site posted notice of a charity auction for a recording session with Jon Carin. I just want to let you know that I'm the person who won the auction. Recording with Jon was a blast and it was much more than I expected it to be. Up front, I had a little apprehension, so I'll tell you a few things of my experience that future bidders might find of interest.

"After winning the auction, I sent Jon three of my songs, in a demo form, and he provided guidance on the one he thought best for recording. I sent him the song in a Pro Tools file in advance of our recording session. When the day finally came to record in a professional studio in Manhattan NY, I didn't quite know what to expect, as I have never hung out with any “rock stars” before. Would he bite off the head of a bat like Ozzy Osbourne? How was the song going to turn out? How much time would we have?

"Well, Jon is quite the professional, not only on how he approaches music, but on how he conducts himself. Musically, it was quite interesting on how he built the song up by recording tracks that started with a shaker track, then moved on to tambourine, snare drum, bass guitar, kurzweil keyboards, lap steel, harmony vocals, and lead and rhythm guitar played with his trusty Gibson Firebird. It was quite amazing on how, in the space of a few hours, Jon built the song up until it became a quite beautiful and moving song. The next day was spent on mixing in Pro Tools HD and Jon went at it again using DigiDesign plug-ins and his expert ear.

"All along the way he was asking me what I thought and was open to any suggestions and input I had. In addition, Jon was relaxed in talking about all things Pink Floyd and even gave me a pointer or two on guitar playing. When I was a 15 year old lad, it was listening to David Gilmour's leads on Shine on you Crazy Diamond that led me to pick up guitar playing and subsequently to become a huge Pink Floyd Fan (saw the Animals, Wall, MLOR, Division Bell, and all the solo tours). So now, a few decades down the road, having an opportunity to record with a member of Pink Floyd is a dream come true and in some ways completes a full circle. If you're a musician and a Pink Floyd fan, I highly recommend the experience. Jon tells me that he may place another auction up in the future. For those interested, “Running with the Wind” will be released on an upcoming CD that my band, "The Unemployed Teachers" plans to put out around the end of the year. I'll keep you posted."

our thanks to Mark for this interesting look behind the scenes of the auction prize. Bidding finishes on April 1st, 2010, at 12:20pm EDT. The winning bidder will have just about a year to head into the studio with Jon - plenty of time to hone your budding masterpiece before meeting up with him (and the real work begins!). Click here to bid and for more details. A good cause, and a great opportunity!