Top Secret: CD of ‘lost’ music out

By Susan Pugh

Published: October 29, 2008

This story always begins the same way. It’s 1999, the year Shawn Dempsey died. He had been an artist and musician, part of a music scene in 1970s and ’80s that had its nexus in the Rivermont house where he — Dr. D — lived.

Nights of playing music, of Rebel Yell-ing, of poker games, of loves won and lost had been chronicled in song by Shawn, but many of his compositions had gone to the grave with him.

There were rumors, though, of a taped collection of some of his music. So after brain cancer’s victory, Shawn’s brother Paul and other family members, along with best friend and fellow musician Tom Hailey, meet at the Dempsey family farm to go through Shawn’s few

belongings.

They open an old shoebox filled with Shawn’s drawings and letters. At the bottom, there’s a tape. It is labeled “Top Secret. Confidential. Wine Shine Songs.”

Last year, The News & Advance columnist Darrell Laurant reported that Paul Dempsey, Hailey and some of their fellow musicians would perform Shawn Dempsey’s music live. Now “Top Secret” is out on CD.

Making the CD has taken the better part of a decade.

The tape had Shawn’s songs played by him on guitar and with him singing lyrics written by his friend, Willis Turner of Richmond.

To translate those songs to CD, Paul Dempsey transcribed them and arranged them.

Given that it was the voice of his brother, who was gone, “it took a long time to get through the material.”

Then, he said, “I called in all my Karma cookies” to assemble a core of top-notch musicians, most of whom were Shawn’s old friends.

Sol Creech, who plays with Taj Mahal and who has his own band, is the guitarist on one number. Paul Dempsey plays guitar, plus some kalimba, electric upright bass, keyboards and hand percussion here and there.

Hailey does vocals. He’s joined on a duet by Paddy Dougherty from Lynchburg, who also sings back-up with Emily Turner and Ella Hailey, both of Richmond.

The bass players are Michael Erwin of Richmond and Jacob Dempsey of Roanoke. Jeff Hersk and Elliott Wodapin, both of Ashville, play upright bass. Wodapin is with the Paul Winter Consort.

Phil Riddle of Rustburg plays drums, as he did with the Richmond Jazz Society. Brent Hoskins of Roanoke plays reggae drums.

Lew Taylor of Lynchburg plays piano. So does Tom Coppola of Ashville, who who was a producer and arranger for “Saturday Night Live” and has played with Larry Coryell, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Mann and Peggy Lee.

Tom Artwick of Lexington, who teaches at Washington & Lee University, plays sax. Richard Patterson of Madison, Wisc., plays flute.

And the fingersnaps come courtesy of the Boo-phlap Choir and Handshake Society.

They recorded in Jacob Dempsey’s Red Room Studios in Roanoke.

The result: 12 of Shawn Dempsey’s songs, with two more copyrighted by Hailey. The overall sound has a bluesy-jazzy feel mostly, with touches of country and reggae thrown in.

Since completion of the Top Secret Project, as it became called, Paul Dempsey and several friends have formed a new group, Out of a Blue Sky. They perform some of Shawn Dempsey’s songs.

Their next dates are Nov. 1 at the Neighbors Place and Nov. 8 at the White Hart, both in Lynchburg.