Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Warren (“Chip”) Russell. I recently retired from the US Army after a 23-year career, most of that as a guitar player in various US Army bands in several different countries. A musician by both profession and temperament, I am now an “independent music professional” as the saying goes.
Here’s a picture of me in Iraq in 2003.
I’ve also got pictures of us actually performing as a military band in Iraq – and in other locales too – but that’s a story for another time.
Quicksilver Night Productions (QNP) is my music publishing and production company. As such it is an organization with multiple recording projects under its umbrella. While I jokingly refer to myself as “First Among Equals” at QNP and although I am deeply involved in every facet of all things QNP at every step of the way the simple truth remains that I cannot and do not do this alone; I depend heavily upon the support of my song-specific collaborators and tech-savvy friends in order to bring this music into existence.
I have a number of musical irons in the fire at any given point as QNP. My role varies project by project and from song to song. I am a composer and an arranger (ASCAP) and I also I produce/co-produce, engineer, and collaborate. I still often perform on guitar and vocals and sometimes play bass or keyboards. I also have a great interest in state of the local music community and have involved myself with a number of ongoing local musical projects and activities that are beyond the scope of this page.
Here’s a picture of me performing at a Relay for Life event in 2014 courtesy of Larry Ferdinande Photography:
On a personal note, I am pretty content with where my life seems to be taking me. I am currently married to Renée, a wonderfully engaging, highly intelligent, and undeniably beautiful woman; she and I currently make our home in Yorktown, Virginia. I have three very bright and talented children from a previous marriage, grown now and moved away, and two awesome grandsons thus far.
All of this and more is available at http://quicksilvernightproductions.com and you follow me at facebook (please do!) at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quicksilver-Night-Productions/183962139093
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That’s enough about me for the time being, let’s talk about Chelsie Owens, one of several local young artists that I’ve had the pleasure to know and one of the most rock ‘n’ roll young ladies with whom I’ve ever worked.
Chelsie Owens is a full-time student at TCC in Norfolk, Virginia with a lot of irons in the fire. She currently spends her time in between classes pursuing a nascent musical career as well as the occasional modeling gig. She has a keen interest in Japanese culture and intends to study overseas in Japan or attend AMDA in New York upon completion of her degree in Social Science.
I am the producer for these songs but I’m not just some old guy behind a console, my personal roles in both songs also include songwriter/composer and “Guitars & Everything Else – real or virtual” … I actually play guitar on both of these tracks (along with a lot of other bells and whistles and whatnot) but Chelsie and guest guitarist Milt Gore* are the real stars in this sky. Listen here and enjoy!
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The Bandcamp embedded players are currently unsupported here so here’s a workaround from YouTube:
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Chelsie’s debut “Severed” was released on December 6, 2015 and her follow-up single “Save Your Breath” on April 1st, four months later. Chelsie currently has her sights set upon recording a full album of original material and is actively looking for live performance opportunities throughout the Hampton Roads region.
You can find Chelsie at her modeling page here http://chelsieowens.wixsite.com/modelbehavior and find her on facebook here http://www.facebook.com/Chelsie-Owens-1414407458857855
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(* … A full-time private guitar instructor at GMI Studio in Whiteville, North Carolina, Milt Gore has been playing guitar since age five. With a broad range of influences and varied palette of guitar colors at his command, Milt easily switches styles to best serve the song and can evoke the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, and Eddie Van Halen at the drop of a hat while somehow still remaining stylistically himself. Milt has added some smoking guitar to several QNP song projects and is currently working on more but that’s also story for another day.)