While 2010 seemed to come and go in a hurry for most, for Chris Cates, it was a never-ending musical journey.   On January 1st, 2010, Cates, a long time professional producer, musician and songwriter from Morganton, decided to write and record a song every day and post it on his blog www.chriscates365.com. 

Although the task was not unprecedented it was daunting nonetheless.  “After the third day and already spending hours and hours in the studio, I wondered what I had gotten myself into.  Eventually I caught my stride and got into a writing and recording routine,” said Cates. This new routine meant at least an hour and a half writing and recording every day, on top of working a full time job with an hour commute each way.  “There were nights when I got home after a 14 hour work day that I had to dig deep to get the job done,” said Cates.

Cates has released over 30 albums in his 20 years as a professional musician to modest success and is hoping this lofty endeavor will take him to the next level in his career.  “I definitely have received a ton of great feedback and have had over 20,000 visitors to the site.  The best part is, most of them have returned again and again to listen to what I was cooking up next.”   

As one can imagine, Cates broached many subjects in his songs.  “It taught me to constantly have my ears open for phrases and subjects throughout the day.  Luckily, our part of the South is rich with interesting and often hilarious phrases that can be heard in everyday conversation.  I would hear something said, take it home and end up with a new song.” 

Sports and pop culture also played a big part in the daily songs. “I did a few songs about Tiger, Randy Moss and Brett Favre that were pretty popular but by far my song about Spanish basketball player Ricky Rubio was my biggest hit, getting more than a thousand plays a day at one point.”  Comedy songs like “White Anglo Saxon Protestant” and “I See Drunk People” also continue to be a source of entertainment for Internet surfers.

Ironically, writing the songs was arguably the easiest part because recording, mixing and mastering was the most time-consuming part of the process.  Especially when Cates insisted on full studio production, playing guitar, bass, mandolin, keyboards, piano, harmonica, drums, percussion and vocals (or a combination of these) on every song.  “I viewed this project as a way to showcase my producing skills as much as my writing skills,” said Cates. “And it really honed my chops on drums and bass which I normally don’t get to play that often because I have such a great drummer (Jason Peeler) and bass player (Chris Singleton) in my band The MasterPlan”.

Overall, Cates spent more than 24 days (576 hours) in the studio recording in 2010 and ended up with almost fifteen hours of new music that has landed him on several television programs and radio shows throughout the region.  The project has also stemmed a series of Greatest Hits volumes that Cates has been releasing on his Synergy Shift record label, which can be found at www.chriscates.com and all major online music retailers.

What’s next for 2011?  “I am continuing chriscates365.com, although this year, I will post songs from my entire career (including artists that I have written or produced for) and I will also be writing and posting new songs as well.”   Going back on tour and playing more live shows is also on the agenda, not to mention an ambitious book project, a golf blog and three different album releases.  2011 has also found Cates relocating to Atlanta to further his career in the music business and entertainment industry.  “I’ve gone this far, I can’t turn back now,” Cates says as he pulls out his old Gibson guitar to pen a new song.  “If nothing else, people will say that I have worked as hard as any musician out there.  Hopefully, I’ve managed to inspire or touch a few hearts along the way.”