Sunup reissues their 1995 release of Saratoga Sunrise

Why release it again?

Simply put, there are many people who were never exposed to the music, because distribution was limited and after a few years there were no CD’s remaining.

Several other reasons for the reissue surfaced as well. This past year many of the Sunup recordings from nearly forty years ago have been uncovered. A great many of those recordings are now being restored and transferred to a digital format before the tapes lose the ability to be played. Some of the songs will be remastered and released in the next couple years.

As a couple of recording engineers recently commented, “These recordings are timeless.” That thought coupled with the fact Sunup will probably be heading back into the studio for a 2015 release gave the spark to ignite the flame. 

Garry was always a little disappointed in the sound effects, as the earlier sounds of the horses galloping were taken from the audio portion of a video tape and certainly did not fit the quality standards he would have liked. So, we have recorded new sounds of horses working out at Saratoga and have inserted sounds of the Great Sacandaga Lake surrounding the song “Sitting Beside the Reservoir”, which was written about the lake.

In addition, our dear friend and bassist, Kerry Peterson passed in November of 2009 and we dug out a live track from the Barrett Alley Studio sessions, where he played a rippin’ solo. So we felt that this was a fitting tribute in memory of a wonderful friend and bassist.

Hall of Fame trainer, Woody Stephens, also passed since the album was released. This song is a tribute to the life of Woody. Garry also thinks from a songwriting and production standpoint, that it’s one of the best songs he’s penned. It begins with the piano intro, done so delicately by Brian Soule, evoking images of the dew sparkling in the grass as the as the mist begins to rise and the horses begin to approach the track for their workout. It then moves into the whole imagery of training horses and reflections on Woody Stephen’s life. The Sunup Facebook page has a link to a great You Tube video of the 1988 Travers Race in Saratoga, when Woody trained Fortyniner.

We want to introduce the music to a broader spectrum and a new generation. The music should be streamin’ through new ears! Perhaps they too will find the music “timeless.”