Originally released in 2004, Family Man followed Musician’s Prayer (1999) as the second of Loren’s themed collections. In 2010, both albums were digitally remastered with significant improvements to both the recording quality and musical arrangements. In addition to the electronic wizardry of Dave Harder on keyboards and computer, Family Man features Rob Loren on violin and mandolin; Deb Swift, harmony vocals; Susan Harder, harmony vocals, keyboards; Amy Erica Roszel, cello; Dave Harder, trumpet, bass guitar; Tim Harder, trombone; Loren Harder, lead and harmony vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica, and digital sequencing. All lyrics and music were composed by Loren Harder between 1976 and 2003. Family Man was recorded in 2003 and 2010 at Father’s Business Recording Studio And Musician’s Hangout, Valley Center, Kansas.
2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the Musician’s Prayer album. Recorded in Loren’s basement in 1999-2000, and remastered in 2010 with help from tech wizard and musician extraordinaire, David Harder, Musician’s Prayer was the first CD collection of Loren’s original tunes.
Backing voices: Good, Good Plans -Providence Farm Kid’s Choir; A Tender Heart – Sarah Michele Harder
Lala Land – The Uncola Man appears courtesy of 7Up
Buy this album or individual songs: https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0047ZNV00
Bonus Tracks
Demos
Early Recordings
In the mid-nineteen-sixties Loren’s father purchased a Grundig TK46 reel-to-reel tape recorder like the one pictured at left. Undaunted by its massive size and weight (40 pounds) Loren lugged the machine to church to record choir cantatas conducted by his father. Thus began a lifelong fascination with audio recording.
The German-made Grundig was used for Loren’s earliest experimental and demo recordings including some of the tracks below. Through the years he used everything from cassette decks to computers to capture the songs he wrote.
Fun With Audio Tape
Here we have a “Mix Tape” from the early seventies with spoof radio commercials by D.J. Jeff Garnett on KEYN, spoof commercials by Loren and friends (inspired by Jeff’s ingenious work), and an entire spoof radio station, “Radio KRUD, Podunk Kansas.” Additional fun stuff is from Loren’s time as a student in the broadcasting program at Hutchinson Community College.