Raito.ca ~ Indie Recording Artist

Did you write One and The Same specifically for the Playlist for the Planet contest?

Yep. June 25^th, 2010 I started writing the song while my daughter Grace was in the bathtub (It’s our semi-regular Daddy Daughter routine & where I have written many of songs)! I have no doubt that my three daughters, and thoughts of my my future grand children, are the reason this song came together so quickly. Within 5 minutes, I immediately could hear the violins, female duet & everyone singing along in my head.

I made the decision right then and there that I would do whatever it took to get the song completed for the contest. From there it took a little less than 4 weeks of part time studio work & an awesome producer engineer by the name of Len Milne (Bedside Studios, Winnipeg) to bring One and The Same to life.

Who is that amazing female singer that comes in after the first verse/chorus?

That would be the amazingly awesome Samantha Rech. She is my voice coach, who just happened to owe me about an hour & a half of back lessons. So I convinced her to sing on my song instead of rescheduling more lessons. I’m so glad she agreed!!!! You can find out more about her on her MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/samantharech

Who are all the people singing along in the last half of the song?

I love the fact that almost every musician that played on the song also lent their voice for the gang vocals (truly amazing musicians & Winnipegers). The most amazing part is that I was also able to get my Mom, Dad & Mother In-Law to participate in the group sing along (more stories about that for another time:). It’s one of those small things that I can pick out in the recording that makes me smile. If we are going to save the planet, just like this song, we have to all take ownership, regardless of race, generation or gender, and come together and have fun saving ourselves! I truly believe we can do it.

What musicians play on ‘One and The Same’?

Lee Raito– male vocals & two acoustic guitar parts.

Samatha Rech– Lead Female Vocals

Len Milne– Electric Guitar, Egg Shaker, Engineer & Producer Extraordinaire

Blaine Badiuk– Violin

Todd Lesage– Drums

Travis Hauge– Bass

As more questions are asked I will be happy to answer them. I’m just so happy that people have connected with this song and want it to win Playlist for the Planet. Regardless of whether or not it wins, this song makes, and will continue to, me think every day before I make decisions that might impact our environment and planet earth. This song & our earth are part of your an my legacy! You and I really are the world, One and The Same, it is up to you I to sing along and save her.