as this CD nears completion, I wanted to explain a few things.

my last album was recorded when I was at the height of a busy phase of my music life. I was gigging constantly, touring, recording, writing articles, teaching and generally playing a lot. I was also married and very sure of what my life was, where it was going.

and then, literally the day after I finished recording the album, things began to unravel. there's no reason to go into detail but the short version is that I lost everything. including my will to write or play music.

but I was given an amazing gift. something I never imagined. I got phone calls, letters, emails, messages passed through friends and family... literally from all over the world. some were people I knew well, others were acquaintances, many were complete strangers. these were words of encouragement, support, gratitude, love, empathy... all of it positive. it was a profound experience.

friends loaned and built me instruments and sent me equipment. a trust fund was set up to get me back on my feet. jobs were offered and someone even found me a place to stay.

there is no way to describe how humbling and overpowering an experience this was. there is really no way to describe what most of it was like.

but not surprisingly I started playing as a means of working through everything I was feeling. in no time I had written enough material for several albums. I fine tuned and arranged the material. I rearranged it. I approached people about turning in guest performances.

but things never felt quite... right.

I sat on the material for years. I continued to talk with friends and I played. I started to make my own instruments. I immersed myself in a day job. I reveled in weather and meeting new people. I tried foods I had always wanted to try. I learned to laugh.

and then I finally committed to studio time and swore to my producer that I would lay the tracks and get the album recorded.

for one week I pored over the material, looking at the arrangements and thinking about what the time would be like in the studio.

and then I threw most of the songs out.

I packed a few instruments, a tuner, 2 effects pedals and a notebook in my Jeep and I left my mountain.

the cross country drive was familiar and comforting. when I arrived at the studio I spent 3 days eating, sleeping, laughing, enjoying the scenery, playing with puppies and not recording a thing.

I stripped down the arrangements of the few pieces I'd kept. quintets become duets or even soloes. I wrote new songs. things were recorded piecemeal. solos and melodies were recorded anywhere from an hour to several days after the 'bass' part was laid down. things written for others to lend their talents to were given with no direction -- I wanted them to play whatever they felt like as I really wanted their personalities on the songs.

a dear friend had taken some wonderful photos for me and I had no idea what I was going to do for a "look" to the album but one of my oldest friends popped up out of the blue and offered to come up with a design!

the back cover of the disc will be a wonderful painting!!

the original title for the album was going to be "A Life Underwater" but I felt that made as much sense as the original plan for the material.

the years between the idea of releasing another album and actually recording it were such a time of healing, growth and transformation. I learned so much. I let so many things go. I had remapped my life.

and things were quieter. the scale of everything in my universe had come down. everything was more intimate and, I hope, more honest.

so what all that means is that this will not be an album about chops. there are ballads, improvizations, silly sounds and some wonderful contributions by some of my favorite musicians. and there are some mistakes left in the mix.

I wanted this to be a very human statement not an opportunity to stand up and scream, "Look at me!" I am more proud of some of the things on this album than I have been of anything I've released. I am profoundly honored by the guest performers on the album. and this is very definitely a document of the person I am right now. who knows how I will feel about this stuff in a few years but today I am smiling.

and I will be making announcements all over the place when it is complete and ready for release.

it will be soon.

:)

thank you to everyone who's contributed love, support, encouragement or artistry. I remain humbled and hope that you enjoy the music.

 

Stew

-----

My way is not very sportsmanlike...

-- Fezzik


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