There is so much to say here, but I prefer to keep these things short.
This is new territory for me. For the first time, I multi-track on this CD, providing a mixture of solo, duo and trio pieces. Some of them have a very traditional blues feel to them. Others are modal pieces, incorporating ancient melodies and themes. Others still are built around classical music. A few are based on old-style fiddle tunes, and others yet involve swing in the style of Django.
I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
All parts on banjo are fingerstyle, save for Waddle Walk. All parts on guitar and baritone guitar are done with flatpick.
The Solos:
Flicker Dance is derived from an open improv on Baritone guitar, making variations on a melody I had first written for acoustic guitar. Half-Moon Dance uses a similar configuration but goes in a different direction.
Walking Home was meant to sound like an old style fiddle tune, and is partially derived from the chord changes in La Bastrangue.
Lady of the Light is something I started playing, not knowing where I had heard it before. Eventually I realized it to be a song a friend wrote.
La Pantera is a mixture of new material and pieces I used to perform on classical guitar
I used to play the Minuet on classical guitar, and this time just went off the map.
The Duos (Baritone and Banjo):
Both Blues Time and Chasing the Dawn were improvisational pieces I created using a relatively simple chord structure which let me have a
lot of room to experiment
The trios: (baritone, banjo, guitar):
I have loved Star of the County Down since I first heard it, and finally got to do the song the way I hear it in my head.
Sunrise and Shadow and Steel Strings are all pieces with very structured (and simple) modal chord patterns that give me the opportunity to
record ensemble pieces without losing my way. The baritone guitar makes for a great anchor for this sort of thing
Dancing Shoes was inspired by the Django Reinhardt Minor Swing.
Waddle Walk is one of those fairly straightforward blues pieces, but done in double-time and with some unusual changes in the turnaround
measure. I meant it to sound like an old-style ragtime tune.
Spirit Dance just grabs me, holds me and tells me to go.
