ghost
as we move deeper into the wilderness of the pandemic, a confluence of events conspired to push our latest track out to social media and our friends and followers. i wrote “ghost (amen)” last summer in the still of an august night full of heat; a lonely echo and the presence of an apparition to keep me company in my musings of the desert and the journey over life’s incredible tapestry. the van gogh brothers took the track into woolly mammoth just before the pandemic and david minehan recently layered in his formidable production skills to create the landscape that you now hear. visual artist jason archinaco created this incredible graphic spontaneously while listening and our 15th album now has its cornerstone track and album cover.
it feels good to create something new during this time of suspended animation. i’ve been feeling like life has been on hold a bit- a feeling both good and bad. creating helps me restore a sense of balance and purpose. i know life will be different as we move through and hopefully beyond our troubled time, but this simple little act gave me an “i am” in the midst of “am i?”
we humans create little mental dialogs for ourselves as we look through the eye windows of our human shells at “the world out there” beyond what can only feel like the center of the universe. from this perspective, it’s hard to imagine that life does not revolve around us. the pandemic has helped me in some way to remember very clearly that i am one of many and control over future events is far beyond anyone’s control, including mine. we truly are one in all of this and this has made me feel both relevant and irrelevant, an odd juxtaposition, but a refreshing outlook.
paul and i discussed the concept for the new album and agree we are currently dialing in from the wilderness and the tracks should speak to this perspective. with this renewed outlook, we are revisiting songs and song choices that feed that narrative. there are several- “a day at a time,” “crown of thorns,” “backroads,” halfway home,” “what’s left of me,” and a few others- all acoustic-based, americana-heavy tracks with more musical and lyrical weight than i imagined for this record. i am now inspired to write the rest of my way around the “circle.”
my lovely donna will open the farm stand at her magical moon farm in marshfield soon and we plan to have a music day in the coming weeks as part of her “save the farm” campaign. the farm is a 5-acre spiritual refuge overlooking the ocean with a beautiful organic garden and rambling grounds. watch our “performances” section here on the site for details.
i hope you are all safe and sound and we get to see each other in the weeks and months to come. be patient with yourselves and others as we carry this extra burden in our psyches. we will find our way through.
love,
jc