Album Notes

Small Change EP is an early preview of material that will eventually be included in the multimedia project Small Change. There are five tracks which evolve from stripped-down acoustic recordings to full electric sessions. The songs follow one particular thread of blues influence as it traversed various generations of music throughout the past century, offering fans a glimpse of the audio portion of the project.

It’s all part of the larger undertaking, a concept that revolves around the idea of change as it is expressed through a number of different mediums, as they are expressed through a number of different media. Everything starts out relatively basic, but as time progresses, the layers start to overlap one another, eventually leading to the transformation of style and mixing of genres, combining: resonator guitar, harmonica, kickball, confusion, piano, electric guitar, electric piano, run ons, repetition, pauses ...anticipation...repetition, bass, drums, a c celeration, decelerati o n, impatience, and stops.

Here are brief descriptions of each song:


1 - "Nothing Much Grows" - A vocal intro reminiscent of field chants and chain gang songs.

2 - "Lay me Down" - Slide on a resonator guitar, harmonica on the rack, and vocals inspired by early delta Blues.

3 - "The Line" - An instrumental transition from acoustic to electric music in the vein of Blues, Jazz, and Rock & Roll. Elements of Pink Floyd, Santana, and the Derek Trucks Band.

4 - "On the Run" - Jimi Hendrix and Blues Traveler tangled up in a disco-funk session.

5 - "Off in the Distance" - A groove that a younger Beck might have used to try to nose in on Jack Johnson's current market.

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All instrumentation, artwork, and production by Chris Merkley. He also designed and assembled the packaging himself because he really doesn't like jewel cases.

The full-length album portion of Small Change is scheduled for release in late 2006.