Album Notes

Nest

These are quiet, acoustic songs about the mysticism of everyday life-- love, presence, silence, stillness. They explore the possibility of deep happiness and freedom that arises when we let ourselves be as we are, without limit.

I did all of the music and vocals on Nest. The melodies are from the Strumstick (see note below) to which I add a vocal track or two, electric bass, and found percussion (clay pot, waste basket, suitcase, etc.). It all comes from a desire to go beyond. Beyond what? Beyond the little me, where real life always is. Beyond even the idea of going beyond. Why else would anyone bother to make music?

Sticksongs

I thought I had run dry. After so many years of writing and playing songs (guitar stuff), it no longer seemed as powerful to me as it once did. I had gotten more interested in meditation and had come to feel that silence is so perfect, why would anyone bother to make music? Then I happened upon this little three-stringed instrument called a Strumstick, and it changed everything.

The Strumstick (www.strumstick.com) is something like a cross between a mountain dulcimer and a guitar-- that is, it's a simple folk instrument with a small body and a limited scale. At first I tried to play it with a pick like a guitar, and it sounded horrible. The more I tried to make it sound full and resonant, the more it sounded tiny and pathetic. I had to throw away my ideas of how I wanted it to sound, and let it show me how it wanted to be played.

As I continued to work with the Strumstick it started to open up, and I began to hear a quiet music coming out of it that seemed like something I had been waiting my whole life to hear. Something simple and welcoming, exotic and familiar at the same time-- like new American ragas. After a while it was playing me, and I could no longer resist. Surrender was my only option.