Saturday, December 31, 2011

"Epiphany Road"

 Happy Saturday, friends.  I have something special for you today.

I’ve spun my wheels a bit on the creative front since the move to Portland.  Not surprising, given all the circumstances of course.  So I’m really pleased to bring you a recording of a new song composed by yours truly—it’s my first venture into composing instrumental music since the early summer of 2008, & a welcome return at that!

The song is called “Epiphany Road,” & I’m indebted to a dear cyber friend for both the title & the inspiration to compose the piece.  That friend is Sandy Maxey, a brilliant person who I'm fortunate indeed to know thru Twitter.  If any of you doubt that Twitter can be used to convey important information & indeed, both deep thought & observations, you clearly haven’t experienced what Sandy Maxey can do with the form.  But more importantly—as in all friendships, whether in “3-D life” or in the “virtual” sphere—there has been a chance to share on a real level.  For this, I have so much gratitude; & in the course of such a conversation, Sandy told me about a special place that she calls “Epiphany Road.” 

The name stuck with me, & I began noodling on the guitar with that conversation in mind.  This was the result—a humble piece given the amazing title, but one that I like.  It’s played on my Gold Tone wood-bodied resonator guitar tuned to open D.  It’s actually the first time I’ve ever come up with a song in an open tuning & I must admit it presents some challenges—it’s not as easy to rely on a string of extended chords to give some melodic interest for example. 

Unfortunately, I don’t have the recording equipment I used to use at my disposal anymore.  For the time being, I’m using an Olympus hand-held digital recorder—not a bad piece of equipment for what it is, but not up to the quality of the Boss workstation I’d been using.  I do have a little Sony condenser mic, which is a big step up over the Olympus’ built-in, tho again, it’s not the same quality as the mics I used when recording in Idaho.  The song is a single, “live” track.

So here is “Epiphany Road” for Sandy Maxey—& very much hope you all enjoy it too.




The photo isn’t a picture of the actual “Epiphany Road,” but rather of a road not far from where I grew up along the Saxtons River in Vermont.  It seemed to fit on a few levels.

15 comments:

  1. A Lovely Way To Walk The Road.Thank You John.My Best Wishes To You+Yours in 2012.

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  2. Contemplative, complex, and lovely. I've listened over a few times. Congratulations.

    And I like the photo, too.

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  3. as soon as i saw the title, i knew exactly what road you were talking about. sandy is quite a lovely & intelligent lady....i'm so fortunate to know her in real life & interact with her online as well. i count myself fortunate to know you too.
    :) gorgeous song.

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  4. Hi Tony, Jacqueline & Barbie!

    Tony: Thank you so much! A very happy New Year to you & yours as well!

    Jacqueline: Thanks--I appreciate that so much!

    Barbie: So glad you liked it! I consider myself so fortunate to know both you & Sandy: you are both amazing people & dear friends. I just have to figure out how to get to North Carolina for a visit :)

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  5. Oh, so lovely! Made me slow down for a moment and take in the goodness of my world.

    Thank you for this, John.

    Wishing you the best of all possible worlds in this year to come.

    xo

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  6. Hi T: Thanks so much! I'm very glad you enjoyed the music & that it made a little difference in your day. All the very best wishes to you for 2012 as well :)

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  7. Nice, John! I especially like the use of harmonics in there. In a way it reminds me of the movies from the Canadian Board of Education we used to see back in my schooldays; they were all in b&w and they had soundtracks like your song - solo guitar that sort of ambled along with the action or scenery on the screen. I can almost see a boy and a girl bicycling down a road through fields in b&w to this piece.

    Happy New Year!

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  8. Hi Roy: Thanks! One never knows about harmonics--I think they get ticky awfully quickly unless handled well--so glad to hear you liked them in this case. Yes, the amblinb walk instrumental is a sort of specialty of mine :) A happy New Year to you as well.

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  9. Hi John,
    I'd not been to your blog for sometime, and I read about the changes in your life.

    Wanted to wish you a happy 2012, a year of new adventure and creativity!

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  10. I loved this. As others have pointed out it does make you stop and reflect; it also feels gentle and wistful.

    Have a great new year; I hope it's full of creative inspiration.

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  11. Hi Linda, HKatz & Clare

    Linda: Thanks for your good wishes. I hope 2012 is a wonderful year for you as well.

    HKatz: Thanks so much! Very best wishes to you for 2012!

    Clare: Thank you :)

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  12. I'm glad I waited until today to come and have a listen. This is the sort of music where you can just lie back and feel absolutely content. Think I'll lie back and listen again.

    Thank you for sharing this new journey.

    Kat

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  13. A beautiful piece. I know there are words in there, waiting patiently to be let out.

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  14. Hi Kat & Mairi

    Kat: I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Yes, it's a quiet song--for all my loud guitars quiet is a specialty of my compositions :)

    Mairi: I'm truly gratified by how much you like this--thanks so much, my friend.

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