Waiting For Today is described as a return to simplicity, with acoustic guitar melody and warm, unforced chords at its centre. What was happening in your life or creative process that led you back to this stripped back approach?
There is a meditation joke that goes kind of like this: You should sit in meditation for 30 minutes a day unless you’re too busy, then you should sit for an hour!
For me when life gets crazy, I balance things out by slowing things down and making things simple. This time it happened to be my music. I recently lost a duo partner, a singer that was a part of my acoustic rock band. We collaborated together for about 27 years. So, I haven’t booked any gigs, instead I re-focused my time and energy into creating pretty instrumental music. Re-creating myself without others so I can be a solid authentic musician with a solid foundation. I needed it.
You wrote much of the album while sitting with what you describe as the “challenging landscape of today”. How did that experience shape the mood, pacing and direction of the record?
Life is short. What are you waiting for? Hopefully you are waiting for today! Be here and now. So, every song is titled and sets mood, emotion, and energy for times that I felt strongly pulled me towards a clear, authentic and relaxed presence. For some reason when life feels short and fragile I tend to reminisce a bit. Most of the songs as you noticed have a component of this.
There is a strong sense of space throughout the album, particularly on tracks such as “Lingering In The Long Shadows” and “Wondering Home”. What do you want listeners to experience in those quieter moments?
That is all up to the listener. I am just creating a little breathing space, not having to rush to get somewhere else. I hope to let the music encourage your own relaxed thought space, lingering, wondering, walking, talking, waiting, thinking or just enjoying a cup of coffee.
You composed and produced all nine tracks yourself, working across acoustic guitar, electric guitar and guitar synthesizers. How did you decide which instrument or sound belonged to each composition?
Great question. I will often play the song on different guitars and with different background tapestries at home and when I go to the studio will take multiple instruments to play as I show up that day. I love some of the subtle sounds that represent more subtle emotions. All of this takes time and trial and error to hone in, yet for the most part, I find my voice in the traditional acoustic guitar with very sparse effects and generally live there. The electric and guitar synth sound usually add an extra emphasis to the emotion of the melody. Soft Furnishings is played on a baritone acoustic guitar. It gives a deeper sound that feels soft, luxurious and comforting.
Your music has a close connection with mindfulness, meditation, yoga and rehabilitative practice. How has your experience in those areas influenced the way you compose and approach the guitar?
Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “intentionally being present to the here and now without judgement”. Meditation is the formal practice of sitting still with this. Yoga is the practice of whole body movement with integrating breath in the same way, mindfully. Playing guitar for me is the next logical progression of my mindfulness practice. By playing for yoga and meditation classes it influences how the guitar parts move with thoughts, breath, body movements, flow, and silence or stillness. There are certain melodic phrases and tempos that work well at allowing the thoughts to settle into a type of simplicity and clarity.
You received your first guitar from your grandmother at the age of ten and later discovered players including Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Wes Montgomery. Looking back, what did those early influences teach you about what the guitar could become in your hands?
These players were all huge innovators and experimenters with the guitar and techniques. After trying to play with distortion, different finger styles, harmonics, or chord melodies just to name a few, it gave me freedom to find my own voice and techniques that have allowed me to find and feel confident and comfortable with my own style as they were with theirs. One of a kind unique and themselves.
“Waiting For Today” feels particularly interested in allowing time to pass naturally rather than forcing a traditional musical climax. What does patience mean to you as a musician and composer?
I kinda like to think of the songs indiviually and the progression of the album as away to find life in the slow lane, allowing for a space to find a balance from life in the fast lane. I think you hit the nail on the head, allowing time to pass naturally, rest, relax, be present. It is harder to be patient than it is to speed up. While composing I may meditate or sit with stillness before to clear my expectations, then while creating, allow the song to find its sweet spot to let it unfold in its own time. I find in that space, it has it has a star, power, and truth of it’s own.
Colorado Zen reached number eight on the Zone Music Reporter chart and received a New Age Music Award nomination, while The Space In Between reached number 11. How have those milestones affected the way you approach your music today?
I am energized to have such a reception and it supports me to continue to follow my hearts song in this journey. I am very happy that people are resonating with the music! Thank you listeners!
The album was engineered and mixed by Brian Hunter at The Mousetrap Recording Studio in Denver and mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering in Boulder. What did you learn from the recording and production process of Waiting For Today?
The process is not about perfection it is about being present and doing the best you can. Ultimately, it is what we all do. When this happens, just enjoying the process..
Brian Hunter and I have been working together for about 25 years now, and he allows me time and space to do what I do while taking care of the recording process so that I can concentrate on my best performance. We have a great working relationship, he can anticipate my typical, and get there before I do some times, for the sound engineering pieces.
David Glasser has great ears and the coolest sounding mastering system. He has great intuition from so many years of mastering. It is a pleasure having a 2x grammy winner working on my music!
If someone puts on Waiting For Today without knowing anything about you or the album, what would you hope they take away from the 37 minutes and 50 seconds when the final track, “Soft Furnishings”, comes to an end?
I made up a meditation mantra years ago, it goes like this; a clear mind is peace, it illuminates truth, and lets love shine through! Here is to hoping that Waiting For Today provides a path for that journey, towards a relaxed attentive presence in the moment!
