Snow In The Air
Next week, for the first time in a long time, I’ll be sharing new music. I haven’t released music since February 2019, when my then-fiancée/now-wife Rachel Sumner and I put out an EP of covers and re-recorded originals. The last time I released solo music was November 2016, which feels like forever ago. On Monday, 3/10, I’ll reset that clock with a song called “Snow In The Air.”
It’s hard to know what to say about a song, but I can tell you a bit about making it. The basic track was recorded by Sam Margolis at Riverview Sound. I played acoustic guitar and sang; Hazel Royer played upright bass; and Hadley Lloyd played drums. We tracked all of that live in one room. I intended to add more parts to this recording, but my ideas were vague. Fortunately, I put the song in the hands of Scott Thompson, who added electric guitar, and Michael Bellar, who added a bevy of keyboards and a bit of shaker. This was the first time that I’d had musicians add parts remotely to a recording of mine; I know this is common now and has been for a while, but it’s a new world for me. Rachel did some additional engineering and initial mixing before we brought the tracks to Bearded Cat, where the song was mixed by Brad Bensko. Everything was then shipped up to New Brunswick, where it was mastered by John McLaggan at Parachute Mastering.
Maybe that doesn’t actually tell you much about the making of it. Anyone who recognizes the names above, though, knows what amazing musicians and technicians they are. To have worked with people of this caliber is amazing to me. Each person who touched this recording made it better.
Asking each of these people to be involved in this process was nerve-wracking, and I’m grateful for their kindness and effort. Sharing the end result with the few people who have heard it so far has been scary. Releasing it into the world amplifies those feelings manyfold. I’ve thought a lot about what it means not only to make music but to share it with people, to put it out for anyone to hear. Those thoughts have been largely abstract; and while finally releasing something into the world feels somewhat more concrete, a single song appearing on streaming services for an unknown audience of listeners feels abstract and disconnected in its own way. I hope people find it or it finds people and that those who hear it enjoy it or get something from it. If you’re reading this (and I appreciate you doing so), I hope you’ll give it a listen. Maybe you’ll listen more than once. If you’re moved to, maybe you’ll even share it with others.
If you’d like to pre-save the song, you can do that here. In a couple of days, there’ll be no “pre” about it. “Snow In The Air” will be out there for everyone. After that, onto the next one.
