The sequence of songs on the CD tell a story. I know CDs are not much in fashion these days, and if you do not have a CD player, then may I suggest you take a stroll through the following story?
Billboard
Lyrics by Everett Wren and Music by Everett Wren and Taylor Turner
Inspired by the Steve Martin movie “L.A. Story” and imagining another path for help in addressing miscommunication in relationships, I wrote this song in which a billboard is the chorale in the chorus who provides words of encouragement to the lead singer.
Porchlight
Lyrics by Everett Wren and Music by Everett Wren and Taylor Turner
When my partner and I jog in pre-dawn Austin, I delight in all the different colors of porchlights in our neighborhood. I wrote this song about rekindled love, where the porchlight once shone on a budding relationship and later brings them back together.
Treaty
Lyrics and Music by Everett Wren
One of the segments at a live ATXplained performance was about Austin’s Treaty Oak. Thus inspired I wrote this song about its history. Since that time, a few folks have mentioned to me religious or hopeful themes that they hear in the song, e.g., we can make it through hardships together.
Si Bheag, Si Mhor
Traditional
A Traditional tune attributed to the 17th Century Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan but the arrangement is mine.
I have always loved this tune and playing it.
Sliver of a Moon
Lyrics and Music by Everett Wren
This song tells the story of a musician racing to get home from a rehearsal (or show) before his partner falls asleep. Looking up to the sky, he swears the sliver of the moon is chuckling at his flailing attempts.
Wardrobe
Lyrics by Everett Wren and Daniel White and Music by Everett Wren, Nathan Quiring, and Seylon Stills
This song represents nostalgia while a couple is going through their wardrobe. Different objects they run across trigger memories from their history together.
Rebirth
Lyrics and Music by Everett Wren
This song tells a story of someone struggling to discover their own self esteem while deferring to the drama of characters on television.
Rye Straw
Traditional
This is a traditional fiddle tune. The arrangement and feel follow that of former national lap dulcimer champion Scott Odena’s early 2000s interpretation of the tune.
When I heard my buddy Scott perform this I became engrossed with his funky interpretation of this fiddle tune. In true traditional fashion I later became good friends with folks in Austin, TX, from whom he had learned and re-imagined it.
Get Flowers
Lyrics and Music by Everett Wren
One day I walked by a colleague’s desk and saw just two words written in blue ink on a yellow post-it: “Get Flowers.” Talking with him, I began to hear how his marriage was heart-wrenchingly dissipating, and this song tells the story.
Nowhere Near
Lyrics by Everett Wren and Music by Everett Wren, Nathan Quiring, and Sasha Klare-Ayvazian
It is easy to lose one’s cool when discussing emotional matters with loved ones. I reflected on how what I heard back to me just did not reflect what I thought I was trying to say and what I wanted to relate. It is a sad and verge of despairing song.
Have We Lost
Lyrics by Everett Wren and Music by Everett Wren, Nathan Quiring, Kimberly Zielnicki, and Patrick Conway
When you are working on a project together as a group, you must trust and encourage each other. In this song, one member seemed to be withholding, ignoring possibilities, driving with the brakes on, and slowly killing what we had.
Shine In
Lyrics and Music by Everett Wren
A friend posted on facebook one day “Empty Inside.” When I inquired but could not immediately reach them, I heard that their grandmother was dying of cancer. She was a woman who was larger than life, and this song is equal part tribute to her and reminder that folks going through such losses can reach out and find support.
Rounders
Lyrics and Music by Everett Wren
This song takes another look at the situation “Have We Lost,” but with broader overtones of human vanity – we are willing to destroy our world for short-term gains.
L’il Loaf
Lyrics and Music by Everett Wren
My friends gave birth to a gorgeous little girl in early 2021. Inspired by how she explores the world with her big blue eyes, I wrote this song for her.
Bonus Track: Long Black Veil
Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill (used with permission / licensed) and Arranged by Everett Wren
I just love this song, the reveal, the ghost story, and the lyrics that pose propriety over one’s own fate.
The Story Behind the Recording
When my bandmate and bass-playing friend Taylor pulled me aside after a show one day to tell me he would be moving to Oregon, I realized more than ever before how fortunate I have been to meet and perform with some of the finest musicians on the planet. So, I asked if he would be willing to do me the great favor of recording on my songs before he left.
Over the course of a few weeks in the fall of 2019, he joined me in my studio, along with my second engineer Seth and Taylor’s new puppy Juniper, and generously contributed to 15 scratch versions of the songs (some of which are not on this album).
Awe inspired, I started setting a plan to complete the recordings, and as chance may have it, the pandemic ironically provided me the time I needed to get the project off and running. Because I did not feel comfortable with musicians in my studio during a pandemic, I needed to explore – as many other musicians did – how to record and possibly perform virtually. Differences in recording spaces and microphones would have to be accounted for in the mixes.
And, again, I found myself so grateful to meet Andrew at Ghost Hit Recording, who empathized but moreover seemingly was energized by such a challenge. He patiently interpreted my feedback on EQs, levels, etc., until we attained sonic cohesion.
