Recording Date: July, 2006
Recording Location: Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC
Musicians: Me - Guitar, Vocals
Recorded at the Swannanoa Gathering--an annual series of workshops--during Contemporary Folk Week. The song was written in October 2004 after a series of life-changing events had opened up new possibilities for the future. So far I have yet to record a studio version, though a band version was performed with Unfrozen Cavemen.
Written By: Wendy Hearl and Pen Seddon
Recording Date: February 14, 2004
Recording Location: Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist
Church, Gray, TN
Musicians: Me - Guitar, Vocals; Pen Seddon - Vocals
In the middle of my long songwriting drought in the early 2000s, I managed to
finish one song, “Side By Side”. My good friend (and future wife) Pen and I were
asked to sing a song relating to love and commitment for the Valentine’s Day
service at church in 2004. After spending a couple of weeks trying in vain to
come up with a suitable song, I decided to write my own.
I started with a melody that I had written a
couple of months earlier; I spent a weekend trying to rather painfully coax the
song out of my brain. But by the end of the weekend I had done it. I was not
very confident about the final result; it seemed forced and I wasn’t sure I
could write a love song that wasn’t trite. But Pen was enthusiastic when I
played it to her; she suggested some revisions and additions to the lyrics.
We performed the song at church the following Sunday as a duet, to some acclaim;
this recording is from that premiere performance, warts and all. We performed
the song live several more times over the years. It will forever remind me of
her.
Recording Date: June 14, 2003
Recording Location: Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist
Church, Gray, TN
Musicians: Unfrozen Cavemen (Me - Guitar, Vocals, Joe
Arrington - Guitar, Vocals, John Franjione - Bass)
Recorded for a Saturday night coffeehouse. The song was written on August 13, 2001; a journal entry records, "...might be called 'In His Image' or 'Afraid of Knowing Where I Belong'. A studio version first appeared on my New Heart album in 2002.
Recording Date: June 14, 2003
Recording Location: Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist
Church, Gray, TN
Musicians: Unfrozen Cavemen (Me - Guitar, Vocals, Joe
Arrington - Mandolin, Vocals, John Franjione - Bass)
Recorded for a Saturday night coffeehouse. I started writing the song on November 30, 1997 and had finished it by December 3. It was inspired by a brief and strange but electric encounter with a woman at work. A journal entry records, "It's pretty much about the last few weeks, my mental state, my bodily state...and more than anything, about (and to) Kristine, and how I let opportunity slip through my fingers. The song has an air of reflection, but there is a lot of hope in the lyrics..." A studio version first appeared on my Machine Dream album in 1999.
Recording Date: August 20, 1997
Recording Location: The Down Home, Johnson City, TN
Musicians: Brian Hearl - Guitar, Vocals
Recorded at the Wednesday night Open Hoot. I believe the song was written sometime in 1993; I remember showing the lyrics to my Culture Shock comrades Will Henson and Jared Bentley. It didn't seem to be suitable for that band, though, so I recorded it for my Why Not? album in 1994.
Recording Date: April 23, 1993
Recording Location: The Tavern, Abingdon, VA
Musicians: Culture Shock (Me - Guitar, Vocals; Will
Henson - Guitar; Jared Bentley - Tambourine, Wade Crounse, Bass; Taylor Burgess,
Drums)
Recorded during one of our many weekend gigs at the Tavern. I think I wrote the song sometime in 1990, probably working on the lyrics during some class or other at college. A studio version first appeared on my debut album, Anti-Gravity, in 1990.