2020 was one crazy year. The world became obsessed with Trump, Qanon, a worldwide pandemic, accusations of a stolen election in the United States, and a citizen revolt on Capitol Hill. There has not been a time like this for over 100 years. The year shaped my moods and the music that appears on this album. It is darker and more aggressive in tone, and at the same time, brigher and more hopeful.

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The 2021 Sampler features shorter pieces overall than the 2019 EP, which focused on developing long, large-scale improvisations. This one, except for one composiiton, has shorter, more accessible pieces. They are more structured, even though I continue to base them upon ambient loops. The duets are largely performed to try to capture immediacy. I would start to record and begin improvising. Then, withoiut editing, I would go back and freely improvise against the part I had just improvised. The intent is to make it as pure a creative exercise as I can manage as a lone musician. The ensemble pieces feature guitars, bass, mandolin, and banjitar. The banjitar is my latest passion. It is basically a banjo with a guitar neck. It can have an almost Asian tone quality that I find contemplative. 

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I hope that you will find the album an emotionally satisfying experience as it transitions through moods of loneliness and isolation, fear, hope, and redemption.

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