In early May I was traveling over to Denver for a Chiropractic seminar. I had put the finishing touches on Lazy Waters and had been fighting back the rushing notes that had been haunting me for the second movement of The River, Under the Bridge. I still couldn’t play Lazy Waters as well as I wanted to. The urge to compose something new, to yield to the inner urgings, before completing another piece is such a temptation and hard to resist. Under the Bridge was begging to be born.
The feel of this song came rushing into my mind the like the waters it is meant to express. The notes were pushing through but I wasn’t as sure about the tempo. So I decided to stop at the Bear Ranch rest stop, east of Glenwood Springs. I sat by the water, under the bridge and watched and breathed and listened. I let myself be lost in the water as it washed by. There were little twirls and places at the edges that ran a bit more slowly. But, the main body of water moved at a constant pace and honestly was running much faster than what I had thought from my imagination. Maybe it was the water level. Maybe I was meant to see THAT bridge and THAT river as an inspiration. I’m sure that there are bridges with water that barely moves under them. But, under THIS bridge on THIS day, the water moved with a deliberate pace and barely wavered. My hope is that my musical depiction of the water under the bridge will give you the same feeling that I was lost in that day.
I want to dedicate this piece and Lazy Waters to my good friend and Mentor, James Smith, without whose encouragement and support I’d not have begun writing my compositions down so that others can be able to play them, as well. If you want a copy of the manuscript, let me know. It is in tablature and notation.
Thank you for caring, listening and reading…..Please love it….
Stirringly lovely.
Thank you for listening from down under! I’m glad that you enjoyed it. For the fun of it, my husband and I just learned “Waltzing Matilda”!