Cumberland Mission

Cumberland Mission (mp3)(pdf)

The Amtrak Capitol Limited passes through Cumberland, MD around 9:30 in the morning on the way into DC and around 7:15 p.m. on the trip back west. It always stops for a few minutes and this tune was mostly composed there during one of my trips in 2011. I'm looking forward to riding through Cumberland again next month on my way to a series of Contratopia dances in Glenside, PA, and Glen Echo and Frederick, MD between March 22-25.

I recorded this tune a few days ago which is notable to me because it was the first time I had gotten around to recording anything new for So Many Tunes since last August. Since then I've done a couple more. We'll see if this is a trend or an anomaly.

Rainy Island Sunday

Rainy Island Sunday (mp3)(pdf)

It's neither rainy nor a Sunday today and I'm not on an island. But back in June 2011 I had just returned from a few hours on lovely Madeline Island, in the rain, on a Sunday, when I wrote this little tune. It's clearly related in key and feel to "Trailer in the High Grass" that I featured back in August. I had forgotten that I recorded this one also around that time and just re-discovered it this morning.

Further evidence of my lack of originality can be found on the first track of our Notes from the Farm CD. The second tune there, "Cold Market Morning", is another mid-tempo tune in Em with some real similarities. Maybe someday I should record a whole CD full of E minor tunes? Maybe not.