October Snow (again)-Stumbling On - Burning Bright 2020

October Snow  (pdf) : Stumbling On (pdf)

 It's the end of 2020 and tonight I'm embedding the video that Erik Sessions and I filmed as our contribution to the annual Decorah Burning Bright holiday concert. 

The first tune, October Snow, has already appeared here by itself but Erik and I play it as the first tune in a set that includes the aptly titled "Stumbling On." That title refers to both the character of the tune itself and the fact that this has been a year where it was often difficult to keep our balance and continue to move forward. 

For the last 20 plus years Erik Sessions and I have played music together regularly; as members of Contratopia, in other Decorah area bands (The Western Home String Band, etc.) and as a duo. This year we played together only a handful of times, especially since March. 

The video above was recorded quickly, I think sometime in late October. I had sent Erik the music for the tunes in advance. We had a brief conversation about how many times through and some simple arrangement ideas. Then we ran through the tunes once and made the recording. There are plenty of mistakes on my part but I'm OK with them.

I'm fervently hoping that Erik and I will be able to play together much more in 2021 than in 2020. Despite the challenges ahead in the coming months I hope that everyone reading this blog manages to have a happy new year. Stay safe and take care of each other.