Lauren (words): I wrote this lyric the first summer we lived in Tennessee, after we have been once through all the seasons. We had moved from Colorado at the end of the previous May with our then 2-year-old, and wild blackberries, which didn’t grow in the part of Colorado where we had lived, were a revelation to us. (So were chiggers, but that’s another story entirely!) Every bit of this song is true: Blackberry picking with our kid and our old black dog became a part of our summers, and blackberry jam became a part of our winters.
Andy (music): When Lauren first showed me this lyric, she asked if I could work in a break using a bit of the old fiddle tune, Blackberry Blossom when I scored it. I worked with it a bit and realized that the structure of her lyric fit Blackberry Blossom perfectly – it just needed a “b part.” Lauren re-worked one of her verses into a b part/chorus and I based the entire melody on Blackberry Blossom – including working in the break that Lauren has asked for.
Several years later, my buddy, Tabby Crabb, made a music video of this song for us. (Below)
10 tracks. 4 musicians. 4 instruments. 1 heckuva good time!
View full-size on flickr
After a fast and furious week of recording, mixing and mastering, the new Curtis McPeake CD, as yet unnamed, is ready for the next step. Andy produced the old-time bluegrass project, featuring Aubrey Haynie on fiddle, Tim Dishman on bass, Andy May on lead vocals and guitar, and – of course – Curtis on banjo, at Mainframe Recording Studio in Nashville with Nathan Smith as engineer. More details to follow, but here are some pictures for you, now:
What an amazing week in the studio! Calling in the supporting vocalists – always a lot of fun! Unfortunately, we didn’t get photos of everybody, but here’s a good taste: Maura O’Connell, Brittany Allyn, Joanie Keller Johnson, Odessa Settles, and Bruce MacKay. Then, the legendary Curtis McPeake dropped by and added his banjo to a song. Thanks to all!
I completed this love song soon after our little family made the big move to Nashville in 1996. Every word is real. I still love to sing and play it. ~Andy
