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This month…
• new free piece
• free Christmas carol arrangements
• hip update
• new album update
• new publication
• recommendations
Free pieces
Although I love Christmas, I'm not really that big on Christmas music. That being said, this month I thought I would write something that might give you the feeling of sitting comfortably in front of a warm fireplace during the holiday season. “Embers” has an easy going, laid back triple feel, and I tried to write a melody that felt a little nostalgic. There is also a little bit of call and response happening with a counter melody. I hope you enjoy playing it, or at least listening.
On a side note…this is my Guild GAD with a red cedar top with solid Indian rosewood back and sides. The bridge exploded off of this a few years back. Last year, I took it to Paul Nieto at GuitarTech NYC, who did a fantastic job putting it back together, setting it up, and putting in a K&K pure mini for me. If you need an expert repairman/luthier in NYC…Paul is the man!
I am seven weeks out from my hip replacement surgery and I returned to school last week. I feel better than ever. It is still really strange to be pain free. I think I got so use to being in constant pain for the last ten plus years, that I forgot what normal felt like. I am so happy I had the surgery done. Normal feels amazing. Thank you Dr. Urquhart!
New Publication
Guitar Chamber Music Press has published a new guitar trio of mine titled “Clouds and Cathedrals”. Score and parts (in standard notation only) available here.
New Album Update
Tom Eaton and I will be releasing our first duo album early next year. We spoke this week to discuss the tracks, final overdubs, the streaming roll out, album art, and printing CDs.
We are extremely excited to get this project out there. The music is a combination of a lot of different things, but in the end, it is very ‘us’. I am mainly playing electric guitar on this record, with a few overdubs on Nashville tuned acoustic guitar. Tom is playing piano, synths, bass, a little lap slide guitar, as well as programming percussion. The music was partly composed and partly improvised, both of which happening primarily in the moment, in the studio.
Stay tuned…
Recommendations
Here is what I've been reading and listening to…
That's all for this month…and this year! This is the fourth year of this newsletter. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read these. I hope you find them somewhat interesting and useful. If you missed any of 2025's free pieces, here is a folder that contains the videos and PDFs. All of my newsletters since 2022 are archived on my website as well.
As another year comes to an end, I want to thank you for continuing to support my work. I love the creative process, and often find myself getting lost in it, but it never escapes me that my music speaks to so many people. Your support inspires me to continue doing it, and for that I am filled with gratitude. Thank you so very much.
I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday season wherever you are. See you in January!
