My best friend recently told me that he and his wife are having a baby. He sent me an audio file of the babies heart beat after their last visit to the doctor. I was filled with wonder listening to what sounded like a train under water or the panting of a dog and realizing this was human struggling to be born. In the beating of the heart, I began hearing tones and a definite phrase - so as a musician I started to put instruments to what I was hearing. I know it sounds "over the top" but I felt like there was a composition that existed in the heart beat; I was just hearing it and putting instruments to what heard. I wonder if this child will hear this one day and feel a connection.

My best friend recently told me that he and his wife are having a baby.  He sent me an audio file of the babies heart beat after their last visit to the doctor. I was filled with wonder listening to what sounded like a train under water or the panting of a dog and realizing this was human struggling to be born.  In the beating of the heart, I began hearing tones and a definite phrase - so as a musician I started to put instruments to what I was hearing.  I know it sounds "over the top" but I felt like there was a composition that existed in the heart beat; I was just hearing it and putting instruments to what heard. I wonder if this child will hear this one day and feel a connection.

Pale Moonlight - Graylings Session #1

The Graylings Session is a collaboration with film director John Metcalf and engineer Billy Burke to produce live music videos of songs that will be on the forthcoming album of Zach + Bridget.  Over the next few months we thought it would be interesting to share the bare skeleton of these songs before they go through the many machines and re-writes that happen in recording.  We shared a rough cut of this first one back in May but this is the finished video // Graylings Session #1 "Pale Moonlight"

What Child is This Christmas Hymn

What Child is This? - is a Christmas Hymn by William Dix. Dix wrote this Hymn in the midst of suffering from a deep depression. I have always been fascinated with the stark contrast between the brooding melody and the lovely lyrics depicting the manger scene of Jesus. The question posed in the title - "What Child Is This?" implies a lack of certainty that most advent hymns don't have. Like a warm cocktail on a cold night this song stirs of equal parts beauty, sadness and mystery into my soul.

Paisley Dress - Live

Paisley Dress is a live recording we did last month.  This song really brought out a new direction for my songwriting and Bridget's voice.

CODEX Radiohead - Rearrangement

Most of the muscles in our body are situated into antagonistic pairs to bring balance of movement and hold our skeleton in place. As one muscle flexes another muscle relaxes. I find the same pairing between the 'head' and the 'heart' when it comes to the labor of creative work. Music for me can start in the head and move to the heart or vice versa. Then there are the rare times it finds a balance between the two. Lately I have been fascinated with reverse engineering influential songs from other artists. Excising the emotion from the lyrics, cataloging each chord from the progression and investigating its core elements separately as a biologist would a cadaver. Then I put these songs back together with my musical faculties and my emotional core. Hopefully breathing life back into what I dismantled...

Most of the muscles in our body are situated into antagonistic pairs to bring balance of movement and hold our skeleton in place. As one muscle flexes another muscle relaxes. I find the same pairing between the 'head' and the 'heart' when it comes to the labor of creative work. Music for me can start in the head and move to the heart or vice versa. Then there are the rare times it finds a balance between the two. Lately I have been fascinated with reverse engineering influential songs from other artists. Excising the emotion from the lyrics, cataloging each chord from the progression and investigating its core elements separately as a biologist would a cadaver. Then I put these songs back together with my musical faculties and my emotional core. Hopefully breathing life back into what I dismantled...