Saucer Rise

I've made straight ahead rock/roots/pop/folk/? music for a long time. I love the pure perfection of a 2-3 minute pop or honky tonk classic where everything just clicks into place so well that you are compelled to play it a few times in succession. From the Everly Bros to the early Who singles to a fat southern soul slice of O.V. Wright, hitting the listener hard and getting out before they know it is the name of the game.

These potent little pre-wrapped gems are great-- they take all of your attention, elevate your blood pressure and pretty much obliterate your troubles with their intoxicating mojo, at least temporarily. However, I've always found them to be a bit distracting if you're trying to do something like concentrate at work, read a magazine or follow a complicated recipe when cooking a big dinner (ok, maybe that's a stretch).

My workdays consist of computer oriented tasks like writing, editing, web stuff, research, emails--basically, communicating thoughts or soaking them up. For this sort of thing, listening to prime songwriting doesn't work for me because it completely breaks my concentration. I listened to jazz and classical music for years, but I really got into ambient and dub music a few years back and really grew to love it both in and out of work. Ambient music is not designed to grab you like a killer song, but it can alter your perception of your environment, encourage a productive and contemplative state or provide great "sonic design" for your surroundings, like an Eames chair in a home office with superior Feng Shui.

I'm not claiming that this ambient piece will do all of those things, but feel free to listen to it when you're concentrating on something else. The piece unfolds over 5 minutes, and I was thinking about a slowly evolving event, like perhaps a sunrise. I used a vaguely similar sonic palette to Evening Porch Bugs, and I'm still exploring that space with this one.

I've included some beautiful images that my wife took of the bridge that connects East Nashville to downtown. The light of the sun looks otherworldly on the rough metal structure.