TUNE OF THE MONTH: I wrote this tune in 2014 while standing in my living room looking out at a particularly severe ice storm. The scene was arrestingly beautiful, but I was well aware that this was going to cause destruction that would take months for my rural Northern New York village to clean up. Feeling both wonder and despair, I took out my fiddle, pushed record and played what I was experiencing. This tune was finished before I had even played a note --one of those moments when composers ask themselves, "where did that come from?"

The harsh January brought frigid days of -20F, turning my thoughts to the birds that winter here in the "North Country." I was aware of a pair of precious cedar waxwings that nested in the junipers near our home. So handsome, so fragile, so tiny, and so rugged as they endured the harshest of conditions. I decided to dedicate this tune to the waxwings, as they, like the ice storm, offered me a moment of quiet contemplation. This tune became the title cut of my CD with pianist Daniel Kelly and quickly became one of our most requested tunes.

THE ALBUM

ALBUM ARTWORK

Many, many thanks to artist, friend and fellow musician, Hannah Harvester for her beautiful paintings.  www.HannahHarvester.com

IN Concert

Happy listening. Happy music making.

Keep in touch.

~Gretchen