Recording in Kentucky, family cottage built in 1915

Working remotely in Kentucky for November. Mixing, recording, writing, general decompression, and periodic quarantines around COVID tests to visit family. Simplified and transported the studio rig to this family cottage in Meade County. It was built around 1915 by a relative, Archie Troutman, who was the son of great great Aunt Rilla. We are obviously kindred spirits with that last name and there’s a shadow box with a variety of arrowheads that he collected from the acreage. The property tax paid in 1919 was $14.02 and it acquired electricity in 1949. Running water wasn’t a reality until a few years ago when dad remodeled it and moved it about 50 yards up to a bluff for a primo view of the Ohio River, and the wide open grain fields of Indiana on the other side. The re-claimed materials used in construction would be tough to source today—chestnut tongue/groove wood floors, yellow poplar, sandstone.

It’s quiet out here, supplemented by barges pushing coal upstream on the Ohio, planes on their Louisville routes, roosters crowin’, hound dogs houndin’, cows mooin’, wood floors creakin’, frogs croakin’, ragged old pickup trucks firing up and down a barely-two-lane road with no center line. It’s an easy transition to land here and hit the ground running with musical ideas after a 27-hour drive. In fact, it’s a luxury. Physical re-location is good for creative spark.Time lately has been journaled through the music and words made here. A poem left on the table written in pencil by Ryan Allen reminds me that “I’m Still Here,” and a live cottage recording of “White Lies” by Nate Jones makes me question why I haven’t collaborated more with these two characters. Time—it’s limited, fleeting and we also like to fish and kick dirt.

Regardless of the quality of my recent writing purge, there’s a certain feeling to open the Songwriting 2020 folder and rediscover a handful of song ideas from last week that I don’t immediately recall by the file names: Banjer for Peace in Double C, Medicine Lid, Paranoia Around Denial, N8s Groove, Coming to the Edge, and Open D Minor Walks the Silver among them. Now, I open them and keep the fingers crossed. To be continued...