Acoustic guitar
Home recording, 2003

A rendition of an old church hymn, "How Firm a Foundation". From the Wiki:

"How Firm a Foundation is a Christian hymn, published in 1787 by John Rippon in A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, Intended to be an Appendix to Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns, known as "Rippon's Selection". It is attributed only to "K", which probably refers to Robert Keen(e), precentor at Rippon's church, though other names suggested include Richard or John Keene, Kirkham,John Keith or Words by G. Keith and Music by J. Reading as cited in the 1884 publication of Asa Hull's Jewels of Praise.  It is most often sung to the tune "Foundation" (or "Protection") which first appeared in A Compilation of Genuine Church Music (1832) edited by Joseph Funk, though the original tune may be Keen(e)'s "Geard".

This was the favorite hymn of General Robert E. Lee and has been played at the funerals of several US politicians. On Christmas Eve 1898, American units involved in the Spanish–American War joined together to sing the hymn. The units were from the North and the South."

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A lot of old hymns and sacred songs are rich in musical themes, and present good opportunities for rendering into other forms of instrumentation and arrangement. I came by this arrangement after developing the finder exercise that became the intro on this track.

                             

How Firm A Foundation - Tag

A jazzy figure inspired by listening to Johnny Smith recordings led to this intro to a popular Beatles tune. The track is a home recording from 2003 and features the intro, then fades as it picks up the verse.

Working

HereThere_Intro-Fade

Recorded at home in 2007.

A bluesy little number written and recorded on 52nd birthday. Hence the title of the track. I supposed I could have recorded "Happy Birthday", but I just wasn't feelin' it. Then this happened.

52 Blues (030807)

The first part of this track was written and recorded in the late 90's while experimenting at home with looping devices. It was originally a frenetic  electric guitar "free form" jam with multiple layers of guitar over the old Peter Gun theme. Some years later I wrote and recorded the acoustic figure that became "Part 2". This second part was an acoustic home recording, circa 2003 - 2007. A lot of times these things just "happen" when the muse hits, and sometimes they got recorded. 

I like the contrasts of sounds and emotion here. The first part has an aggressive, angry attitude that segues into the silky feel of part two, which carries a hint of melancholia -- or is it enchantment -- through the end of the song. The two pieces just seemed to call for each other, and they make for an interesting marriage of sounds when joined together. I named the final arrangement "The Chase (pt 1) - The Girl (pt2)" because it reminded me of someone at the time.

Glenn Arnold

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