Shadows on the Mountain, Track 7 from the album Sacred Spaces. If you like this track, consider buying the album on iTunes! 

I wrote Shadows on the Mountain for my mom, thinking about a remote farm where I spent my early childhood (4-7 years old). It was on a mountain, at the end of a 5-mile dirt driveway. The nearest neighbor was a mile away, and there were no other people in sight. We had goats and chickens, and a huge vegetable garden, and an occasional trip to the store — at the nearest town, 45 miles away. It was truly quiet, and the nights were completely dark. I'm not sure if people get the opportunity to experience complete silence or complete darkness anymore, but it's a beautiful thing. I was too young to appreciate the beauty of it, but the serenity of that place has stayed with me, and I'm grateful for it now. 

I used to sit on our mountain, watching the trees and shadows dance on the other mountain. Sometimes they looked like animals, and sometimes I could see the same animals in the same trees. Shadows on the Mountain. 

It features my old no-name guitar (my very first guitar, which I've had since I was 4 years old), and also has fretless bass and orchestral strings. 

The form is ABAB C ABAB, so AB (the two melody sections), AB again (add strings), C (the bridge), ABAB (bass playing the “A” melody both times).

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