An eerie and haunting feeling when the fog rolls in over the shoreline. 
Yet, it is beautiful, serene and the inspiration for artists of all media.  And, when the fog lifts into the horizon and slowly disappears, I feel that I am lifted too.  There is a clarity, a sense of optimism of life's eternal cycle.

The Fog Has Lifted 

I stood at the shore as an 
Eerie veil rolls into view 
The mist, hauntingly cloaks the air, 
Like a shroud of sorrow, draped with care.
In quiet depths, where shadows creep, 
The soul within me begins to weep.
The fog wraps tight, like a gray cocoon, 
Blocking the sight of the sun and moon.
Yet through the haze, a golden thread 
Of light comes dancing through.
It pierces clouds and reveals the sky,
Lifting the fog behind my eyes.
The fog dissolves, and my spirit flies. 
I’m in the light -my truth is clear.

Music and Poem by 
Jennifer L. Jones
Music Dreams Productions
March 20, 2025

The Fog Has Lifted

This track started about nothing... I just play, and realize there is a bit of a story we all know... The stormy and turbulent times, times of melancholy and play, the joyful times of love and being loved, and the sadness of loss we all bear.  With all of that, it is really "Something Beautiful"!

Please watch my youtube video: https://youtu.be/eHUH9t3MIL4 

Music Dreams Productions
Jennifer L. Jones
Composer|Pianist|Producer

Something Beautiful

The story of a person walking through the woods.  She/he walks through a threatening environment and then spots a glen in the woods.  Walking further, the scene becomes magical.

A Sudden Glen

(spoken word)
An ugly mutt as there ever was, but he had a heart of gold
I named him “Griz, the huntin dog” when he was 3 days old
Black as coal and dumb as hell, but the dog had nerves of steel
He loved to hunt and loved to fight, and he never did learn to heel
(spoken word)
He’d give his all when I’d let him loose, huntin birds was his pride and joy
He loved the woods and he loved to run, but he mostly loved my boy
They grew up together, till they was 8 years old
They’d wrassle in the summer, fetch snowballs in the cold
(spoken word)
One day Matt was in the woods, old Griz was in his pen
And I was gone away to work while Ma was sleepin in
The boy heard a rustle in the brush and looked up into the eyes
Of a slobberin, rabid coyote, with killin on his mind
(spoken word)
Matthew screamed, the coyote sprang and Grizzly cleared the wall
The coyote nearly had the boy, his worst mistake of all
Griz met the beast in the air, his boy was on the ground
The battle raged forever, their blood was all around
(spoken word)
When it was through that old coyote was dead there was no doubt
Griz dragged his way back to the boy, his life was spillin out
He put his head on Matthew’s lap and looked into his eyes
Griz loved that boy more than life, Matt held him while he died
(chorus) (sing chorus)
   So how do you thank a friend who’s not around
   Some say that he was just a dog but I will always stand my ground
   He’ll never know the sacrifice he made for us that day
   The truest friend there ever was, he wanted it that way
  (spoken word)
    Of “Old Griz, the huntin dog,” his legend’s here to stay
(spoken word)
The debt that I owe to that old dog will always be too great
He gave his life to save my boy and now it’s just too late
There’ll never be another that could take his place you see
That dog was a true hero, and that he’ll always be
(chorus) (sing chorus)
   So how do you thank a friend who’s not around
   Some say that he was just a dog but I will always stand my ground
   He’ll never know the sacrifice he made for us that day
   The truest friend there ever was, he wanted it that way
  (spoken word)
   Of “Old Griz, the huntin dog,” his legend’s here to stay

   So how do you thank a friend who’s not around
   Some say that he was just a dog but I will always stand my ground
   He’ll never know the sacrifice he made for us that day
   The truest friend there ever was, he wanted it that way
   (spoken word)
   Of “Old Griz, the huntin dog,” his legend’s here to stay
                                                        
                                                                               
©   4/00  J. Michael Tracy   All Rights Reserved


The Legend of Griz (the huntin' dog)   (s)

This is a tone poem created on June 1, 2025.  Piano improvisation.  I hope you enjoy!

Tone Poem_6_1_25

I wrote the piano part first as a piano solo.  I added the flute part to bring out another melodic line against the piano part. I was inspired by the words, show me, help me, teach me and the ways we experience and find meaning through life.

Show Me
Poem by Jennifer L. Jones

Show me how the beauty of each day sings 
through the window, and how the world 
awakes in quiet kindness,
lifting its face to meet the light.

Teach me how love is laced in
Fingertips that tie shoelaces,
brush away tired tears,
and hold without hesitation.

Show me the rhythm of patience—
how it flows in the breath of listening,
and the lull between words, 
louder than sound ever could.

Help me find the meaning in small things:
the untied ribbons of childhood laughter,
the sacred space between holding on,
and letting go.

Show me the way you offer without asking,
how your heart is a lantern in my night,
how love is the echo of footsteps
that never walk away.

Show Me

This piece came out of the same session as the previous tone poem.  Typically, these pieces come while I sit at the piano and play what comes through, it's interesting to see what a difference a few hours make.  Hope you enjoy!

Tone Poem 2 6_13-25

The ominous harmonies and trance-like rhythmic patterns suggest to me perhaps some kind of ritual or incantation. Feel free to imagine your own imagery! The structure is a kind of continuous variation on motives and harmonies introduced in the first minute and a half.

Incantations

My new orchestral tone poem dealing with bipolar disorder and my constant struggle with it. The title is drawn from the memoir, An Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison.

U N Q U I E T

Sat down the other day and this made its acquaintance.  Hope you enjoy!

Expectidectomy - Piano Tone Poem 3

The Music of Sound...really!!  It's all grist for the mill.  I visualize Sound/Music as colors, shapes and forms rather than notes in a scale.  I look upon each of these pieces as individual environments and/or sculptures in which to spend some time, looking round, feeling the curves, hanging out, exploring... Each composition is based on different elements, structures and rules or lack thereof.  Consequently, each is unique unto itself.  

Blissfully free of genre, everything is fair game:  beats; melodies; disquiet; washes; pulses; broken clichés and memes; subliminals; words and voices; chaos; sonorities; field recordings; indeterminacy; world music; the holy; the gutter; otherworld music; drones; synths; samples, etc. etc.  etc.  

I enjoy entering into the mitochondria of what makes a sound  that particular sound and then genetically change it into something entirely different than what it was - with just the essence lingering.  I also like to explore the "in-betweens" - spaces between beats, frequencies, timbres, spaces, tones, etc. In large part, simply, I'm curious to explore it all.  Suffice it to say, the wider your aperture the more you will hear and experience.  Et voila!

Oh!  Headphones will likely provide a more fulsome listening experience for many of the pieces.

You're thoughts/comments/feedback are very welcome.

Repost page started...
www/soundcloud.com/His_Left_Hand_Repost
Some amazing sounds and artists out there!  Respect,
you all!

I am an amateur composer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've been an avid choral singer for many years, including most recently with The California Bach Society, an early music chamber ensemble. I studied some composition and musicology in college, but only recently got back into composing as a hobby. So far, I've been writing only for "virtual" performers, using Finale and its sound samples, but I hope to branch out someday. In my day job, I work in higher education.

Welcome friends and to my profile! I hope to celebrate 300 original tracks on Soundcloud this year!  Thank you for listening and helping me in my musical journey. It has been a difficult year for me personally. Yet, musically, I believe I am writing some of my best music.  I am infinitely inspired and humbled by the extraordinary creativity I hear from your music each day and the wonderful friends I have encountered from every part of the world! THANK YOU! I am so very grateful for your support and the gift of music in my life!
 
What Inspires Me...I am inspired each day to compose music that touches and connects the listener in meaningful ways that are personal to their own experiences and feelings.  I believe what the world needs is more songs about love for all living things and the earthly treasures around us. The power of love is magical, mysterious, and miraculous!  And, it is essential to our survival like water and the air we breathe.  I believe that through the universal language of music, love can heal, bring joy, and create an invisible chain that pulls all of us together, not apart.  

A Little About Me...I started composing in 2016  after not touching the piano for many years. A career, raising a family and just every day life got in the way of making music. After retiring as a music teacher in the public schools, I started dreaming of playing the piano again and my years of classical training slowly came back to me. I love every genre of music, and the talent and creativity on SoundCloud has inspired me at every level!

For those of you who follow me on Soundcloud, I have been experimenting with adding tracks to my piano compositions.  I create and record everything myself using a Yamaha 660DGX, including the instrumental tracks built into the keyboard. Then, I edit on my laptop using Sony Sound Forge Music Pro.  It's a simple set up, and I have lots to learn.  I am not afraid of receiving feedback if you have any to give.  Sometimes, it's the most simple thing I may be doing wrong that changes everything!

If you have time, check out my first music book called Music Dreams: Six Original Pieces for Solo Piano through Barnes & Noble.  I welcome your feedback.  Here is a link in case you are interested. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/music-dreams-jennifer-l-jones/1143986955?ean=9798891455641

Composer. Interlochen. Eastman. Classical. Chamber Music. Bassoon.

My name is John Michael Tracy I write songs, jmtsongs.com , love photography, hunting, fishing and all of the outdoors. I was born on Jan. 11, 1957 in Elmira, NY.  I’m the oldest of six children, and my family lived, for most of my youth, in Athens, PA., which is right across the border from Upstate New York.   
	My parents had me take piano lessons when I was a kid, and when I was a teenager, I taught myself to play guitar.  Some friends and I had a country band, and we played local spots for a while.
	In my early twenties, I bought a 4-track recorder and enjoyed playing and recording songs that I liked from the Eagles, Jim Croce, Lobo, David Gates and Bread, Dan Fogelberg, etc.  I sent the recordings to my Grandfather, who had a band when he was young and performed all over upstate Pennsylvania and New York.  One day he asked me why I didn’t write my own songs.  The thought had never occurred to me, but once I’d considered it, it sounded like a great idea, and I told him that I bet I could do it.  
	After the first hundred songs or so, I called a few record companies to let them know that there was a new talent ready to take over the songwriting world, and they suggested I join NSAI first to help me hone my craft.  So I did.  In the mean time, I was sending quite a few of my songs to Washington to be copyrighted.
	A Publisher/Writer named Donn Hecht (most famous for co-writing Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight”) had someone working for him in Washington that noticed the number of songs I was copywriting.  Donn contacted me and asked me to send him some material. I did. He became my publisher, mentor and friend until his death in October 2002. He taught me more about songwriting and the business than anyone I’ve ever met.
	In the Spring of 2000, I wrote a song called “The South’ll Rise Again” and sent it to the nationally syndicated “The John Boy and Billy Big Show” as a gift, never imagining they’d ever do anything with it.  They were impressed enough to play it on the air, and it has been on their “Best Of” shows ever since.
	After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, I wrote a song called “Give’m Hell U.S.A.”  and  sent it to President George Bush and some of his staff.  Both President Bush and his Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, responded with really nice thank you notes. 
	I’m also a member of the local and National GTO clubs, own a 1970 Judge, and have written several “hot rod” songs that get regular play at many car shows and cruise-ins.
           My wife Kathy and I lived and worked in Nashville for a year and met many wonderful artists and songwriters who inspired and encouraged me.
	As the successful songwriter, friend and mentor, Jerry Vandiver says, “We write, because we have to”. The music needs to come out so we do what we love, and let it flow.

New tracks tagged #Tone Poem