Something that I really wanted to lean into was that sense of being connected to the natural world.
Hopefully the arrangements would encourage a romantic feeling about being in nature.
That panoramic, open eyes and open hearts feeling.
Brian Barnicle*
He began sharing copies of Leutzes book with everyone he knew.
Something about the songs called out for more than a one-man, one-mic recording approach.
He found himself dreaming of melodic motifs that recurred and overlapped, like they would in a film score.
I love that idea you have, Johnny, the repeating figures in different keys, Mills adds.
Thats one of the reasons theres a lot of nice depth to this record.
It reveals itself more with repeated listening, which is what you usually want in a record.
I embraced the challenge of incorporating some of these themes into this folky foundation.
Irion, Mills, and Sansone have an easygoing dynamic in conversation that shows their years of friendship.
Irion:Im writing that down.
Its as good as a bad thing can be.
Mills:Hey, wait, thats mine!
Sansone:Hold on, wait a minute.
I started the conversation…
Mills:We can write three songs.
Hes got a big piano in the living room there, Irion says.
I played him a handful of tunes, and then I was getting ready to leave.
Hes like, I got an idea.
Whats that sleeping soldiers song?
Can you play it one more time?
Went back to the piano.
(He adds that Guthrie, who announced hisretirementfrom touring in 2020, is doing well.
Every time I see him, Im like One more [show]?
But hes done.)
Lately, Irion has been listening to the album as he rides through his pastoral New England surroundings.
Youre coming up the mountains here and coming through the hills.
Its something you could ride through the countryside and really have it sync up with what youre looking at.
I mean, you think you know those songs and then you start digging in and theres so much.
That music just continues to give.
Irion agrees: It just never gets old.
