Red Clay Roads (Until We Meet Again...)

For most pieces I compose, the greatest struggle is finding a theme which I find so significant, I feel it can be, and needs to be expressed through music. Compounding this struggle with the lack of motivation to get out of bed in the morning throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, let alone to get meaningful work done, writing music has felt like such a daunting task that it is agonizing to begin. The process for this piece definitely started in that manner, but through conversations with Sam Wetzel, who commissioned this piece, this piece has become one of the most meaningful pieces I have been able to write throughout the pandemic. Sam and I, having spent many summers working at Rodney Scout Reservation, share in a common experience and bond that can only be understood by those who have lived it. Working on summer camp staff is the most tiring, grueling and exhausting job I have ever done. Working ninety to hundred hour weeks, being responsible for ten through seventeen year olds, not sleeping enough and being severely underpaid yet, even with all of that, and I think Sam would agree with me, it is by far the most rewarding job I have ever held. This piece clicked for me when Sam mentioned to me that his favorite part about camp are the people. The fact that in ten weeks of a summer camp season, we form bonds so strong that when we see those familiar faces, it is like no time has passed no matter how long we have been apart. This theme of personal connection resonated with me even stronger in this time where my physical, human interaction is so minimal I would give anything to be paid a dollar an hour for backbreaking work to go back to camp for a week and experience that feeling of togetherness again. Through this piece, I convey those feelings that I hold on to, longing for togetherness, warm summer days, and human interaction, as we struggle in isolation through this pandemic. I hope those who are experiencing similar emotions are able to take some solace through this music as we wait until the day we can be physically present again with one another. I am so grateful to Sam for allowing me to write this piece for him, giving life to my music, and allowing me to go through some much needed self reflection through this writing process.