Where “Black Sheep, Run” was a broader commentary with a wide dynamic range, “White Horse” was for me, deeply introspective and meant to showcase the songwriting through sparse instrumentation.
At one point, the four songs chosen for the project lived in a metaphorical no man’s land . They were either too down-tempo to perform live, or too lyrical to fit on my indie-pop records. Eventually these four found their own place as songs that translated well on the acoustic guitar. This project exists out of my desire to share this other side of my songwriting and bridge the gap between “BS,R” and my next full length that I’ve only just begun conceptualizing.
“White Horse” is a batch of songs that I can play live as a solo musician that feel complete. Playing full band is something that I’d love to do more of to fully highlight what we were able to achieve on “Black Sheep, Run”, but logistically it’s not practical for me right now. Especially on the road.
This project was a great learning experience for me. For starters, with the studio dates coinciding with the birth of “Black Sheep, Run” producer Ed Valauskas’ daughter, I got to make production choices on my own. He will certainly reclaim that role on my next album. It was also an opportunity to work with some friends of mine for the first time. Paula Kelley provided a gorgeous string arrangement for “White Horse” and was able to accentuate the baroque and classical references I was trying to make. That arrangement came to life thanks to Aaron Tap at QuailTop Studios in LA. Let’s not forget new friends that lent their talents – Chris Barrett (Piano on “You Answered Me”) and Tim Gearan (harmonies on “November 15).
The support thus far for “White Horse” has been really encouraging and validating in a very new, unexpected and humbling way. My performances on this EP were recorded in one day at Q Division Studios. I feel this is a good representation of who I am as an artist and a performer at this time.
