A good stitch gone indeed
My new record, Good Stitch Gone, was released on Friday June 5th in Victoria. Since the album was recorded in that city, during this past winter, it seemed only fitting to introduce it there first. The title reflects a number of themes. A good stitch gone, refers to a long distance traveled. That is the physical expanse of my own travels, and the vastly diverging spaces I like to inhabit musically. 'Stitch' of course, is also a seam: a seam that binds differing parts of our lives together, and a seam that divides two sides of a road, patching together the landscape with bright lines of yellow.
Working on a creative project of this scope is an amazing experience of discovery. I come face to face with the limits of my own abilities, sometimes defeated by them, other times soaring right past what I thought I was capable of. Spending so much time, mind and soul invested in one creative project, means it is easy to loose perspective of the sum of all the little details. In studio, we spend so much time contemplating and moulding each branch, twig and leaf, that the forest itself is almost forgotten.
This is my fourth full length album in 10 years. One would think that with experience, each consecutive record is easier to produce. Only in part. Experience means that past mistakes can be avoided, that the work can be better planned and carried through. But it is the enterprise of every creative person to challenge our abilities and tempt discovery. And every new project I have made has brought different challenges. Everyone creative production is therefore an accomplishment. So many small mountains, cranky demons, traversed and overcome.
I realized something on that day that the record was to be released. I could feel a weight lifting up off of my shoulders. For months, both day and night, I had been carrying this project with me, a burden of love and creative impulse. On that Friday, it was no longer mine to carry. I was releasing the record to its' own life and its' own trajectory, into the hands of anyone who wishes experience it. It was truly a joyful release, the record free to be its' own thing, apart from me. All my worries, work, and expectations, also released.
I expect that any artist experiences a similar release when a completing a creative project. There comes a point where we have done all that we can to breathe life into our creation. It is what it is (as a good friend once said), perfect with imperfections and complete in its' pieces.