Seven years ago I started collaborating with a blues poet (Richard Leach). We are about the same age (60 something) so we share the same influences. Since then I have put music to eighteen of his poems. We have also collaborated with one of his poems that he recited and I mixed with visuals and audio. It has worked well for both of us.

Six months ago I had this big idea that for our next arrangement, I would find a female voice to sing the song and surprise Richard! Well, I started looking and found a number of good candidates (at fairly reasonable rates). Before I could reach out to any of them, I was conversing with a co-worker who mentioned that his daughter sings. So, I asked…”do you think she could sing for my next project?” He thought for a few seconds and said, “well, I can ask”. I said, “Yeah, all she can say is no, right?”

Then it dawned on me that I had never heard this person sing before! What if she isn’t right for the raw nature of blues? Of course by that time, I had already committed. Whatever happened next would just have to play out the way it always does…one step at a time.

Upon receiving email information, we started to correspond. Her name is Janine, a twenty-something young lady living in Van Nuys (L.A.). After a couple of weeks of correspondence, she sent me a link to some songs she had performed on stage. Her voice is “pure”. That’s what I told her, and I meant it. When I hear it, I think of a child searching for answers. There is a certain longing to it. Not sure if that makes sense.

Well, I knew that the traditional blues approach wasn’t going to work. I suggested that she give me some time to work on an appropriate composition that would fit her voice. During the next four months I created several melody lines, but just couldn’t seem to push through with lyrics. I had hit the wall. It’s ok, sometimes it happens. It was time to back away, let it rest, and come back to it with fresh eyes later.

Then something very cool happened. (More on that tomorrow)