About the Quarantine EP

Time has lost some of its meaning lately. The global tragedy of covid-19 has forced us into all the horrors and highs of shared experience. Even as it threatens lives and livelihoods, it also necessitates isolation and, for the most fortunate among us, boredom.

Forced boredom has a bright side. It has given us permission to finally pay attention and respect to our creative pursuits, passions, and hobbies. Everything we push aside for our busy lives has been waiting patiently for a slow time at home like this. And for once we’re being patient and forgiving enough with one another to afford indulging those pursuits and passions.

For five years, I’ve been working an album that feels like it will never be finished. I’ve nurtured the same batch of songs through cycle after cycle of writing and recording. I’ve learned so much in that time — through teaching as much as by doing — that each time I think the album’s done, the songs no longer meet my evolving standards and I start tweaking them again. This rhythm section could be tighter. That solo should soar higher. The harmonies aren’t quite right in the last chorus. I’m always moving the goal posts. The process has felt endless. It’s maddening.

I decided recently it’s time to just let ‘em go. There are a few reasons for this. For one, the world is on fire and we’re finally at risk of actually consuming all the media. New art has never been so critical!

But I’ve also been working on this for so long, now the side projects I’ve started out of procrastination are reaching maturity. It’s time to clear the logjam.

So, even before coronavirus sent us all into indefinite hibernation, I set a release date for summer and booked a show in a special room to celebrate. But now that nothing has a timeline and concerts are a thing of the past (for now), I feel like this week is as good a time as any to release some music into the world.

As I’ve been in post-production and planning to promote this new album, I’ve been arranging stripped-down acoustic versions of most of it to perform as a solo act. I even liked some of these enough to record them for their own release.

That collection of alternate versions took on a life of its own. A couple months ago, I set up a single condenser microphone and sat in front of it with my acoustic guitar to play those songs as plainly and as honestly as I could. No click track, no take-backs. For two of the songs, I did it totally raw like that. For two other songs, I allowed myself some multitracking, but not too much.

I’ve always been afraid to record and release something this raw, but I enjoyed the challenge of getting a usable take in one go. And capturing a performance this real has been a strangely freeing experience.

Anyway, that’s the story behind Quarantine EP. Hope you like it.

Oh, and stay tuned for that album. That’s coming soon, too. I swear.

Quarantine EP