Guatecoop: My brother, @zecoop came to my house for the weekend! We have been grieving the loss of our brother, Tom, and really needed this time together. Well, we started right out and worked together to do this (and about 10 other things, so expect to hear more). Spending time together, creating music together, and just being brothers in the same space is so special to me. I hope that you enjoy the results.....

ZeCoop:
It's always a great time when you can compose, jam, play and have fun in the same room, so this weekend was something to look forward to. It's been super fun. This song was the first thing Rob showed me and (true to form) it has about 58 chords in it. He played it on acoustic and I leaned against a wall and tried to come up with things on my Surfcaster. It started taking shape and we both knew we were on to something. 2am first night - Gotta love weekends like this! It is hard for both of us to believe the journey this song took - it sounds SO different from the simple acoustic.....ahem, I almost said that with a straight face, lol. Not many songs from Rob are "simple". 😀 We both LOVE it and can't wait to see if it gets a full vocal treatment.

Technical: We played the following_
Epiphone 6 string acoustic
Tacoma 12 String Acoustic
Eastwood Surfcaster
Epiphone Les Paul
Tiesco Bass
Fender Bandmaster Amp
$50 drum set
Beer from Bells, Founders, Great Lakes, Lagunitas, and some other brewery in Iowa, USA.....

ZeCoop:
The end of FAWM is usually when a lot of collabs come in, but this one was completely unexpected. Rob had written this one on acoustic and it took a life of its own on the first night we had together this FAWM back on the second weekend. We both loved it so much and wanted the vocal to be perfect. Several possibilities were discussed, but @owl has such an amazing ability to write lyrics and melodies that transcend the expected that I felt she would be perfect. Unfortunately, she was not only super busy as usual, but had a ton of personal things going on too (please check out her gorgeous tribute to her beloved pet cat, who went to the great beyond) <3

So, I let her know that nothing was expected, but that I was absolutely saving it for her. To my surprise she found a little time and knocked this one out. And to say she knocked it out is to say she sent me just a sublime and beautiful vocal and set of lyrics. But... I had to go to work. Here I am on Friday night - the day before FAWM ends, and I am mixing down one of the most beautiful songs. I am just floored every time by owl and her ability to take things in unexpected directions. Thank you so much for helping us complete this song that is so special to Rob and I. We don't often get the chance to write songs together in the same room and this one really hit us both as special right at a time when we needed that. Now it is complete and it is perfect. 😀

@owl: So happy I found the time for this before FAWM ended--when Zecoop shot me a message about it, I was a bit overcommitted with collabs, sad and stressed for the aforementioned personal reasons, and about to go out of town for a few days on business, so I told him I would love to but couldn't promise to get to it in time. I wanted to do it justice because it's just such a gorgeous track, you can feel the vibe and groove of @zecoop and @guatecoop just being together and enjoying each other's presence! And fortunately I found the time before February ended! I originally imagined this a bit more structured and with a gauzy Cocteau Twins vibe, but once I started writing it went in a different direction--I was feeling a bit Joni Mitchell (well sussed, @adforperu, who wrote his comment before I wrote these liner notes), a bit Nick Drake, a bit Hope Sandoval (RIP David Roback), and ended up just kind of singing things where I felt them flowing, instead of trying to keep the rhythm super consistent. And I know @zecoop and @guatecoop and the rest of their family have had a devastating, awful time of it with their recent loss, so I wanted to write something positive and beautiful and bright for them and not depressing for once. I love how it turned out and can't think of a better way to get to 14 this year. I feel honored to get to put vox on this gorgeous instrumental!