I sit here on a flight to Detroit for a gig with Audra McDonald.  As often happens on planes, I find myself rifling through my iPod, and I end up settling on the track we all played on for a tribute record to the wonderful Rachel Bissex.  Rachel had breast cancer and died in 2005.  She was a shining light on the folk music scene; as much for her spirit as for her music.  You couldn’t help but be touched by her, and if you knew her, you can’t help but miss her.  This recording features many of her closest friends performing her music, and all proceeds go towards the college education for her two children, Emma and Matt.  The song that GrooveLily played on, and that Brendan arranged and produced so masterfully, is called “Starting Over.”

For most of the gigs we did during our folk venue touring, I played a hybrid drum kit consisting of djembe (played with my hands), bass drum, hihat, and sometimes a snare drum (played always with “blasticks,” a sort of hybrid brush/stick made of plastic and specifically designed to have the impact of a stick — imagine me rolling my eyes as I display air quotes — and a volume closer to a brush).  While I sometimes enjoyed the challenge of generating the requisite intensity using these limited resources, I often longed for “my instrument” … drumset.  Don’t get me wrong, I love playing dynamically and being able to go from a whisper to a roar, and pride myself on being able to play very quietly without losing intensity when the situation calls for it (as it often does in my freelance work with singers and jazz groups in small venues).  But, I’m a drumset player first and foremost; the sounds and colors produced by wooden sticks on cymbals and drum are my natural palette, and I really missed it during those years.

Although many of those situations were uncomfortable for me as a result of this limited palette, they were also often very loving and full of community spirit … not to mention some truly incredible musicians, and just amazing people overall.  There were also some transcendent musical moments, both as GrooveLily and while backing up or sitting in with other artists at club or festival gigs that we would play.  One of these moments for me was the drum tracking for “Starting Over,” and to this day, I smile broadly when I listen to it, tears come to my eyes when I let myself get carried away by it, and I get shivers up my spine at the end.

There’s something about listening to this song while on a plane 30,000 feet up that really makes me feel closer to Rachel; while she and I were very friendly, I would not count myself lucky enough to call her a very close friend … but I swear I can close my eyes and smile up at her from this altitude, and she sees me and smiles back.  The way this track came together was a real testament to the best of the folk music scene; people making music together for both a greater good and for the sheer joy of it.  It also is a testament to how portable current recording techniques have become.  Brendan arranged it and recorded a fantastic demo, and all of us contributed the “real” parts separately: Val’s rocking violin and sweet lead vocal recorded at home along with Brendan’s and my vocal parts, my drum tracks recorded at my old fave studio BeatStreet, Tom Prasada-Rao’s near-perfect guitar part,  Rachel Garlin’s lovely lead vocal and Stephanie Corby’s heavenly (and I really do NOT use this adjective lightly … her vocal on this track really can’t be described accurately without reference to some sort of spiritual inspiration; it is THAT moving) lead vocal all recorded at Neale Eckstein’s FoxRun Studios in Sudburry, Mass.  Finally, Neale’s incredible mix, also done at FoxRun Studio.

In addition to sharing a passion for making and recording great music, we also all share a love for Rachel Bissex, and this recording is the result.    It’s so beautiful when talent, inspiration, and love can come together the way they did on this recording.  It’s really nice to sit here in the clouds and reflect on it … this is what folk music is really all about, bashing drums and all.