EP1 Liner Notes

I have been hiding songs for 20 years. In between work on other artists’ records and tours, after a day’s work at the butcher shop or remodeling kitchens, between changing diapers or making dinner — I’ve always had a song or two of my own in process. Until now, I’ve shared these songs only with friends, and that has been enough for me. But I’m getting older, my body is starting to do old person things, and I’ve grown fearful that my songs will grow old and die with me. So I went back to school at 42, to make space to work on my craft and finish a degree in music I started when I was young. I promised myself that as a part of this work I’d release my own music and help it find an audience. To that end I have begun excavating all the old drives and cassette tapes, finishing and releasing songs I think should get finished. Then I’ll write new songs.

Most of the songs on this EP were written just after the birth of my daughter. One is about being frozen in your tracks at arrival of a new person, a baby, a kinship stranger in your house. Some are about the difficulty of living with someone every day, the difficulty of being someone every day, or the anxiety of the creative impulse in a shy body. All are about the complicated love of families.

zat/samuelson_001