A Musical Family and a Seasonal CD
Part 1
by Richard Gilewitz

During the last four or five years it seems that I have been hearing endless requests for a seasonal recording of sorts and I honestly had no clue how I would approach a project like this, especially if I intended on presenting something new or unique.

Upon hearing Stephen Siktberg’s accompanying recording from his Mel Bay Publications release “Christmas Music for Acoustic Guitar” (94428), my attention was captured and apparently never released. The arrangements in the book fascinated me and felt true to what I believed to be more the initially intended spirit of the tunes. They also presented a heck of a challenge due to the complexity of some of the absolutely beautiful arrangements.

My only other interest in seasonal tunes, prior to this experience with Siktberg’s arrangements, were my earlier influences from steel string guitarist John Fahey and his three or four Christmas releases which apparently sold in the millions.

The difference in the approaches of the two artists involved an angle to the guitar with which I have always been fascinated - a sort of nylon to steel approach. The arrangements in Siktberg’s book seem to come from a more classical or baroque inspired context, whereas John Fahey’s spiritual “American Primitive” influences are apparent in his works. In an effort to combine these two inspirations and “fuse” them together with some sprinklings of my own contributions, I found a sense of purpose to the idea of a recording.

I was more than fortunate to have all the planets line up better than I could have ever hoped for when I gathered a truly talented and spirited group, including producer and world-class multi instrumental talent Tim May, violinist and fiddle player (one has ‘strings’ and one has ‘straaannngggs’) Gretchen Priest, cellists Deidre Emerson and Laurie Jarski, keyboardist David Webb, recording engineer extraordinaire Tim Roberts, and of course, the host with the most - O’Banyon) This little group gathered (sort of!) in Pegram, Tennessee on the outskirts of Nashville to engage in what was, for me, the most enjoyable time I’ve ever had in a unique studio.

Prior to the studio gathering Tim, Gretchen and I had a nice rehearsal in their humble home of music and teaching at Fiddle and Pick - Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee and this confirmed that my instincts about the direction of this recording were correct.

I have read articles or seen photos regarding a studio session and I wanted to share some of my memories from my recording session. My photos, however, include rather important shots of the elements of utmost importance during a recording session - donuts, coffee, a start time of 2 pm, and a required sense of laziness among us all. Hey, it’s only a record. Have some fun!

The CD, Strings for a Season by Richard Gilewitz is available from http://www.richardgilewitz.com, http://cdbaby.com/cd/gilewitz6, and http://amazon.com

The book, “Christmas Music for Acoustic Guitar” by Stephen Stiktberg is available from MelbayXpress.com

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