Words & Music SPIKE MCGUIRE Percussion JEFFREY KNIGHT Art & Poem RYAN GOLDHAMMER

Created in collaboration for Perspectives presented by HUB COFFEE ROASTERS Reno, Nevada March 3rd - 26th 2016

ARTIST STATEMENT:

When I read Ryan Goldhammer’s poem, Black River, I picked up on a strong sense of nostalgia. The line “long scents and empty rooms”

Words & Music SPIKE MCGUIRE Percussion JEFFREY KNIGHT Art & Poem RYAN GOLDHAMMER

Created in collaboration for Perspectives presented by HUB COFFEE ROASTERS Reno, Nevada March 3rd - 26th 2016

ARTIST STATEMENT:

When I read Ryan Goldhammer’s poem, Black River, I picked up on a strong sense of nostalgia. The line “long scents and empty rooms” especially stood out to me, it reminded me of a lot of places I’ll never find my way back to. They say scent is the sense tied strongest to memory. In all the years I’ve spent on the road, chasing my tail, I’ve come to agree with Heraclitus, who Plato famously quoted as saying “You could not step twice into the same river.” Obviously, that quote was my main inspiration in the second verse. The text of the original poem is laid out in a way that conjures moving water, which is something I hoped to achieve with the music. I started with the rhythm guitar which has a slow steady feel but still keeps driving downstream. I brought in Jeffrey Knight to record several percussion tracks to reinforce that drive. I chose to use a lot of effects to give everything a floating feel as the different melodies and rhythms swim through the soundscape.