By Moonlight We Ride
It’s been a long time coming to put out both this song (first written in 2016) and the footage taken from last year’s surf trip to Indonesia. All my music is surf music, not because of instrumentation or lyrics, but because the ocean represents my greatest inspiriation. Surfing is not a sport, its a way of life. It’s choosing a formidable opponent to challenge & grapple with through life. An opponent that teaches you life lessons, a mentor that eventually becomes a friend and guide. Sometimes you win and are rewarded, other times you are beaten within an inch of your life.
Left shaken to the core, happy to be alive.
Countless times my lungs burst with what little oxygen I had in my lungs, my mind & spirit kicked in to stop the ensuing panic. In this place all things happen. Respect is given, respect is taken. There is an awesome presence of mind when harness a force of nature like a wave. Time stands still and you feel everything around you. Balance fear & exhilaration. For a moment in time, the surfer becomes omnipotent.
There is nothing like it. Fuck Yeah!
The guitar licks and chord progressions were played on a 2012 Gibson SG with a Bigsby setup. The guitar went straight into a Vox AC30 CCH with a Celestion Greenback speaker. The call and response of high register licks on the neck countered by low register licks on the bass strings is a nod to Jerry Garcia, the former frontman of the Grateful Dead. The second I picked up the SG, a few people come to mind.
I had lyrics to the song but decided to let the guitar tone live alone. In the future, I will release a version with Tenor Sax playing in tandem with the guitar, but for now, it’s going to remain a guitar & drum instrumental.
