EDIT: It looks like we may have broken Soundcloud… If the song doesn’t automatically load above try clicking through directly. Thanks!
These past few days have been some of the darkest I’ve yet experienced as a parent. I’m almost to the point of being able to express my grief in words, but for now, music will have to suffice.
I immediately reacted Friday by recording a quick and dirty cover of The Avett Brothers’ “Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise“. It’s a song that seems to always come to mind when I’m confronted with something profoundly distressing. Sharing it served the purpose of getting the song out of my head, but I didn’t feel it did much to comfort anyone, including myself.
I really wanted to get our version of this song recorded and out there as soon as I could, so I put the call out to Justin and our good friend, Veronica Pearson. We gave the song about 8 passes and wound up with this. I still feel it was evolving into something really special, and perhaps we’ll revisit it in time, but what we did tonight will certainly serve for now.
I’m really hopeful this finds its way to someone who needs it and that this song helps them as much as it’s helped me. Our thoughts go out to those directly affected by Sandy Hook and to the many, like us, who are just trying to make sense of the whole thing.
EDIT: I failed to mention this song was written in 1854 by Stephen Foster, a prolific songwriter who also gave us “Camptown Races”, “My Old Kentucky Home” and “Oh, Suzanna”. I was first introduced to this song through the Avett Brothers, who performed a moving rendition in October of 2011 in Charlotte NC. Their performance marked the return on their bass player, Bob Crawford, who had taken an extended break from the road to be with his family during his daughter’s serious illness.