WELCOME TO My Deeper Dive into
JACARANDA
Each song goes through its own journey into creation, and this is Jacaranda’s…
Jacaranda Cover Photo ~ by Matt Powers
developing the spark
The music for Jacaranda was initially written by my righthand-man and writing partner, Sean Cox — over a morning cup of tea, he worked out a finger picking guitar part that he liked and a loose vocal melody along to a poem written by our friend and local lyricist, Al Howard. Typically when we come up with new ideas, we’ll text a phone recording to the other person. I knew it was special when I first heard it, and over the weeks that followed we got together a few times to craft it into to the final version that we would record, complete with a bridge and the final arrangement that we liked. Below are some recordings from the different writing phases, including a pre-production demo that we challenged ourselves to try and top with the band when we were in the studio (see ‘Chasing the Magic’ below)…
Official Release // Bandcamp
Official Release // Spotify
chasing the magic…
It’s pretty common that there’s some magic captured in the demo of a song early on in its creation, and when bands or producers try and find that same magic as the song is re-recorded, it’s called “chasing the demo”.
Sean and I had worked on this song quite a bit together, so we were really used to performing it as a duo and confident in that process, but we really wanted to hear it with the band and had ideas of how it might come out. In the weeks leading up to our recording sessions, we went up to LA to meet Tyler, our new producer, and run through some songs that we planned on recording – these were called pre-production sessions – and for good measure, Tyler put up some mics just in case something special happened.
This was his first real glimpse at how Sean and I work together, and after we ran through Jacaranda, he was worried that what was captured in that pre-production session wouldn’t be topped when the band came in – it had something special. It’s worth noting that he had never met my band and the band had never played the song, so he had reason for concern and was preparing to build the song around the magic that was there to avoid “chasing the demo”.
When it came time to get to work on Jacaranda and the band was warmed up, I told him “give me a few takes with the band and if it’s not happening, we’ll scrap it and go back to the demo”. We quickly realized that we were getting something special, and thankfully Jake was there to catch the keeper Take 5 on video. Kudos to Tyler for being flexible with his production vision and trusting us, and kudos to the band for knocking it out of the park and making me look good.
Jacaranda (Live Recording Video)
This video captures Take 5 of the recording process of Jacaranda, which is the version that was ultimately used as the official release of the song. The audio you hear in this video is what was recorded live with no edits or other tracks added to the recording. Flute and percussion were later added to make the Official Release that went through distribution, but this version is very special to me. I asked the videographer Jake Dahm to focus on capturing this song as a single take shot with no edits in order to preserve the authenticity of this moment 🖤 I love how this video showcases the band and speaks to the vulnerability and honesty of the song.
behind the scenes recording footage
These are video clips captured as the band learns Jacaranda and prepares to record
‘I’m hoping to reach you To keep every fever alive’
The lyrics for Jacaranda, written by Al Howard
I typed these lyrics up on my friend Matt’s typewriter. You can see in the first verse I was figuring out how to use the apostrophe in the word “pavement,,,’s” haha
‘So come with me, from the forest to the sea…’
The lyrics of Jacaranda speak from the voice of the wanderer in me. From a time in my life when I wanted someone who would wander with me, no matter where the journey went. I know that voice well and it’s searching and lonely ~ JRS
jacaranda official music video
Filmed, Produced and Edited by Matt Powers in Idyllwild, California
I’d like to share a story about a father and son that I met on the mountain while shooting this video with my close friends Matt & Fig… You’ll see towards the end of the video, when we “climb on the mountain to gaze on the valley below”, we had found a beautiful lookout point called Indian Vista overlooking the Warner Springs valley below Idyllwild.
To capture the shots in sync with the music, I had the song playing on my little bluetooth speaker and I was singing and playing along while looking out over the valley. When the song ended, I heard some clapping and I looked up to see a father and his son, about 13 years old, watching with a big smile on their faces. They asked if they could keep watching as we ran through a couple more takes, which honestly was a treat because it’s much easier and more fun to perform when people are watching than it is to pretend. When I was done, we spoke a bit and exchanged instagram info and they said they would stay tuned from Baton Rouge. A week later I got an email from the young man’s mom saying that it was a highlight of their trip and asked if I would send some merch for Christmas.
Those are special moments. The moments when you feel like your music and your place in this world are making a positive impact and accompanying life long memories. That is something I will cherish forever
More photos from that video shoot trip…
You’ve reached the end of this Deeper Dive ~ I hope you’ve enjoyed a
deeper look at the music.
Let me know what you think of the song and what else you’d like to see on these pages!