EXPEDITIONS
John Eric Klemesrud wrote all the songs, performed on all the instruments (except for the cello and violin on Death of a Star), and provided background vocals on Divvy the Privy Time, Connectivity, and Hole in the Mountain.
Other vocalists/musicians from the United States, Ukraine, Argentina, Sweden, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, and Poland were hired on Fiverr. The flags on the album cover represent these locations. An Earth flag and National Park Service flag were included. The photo is from the trail junction near Maiden Peak in the Olympic Mountains.
PRODUCER: John Eric Klemesrud
ABOUT THE SONGS
I got a little inspiriation from the chord progressions on the Beatles’ Free As a Bird for this one. Might have been the first time I used the paralleI key of the relative key in a deliberate way. The lyrics stem from my use of a fanny pack when mountain biking. Regarding the third verse, my motion-detector cam often gets roughed up by bears. The bridge is a paraphrase of a John Muir quote: “In every walk in nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” Vocals are performed by Nick Russ of the UK.
The song was originally inspired by a hike to Ghost Mountain in California. It’s an older, nearly forgotten song, but a few revisions quickly brought this ghost song back to life. I think of the instrumental section as being a gypsy style but technically it’s not the Hungarian or gypsy scale being used. That leaves it open for interpretation. There are similarities with South American and Celtic music but I still think it’s closer to a gypsy style. Spirits on the Mountain features the vocal talents of Kate McGill of the UK.
“Divvy the privy time or live with the skivvy slime” started out as a joke while hiking on trails that go through campgrounds with privies. It’s just a funny camp rule. With the metaphorical aspect realized, it became a song about playing fair or having to deal with the consequences. Love the organ sound which is like the Steppenwolf organ but with a wah-wah pedal effect. This song also includes my favorite lead guitar work on the album. Lead vocals are performed by Trevor Laake of Los Angeles.
The rhythm guitar was written first. The words came a few years later. It’s about someone who has a stressful life that they are numb to. They have normalized an unhealthy lifestyle from a mental perspective. Their relationships are detached and they leave no time for deeper meaning. During the lead guitar on the chorus, sometimes I change the note while it’s fading out. This might have been the first time I used that technique. It has become kind of a signature move of mine. You’ll find it on the bridge and ending of Mildred and at the last note of Connectivity lead parts. Christopher Galen of Colorado is the vocalist for this song.
The music for the verses, pre-chorus, and chorus were written in order but with several years between each one. Given the type of chord progression for the chorus, challenges were overcome in regard to layers of the final choruses being well-tuned with the just scale and equal temperment in mind. Even so, it was fun to put together the counter melodies that were engineered to harmonically fit like a glove. If you think you’re hearing an opera-style singer near the end, that’s the real deal. Not typical for a reggae rock tune, I would say. Vocalists are R. Reese of NY, Ilya Mirosh of Poland, Mailen Sol and Martina Perez of Argentina.
In honor of my grandfather’s banjo being 100 years old I incorporated it into a song called Hole in the Mountain. It’s kind of a mix between rock and old timey folk. Lead vocals are performed by Nick Russ of the UK. In the lyrics Tubal Cain is mentioned. He is the oldest known blacksmith according to the bible and was a character in a movie called Noah (2014) with Russell Crowe. Tubal Cain is also the name of a copper and manganese mine in the Olympic Mountains that was started in the early 1900s. It goes over a quarter of a mile into the mountain. I’ve hiked there several times and gone all the way in. There’s water flowing out of the mine and at one point you have to walk through a waterfall inside the mine to access the inner shafts. In the winter I’ve seen Townsend’s big-eared bats hibernating. The bridge part of the song is in the key of Bm. It’s the relative minor of D, the key for the rest of the song. So having “relative miner” in the lyrics is a play on words.
The chorus has two sections. The first section from “No Waypoint” to “on this quest” has a progression that might be my all-time favorite. I started with the idea that a minor 4 chord is similar to a sus4 chord. In this case comparing a Cm to a Gsus4. There’s only one note difference. Some songs like Pinball Wizard (The Who) use sus4 chords repeatedly, so I thought why not do the same with minor 4 chords: Cm to G then Gm to D. This became Cm6/G to Gadd9 and Gm6/D to Dadd9. That started everything going: the rest of the progression, the rest of the song, and rebirth of song writing for me in 2023. Connectivity is a mode shifting beast with the key changing a lot! It toys with one key, then leans to another. Before the words were written I thought of the piece as the “Gm Tease.” With a capo on the 5th fret, this could be translated to the “Cm Tease.” It borrows chords from the key of Cm repeatedly but is never really in that key. The progression that starts with Cm6/G-Gadd9-Gm6/D-Dadd9 does a major to minor transition twice with the second time being Dadd9 to Dm/B, also known as a B half-diminished 7th chord, a transition used by Paul McCartney in Penny Lane. In both songs, this makes the return to the root major chord soon after sound uplifting. Like in other songs, lyrics were inspired by various adventures in the Olympic Mountains. Connectivity vocalists are Dee Wolf of Italy and Clay Collins of Texas.
Mildred is about the difficult hike to Mildred Lakes in the Olympic Mountains. I’ve completed this route as a day-hike three times. In addition to the steepness, the trek seems to present new challenges each time. I know people who were actually there during a landslide. Hornets, losing the trail, and hiking in the dark are all real experiences. There are zero major chords in the verse and chorus. The bridge, on the other hand, has all major chords but mode weirdness keeps the mood fitting for the subject. The chorus has a Dadd#5. This dissonant chord (or D augmented) can also be found in Wake Up (Rage Against the Machine) which is played at the end of the first Matrix movie, and also in the bridge of Waiting for Our Time (Styx). Christopher Galen of Colorado is the vocalist for this song.
The chord progressions were originally written on a keyboard in an 80s pop style. They were later slowed and rearranged for guitar and cello. Inspiration was taken from various science fiction and Eleanor Rigby (Beatles). It’s interesting to think what forms of life or even intelligent life may have come and gone during the billions of years that our vast Universe has existed. Vocals are performed by Felicia Hallen of Sweden. Other musicians are Polina Faustova and Iryna Markevich of the Ukraine (cello and violin), and Andrea Figueroa of Agentina (viola).
The Emergence of You is about the idea that the Universe is like a computer simulation. The first verse has references to Star Trek, The Matrix, Galaxy Quest, and Row Row Row Your Boat. Is life but a dream? In the bridge, “Any way the wind blows” is a nod to Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen). Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? The synth lead sound in the intro was used by The Cars. An ascending line cliché is found in many of the chord progessions. In the verses it’s G, G augmented, G6, and G7. This pattern continues with a C chord followed by a bass ascension up from F. Similar techniques are used in the bridge where there are also time signature changes that support the idea of time control in the lyrics. Vocals are performed by Daniel Marin of the Netherlands.
