Robin Bienemann and Dave Walker: Just being in the moment.

At the 7.16.20 “Haiku Milieu: Begin with the End in Mind” premiering at the Jenny Bienemann Music page on Facebook, you will hear a song written by Robin Bienemann and Dave Walker. 

David Singleton Walker, aka “Dave Walker,” is one of my favorite human beings on the planet.  He is funny, he is smart, he is kind, and if he had lived during the days of the Wild Wild West he would have been the fastest gun in the West, if guns were guitars. 

By which I mean to say, he is a genuine God of the Guitar.  Listen to this: https://youtu.be/QmO2tC1qceM 

We’ve been playing that song and others alongside he and Jodi Pulick Walker for the better part of a decade in our band, The Significant Others, at Friendly Tap on the second Saturday of each month.  A set list for one of these gigs is usually equal parts Jodi, Jenny, and Robin.  Dave writes songs, but prefers to focus on guitar. 

Dave is our Shaman.  He is the glue that binds us three disparate songwriters together, as bandleader, and also as chief solo-taker.  I have seen him change the trajectory of emotions in the room from despair to exaltation in a single guitar solo. 

I was thrilled when he agreed to be Robin’s collaborator for our show, and truly pleased to share with you his thoughts on collaboration, below. 

“As humans our ability to stay in the moment is so often difficult, with worries about the past and future, and deadlines that are upcoming and melancholy feelings about things that we wish we could change about the past. But to really be present is a gift and can really bring a calming feeling to the soul. 

As Robin and I started to pull the music together on this song, I think we were thinking of the sound of clocks and chimes, as well as chords that brought that same feeling of peace and presence that the haiku is implying within the text. 

Robin and I tossed around all sorts of harmonic ideas. The first section being mostly using modal harmony centered around the key of B. 

But for the alternating sections that come after we let go of the rules of the key, and just let our ears to the work. Finding chord progressions based on how the melody seemed to be developing and setting our minds free. Just being in the moment, without past knowledge getting in the way of creation. 

In the end, this music combined with the brilliance of Robin's lyrics and arranging certainly has that effect on me, and hopefully will for you as the listener as well.” – Dave Walker 

Robin's reply from the comments section on Facebook:

"The song got to a point. So fun to indulge in the world of rich guitar chords with someone who gets as excited as I get over a thirteenth or flatted ninth, not just as chordal color, but part of the melody.

That Monday night we let the form emerge until it was solid, but by no means polished. We had Jenny turn on the video on while we were still “discovering” the song.

I kind of laughed & got choked up after Dave’s solo, overwhelmed by the freshness of it, and thinking of our long history together.

And THAT is what got captured on the video. Not just a decent version, but a moment in our lives."  Robin Bienemann

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