Welcome to a page all about “Don’t Be Afraid”

 

Click on the arrow to activate the exfm player:  Don’t Be Afraid

Read below for credits, the story, and lyrics.

The players:
VC:  lead & harmony vocals, Moserite acoustic guitar, Tacoma Thunderchief acoustic bass, drum programming;  Angela Hessler: violin quintet

The Story:

This really is the third song in a trilogy of songs that chronicles the beginning of a romance. The first is “Daisy” which comes a few songs from now. That is followed by the fun of of “The Barefoot Girl” and this is what concludes it.  We often follow our feelings and jump into things without caring about what may come or consequences…this was my gentle, soothing reassurance that “Everything’s gonna be all right.”  I tend to be a “leap first, deal with consequences later” type of person, and though that seems to me to be the only way to go…I realize that it’s not for everyone!

I began recording this almost immediately after writing it in the summer of 2009. It was originally two acoustic guitar parts with my own three part harmonies. It stayed that way for a bit..I initially wanted a better acoustic guitar lead for the intro and outro…I tried to get someone to do it…then I imagined piano. I eventually replaced the second acoustic guitar with acoustic bass. Then when Angela and I began performing this song live, it became clear that violin would be the way to go. And little did I imagine the quintet she would create…quite amazing if you ask me. I had a basic drum part programmed that I had never included in the mix and the last step was to rearrange it a bit and then finally the decision to bring it into the mix at the bridge….of course I rerecorded all my vocals along the way as I got better at singing the song…leading to what you hear today.