Houston Through the Window
This is another instrumental—which is very rare for me. Years ago, we went to my nephew’s house for Thanksgiving. He lived in Houston, TX at the time. Tammy and I are from a part of the world where we’re likely to have snow on the ground for Thanksgiving. But in Houston it’s warm in November. People are outside in their shorts and tank tops playing tennis, riding bikes, playing golf, etc. It was amazing to us. I sat in my nephew’s living room watching all this outdoor activity from his picture window and I wrote this song. This is recorded on an 1893 Martin 0-21 which came into my possession and took up a forgotten place in my closet for more than 30 years. One night a couple of months ago I had a dream about it. Weird I know, but I sometimes dream about guitars. I unburied it from the closet and after some close inspection and a little TLC from a talented luthier it was back in playing condition. I decided I needed to record with it, and I couldn’t think of a more perfect song than this one with lots of traveling up and down the neck and some very nice harmonics. It’s a beautiful instrument with a rare and rich sound. If you listen closely, you can hear the creak of 132+ year old wood at 0:22.