Traveler’s Way
For the Wild Card portion of my portfolio, I would like to share a song I wrote, in addition to some background information on the piece.
https://soundcloud.com/dr_russell_brown/ghp-2014-guitar-06-chason
In 2014, I was accepted into the Governor’s Honors Program, GHP for short. This meant that I was going to nerd camp in Valdosta for a month. Along with 682 other students across Georgia, I was accepted under a specific major — mine was Communicative Arts. Once there, students could select a minor. Seeking the comfort of something I had experience in, I chose to minor in guitar and songwriting.
We were to compose a song over the course of the program. I lack the ability to sing, so I knew it would have to be a decent instrumental instead. Weeks passed and I couldn’t settle on a melody; I was beyond frustrated. Finally, they day before students were scheduled to record their masterpieces, I sat down and hashed out a song. It was in the key of D, not even in standard tuning. Never before had I tried a song like that, though it was extremely rewarding to hear the finished product. The steady, deep tones seemed to resonate within me as my chest pressed against the body of the guitar. It was comforting. Each change in pitch required only the slightest movement, making the song easy to play with closed eyes. While strumming, I was able to retreat from Valdosta. Each note took me closer to my home on Travelers Way.
All music minors participated in a final concert in order to share what we learned. My professor asked to name the song as it should appear in the program. I hadn’t the first clue as to what to call it. It was instrumental, so I
had no lyrics to choose from. After considering what the song meant to me, I realized that each note brought some association with home. While playing, I was reminded of watching my sister ride her bike outside, my mom asleep on the couch, and my girlfriend by my side, probably laughing at my sister. It made absolute sense to call the song Traveler’s Way.
