Notes
"Wabash Gypsies," a collection of instrumental acoustic guitar music from Scott Greeson and Kevin Ludwig, was nearly a decade in the making and will surprise fans that have become accustomed to Greeson's "storytelling" lyrical style. On "Wabash Gypsies," the music alone tells the story. "Scott has always been the songwriter, but for him, this was cathartic. It is something for both us that is very pure and honest," says Ludwig, who wrote and recorded the CD with Greeson over the 10-year span. "We were just dealing with wires and wood and there's a purity to it." The disc is dedicated to the memory of Scott's first wife, Jan, who died Oct. 13, 2006 at age 43 after a lifelong struggle with congenital heart disease. A portion of the proceeds from the CD will be donated to the Adult Congenital Heart Association in Jan's memory, to help patients, their families and their physicians overcome this disease. Scott says composing the music with Kevin for "Wabash Gypsies" was part of his healing process after Jan's death, a process that took years of writing, composing and recording. "My grief process began actually before her death," he said. "It was very painful but I knew I had to come to terms with this. We made the decision to tie this in to help families dealing congenital heart disease - it gave the project more of a purpose to me. I knew I had to finish this disc and finish it with a purpose." On the tune "Jan's Journey," Scott and Kevin put into music what was difficult for both of them to put into words. "The way the song is laid out, it's different moments from her life - there's even a little tension in it at times," Scott said. It represents the life Jan and I had together and it's ending - it's building to something great - something more than all the good things on Earth. It's saying goodbye to the bad things here and moving to that something great beyond here." Kevin admits that he and Scott didn't talk a lot about the process of grieving in creating the song. "It's hard for us to put into words," he said. "We started writing this music while Jan was still here and we played it at her funeral. That was just an honor. It was Scott's idea to do that and I think the idea of the music helping people in her memory has been in the back of his mind for a long time." "Wabash Gypsies" began with one song, "The Prophet," in 2001. Scott's memory of crafting the song relates to two thoughts - one, the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, which was foretold in the book of Isaiah - and secondly, the random occurrence of helping his niece with a history project on "The Prophet," who was Tenskwatawa, a Shawnee who attempted to unite Native American tribes into a fighting force against western settlers with his brother Tecumseh. Working with Kevin on the song, the two musicians discovered a remarkable improvisational chemistry that resulted in several more songs relating to the history of the Tippecanoe Battlefield area, the Wabash River and their early inhabitants. " Kevin came up with the counter melody on the song - it wasn't a spoken thing - it was truly an unspoken thing. He doesn't usually respond in words, he responds in notes," Scott said. "That song forced me to express myself musically without the words and to be a better guitar player. It required me to use my fingers and strings to express myself. "The Prophet made it's way on to a praise and worship CD in 2000, where it was heard by the producers of a Public Broadcasting System documentary "The Wabash: Life on the Bright White River." After hearing "The Prophet," the producers asked for more, and Scott and Kevin wrote and performed the soundtrack to the documentary, which was broadcast on WFYI, the Indianapolis PBS affiliates, on Jan. 29 2006."They seem to have the river flowing through them somehow," said Gary Harrison, who produced the show. Scott has found some comfort knowing that Jan heard some of the music before her death. "Jan was so proud of what Kevin and
