Sir Crab and the Tricksy Path

Sir Crab and the Tricksy Path tells a story of a man and a path, bizarre and dangerous, the relief of coming home, and the specter of an unknowable future. An instrumental album, there are no lyrics to tell the tale, but the piano travels a unique soundscape, supported by layers of strings, marimba, and bass that take the mind on strange new travels.

In early 2019, I read a book called The Hike by Drew Magary. It's an other-worldly tale, a wonderful adventure. A totally normal guy accidentally finds himself lost on a path through an alien world of giants and vampires and talking lobsters. This book resonated with me in a very deep and visceral way. I wrote these songs during the weeks that I was reading The Hike. This painful, bizaare, other-world permeated my songs. It was in no way intentional, but I soon found it undeniable. 

Around this time my partner's 7-year-old was outside painting a picture on a wide piece of paper taped to the fence. I looked at it from the back stoop, paint still wet and dark and it reminded me vividly of that dark story, the man on the path. I walked over to snap a photo of it. It had hit me so hard that I had to make sure the image was captured. I started thinking about these songs in relation to that story and the more I thought about it, the better they fit. They felt like The Hike to me.
The book has continued to shape my view of the music since the thought occurred to me and has culminated in my first published music and some of my first songs written on the piano. It's a work I'm quite proud of. I'm also proud of the work my partner's 7-year-old put in on the painting that captured it so perfectly. It hangs on our wall and is now the album cover. How stories blend.