Musician's Notes

Rivers are arterial, rejuvenating, and inherently communal, and the Kalamazoo River has the additional distinction of inspiring Kalamazoo’s name. It’s fitting, then, to have a path celebrating the river.

My own interest in the Kalamazoo River started as novelty – the abundant free-flowing water in Michigan is a shocking thing to someone who grew up in a desert. Yet my interest has deepened in the time I’ve lived here.

Heraclitus said “No man ever steps in the same river twice,” and I have similarly found a new Kalamazoo River Valley Trail every time I walk it. The photos accompanying this piece date between Summer 2020 and Spring 2021 and were taken along the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail between D Ave. and Mosel Ave., with a few exceptions taken in the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

The music would not exist as you hear it without Cynthea Kelley and Ryan Demeniuk, whom I feel very fortunate to have worked with on this.

This music celebrates the peace and restfulness of a walk along the river. At the same time it offers the hope and prayer that we can find a way to bring that sense of peace and self-reflection into all elements of our lives, and into the community and society we live in.