Dreams from the Cave
The Making of Dreams
Somewhere between 1997 and 2000 I created and recorded these songs in my home studio located in my one bedroom duplex apartment in Montrose, California. It was a rich and exciting time creatively as I was simultaneously learning how to record, mix and produce using a wide variety of equipment I was unfamiliar with—HD recorders, samplers, synths, drum controllers, sound modules and a Mac G400.
Though I had previously composed and performed original acoustic pieces as a solo guitarist, the tracks on this recording mark my first exploration into purely instrumental music where for the first time, instead of a vocalist, my guitar would carry the main melody.
Day 7
Wheel and Hub
Come with Me
Spring Ride
Lady Blue
The Way You Love Me (reprise)
On the Way to Somewhere
Rhythm in the Sky (Part 2)
Dreams from the Cave Audio
Robert James Music
Free the music within
Another new element in the equation was that the music I was listening to at the time, with the exception of Eric Johnson’s “Venus Isle”, was not guitar oriented music. As a big fan of ambient music and storytelling, most of the music I took in was from New Age and World artists like Loreena McKennitt and Andreas Vollenweider. I was then and still am now, very interested in exploring music where the voices of electric and acoustic guitar sing over tribal rhythms in ambient landscapes. It’s what I call “Tribal Music from Other Worlds.”
Imagine a man who exhausts all of his resources in climbing to the top of his personal mountain. Now imagine as that same man crawls to the top, he looks up and out into an overwhelming vastness and hears something whispering, “a far greater adventure awaits you.” This is how I felt when I stopped working on “Dreams from the Cave.” Realizing I was being called to a voyage that required more that one man can give I called it DONE. Even though it wasn’t, I moved on.
So here I am now, seven years later living near Boulder, Colorado, creating a website and asking the question, are there others out there who have the skills, commitment and resources; who are called and want to join me in creating this great musical adventure?
Maybe there are those who will join in by listening?Listeners are as important to the creation as the one(s) who create it. Journey well.~
Robert James 2007.
