Mountain Ayre and Wedding Dance

"I've always been attracted to "mountain music," especially the sad songs for their plaintive melodies and simple harmonies. And so, as I thought about this piece for a community near the Piedmont Mountains, my first thought turned to writing music that alluded to that sterotypical genre. However, it was a group of pictures placed on a former student's Facebook page that actually generated the biggest inspiration....the pictures were of an "old-fashioned" country wedding, where the guests all rode hay wagons to the horse barn where the ceremony occured followed by an old-fashioned barn dance. All the participants were dressed in "Country Sunday-Best".....I was caught up in the happiness of the occasion and consequently, when I sat down to write the music, it was certainly an easy task."