Tendrils

Lyrics and Liner Notes

Shortly following the release of Scale in the summer of 2025, Greg experienced the hardest loss of his life: the death of his only brother, Erik, who was only 53 years old. While ideas and sketches for a new album would ordinarily be percolating in the late winter, Greg was reeling from this tragedy and unable to bring himself to write, knowing that no song could do justice to the myriad thoughts and emotions he had about this experience. Meanwhile, Greg had informally promised his long-time collaborator, Brandi Parker, a.k.a. Tella, that his next project would be a follow-up to their 2015 album Dipod. Yet, he knew that whatever came out of him when he did start writing would be deeply personal, and that he would have great difficulty sharing the process with any collaborator, even one as trustworthy and sensitive as Brandi. Ultimately, songs did begin to emerge in the Spring of 2026, and when they did, they came pouring out as though from an uncorked bottle. He found himself writing about his brother from various vantage points: his anger at his brother's decision to discontinue medical care; the unimaginable pain their mother was enduring; lost opportunities to know his brother more fully. Greg knew immediately that he had begun his next solo album.

Then, in May of 2026, another blow was dealt. Greg's oldest friend John Daly (with whom Greg wrote and produced a rock opera about 18th century congressman Matthew Lyon) called Greg one day to inform him that a tumor had been discovered in John's brain and he was being rushed into surgery the very next day. Stunned and reeling from this announcement, Greg was at a loss to provide meaningful assistance or support to his friend who lived over 1,000 miles away in Vermont. For a time following the surgery, John was unable to speak and spent most of the time unconscious, so there was no way to convey words of encouragement and love to this man who he regarded as a de facto brother. Greg put his sentiments into songs, a fitting foil to what he had written about his biological brother shortly before. He was ultimately able to visit John at the start of his long process of rehabilitation. Days later, Greg traveled to Ireland, a trip that proved to be significant in a number of ways, including providing settings and concepts for more songs on the album. Finally, as has been the case on his previous two albums, Greg was inspired to write of his joyous love for his girlfriend. Rounded out with laments of interpersonal and political turmoil, the new album was complete.

When it came time for a title and cover, Greg turned to his old friend Brandi Parker, and presented the idea of "tendrils" as a starting point for an original work of art. In addition to being a world-class musician, Brandi is also an incredibly talented professional artist whose works have been featured in competitions and installations. What Brandi produced surpassed all hopes and expectations: four potential album covers inspired by the "tendrils" theme and informed by rough mixes Greg had shared from the album. At a loss for how to choose from four equally incredible works of art, Greg simply took a poll and chose the piece that garnered the most consistent preference among the people in his life.

In producing Tendrils, Greg decided to pursue a specific vibe: a relatively laid-back, raw, almost basement-recording type of soundscape. He used fewer effects, particularly on his vocals, and nearly every song was anchored by an acoustic guitar. He chose to avoid most of the amplifier plug-ins that had become standard in his recordings of the past several years, switching to plug-ins that had a less polished sound. The idea was to reflect his rough-around-the-edges emotional experience in the sound of the album itself. The instrumentation was largely the same as ever: his trusty Martin acoustic guitar (on which all but one song was composed), Ibanez and Gretsch electric guitars, Tobias 5-string bass, and one song was graced with his Guild 12-string. Keyboards and drums were performed on Nektar and Akai controllers, respectively. As usual, Greg tracked and mixed in Reaper DAW, and mastering was accomplished with the assistance of Izotope AI-assisted software. Greg's old friend, professional sound engineer Charlie Campbell, provided invaluable feedback in the mastering stage. The result has been hailed by several listeners as Greg's best album in years.