It's not easy writing and recording music. You want something that people love. You want it to resonate. And there's no way to know if it ever will.

I've spent well a few years trying to get a studio recording of “Wherever I May Roam“. This year was the big one. I got an engineer, Mitchell Petersen, who was willing to take his time and work with me in producing a fantastic song.

I had ideas too. At one point, I remember thinking this song would be great with 60s style R&B horns. We tried it. It sucked. I knew I wanted it to have a Celtic feel. I added fiddle. The solo came off great. The in-between parts haunted me for Months.

I originally planned to use a recording I released two or three years ago for the main part of the recording. The tempo fluctuations annoyed me so much, I finally had to re-record the whole thing. I was terrified, it'd be like starting over. But my engineer did a great job putting it all together.

Just last month, I got a mix from Mitchell. That was it. It was the perfect mix.

Or so I thought. Two days later I told him we weren't yet done.

The most difficult songs to produce are the ones you're closest to.

“Wherever I may Roam” is not the first song I wrote for my wife, Gwen. But it is one of the most-personal. It beautifully captures and tells the story of how I went from feeling lost as a bachelor to finding love and eventually a building a family.

It's about my wife. I want it to be perfect.

And yet, I know intuitively that perfection can never be attained. There is no such thing.

I coined a phrase that I love–perfect imperfection.

I'm reminded of the song “Almost Irish” by Ceann. It has this out of tune whistle part. It's so badly out of tune… and yet, it's absolutely perfect.

Perfect imperfection.

“Wherever I May Roam” is one of those songs. At some point, I'm gonna let it go and hope my wife likes it. But I feel that she, like me, has an expectation that will never be reached.

All I can do is create and release it. That's it.

Here's hoping that's enough.

Slainte!
Marc Gunn, The Celtfather

PS. Sometimes you get a do over of a song. “Not Every Day Is St Patrick's Day” is being re-released in January under the name “St Patrick's Day”. Do you own the album? What do you think of it? Please email me.

PPS. This Tuesday, the next Pub Songs Podcast comes out. Please subscribe if you haven't yet. Email me if you want a URL to subscribe.

PPPS. Thursday is the next Celtfather Live. You can get tickets in my store. If you want more details, email me.  🙂

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