"driftlight" Background
 
Where did it start? Surprisingly, "driftlight" started with this short fragment that I recorded several years ago:
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It may sound as if the two songs have very little to do with each other, but the acoustic guitar part at the beginning of the fragment serves as the basis for the chord progression of the introduction and verses in "driftlight" (I expanded the chords into seventh chords which gives it a slightly "jazz-like" feel).

The flute takes the lead during the verses -- one main flute line carries through each verse, with one or two other flute lines coming in periodically to provide harmonies. I wrote the first and third verses first, then wrote the second verse to expand the piece. Each verse ends with a slightly different variation on the same four-part descending flute harmony.

In the choruses, the flute moves into the background, echoing a chord progression, while parallel electric guitar/bass lines take the lead. Fairly late in the writing/recording process, I decided that the choruses needed something to fill them out a bit more, so I added the piano part.

Does the title have any significance? "Drift" was my working title of the original fragment -- the lap steel slide guitar part in the fragment has this sort of drifting, mournful feel to it. This quality is not really retained in the final song, but I kept the name and extended it to become "driftlight" (which in my mind, should be in lowercase, although I am not sure why).
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