Webs Spun By My Spider Friend
A couple years ago, I took a solo retreat to an Airbnb in rural Kansas. I was in a time of transition in my life (to put it lightly), and I needed some time in silence and away from distractions to clear my head. 10/10 would recommend, I hope to do it again someday.
It was at this cute little Airbnb in rural Kansas that I wrote the song, “We’re Gonna Be Alright”. Do you want proof? No? Fine, but I have it anyway, because I took a video of me singing this song in said Airbnb about a half hour before I checked out. It was wildly popular on YouTube, attracting up to and including 85 views. Watch below or watch here.
In a time of transition unlike any other I’d experienced before in my life, I needed to know that somehow, I would be okay. I needed to know that I’m gonna be alright — and not only that, but that we’re gonna be alright. So, this was an example of writing the song you need to hear as opposed to writing the song already welling up inside you to sing.
Fun fact: I also wrote my song, “You Won’t Ever Abandon Me” while I was at that Airbnb. For proof, watch that video here.
Second fun fact: I finished a third song while I was at that Airbnb, called “Maybe There’s a Reason”, which almost made it onto Earthly, but I decided against recording it after I wrote a few more songs that I liked better.
“We’re Gonna Be Alright” is the first song that I self-produced in a proper studio, alongside other musicians. As you may know, I self-produced my EP, Those Other Psalms, but I recorded all of that in my bedroom, by myself, with my low budget equipment. But, “We’re Gonna Be Alright”, I recorded at Golden Bear Studio, while the owners, my dear friends, Bryan and Sarah, were out of the country. They knew I was there, don’t worry. And I do think I had to bug Bryan while he was just trying to live his life in France to ask him an emergency question or two. Sorry, Bryan.
I brought in Matt (Crummy, my husband), and two friends of ours, Andersen Coates and Grey Lovelace to play on this song. Matt has been really good at this bluesy style of playing piano for as long as I’ve known him (longer than that, in fact). Andersen is a young buck with the guitar chops of someone much older than he, who also has a good handle on blues style. (PS: Check out his music on Spotify! He just released a new song today!) And Grey is as easy to work with as he is talented; a multi-instrumentalist with a great attitude and — you guessed it — bluesy skills on the bass.
Andersen Coates at my Albums Release Show, photo by Byron Jones
Grey Lovelace at my Albums Release Show, photo by Byron Jones
I played “We’re Gonna Be Alright” at a church camp in Michigan in July of 2022, and a child came up to me afterward and wanted to talk about the “spider friend” song. It was a weird lyric to keep in the song, but after seeing how excited that little guy was about it, I couldn’t possibly change it. I have two sons, myself, so I know the Spiderman and Spiderman-adjacent excitement. In my mind, that lyric always goes out to whatever little boys under the age of 12 are listening.
Speaking of listening, I hope you have listened to “We’re Gonna Be Alright”! You can do that on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or anywhere you stream music!