Crooked Step, Open Gate

The Backstory

This song, the title track of the album, began as part of 40x40, a personal project to visit forty Ohio wetlands before my fortieth birthday.

The idea for this epic micro-adventure project came to me in 2021, on the heels of the Covid shutdowns, during the Great Recession, and preparing to let go of a business I’d built from the ground up. I was also in the weeds of parenting a toddler – and unknowingly expecting a second child.

I was exhausted from the many pivots we’d had to make due to life during the shutdowns plus adjusting to roles as parents and business owners. Grieving the loss of the lighthearted, spontaneous and adventurous lifestyle my husband and I had enjoyed prior to having children, the responsibilities and realities of our 30’s weighed heavy.

40x40 got me back in motion in all the right ways. The exploration and adventuring worked wonders on my burnt out and pregnant-then-post-partum brain. Little did I know, but I was also tending fertile ground for song writing in months soon to come.

The well of wisdom I found in those forty wetlands was deep.

Metaphorically, these wetlands reflected externally where I was at personally: on the edge. On the edge of motherhood a second time. On the edge of middle age. On the edge of a(nother) career change.

Edge zones are murky places. Uncomfortable for us humans. But, as nature reveals, they are places of breathtaking biodiversity. They are the places where life happens richly.

And I began to write. 

The tune and the poem for the song Crooked Step, Open Gate came from one of these 40x40 wetland visits.

The Song

“Crooked Step, Open Gate” is about what happens when you settle in and take a backseat rather than rush forward in high gear. It is about what doors open when you go slow. Very slow. So slow you stop moving and chasing the clock. It is what happens when time comes to you.

Here is the poem, spoken during the track:

I walk into the wetland

and sit on the crooked step

to serenade cicadas

They hum the beat

pulsating, slow, deep

while crickets chorus 

in slow-mo stereo

green frog twangs along

and cattails rustle

dancing with the wind

Tomorrow

I’ll open my throat

and let songs pour out like water

Today

I just play along,

let crickets take the lead

butterflies, the dance

and Spider, suspended,

our audience

She pays no mind to rhythm or rhyme--

in time, her beat will land

Band Highlight

The song begins with a gentle, sensitive bass solo by Scott Williams. Scott appears on the project entirely on electric bass, but he has an overflowing toolbox of musical skills including keys, guitar, and being an excellent vocalist.

Coming from a jam-band background, he’s performed prolifically around the state with Phish and Grateful Dead cover bands like Phinger Guns, Wed ZepWeen, Dead Roses, and The Powerful Pills.

Bringing Scott into our folk roots fold has been a rewarding experiment. He adds color, depth, and even melodic sparkle to our more experimental tunes.

“Crooked Step, Open Gate” is the song that allows him to shine. His 6-string bass paints a dream - perfectly setting the stage for the watery wetland poem meandering through the middle of the song.

Final Album Notes

And this completes the Crooked Step, Open Gate album. You have all the stories!

This project is an invitation to living with courageous love. To slow down and tune into the people, animals, and earth we share our everyday moments with. We listen to their stories and let them in, even when it’s uncomfortable. We stay. We linger a little longer, we notice, and we allow the noticing to become growth.

As the spider in the poem, we invite you to build strong webs of connection to your place and community, holding steadfast and anchored even while the wind blows strong.

Will you go through the gate? We hope you dare.

"Crooked Step, Open Gate" from Crooked Step, Open Gate

You can purchase the full album on Bandcamp starting June 6, 2025. All songs will follow on the streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc), trickling out through the summer and fall. "Crooked Step, Open Gate" will begin streaming October 10, 2025.