Heart Beat

posted by Aubrey and Craig on June, 18, 2025

When Aubrey worked as a wilderness canoe guide in the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota, there was a children’s story they would sometimes read to rookie family groups to prepare them for their trip.

In the story, a grandfather goes walking in the woods with his grandchild. The child loves these walks, in which they discover all kinds of cool forest stuff together. Mushrooms, birds, creeks, trees.

At times, the grandpa would stop to simply stand still, asking: “Listen. Do you hear the trees? They’re praying.” The grandkid could never hear.

Years later, after the old man passed, the now adult would go walking in the woods and feel the prayers of the trees along with the memory of the grandpa’s presence.

Heart Beat tunes us into these rhythms of Place. The sparse lyric content of the hook gives space for what goes beyond words as we know them: the language of the trees, the rocks, the water, the wind. It is an invitation to quiet oneself and feel the heartbeat that connects us all in the song of Life.

Noteworthy Moments

This was one of the first songs written as a true collaboration, where Craig sent Aubrey a chord progression before leaving on vacation. Aubrey filled in a banjo melody and some lyrics and sent them back via text message. Craig listened to the rough version of the freshly minted song sitting at the Gulf coast, literally watching the waves roll in. Better than Christmas? Maybe!

Recording a song live can present some fun arranging challenges. You can hear an example of this around the 50 second mark, when the synthesizer pad transitions to the electric bass. We knew we wanted the synth to open the song to establish a warm presence, but then Craig needed to free up his hands to play guitar for the second verse. The solution was to have the bass take over on the chorus, being that first heartbeat. We think it works.

After the hail storm stops at 3:26, Joe’s fiddle kicks the song back in with a riff that was added very late in the process (the night of recording!) and is a credit to Aubrey’s vision and Joe’s ability to create wonder on the spot.

As you listen, we hope you find yourself in a place where your spirit can be still.

"Heart Beat" from Crooked Step, Open Gate

You can find the full album at Bandcamp starting June 6, 2025. All songs will follow on the streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc), trickling out through the summer.