Lauren Daigle’s Behold is at times carefree, at times contemplative, and it’s just plain fun. There’s a lot of depth and space to hold the complexities the holidays can bring. The musicians in the band are exceptional. And I have always connected with the kindhearted and uniquely genuine spirit Lauren brings to all of her work.

I’ve realised over the years that that connection is incredibly important to me. The special ways I relate to a subject or source of inspiration or a composer or another artist can be an energizing springboard to unleash ideas within myself that just need a little camaraderie and encouragement. In my own work, I need to remind myself constantly that there are other folks out there also trying to live their best unique and authentic lives – and that they are making a difference for others, doing just that. 

So, you may be asking, why did I write this album, if Lauren Daigle’s is so good?

Well, I grew up playing trumpet as well as violin – and one of my favorite genres of music to play was jazz. There’s a wonderful freedom that comes from playing around with melodies, sounds and textures. There’s also an invitation to move and be playful that isn’t always present in classical music – and that’s an invitation I readily take and make my own even in my violin playing. 

As I’ve spent the years listening to Lauren’s music, I have found that the string player in me wanted to be able to run my fingers over the licks and melodies that the wind, brass and percussion players get to do in Lauren’s album… There isn’t a lot of jazz out there for us string players, and I wanted to explore it a bit and try to do my part to make more of this incredible music accessible to fine players who just may not be as accustomed to playing the genre.

So I decided, back in Christmas 2023, to start arranging songs from Behold. It would be for string quartet, and no voice. I thought I would be writing straight transcriptions, meaning writing down note-for-note what the original performance was… but as I got into this project, I realised a few things. 

Let’s just get this out of the way now… I’m crazy.

First, (let’s just get this out of the way now) I’m crazy. There’s always more inside of me than I realize. I’m learning to embrace that and just let it out – it’s more fun that way, and actually, better art, as well.

Second, Lauren’s band has more than twice the number of players as a string quartet. That means that I had to condense jazz chords – which have a ton of notes that provide that beautiful color we all love – into something just four players could play. And not just chords, but also rhythm. There was a lot of voicing and re-voicing and jazz math and writing double stops (where players play multiple notes at once) that went into finding just the right colors and feel for the songs. I basically broke my brain.

Third, I had to solve the problem of the rhythm section. How do you get the shades and vibe in a song that a drummer can get, but on pitched instruments? You’ll hear the cello use a technique called ‘scratching,’ and I got to play a lot with the rhythms within the quartet parts to create the energy I was looking for.

Finally, I started hearing things in the textures only strings can do – and new ways of interpreting the original song. While I may have started out thinking, “hmm why don’t I try pizzicato here to mimic the original high piano riffs?” I started saying crazy things like “wouldn’t it be cool if there was some insane bariolage here… or what about blended harmonics there?” … I started to realise I have a pretty cool voice myself, and for a first attempt at an album these sounds I’m writing are pretty awesome.  

So... how long does it take to write an album?

It took me about a year and a half to write this album. In the beginning, it was on the periphery, and I would work on it when I had spare time, in between other concerts and projects. It took me a few weeks to turn out each song… and I had long breaks for travel and family things. But then, as Christmas 2024 got closer, I started to realize that it would be Christmas in my house and in my brain forever if I didn't buckle down and make this happen.

You know what they say about a dream without a plan…

Then things got real.

So I called my good friend and Producer Joel Negus, from Cleveland Scoring, and we set a firm date to not only record – but also do a live performance filming of the project – in May 2025. He was so great because from the beginning he sought to understand the why behind what was driving me to create this huge project, and why I wanted to invest considerable finances to give it wings. 

There’s so much to the making of the album that I’ll have to share in other subsequent posts. If you’re subscribed to my mailing list, you’ll definitely hear all about it. 

I had an amazing team making everything happen behind the scenes. Suffice to say, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that with my two very serious music conservatory degrees, I would spend a whole day driving around Cleveland loading countless Christmas trees into a 16-passenger van. I never imagined I would wear the hat of set designer, costume designer, art director, copyright and clearance researcher and overall evil mastermind... As well as being a performer on the album. Somewhere in there I had to practice, too! 

Oh, what fun!

The musicians! The musicians on the album are incredible. I feel so blessed to have been able to work with each of them. Violinist Ann Yu and Robert Nicholson, cellist, are both based in Cleveland. Robert and I go waaay back to my graduate school days when we played in a quartet together, and Ann was a new friend. When you hear her riffs on the album, she steals the show. Incredible. The violist, and the one with Lauren’s luscious melodies most of the time, is Rachel Yonan. She came from Virginia to record with us and we’ve collaborated a few times before through the Duke Initiatives for Theology and the Arts, with the incredible Jeremy Begbie. Rachel is an incredibly thoughtful, lovely person, and spectacular violist. 

I love the ways each person in a quartet gets to bring a lot of themselves to the ensemble – and Rachel, Ann and Robert all really brought it. It was great fun recording with them.

I’m incredibly proud of this album. It has been a joy and brain-breaker to make. And I have found I love the process. It’s possible it may happen again.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy what we have made for you. Enjoy the audio, and enjoy the videos as they come out. Please like, subscribe, buy a cd or a silly Yeti hoodie – do all the things, because it helps me be able to keep creating, and, well, it’s all fun.

May this music be a blessing and create a space of peace… and a little whimsy in your holiday season.