Sources of inspiration can turn up when you least expect it. The key is not to let spontaneity take
over when it happens.
The Cajun Cook was a song that I had toyed around with and then put on to
the back burner. Then one evening, I went to my favorite pub and imbibed enough to convince myself that
I could sit in on the Irish session taking place there. However, futility
soon reared it's foamed
head, and my most gracious
hosts politely asked me to play one of my tunes so as not to make kidney
pie out of theirs. I started playing the first measures of the Cajun Cook, when all of the sudden the
session leader, Pauline Conneely, Irish stepdancing champ, was inspired to put her banjo down and tap
her feet to my tune. We both started feeding off each others energy, and soon we were playing in call
and response form.
Our sponaneity turned out to be very creative, too. Collaborating with Pauline
enabled me to pull some of the loose pieces together. It gave the tune a flavor that it had previously
lacked. After a number of rehearsals, we went and recorded this track for my upcoming CD.
The
Cajun Cook in the end turned out to be a lively recipe. I think a "recipe" might be a good analogy in
thinking about compositions. I had all the ingredients for the tune, and it was the stepdancing that
came along and stirred it up. Which is to say that if YOU have the ingredients for a song lying around,
don't throw it out. A dose of inspiration may be all that is needed to get it cooking.
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