“Swordplay: “Dear George, this is the first album I have made for you, written in your name. Initially, I planned to call it Mythology, after a comment Rick made just before your funeral. That is, these ceremonies we hold to celebrate the lives of those we’ve lost, they are the first opportunities we have at building the mythology of our loved ones. That idea resonated with me then, as it still does, because death is transformative in ways that are unknown and defy biographical story-telling. We know you will always be more than the awards on your resume, or a mere recitation of the facts. Perhaps you are the clouds passing over Moscow as France takes Croatia in the 2018 World Cup on the day you left us. Or maybe you are the entire sky now. Through music and prose, I believe, all is possible. Even resurrection.

2018 was a nasty year for many of us. When Ceschi asked me if I could do an album for Freecember, I thought of all the collective loss built up in our shared community, and how enmeshed we are in our grief. As I write this, with the end of the holiday season almost in sight, I imagine I am not alone in my loneliness. Although this is your album, I wanted to make it for all of us. All of us who, like Ram Dass said, are just walking each other home. I think you would want it that way.
For the King, the Wizard, and the G, George Griffin Ramsey, May 16, 1988 — July 15, 2018”