Throwback Thursday Memories of "Harmony"

This picture was taken a year ago today and it was a very memorable moment for me. 

I remember looking at my surroundings and seeing my life being relived in music. A year prior to this picture which was taken a year ago, the natural beauty of this site left a mark in my heart.

Paul called me and said, “hey, let’s go out and film a video.” I was excited. WE had worked on a song that I really enjoyed and I thought that it would have been pretty cool to create a visual anecdote of it. I cannot  describe how powerful that moment was for me, to get in my car with the idea that a new video was going to be made for my song, “Harmony.” I had no idea how things would go except for the fact that there would be wardrobe changes which I had grown accustomed to doing in my car years ago when my friend Mike used me as a model to test out his new camera for an outdoor photo shoot. While driving, I remember playing my song “Harmony” over and over again so I could make sure that I would not forget any of my lyrics, which as a filmmaker and producer of videos, I have seen many artists forget; it is not an uncommon thing to happen.

I looked at the area that seemed vaguely familiar and the site evoked a memory in me. It was like having a brief moment of de ja vu when I realized at that moment that I had been in this same exact place before. Yet, a year ago, when that picture was taken, I had not even known that the name of the park was Herman Griem Park. I just knew it had some of the most beautiful features. 

Paul and I were now connecting on a different level. We had gone from being in the studio for our brief moments of music recording to now taking it to the streets and video recording. I followed his car into an area full of grass covered hills. We drove into the parking lot and I remember seeing young kids playing handball in the hand ball court, and a basketball court which’s gates were locked.  Beside it was more greenery that lead to a brook surrounded by flowers and rocks that stood before a white foot bridge. All I remember was that it was the most beautiful area I had seen in Wyndanch and we were about to film a music video there. 

The picture shows a visual of a year ago with me hanging with TN'T's guitarist's grandkids before our performace at Herman Griem Park. Debbie’s grandkids were having a good time and running through the green fields like I had ran through it a year ago prior to the #tbt pic, as Paul viewed the action through the lens of his video camera. The only difference was that the #tbt pic was the day of the Babylon National Parks Department Music Festival and I was performing there with the group TN’T. We were all set to perform before a score of people on the mobile stage which was set up for us. 

Images flooded my mind of the three outfit changes I did in my car, the cold air of October that hit my sleeveless arms, the youth that decided to join us as we filmed and Eddie, who played the role of my love interest in the video. And as we started doing our sound check, the sky opened up and rain started escaping the grey clouds that suddenly covered the sky's piercing blue color. Within minutes, the parks department cancelled our outdoor concert. 

I was happy to have come back to the area this year where we gathered once again to do the Parks Department's outdoor music festival and were welcomed with favor and open arms by the charming sun. This post embodies a series of three separate events in the same park over a period of three years. If interested, you can watch the full length music video for Harmony here: https://youtu.be/Et2DjrOKJAo

Check out more music, photos and videos at my website http://www.jnotemusic.com

Thank you for reading my blogpost!