Art We There Yet
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      The Story Behind “Chan Chan”

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      A Song from the Bonneville Salt Flats

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      A Mural Celebrating a Way of Life

      February 27, 2022

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      A Song Celebrating Growth

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      New Orleans from the Streets | An Experimental…

      May 13, 2020

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      The Himalayas | An Experimental Film

      March 1, 2018

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    • People of the Americas
  • BEFORE THE AMERICAS
    • Before the Americas Project

      The Story Behind “Emotion”

      November 1, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      A Mural Celebrating Perspective

      June 10, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      The Story Behind “Be”

      May 27, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

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Art We There Yet
  • Home
  • MURALS
    • MURALS

      A Mural Celebrating the Great Outdoors

      April 3, 2022

      MURALS

      A Mural Celebrating a Way of Life

      February 27, 2022

      MURALS

      A Mural Celebrating the Sea

      January 15, 2022

      MURALS

      A Mural Celebrating Action

      January 8, 2021

      MURALS

      A Mural Celebrating Teamwork

      December 27, 2020

  • MUSIC
    • MUSIC

      The Story Behind “Chan Chan”

      February 25, 2022

      MUSIC

      The Story Behind “Wanderer”

      January 31, 2022

      MUSIC

      The Story Behind “Here We Listen”

      January 30, 2022

      MUSIC

      A Song from the Bonneville Salt Flats

      February 10, 2021

      MUSIC

      A Song from the US-Mexico Border

      June 8, 2020

  • WORKSHOPS
    • WORKSHOPS

      A Mural Celebrating a Way of Life

      February 27, 2022

      WORKSHOPS

      A Song Celebrating Growth

      February 20, 2022

      WORKSHOPS

      A Song Celebrating Inner Strength

      February 6, 2022

      WORKSHOPS

      A Song Celebrating Healing

      March 24, 2020

      WORKSHOPS

      A Day Painting New Beginnings

      March 16, 2020

  • FILM
    • FILM

      New Orleans from the Streets | An Experimental…

      May 13, 2020

      FILM

      The Himalayas | An Experimental Film

      March 1, 2018

  • PHOTOGRAPHY
    • People of the Americas
  • BEFORE THE AMERICAS
    • Before the Americas Project

      The Story Behind “Emotion”

      November 1, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      A Mural Celebrating Perspective

      June 10, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      The Story Behind “Be”

      May 27, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      The Story Behind “Paso A Paso”

      May 7, 2018

      Before the Americas Project

      Soundscapes of China & Nepal

      March 14, 2018

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MUSIC

A Song from Arnold

by Art We There Yet? April 10, 2020
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The string of events that led to meeting Arnold Montgomery serve as a reminder to welcome and flow with life’s surprises. 

We will start at the beginning.

We had just left New Market School, where we painted a mural and gave art and songwriting workshops.  We were driving to Birmingham via the scenic route (we avoid highways because the bus can’t go over 65mph anyway).  

As we were driving through Guntersville, Alabama, the town caught our eye.  It looked quaint and beautiful – nestled right up against a lake – and we decided to stay the night. 

The story of our stay in Guntersville is a tale in and of itself, and one for another post.  Long story short, we stayed for five days, met amazing souls, did a concert, became the talk of the town for a bit.  One of our social media posts went viral locally, reaching over 45,000 people in the area in just a few short hours.

The post reached a school administrator at Ray Thompson Elementary, a Title 1 school in nearby Gadsden, Alabama.  She contacted us to see if we had time for a school visit.  In truth, we had planned to work solely on post production for the rest of the year.  But we try to live by the mantra of being ‘yes people’. So we made it work and went to Gadsden for a full day of music and art workshops!

Now it’s time to back up a bit.  At our concert in Guntersville, we met a man who raved about a pizzeria and brewery in Gadsden.  We hadn’t planned to go because Gadsden was out of our way, and we also rarely eat out.  

Well, when we arrived in Gadsden, we found that the city had free parking just behind that brewery (parking can be tricky with the bus sometimes).  As mentioned, we very rarely eat out, but we decided just this once to treat ourselves.

As we were looking over the menu, we noticed a section of the menu about the brewery’s live music schedule.  Tuesday jazz night.  So after our day at Ray Thompson, we returned to the brewery for jazz night. 

We almost didn’t go.


Arnold Montgomery

Arnold Montgomery is a world-class jazz saxophonist, who also crafts handmade saxophone mouthpieces. 

He also plays jazz on Tuesday nights at a small brewery in Gadsden. 

During intermission, I introduced myself to Arnold and floated the idea of him jumping in on my collaborative album project.  He was absolutely game, and he even proposed we come see and document his workshop where he makes mouthpieces.

So the next day, we drove the bus to Arnold’s home for a day of creation! 

  • We filmed the entire process of making a mouthpiece and put it into a video for Arnold to use for his business. 
  • For that video, we recorded Arnold improvising, which was so good I had to make a post for it here on AWTY.
  • Arnold recorded a track on “Roamer”, the first song on my collaborative album. 
  • And finally, he posed for José’s portrait series.

We all came away from the day – not only with valuable material, but also with a new friendship we can tell will last through the years.  

None of this would have happened had we not decided to stay the night in Guntersville.


Staying Open

The Art We There Yet journey has been filled with stories like these.  One thing leading to another, one person leading to another, opportunities and experiences blossoming out of simply saying ‘yes’.  

It is a reminder to stay open to the opportunities, surprises, and even tragedies that show up unexpectedly along our paths.  You never know where it may lead.  And besides…there is an excitement and beauty in not knowing what lies just around the bend.

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You may also like

The Story Behind “Chan Chan”

The Story Behind “Wanderer”

The Story Behind “Here We Listen”

A Song from the Bonneville Salt Flats

A Song from the US-Mexico Border

A Song from Guntersville

A Song from Cora & Jess

A Song from Cora & Dave

A Song from Four Friends

A Song from Ethan

About The Project

About The Project

Art We There Yet is a project to create art and music inspired by the Americas, celebrating our shared humanity and giving back to communities along the way. Aboard a school bus converted into an art and recording studio, we are traveling 30,000 miles across 23 countries of North, Central, and South America.

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