In the summer of 2020, while the pandemic raged across the world, my family and I were
fortunate to spend time in the magical landscape of southern Utah, something we were able to repeat
the following year. During those times, we were able to explore some of our nation’s most notable parks
free of crowds. It was while camping deep in the red dirt wilderness of Bear’s Ears National Monument –
the only National Park lands to have decreased – that the first sketches of what would become Arroyo
Seco were birthed. The piece was completed by the end of 2021 in Interlochen, Michigan, when several
feet of snow crept up our door in a very cold winter.

I have long been fascinated how the defining feature of the Great Basin and the Southwest is
water, despite its almost complete absence. Water has shaped every feature of a vast and inscrutable
landscape, yet hardly any of it flows except during brief rains, and – in the case of the Basin – almost
none of it leaves. I was and am moved by the fact that some of the most extensive civilizations on the
continent, prior to the arrival of Europeans, flourished in these regions, at least during times when
water was slightly more plentiful. Many still do.

Not long after I got to know that man who would later edit the piece, guide me through it, and
premiere it here. That man is Matthew Cochran, our daughter’s guitar teacher and advisor, and a dear
and trusted friend to our family, not to mention an incredible guitarist. It is my honor to have him
premiere my most significant work for solo guitar here in Michigan.