Aaron!
I’d LOVE to ask you about “Hope in a Maybe.” That was the first song I heard from you and it put “me in the feels” immediately. I will always love that song because I feel it is so positive and so sad at the same time.
Please, whenever you get the chance. I’d love a lengthy description of that song, how it came to be, inspiration, why you wrote it. What was recording it like, in terms of location or struggles, whatever.
Thanks for all you do!
-Theo
Hey Theo!
There are two versions of “Hope in a Maybe” out there, so I’m curious which one you’re referring to.
This one?
or this one?
As for the lyrics, I wrote “Hope in a Maybe” when my wife Heidi and I were moving away from family and friends in Minnesota and North Dakota to Colorado. “29” is referring to the interstate highway we drove from Fargo.
I think a part of the reason it feels both positive and sad, like you say, is because the experience was exactly that. The sadness of saying goodbye to something that’s familiar, but the excitement and positivity of moving toward something that’s uncertain yet you know it has the potential to be amazing. Whenever I’m scared, it’s usually because of the “not knowing” part of life. But so many great turning points happened when I committed to being ok with not knowing. And I guess that’s what the song is for me.
The other reason it sounds a little sad is because my voice always sounds a little sad, ha! — I can’t help it. That’s just how it sounds.
As for the recording part. I recorded it a few different times. Both times with my friend David Welsh. The first one I recorded in a spare bedroom in Fort Collins, Colorado, and then I emailed what I had to Dave (who was living in LA at the time) and he added parts to it. The second time we recorded it together here in Nashville, again in a spare bedroom (see below).
Let me know if you have any more questions about it, Theo! I’d be happy to answer them.
Love,
Aaron
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