Dinty Child sings “Tired Blue Shirt” with friends on Hawk’s Nest Island during Miles of Music Camp.
Filmed at Miles of Music Camp in Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire.
Audio & Video by Jacob Blumberg for Mason Jar Music.
FEATURING:
Dinty Child (vocal)
Zachariah Hickman (upright bass, arrangement)
Dietrich Strause (pump organ)
David Moss (cello)
Valerie Thompson (cello)
Maya deVitry (violin)
Adam Moss (violin)
Chris Miller (clarinet)
ABOUT THE SONG: “I was shoveling snow before going in for a radio interview about an upcoming show. I knew the interviewer was going to ask about songwriting so, while shoveling, I was formulating a response in my mind. “Hmmm, songwriting doesn’t have to be hard. Let’s start with ‘blue shirt’. Well, how about adding an unlikely adjective like ‘tired’ to it. A ‘tired blue shirt’ starts to imply a story. Is the shirt old and tired? Is it ‘physically’ tired for some reason? Is the wearer tired? Why?” The story just started to form in my head and when I didn’t think I could remember anymore I ran in and wrote it down in my notebook…as is. I didn’t think about it again until the spring when I was looking for ideas at our songwriting retreat on Three Mile. That year we had an old upright piano that was headed for the scrap heap out on the dock, just sitting there in full view of the lake and mountains, where I sat and messed around until the song took shape. Over the next year I performed it on two pump organs with Zack Hickman a couple of times and he mentioned in passing that he thought it would be cool to do some string arrangements for some of my songs. Knowing there would be no shortage of amazing players at Miles Of Music, I took him up on the offer for the faculty concert and my mind will never be the same again.” – Dinty