A NOTE FROM TERRY ON THE MAKING OF "MR. BUECHNERS DREAM"

Before Chris Colbert and the band began the mix sessions for the project, I had a chance to live with the rough mixes for a while. One morning at about 2 a.m., while driving back from the studios to my home in Southern California, I was listening to the results of that days work. Suddenly the most overwhelming sense of God's pleasure came over me. In that moment I knew that we had something pretty special. Two nights prior to this, Tim, Ed, and I were listening to a playback of "Beautiful Martyr" and somewhat embarrassed ourselves when, simultaneously, the tears welled up in our eyes.
Daniel Amos didn't start off thinking we'd record 33 songs. It just happened. I think Chris thought we were a little crazy. It's my sense that the shear joy of being together again in a creative setting after a seven years absence, coupled with the on going 'love affair' we've all shared down through the years, opened the floodgates of the creativity I believe is unique to Daniel Amos. We were like kids in a candy shop, albeit some fairly old kids. These aren't old songs, however. They weren't stored up for some undesignated time in the future when we got around to doing another project. When J.T. (the band's manager) called up one day and said to me "Hey, how about a new D.A. project?" and subsequently Dan Michaels gave it the green light, the wheels started turning. We were off and running. Herein lie the results.
We'd lost Gene, but we knew we were in good hands with Chris who had done a little engineering for us down through the years (including 'Motorcycle') and who had really perfected his craft, working with MTV and recording bands in Athens Georgia, and the Big Apple. To begin it was necessary for us to purchase eight reels of 2-inch tape.
When Chris blew his knee out while performing at the Troubadour, Frank Lynz stepped in to lend a helping hand. Lot's of friends dropped by; Jason from Starflyer 59, Stonehill, Tom G., Mark Rodriguez, Derri Dougherty, and others. Chris was back in the saddle for the mix, sometimes using his crutch to turn the Demeter knob (we dubbed the crutch "The Convenience Stick"). I believe if at any point any one of us felt the project was slogging along under the weight of too much material, we would have backed off and cut what needed to be cut. When both Anna and Chris made similar comments about there not being a weak song in the bunch, our confidence was firmly established. They are both reliable and extremely honest critics. The band is unanimous in its agreement that the thing works as a whole piece...not in spite of the abundance of material, but because of it. The feeling was that the Fans would at the very least be pleased...lot's of stuff after a long hiatus, and more bang for the buck. They deserve it.
Some of the lyrics were born out of the tumultuous events of recent years: the passing of two young and very dear friends, cancer in my family, and in the families of other close friends. Too many swords dangling overhead, too many loses for one to bear, but always the grace of music as the catharsis for the intensity and anguish of it all. Thank God, however, that this is not a collection of morose minor key songs. Over all, I think, there is joy here...liberty, and celebration... a renewed hope in the sovereignty of God. I also believe our ages work to our advantage, if indeed there is any wisdom to be gained by longevity. As usual we pose questions concerning the tensions between faith and doubt, throw in a dash of social commentary, and generally probe and explore the meaning of what it is to be fully 'human', and one who essentially seeks to serve a knowable/unknowable God.
'Mr. Buechner' (pronounced Beekner) is Frederick Buechner, a very real Pulitzer Prize nominated author and a Presbyterian minister who has been an inspiration over the years. While it is doubtful that this genre of music is Fred's "cup of tea" or that he's ever had a dream in which 33 alternative rock songs played and danced in his head, we hope we have, at the very least, honored him (along with our faithful fans) with the very best we have to offer. It's to Frederick Buechner we dedicate this work