After nearly ten years, we finally got the band back together.

A decade ago, I was living outside of Philadelphia with my friends and bandmates, gigging around the region and recording what would have been our first full-length album. As Lightning Bug, we had cut an EP that managed to get on local radio, and were regulars on the schedules of Philly dives of increasing profiles. It was an exciting and rambunctious time. We were all in it together. We were tirelessly creative and on the verge of understanding our art. We felt like we were gaining momentum, and then it all just ended. I wasn't the only one who left Philly, but I only feel at liberty to discuss my personal circumstances. I had blown out my voice and needed throat surgery. I felt depressed and homesick for New England. We had plans to finish the album and try again after a break. It didn't work out that way. That was all nine years and ten months ago.

Over the years, we remained close despite the loss of the band. We see each other as often as possible, and remain deeply embedded in each other's lives. Occasional musical collaborations between band members continued (some of which can be heard on this site), but not in any form that we could have comfortably called Lightning Bug. This weekend, however, fate brought us all back to Philly to see David's exquisite band Ecce Shnak take the venerable stage at Johnny Brenda's, and to celebrate the imminent arrival of Nick's first daughter. We didn't pass up the opportunity to create something new together.

This track is very different from Lightning Bug as we knew it, but it comes from the same deep trust and friendship that made our collaboration potent and joyful years ago. Rob stayed in Philly and amassed a wonderful home studio setup, allowing him to engineer and mix this track. We each took a post at an instrument, and this song came out of us. We shuffled the deck a bit, most of us picking up a different instrument than the one we had typically played. On this track, Rob is featured on drums, Dave plays guitar, Miguel is on bass, Nick plays keys and percussion, and I took lead guitar. We swapped in the amazingly talented Brenna Markey on lead vocals—she's a longtime friend, and a vocal phenomenon in styles from opera to art rock. She is also about to marry Rob, which is excellent. The lyrics come from a wonderful poem by Rob, which Brenna adapted on the fly from his personal journal.

The title of this song, "This Has Been a Dream of Mine", was Brenna's expression of how it felt for all of us to make music together. Immediately after recording this song last night, Dave and I hopped on a late train back to New York, and Miguel drove to see his dad. Nick flew home to Maine today, as Rob left for work. Indeed it felt like the whole thing might have been a dream. We won't wait ten years to do this again.

~M.E.

P.S. Special thanks to Kyle, who also played in Lightning Bug for a stint during our time in Philly, and is a wonderful person.

P.P.S. Rob lives within spitting distance of Edgar Allan Poe's house, which is the site of the scary bird statue pictured with this entry. I thought it had an ominous literary congruity with this song's lyrics and themes.