On and Off the Bluegrass Parkway
The Bluegrass Parkway is a short freeway in West-Central Kentucky. You take it from end to end to get from my hometown to my grandparents’ farm. Growing up, it seemed like the Parkway was built specifically for my family. Horse farms cover gently rolling hills right next to the road, limestone walls separate the highway from the woods, and the Kentucky River and its tributaries wrap around and under the Bluegrass Parkway. The Parkway leads to many wonderful state parks, in addition to most of the distilleries on the historic Bourbon Trail. The distilleries are, somewhat surprisingly, in beautiful natural areas. To get to a distillery, you usually first travel through horse farms and forests, and it likely will be tucked into the hills and nestled next to a crystal clear creek.
This composition, “On and Off the Bluegrass Parkway,” seeks to show the joy the Bluegrass Parkway and the places it leads bring me and many other people. Different musical sections represent driving on the Parkway; looking out the window to see lush forests, horse farms, and so on; and going to the places that the Parkway can take you: surprisingly beautiful distilleries, state parks that live up to your expectations, and—most important to me—my grandparents’ farm.
This composition, “On and Off the Bluegrass Parkway,” seeks to show the joy the Bluegrass Parkway and the places it leads bring me and many other people. Different musical sections represent driving on the Parkway; looking out the window to see lush forests, horse farms, and so on; and going to the places that the Parkway can take you: surprisingly beautiful distilleries, state parks that live up to your expectations, and—most important to me—my grandparents’ farm.
