Thank you to Jacob Bullard for recording his song “Milk Eyes” for the film.

The third Monday in May saw Grant and I at 8:00 a.m. with puffy eyes and groggy voices, running cables through his living room. (The truth is it was probably closer to 9:00 because I woke up late.)

In the mess of the final weeks of my Junior year in college, by the gentle grace of God, I was somehow able to look about a month into the future and notice one, lonely, skinny, open week. It was sitting, legs crossed, bored and aimless in my calendar wearing a T-Shirt that said “Recording Opportunity?” I promptly gave Grant a call.

May 10th came and we set mics and cooked grilled cheese. Grant played drums, piano, and Settlers of Catan. Matthew came over to play bass and flawlessly fill the position of executive producer. I forgot parts, wrote parts, played parts and spoke in vague emotive language that somehow Grant could always understand. Even Laura made it up to Traverse City for one rainy afternoon to sing.

Being from Traverse City is a tremendous influence in my songwriting. The imagery and memories of summers spent in Northern Michigan seep into my songs subliminally. Ultimately, with my college graduation ahead of me this May, the EP ended up being a kind of ode to what was probably the last old fashioned summer I will spend in Northern Michigan for a long time. In this light, “Late July” embodies the last of summer and the richness of all the summer before it.

These songs come together now, steeped in a family living room and the instinctual pace of a Traverse City summer. The steady breathing of Lake Michigan and an open car window at midnight. The sound of fingers on the page of a book, curtains on the wood frame of a window. An unmade bed, an out of tune piano, the quiet peace of Late July.