I love the word “grace” and see much evidence of it in the woods, fields, and waterways of New England. Few tunes have deeper American roots than Amazing Grace. Even though the first stanzas that eventually became this tune were written by a Brit named John Newton in 1789. The melody and style of singing that most Americans recognize, however, is NOT the one that was popular in early New England. Tim Eriksen performs a very compelling version of the old New England tune.

Prior to his work with Behold The Earth, Tim has created fabulous videos of his playing outside in several kinds of landscapes, amidst the soundtrack of nature. They can be seen on his own YouTube channel, batfancy. With our full crew, we did a more elaborate production. The location is the graveyard where D.H. Mansfield rests, compiler of the AMERICAN VOCALIST, a popular hymnal of the mid-1800’s. Also to be seen and heard here… small wildflowers, grass, lichen, and rustling leaves.

I was looking for open fields to shoot a musical sequence with Tim Eriksen, which we also cut into the stand-alone music video below. Tim is very knowledgeable of early New England folk and Shaped Note music and suggested an open blueberry field near us, in South Hope, Maine.  He knew the field was close to the burial site of DH Mansfield, compiler of the AMERICAN VOCALIST, a popular hymnal of the mid-1800′s.

This field evokes a tangible and timeless feeling of being on the top of the world, which DP Phil Cormier framed and captured well. Tim composed and performed this tune.  It fits this location and our film perfectly.  Please share this music video with whomever you think will enjoy it. More music from the talented Tim Eriksen will be posted soon, including an early New England version of Amazing Grace.

Please forward this trailer to anyone who you think might be interested in the film.

As much as I’m thoroughly anchored and enthusiastic about our own moment on history’s timeline, I confess I sometimes feel out of step. By about one hundred and fifty years. Lately, I’ve had a few chances to figure out why.

The mid-1800’s was an incredibly formative time for the American identity and sense of nature. The influence, questions, and findings of scientists in the natural world were beginning to accelerate. At the same time, entering the words “revelation,” “Creation,” “awe,” and “God” into the searchbox of the day would most assuredly have returned a huge number of hits. American attention on Creation was full-tilt. The woods and rivers were being terra-formed. It was the early days of the industrial revolution. Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in the transcendentalist camp were mixing up ideas of God’s nature with God-in-nature. One of the musicians in Behold The Earth, Tim Eriksen, tells me that five thousand people would collect in a field just one town over from me (Hope, Maine) on a hot summer weekend and sing together. This was the music of the shaped note. Landscape painters like Thomas Cole and Asher Durand tried to reconcile the tensions between science and religion. All and all, it was a heady and heartfelt brew. 

The time period is a helpful cultural reference point, nudge, and vantage point towards a longer view. It is a part of understanding where we’ve come from, hence the retro 1800’s look and sound of our film. But don’t confuse the smoke for the fire.

We’ve traveled some significant distance since then. Here we are now. Where are we going?