With The Rise E.P., we took a step away from the witty and eclectic feel that we normally exude and tried for a cohesive work. I'd say that all of these songs are about love or passion. When deciding on the title for the E.P. the mood and meaning in the song "Rise" kept coming to mind as the underlying theme. "Rise" is all about that welling up of emotion that comes from deep within our core. It's not always the easiest spot to find, but it is the place that reassures us that we are grounded and lights up with a passionate fire when we are willing to leap. The group expanded a bit for this project bringing in a couple horns and cello as well as a few extra vocalists. In two evenings we recorded the E.P. and left it with minimal edits. So it's pretty much a live recording. "Rainy Day Reflections" is a concept composition that I, Eddie Buchanan, had written over the course of a couple of years. The idea behind the trumpet/piano duet was to write exclusively on days when it was raining and let that shape my mood in composing. I know that instrumental music doesn't often hold the common listener's attention, but I'm hoping that you are not the common listener, or that I'm wrong about that. Either way, I hope you'll see it as a fitting capstone to this project. It's really a joy working with great musicians and we look forward to our upcoming projects and hope you'll come back to join us for more as we grow. Thanks for Listening! Eddie Buchanan