It was written in grief, from grief, through grief….
It’s heartbeat Is that of the fallen friend and brother and son…
It Is a Labor of Love.
She had just talked to him not two weeks prior about the normal everyday stuff that they always talked about when he was around, music, his girl problems, and music business; she had asked him to drum some original material for one of her clients, and that was all. It was nothing special. Since 2004, when she met him at Camp Jam, Susan Shewbridge and Lance Tilton had had many such talks which, when she looked back on it, showed his character.
Somebody say it isn't true
He was his dedicated to his craft and to his word. When he said he was going to show up for an event he was there, no matter how tired he was. Even though he did not share the exact same beliefs as Susan, he gladly and respectfully would play for her church in Lawrenceville, Georgia whenever she needed a drummer to sit in for the regular drummer, her son, who was away on tour. The gig did not pay, and so his love for music spoke in even greater volume because of it.
Weren't you sayin' just the other day you'd be out my way
To her recollection the members of Trinity Christian Fellowship always loved it when Lance played for them. His sheer love for music seemed to come through and ingratiate himself with a congregation that loved the music as much as he did. And his love for music did not stop with the complexity of the rhythms that were involved in a given song, he generally enjoyed everything about the song, especially when a vocalist would “lay their guts on the floor” and give it their all. He was just as caught up in how a singer executed their pieces of music as he was in his own execution. And his playing often “could liberate a performer” to go to even greater heights.
Hey, it's not like you to not come through
Lance didn’t just stop with playing now and again for Susan, he also helped her set up her in-home studio and often provided the drum work for her clients.
What we gonna do…
And so it was when Susan learned of Lance’s death by her eldest daughter, that Susan was devastated on many different levels. He had become an irregularly regular fixture in her home and her husband’s home. Their kids adored him, as did everyone who ever met him it seemed. So she did the only thing she could do…. She “worked out her grief with an instrument under her fingers”. The melody and words came to her and in her own words, she “Couldn’t NOT write the song”.
Susan even got on Facebook shortly thereafter after realizing that she had been late in hearing about Lance’s death because she had not been on that Social Network. When she read Ben Deignan’s message to Lance, “I love you Lance. I’m sorry I never said it…”, she says that she felt the same way.
“I said a lot, but maybe I should have said more. He was my friend and in some ways nothing would ever be the same again. None of the bands that he played with would ever play the same way again.”
How can the song go on when the beat is gone
Less than a week later, Susan made a rough recording of her song, despite being ordered on vocal rest, and played the recording at the Tin Roof Cantina at Lance’s Memorial.
“It was a privilege to be able to honor him in song in front of his closest friends and family.”
Her song in its completed form will be on the inaugural Lance Tilton Foundation CD to be released soon. And it shall have a different sound than the Tin Roof performance largely due to the village of musicians who were included to bring it to its completion. Jon Morrison, Ben Deignan, and Brittany Shewbridge provided additional vocals; Deniz Felder provided the saxophone, Chris Price, bass, Jon Morrison, who survived the car crash that took his friend, provided the acoustic guitar as well as co-writing the bridge with Ben. Daniel Shewbridge, the son, who Lance sat in for at Susan’s church, handled the shaker. He would have provided the rhythm for the song with his drumsticks, but in deference to Lance and the instrument he played so passionately for most of his 29 years, no live drums were played for the song…except…
Susan says, “A lot (of Lance’s session work) had accidentally been erased, but I found a clip with a simple drum beat. I didn’t even have to tweak it a whole lot and with the production assistance of Christopher Alan Yates, it was perfect for the song. To me God was definitely in this; I could not have planned that. So the only drums in the song, are played by Lance Tilton himself.”
To her, and undoubtedly to all of Lance’s family and friends and fans, that is only fitting. For a guy that did so much for others, who’s love was described as “infectious”, having others come together to pay tribute to him, to honor him and to keep his love of life, love of kids, love of music alive,,,,what could be greater?
What We Gonna Do (Lance's song)
Susan Shewbridge, Jon Morrison, Ben Deignan
Bad news on the telephone-you can't be gone
Somebody say it isn't true
Weren't you sayin' just the other day you'd be out my way
Hey, it's not like you to not come through
What we gonna do
How can the song go on when the beat is gone
These same old tunes are gonna feel so wrong
In this same old town hearts are broken
'Cause we left some words unspoken
What we gonna do without you
You with your quiet way-you kept us straight
Always had the words to say
A ready laugh, a dry remark, a gentle heart-God I'm torn apart
Never thought I'd see this day
Somebody make it go away
How can the song go on when the beat is gone
These same old tunes are gonna feel so wrong
Somehow, somewhere I hear you sayin'
No, you just keep on playin'
What we gonna do, what we gonna do
When we can't understand, comprehend
It's harder every day
And I know that in time that the pain will subside
Can't find the reason why it has to be this way
What we gonna do without you
What we gonna do, oh
What we gonna do without you
What we gonna....
It's the same old town
But my heart's broken
I left so much unspoken
What we gonna do
without you
To hear more music by Susan and Alabaster Road visit here.
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