New CD features spirit of Wind River Mountains
Based on the original article by Jonathan Van Dyke
Published: December 6th, 2007, Pinedale Roundup
Edited for tinymadidea.com web by Marc Peterson
Those in Sublette County are well aware of the majesty inherent and the aura presented by the Wind River Mountains region. When Marc Peterson's back took away his ability to enjoy the range the way he did as a youth and in his early adulthood , he used his newfound time to bring the feeling of driving up Skyline Road to your speakers in a newly released CD, Wind River Range: Volume 1.
Last July, Peterson's most recently planned trip to Pinedale was derailed. Major back surgery left him unable to do many of the outdoors activities that had become customary in his life. His job did not take the 44-year-old back to work, leaving a lot more time free to further explore his hobby of music.
"I started to go through all my photography prints and slides and began to scan each one digitally," Peterson said. "I got to my box of Pinedale pictures and the emotions and memories just overwhelmed me. I knew that I would never be able to go hiking again or camping like I used to, so I put both my hobbies of photography and music together and came up with the idea to create a CD based on visits to Pinedale."
The result is a six track meditative piece that encompasses a lot of familiar terrain to residents of the Wind River Range title tracks include "Pinedale Wyoming," "Fremont Lake," and "Skyline Drive."
"I knew Pinedale and Fremont were magical , even though it was severely harsh in the off seasons," Peterson said. "I found myself inviting friends and companions along each trip to Pinedale, because I wanted them to 'experience peace.' There is music in the air there, and I'm sure the folks there don't often hear it, but it's there."
Peterson's history in the air dates back to his early childhood, when he and his family would often stay at the Lakeside Lodge and at surrounding campgrounds and even in downtown Pinedale.
"I spent a couple weeks one time exploring Yellowstone, but even with the majestic and rugged Tetons looming all about the Yellowstone area, my heart and my home away from home was Pinedale and Fremont Lake," he said. "For years my grandfather , Frank Ferguson, had a huge 40 foot, shiny Airstream Trailer parked next to Lakeside Lodge year after year, it was open for any of the family members to use and enjoy."
During his family's time near Fremont, Peterson and his siblings shared many fond memories of traversing Fremont Lake with at least one tale ending in a harrowing sunken boat story where he and his sister were forced to swim to the shore during a sudden hailstorm.
At one time, his grandfather was given the option to purchase the lodge and marina, but decided not to, Peterson added. Later on he and his family would return in hopes of purchasing land, but the market has priced them out.
Still, with little musical training having "flunked out" of beginning piano lessons, it was to the keyboard and synthesizer that a man went on making music without much formal education .
The keyboard gave the current Portland , Ore., resident a large palette of instruments to draw on, while allowing the flexibility to have little experience in producing his own music.
"Most of my songs have over 15 different instruments being played simultaneously," he added. "I don't even have 15 friends, let alone ones who could play the correct instruments with any degree of accuracy."
The result is something one might find playing softly in a new-age store, but with the added leverage of being image specific, with its jangling repetitions put over top a strong base of tonal colors.
"Listening to rock or country music while driving through Pinedale and the region just doesn't encompass the feeling of the area and I don't believe it gives the area the credence it deserves," Peterson said.
"My music has little or no drums or percussion because I want you to leave feeling energized, quiet and more open. Of course, I have those listeners that use my music as an effective sleep aide as well. Go figure."
Peterson appears to still have his sense of humor intact, especially when espousing about the merits of music that uses different sound frequency levels that work with certain brainwaves to promote spiritual healing and deeper meditating. Although this recent CD hasn't incorporated this technology, being a former Radio Frequency and Audio Communications Engineer gives him a stronger musical background than he leads on.
"I'm not a spiritual guru myself, I just enjoy the raw science behind it all, and I have the studio equipment to do it," Peterson said. "So if it helps people then I'm happy."
By combining the loves of his past and of his present, Peterson is now able to let people in on what he thought and what many current residents do think about this wonderful area of natural beauty. "Fremont has almost taken my life, but with the extreme bad experiences, I have had probably some of the most wonderful experiences there of my life," Peterson said.
CD information is available at http:// www.tinymadidea.com.
jvandyke@pinedaleroundup.com