<div>
<h6>Tennessee Moon</h6>
Tennessee Moon (3:00)<br />
By Ray Cardwell<br />
RACMAC Music, ASCAP<br />
<br />
Contact Info:<br />
Ray Cardwell<br />
raycardwellmusic@gmail.com<br />
573.690.8053<br />
<br />
I wrote this song in 1993 when I first moved to Nashville to play with the New Tradition.  It was in between Christmas and New Years.  I had to find a place before my wife and son came down in January.  It was an exciting time getting ready to make a musical career move, and yet it was the first time I had been away from my family for any amount of time.  My son was three at the time. <br />
I remember coming down I-24 and seeing the Nashville skyline with a full winter moon.  It was very profound for me.  I simply pulled out a mini recorder I kept for song writing and sang "Tennessee moon I see you shinin' through my window"  The chorus literally wrote itself. I had moved from Jefferson City, MO which is on the Missouri river, so that first verse came pretty quickly.  A couple of weeks later I was in a hotel room with Richie Dotson and was strumming some chord progressions on the guitar to him.  He helped me smooth it out and we co-wrote the second verse together.  <br />
When I started picking out songs for this project, Pat Flynn changed the chord progressions on the verses and cut a word or two.  <br />
I was very happy with the final outcome.<br />
<br />
a special note-<br />
This song features bluegrass Hall of Fame member and Grand Ole Opry member Jesse McReynolds on mandolin.(at the time of the recording he was 86 years old)<br />
Jim and Jesse were a big influence on my family bluegrass band.  And I have had the honor of playing with Jesse as a "Virginia Boy" in his band most weekends on the Grand Ole Opry and various bluegrass festivals since the spring of 2016<br />
When I was singing with New Tradition in the 90's we would play a lot of the same festivals as Jim and Jesse.  My sister had introduced me to Jesse and he would always make time for me at the CD table, we'd talk for hours and watch all the bands at the festival together.  He has definitely been a friend and mentor to me over the years and I couldn't be more proud to have him on this project.<br />
<br />
Band members on this track are<br />
Ray Cardwell-Bass guitar, lead vocals and baritone  <br />
Pat Fynn-guitar<br />
Jesse McReynolds-Mandolin <br />
Scott Vestal-Banjo<br />
Andy Leftwich-Fiddle<br />
John Cowan-tenor vocals
</div>