Inspired by David Hinton’s translations of T’ang dynasty Chinese poet Tu Fu, whose writing conveyed fundamental Taoist insights during a time of rebellion and chaos. Tu Fu was forced to wander for most of his life, in ill health and poverty, unable to return to his ancestral home. “Travelers’ Cloth” refers to the fabric of vibrating creation that surrounds us, the fabric of life that sustains us, the fragility of comfort and stability. This album explores a question, What is Home?

1. Writing on Water 6:45
2. Loom of Origins 7:20
3. Feathers on a Barefoot Path 8:37
4. What Is Home? 7:19
5. High Mountain Shelter 9:47
6. Shadow Mist Beneath 3:56
7. Memory Like Blowing Sand 6:41
8. Gaps in the Roof Show Sky 7:20
9. Footprints Fade in the Rain 6:54
Total Time: 64:40

©2023 by Robert Rich, BMI.

Recorded February 2021 to March 2023 at Soundscape Mtn View & Carmel.

Sequential PX, P12, P6 and Trigon6, Haken Continuum, MOTM, percussion, piano, PVC flutes, gliss and lap steel w/ Aum Guitars Vibraslide, Weissenborn and Ibanez AF85 guitars. Many thanks to Dixie, Christian Arnsperger, Synthesis Technology, Sequential, Moog, Audio Damage, and many others.

Robert Rich: http://robertrich.com
Artwork and design by John Bergin http://www.stompbox13.com

The home I left this morning
A mirage in midday sun
The home on my back
On loan from the watchmaker
A path unfurls in front
As it crumbles to the rear
Bones that support a vagabond satchel
Grow weary from its weight
Traveler’s cloth unravels
Grains leak out a tattered seam
A trail of corn dispersed
By the gleaning of hungry mice