Meet

Lynn ahrens and stephen flaherty, composers of Garden

Not without some trepidation, I sent the recording to Steve and Lynn, and these were their messages to me:

“Dear Ann,

What a treat and a gift to receive this beautiful rendition at the end of my work day! I just love it, Ann. (And bravo to Alex and Mary Ann, too!)

I love your phrasing and the way you pull us into this magical world - it feels like a really good short story! There is so much love and care you put into this and I am not surprised that your audiences are responding to your rendition.

Thank you for taking good care of this lovely and little-known song. Just needed a little water and soil and a lotta love."
xo
Stephen

Lyricist Lynn Ahrens said,

”Hi Ann, This is beautiful. I had actually forgotten how much I liked this song. It’s very personal to me, too, being a big garden person! 

Thank you so much for sending it!” 

XXXLynn

I have known Lynn and Steven for a very, very long time. When Andrea Marcovicci, Alex Rybeck and I put together a tribute show of their music, they couldn’t have been more generous, providing music, lyric changes and overall suggestions. The most coveted gift I got from them was this stand-alone song, Garden. It was originally written for Karen Akers but she ended up not using it, so for several years it sat in their proverbial trunk. The song turned out to be a true stand-out in our show and just before the pandemic, Alex, Mary Ann McSweeney and I recorded it. We've been waiting for the right time to release it and including Garden in my album about romantic notions seemed a perfect fit.

Also from Lynn in reference to the music video we created:

"Hi again,

I don’t think I adequately expressed my admiration for the visuals*. You sound great, of course, and the song as you do it is so moving...But combined with the lovely paintings (watercolors?), it’s sublime. Thanks, Ann!"
XXXLynn

*Illustrations were by Taylor Morgan