Rain Plans

Rain Plans was inspired by Israel's new home outside Austin, deep in Texas hill country. The young songwriter has fully embraced the meandering hills and endless skies of his Texas home, where you can find yourself so isolated that it is not uncommon for your path to be crossed by a tumbleweed or to hear the percussive warning of an agitated rattlesnake. There is an uneasiness that goes alongside the visual thrill of living in the untainted Lone Star hills and Rain Plans is a testament to the overwhelming grandeur of nature and our place in it. These songs are about finding solace in family and the fear of the future - knowing what you'll never know and the uncertainty that comes with that knowledge. At times melancholy celebrations and at other times raw guitar rock, Israel's new surroundings have helped him create a tone only hinted at in his previous work and a songwriting sophistication that comes with great time and effort. Rain Plans is new territory for Israel Nash Gripka, both literally and figuratively, as well as an expression of his finding a strange sort of direction in the fragility of existence.