This piece is a fun, tongue in cheek story game. A mix of pitch cells, graphic notation, written direction for improvisation, and a linear storyline results in an auditory tale of what can go wrong if a family of troubled rednecks start dipping into the gene pool a bit too much. I had arranged An Afternoon of Composition concert at Rime and wrote this piece for the composer ensemble, which consisted of voice, trumpet, viola, piano, and guitar. It came from the original inspiration for the name of my filthy country band "The Family Stump". The Stump Family tree would resemble more of a Stump Family stump, because really, there's not a lot of fresh, genetic material being introduced into that particularly dysfunctional bloodline. Pitch cells are shared in improvisation, offspring are produced, and their material (a mixing their parents' materials) is eventually spliced with other materials that may or may not be related. Musical breeding at its finest… This is the shortened, PG rated version, where untoward activities are subtly veiled, and there are not enough generations of unfortunate "bondings" and "surprises" to truly tell the story. The final gesture has the entire ensemble choosing pitches from the various cells of the piece, and playing the first 2 rhythmic phrases of "Old Macdonald" in unison, as a twisted sort of family reunion.
Image: "Occurro" by Richard Wlodarczak 
