this song, looking back now after a few years, was something that came from the cosmos. Santana moves and operates like that. He stays in tune with a certain frequency of love, light, expression, creativity, and if you match that frequency you may find yourself in the studio with him. At least that’s how it seemed to go with this record. Heartstrings felt like something divinely orchestrated. I spent a year with no chorus on the record, I had a Big Gigantic saxophone solo where Carlos’s guitar now is, I was frustrated at how slow things were moving with my album, and wanted to get this song done and out. When it was finished (or i had thought it was finished), I’d taken a bit of time for myself after working on Mariposa (the album this is on). I remember doing “sober october” for the first time in 2020, meditating in place of substances, trying this spiritual shit out. One day I was meditating and i got a call from my manager that i felt like taking - he said “carlos santana heard your record and wants to play on it. he’s free this weekend can we make it up to the Bay”. I obviously couldn’t believe it but was just laughing and thought it was awesome. As HOV says “ i told my wife this spiritual shit really works”. who would have thought? I also learned a big lesson on how with art, sometimes you can’t control the timing and that could be a good thing. I was happy that it had taken all this time to get the record done, because it was the right time. days later we’re in the studio caffeinated out of our minds and carlos shows up 10 minutes early and goes on to give a full lesson on Miles Davis before introducing himself and saying he loves the song. that day in the studio was one of the most informative sessions i’ve had to this day and honestly changed everything about how i see and approach music. santana, if you know anything about him, sees music as a tool to show people the fullness of themselves - to connect and to heal. he put me on to where freshness, presence, and power in a sound comes from. I didn’t understand the strength and seriousness of what we’re doing (of course, all while just playing) but after that day I sort of understood the mission that many musicians have been on before me, that santana took on, and now that I would adapt and bring into the future.