Some ideas are set aside, waiting for the right moment to bring them to fruition.
For Cleveland musician Adam Reifsnyder and folk singer Gretchen Pleuss, that moment began with a brief song sketch shared online.
Reifsnyder, who has spent decades moving between projects throughout the Northeast Ohio music scene from the newgrass trio Honeybucket to a range of collaborative work, saw a post from Pleuss in 2018 and gave it deep consideration.
Pleuss, a Wayne County native, has built a following as a solo folk artist, often writing songs that take time to fully take shape.
She posted a short clip of a work in progress on Instagram, something she often did as part of her songwriting process.
鈥淚t was a way to kind of interact with people and get feedback sometimes,鈥� she said.
Reifsnyder came across the one-minute clip and couldn鈥檛 let it go.
鈥淚 was obsessed with it. I saved it. I emailed it to myself,鈥� he said.
A year or two later, Reifsnyder dug through his email and found the song snippet again.
At the time, he said, he was going through something personal, which made the song resonate even more deeply.
He reached out to Pleuss and asked if she planned to release the song on her album.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥楥an I try to make it a whole song?鈥� And she said, 鈥榊eah,鈥欌�� Reifsnyder said. 鈥淚 had no idea if Gretchen was going to like it or not.鈥�
When he sent it back, Pleuss immediately knew Reifsnyder captured the emotionality the song created and built upon it to create the perfect final composition.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥楾hat's it,鈥欌�� she said.
A collaboration that took its time
The finished song, 鈥淧ining,鈥� was released in 2020, just as the pandemic began.
鈥淚 had texted [Pleuss], 鈥業t was great working in that really organic, special way,鈥欌�� Reifsnyder said. 鈥淲hat if we set our minds to actually sit down and write some stuff together?鈥�
But the timing didn鈥檛 align right away.
鈥淚t took us about five years to get there because our schedules were so different,鈥� he said.
Reifsnyder had twins born in 2020, and Pleuss had moved out of state the same year.
Reifsnyder would drive to Michigan to collaborate with Pleuss, and when she was in Northeast Ohio she鈥檇 visit Reifsnyder to continue working on music.
When they eventually sat down to write, they returned to a familiar starting point: incompleteness.
Their first co-written song, 鈥淏lue Heron,鈥� began as another fragment Pleuss couldn鈥檛 finish.
She had the first verse and initial idea ready, but she didn鈥檛 know where to take it.
鈥淲e dove into the feeling together, and then were able to finish it,鈥� Pleuss said.
鈥淎dam wrote a really beautiful second verse and helped find the chorus, because there was never really a chorus.鈥�
That process became the foundation of their musical collaboration.
鈥淚 think even though our styles and our approaches have some differences, we're both pretty vulnerable,鈥� Reifsnyder said, adding that their shared emotional expression through song helped bring the ideas to life.
Two voices in conversation
As they continued writing, the duo realized their vocal styles blended perfectly. Pleuss said she can harmonize with anyone, but their tones complemented each other particularly well.
That natural compatibility became central to their five-song EP, 鈥淭he Rest of You,鈥� out May 1.
On the track 鈥淗ere in My Room,鈥� the two build a shared perspective shaped by the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淭hat was definitely a COVID song,鈥� Reifsnyder said. Lines about the world kind of crashing down around you and watching it from your vantage point.鈥�
Pleuss extends the song鈥檚 perspective inward. She wrote a second verse looking inward, expressing how her personal world was crashing at the same time.
"We're really kind of talking back and forth in the song to each other."Gretchen Pleuss
鈥淚n the chorus, that's where I was like, 鈥楾his song is really special,' because there is a lot of emotion in it,鈥� Pleuss said.
Other songs explore different emotional terrain, like 鈥淐arry Me,鈥� which reflects the steadiness of a supportive relationship.
鈥淧ierce Park,鈥� by contrast, explores conflict.
鈥淲hat I really liked that Adam brought into it was he made it like a conversation,鈥� Pleuss said. 鈥淲e're really kind of talking back and forth in the song to each other."
Pleus said it was cathartic to be able to have that conversation in a song.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of like we became two different characters fighting throughout the song,鈥� Reifsnyder said. 鈥淏ut then the chorus, we sing in unison. 鈥榃hy does it always have to be hard? Why can't we sit and talk at Pierce Park?鈥欌��
Across the EP, the two experiment with the form of a duet, from harmony to dialogue, storytelling to shared emotion.
The right moment
The spirit of reinterpretation extends to their cover of Prince鈥檚 鈥淲hen Doves Cry,鈥� which they reimagine through a stripped-down, folk arrangement.
鈥淲e decided pretty early on that we wanted to take something and make it our own,鈥� Reifsnyder said.
The pair always had a goal to finalize each song and release them on an EP, even if it took time.
鈥淣ow we鈥檙e gonna give it some time to have people hear it and percolate,鈥� he said.
For Pleuss, the outcome extends beyond the music.
鈥淲e also built a really great friendship in the process,鈥� she said.
The project took years to come together, but, like the song that started the collaboration, it gradually took shape.
Reifsnyder said that connection was rare.
鈥淚 love Gretchen's music, but I don't know if I've ever felt as strongly connected to a single thing as that one-minute clip on Instagram,鈥� he said.
Pleuss put it more simply.
鈥淚t was just the right time, the right person,鈥� she said.
