Music Born in Nature - New Album Arrives Wednesday

Daily Dose  |  05/18/2026 10:00 am

Common Ground II, the follow up to local recording artist Thaddaeus Washington's 2024 collaboration with Metroparks Toledo, arrives Tuesday, May 20 on all major streaming platforms. Selections from the new album will be played during a listening session Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Rotary Roundhouse shelter at Middlegrounds Metropark, 111 Ottawa Street.

The album includes 20 tracks born in the Metroparks, shaped by nature and made for anyone who needs a moment of peace in a loud world. Like first Common Ground, downloads are free.

BACKGROUND

When Washington released Common Ground in 2024, he and Metroparks Toledo offered the community a gift of eight original recordings created in the fields, forests and riverbanks of northwest Ohio. In Common Ground II, “We wanted to go deeper,” Washington said. “More sounds, more experiences, new instruments, new ideas — and we did exactly that.”

The sophomore project incorporates new collaborators and new landscapes. Students from Chase STEM Academy and children from Toledo Day Nursery became part of the creative process.

For both albums, Washington arrived at each session and let nature set the direction. Wind shaped the melody. Birds called the tempo. Fire held the feeling. The job of the musician was to listen first, and create second.

“Nature doesn’t need anything added to do what it does — heal, comfort, inspire,” Washington said. “But when music meets nature, it creates a blend of something that really can’t be explained. It has to be experienced.”