Béla wrote a trio of tunes back in the 1980's for Jerry Douglas' album Changing Channels: Distance, Winter's Edge, and Blue Spruce. Douglas released Distance and Winter's Edge on his album, but Béla ultimately opted to keep Blue Spruce for himself. All 3 tunes were played throughout the late 80's at Acoustic Allstars and Strength in Numbers shows.

In the 1990s, Communication evolved from the same guitar riff used in Blue Spruce and was eventually recorded on the Flecktones' first album with Jeff Coffin, 1996's Left of Cool, featuring Dave Matthews as a guest vocalist.

Despite the similarities, Béla continued playing both songs, Communication with the Flecktones and Blue Spruce, usually when touring alongside Edgar Meyer. He also released a version of Blue Spruce on his 2004 live album, Music for Two.