A stellar new duet album from Steve & Cindy, for release in January 2012. With help from our usual compadres, Peter Davis (tenor banjo, sax), Will Patton (double bass, mandolin), Scott Petito (double bass), Pete Sutherland (piano, fiddle), Jennifer Weeks (oboe), and Jack Williams (guitar), we've assembled a mix of old favorites and new songs ranging from Child ballads to classic rags to original songs. The songs: Holy Smoke, Some Boats, California Zephyr, Sur la Route de Dijon, The Two Sisters, Blue, Birdsong, Rosmini's Rag, Seal Harbor, Manoment Waltz/The Mathematician, The Gnu, Home By Dark.

CD only (Compass Rose Music CRM-13)

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1. Holy Smoke
Words & Music by Doug Johnson
© 2011 Compass Rose Music, BMI

Doug Johnson is a long-time participant in our Big Sur songwriter workshops. His writing is enriched by his own history and his studies of Native American traditions.

(Click here for the lyrics)

2. Some Boats
Words & Music by Anne Hills
© 1998 Raven Heart Music, ASCAP

I've had the privilege of singing with Anne Hills for many years, and am grateful for the opportunity to record this lovely song.

(Click here for the lyrics)

3. The California Zephyr
Words & Music by Denise Fleming & Steve Gillette
© 2011 Compass Rose Music, BMI

Denise brought us the idea and stories of her travels on the venerable yet still romantic Southern Pacific signature line.

(Click here for the lyrics)

4. Sur la Route de Dijon (Traditional)

The tale of Marjolaine, weeping by the fountain on the road to Dijon. If you see her, have a cold drink and say hello. We first heard this Quebec song (and so many wonderful others) from our friends Dana Whittle and the late Martha Pellerin, gone but far from forgotten.

(Click here for the lyrics)

5. The Two Sisters (Traditional, Child #10)

One of the most wide-spread of the Child Ballads. This Scots version includes the supernatural outing of the murderer, often absent from the American variants.

(Click here for the lyrics)

6. Blue
Words & Music by Joe Carlson
© 2011 Compass Rose Music, BMI

Steve heard Joe sing this song in a campfire circle at the Kerrville Folk Festival.

(Click here for the lyrics)

7. Birdsong
Words & Music by Cindy Mangsen
© 2011 Compass Rose Music, BMI

When the world is too much with us, it's good to take a walk.

(Click here for the lyrics)

8. Rosmini's Rag (Traditional)

Two old-time tunes in the mode of the great finger-style master, Dick Rosmini - long time friend and mentor.

9. Seal Lullaby (W: Rudyard Kipling, M: Cindy Mangsen) / Seal Harbor (Words & Music by Cindy Mangsen) © 2011 Compass Rose Music, BMI

I read the story of Seal Harbor in Folklore and the Sea, and was intrigued by its vision of the deep and mysterious connections among living things. Thanks to Kerry Ryer-Parke for introducing me to Kipling's Seal Lullaby from the Jungle Books.

10. Manomet Waltz (Cindy Mangsen) © 2011 Compass Rose Music, BMI / The Mathematician (J. Scott Skinner, P.D.)

The Waltz came to me on the road to Manomet, where I spent many summers as a child. The Mathematician is one of many daunting tunes from 19th c. Scots fiddler J. Scott Skinner. Look him up on the web, he's a fascinating character.

11. The Gnu
Words & Music by Michael Flanders & Donald Swann

Peter Berryman gave us a stack of Flanders and Swann CDs. We were entranced. The Gnu is from their show At the Drop of a Hat, which toured the world from 1956-1967.

(Click here for the lyrics)

12. Home By Dark
Words & music by Steve Gillette
© 2011 Compass Rose Music, BMI

A nostalgic song about that special place that dwells in the heart of every traveler.

(Click here for the lyrics)

 

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