November 20, 2008
Hello Everyone,
I have a sampling of songs up on my myspace profile at the moment. They represent some of the latest rough mixes of my CD project, recorded, engineered and produced by Seth Connelly. The last track contains two songs from a live performance earlier this year when we opened for Red Molly at the Homegrown Coffeehouse in Needham.
I have been fortunate to have the friendship and assistance of notable and talented musicians accompanying me. Garnet Rogers, Jerry Corbitt, Steafan Hannigan, Joe Donnelly, Hatrack Gallagher and the one and only Seth Connelly. These gentlemen are all professional musicians, which is what makes these recordings so special.
The first cut is Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country", c 1963.
According to Wikipedia: "While in London [*Dec 1962], Dylan met several figures in the local folk scene, including English folksinger Martin Carthy. "I ran into some people in England who really knew those [traditional English] songs…Martin Carthy, another guy named [Bob] Davenport. Martin Carthy's incredible. I learned a lot of stuff from Martin." Carthy exposed Dylan to a repertoire of traditional English ballads, including Carthy's own arrangement of "Scarborough Fair," which Dylan drew upon for the melody and lyrics of "Girl from the North Country," including the line from the refrain "Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine".
My version is based on an arrangement by Larry Abbott, an old childhood friend with whom I played in high school in a band called "The Town Dump". One of the very cool things about this recording is a return to a British Iles feeling with the addition of the Uilleann Pipes played by Stefan Hannigan. I love Seth's piano part on this too.
The second cut is an original based on snippets from my younger days spent in Vermont of the late 1950's through mid 1960's with my friend Robbie Anderson and his wonderful family. It is also influenced partly by the works of Fred Neil who was a major musical inspiration to me as I first started to perform as a teenager. Joe Donnelly's drums, Hatrack Gallagher's harmonicas and Seth Connelly's bass and mandolin really make this song move right along.
The third cut is Jerry Corbitt's 'Grizzly Bear'. Jerry co-founded the Youngbloods along with Jesse Colin Young and 'Grizzly Bear' was their first hit. Jerry graciously offered to play bass and lead guitar on this cut. Both bass and lead guitar are cranking in the best tight formation that the Youngbloods were famous for. I never would have thought when I played this song as a teen ager that I would ever have the privilege of actually recording it with Jerry or having the pleasure of his friendship. Jerry has observed that Hatrack's harmonica playing is up there with Charley McCoy. Joe is right on the money and Seth's rhythm guitar compliments the whole arrangement to a 'T'.

The forth cut is Townes Van Zandt's signature song 'Pancho and Lefty', which has many fine renditions of it out there. This was a hard tune for me for me to nail just right in the studio for some reason even though I had performed it many times in band and duo ensembles. It was Seth's insight and arrangement that I lead me to this seminal 'Ah Ha, that's what I have been looking for!' moment. The vocal track was done in one take, the first take. Then Garnet Rogers came in and added a shimmering track on Telecaster, Seth is on string bass and Hatrack's haunting harps really set the mood. To me, it is more about the addiction than the cowboy and the bandit.
The fifth tune is a traditional African American Whaling Sea Chantey from the 1840's. I first heard it when I was a child from Bill Bonyun when he was the folk singer at Old Sturbridge Village in the late 1950's. My mom's parents were the potters in the village then and often my brother and I would visit for several days on end. I always loved to hang out on the common when Bill was singing. The real surprise for me was that Garnet Rogers came up with an intricate 4 part harmony which encompasses his full vocal range. Sort of 'Garnet Rogers and the Northern Persuasions' if you will. Steafan Hannigan added bodhran and chain shakers to give it that authentic foc'sle kind of feeling.
The sixth cut on myspace is a long 10 minute piece of lesser quality from an opening set for Red Molly at Needham's Homegrown Coffeehouse. The tunes are written by Tom Russell and Richard Thompson. This cut captures the live show spirit and how I love to play with Seth Connelly!
Best wishes,
Chris