Liner Notes

Liner Notes

(click on the titles for lyrics)

GIVE THE GIRL A BREAK~ I wrote this song when I was cramming to finish my MA. For an occasional diversion I was reading Rosalind Mile’s I, Elizabeth. I was struck by how hard the young queen to work to be taken seriously…it wasn’t difficult to imagine how exhausted she must have been by the end of the day. Eric and I wrote the “middle eight” at his cabin in the Adirondacks one afternoon. As we were putting it together, we hoped that when we brought it into the studio, we could make it echo the compositional prowess of George Martin…how did we do?

Deena Chappell~ vocals, guitar, bass

Eric Geoffrey~ groovy guitar riffs, crazy middle eight cacophony

Peter Maine~ drums

ME AND GOLDIE~ Goldie is classy mix of lab, chow and coyote. She was my son’s childhood friend. We dragged her up and down the east coast from apartment to apartment, house to house before she settled in for retirement with some good friends. She’s pretty old now but she’s always up for a hike! This song reflects the wisdom of the four-legged…if only we would listen.I recorded this live with my bluegrass trio, “Dirty Old Strings”.  Randy Gates joined Eric and I in the studio later and put down the beautiful, lyrical banjo track. You can almost see the prettiest dog in the world trotting alongside you when you listen to it.

Deena Chappell~ vocals, mandolin

David Lawlor~ guitar

Dave Cuite~ upright bass

Randy Gates~ banjo

LOVER DON’T CALL~ This song is about being in a long distance relationship; trying so hard to make it work and knowing deep down that it can’t. I can remember the tears streaming down my face when I was writing this. I was surprised at how many people said that this was their favorite song on the album; that they could relate to it. I guess it’s better to feel connected then alone…

Deena Chappell~ vocals, guitar

Eric Geoffrey~ lead guitar, bass, organ

Peter Maine~ drums

SIXTEEN TONS~ We really had to dig to find out who actually wrote this song. Although there is still some contention out there, we finally discovered that Merle Travis was given the  legal songwriting credit. This is a live recording of me singing with The Roadside Blues Band.  I loved having Michael Krauss sing a verse here. I chose to cover this song in particular because it’s a timeless reflection of the archetype of blue collar worker that holds the world up on his back…

Deena Chappell~ vocals

Mike Krauss~ vocals, blues harmonica

Bill Lanchantin ~guitar

Mitch Throop~ upright bass, vocals

Peter Maine ~drums, vocals

NEW SONGS~ This song is about running into that old flame again. I wrote it in the classic country style. It took me about ten years to get over this guy…sheesh! Barry Hyman came into the studio and put down gorgeous pedal steel track. I think that Barry was was just what this song needed.

Deena Chappell~ vocals, guitar, bass

Barry Hyman~ pedal steel

SIN~ One of the more profound lessons that I learned form Carl Jung is that if you don’t own your demons, they’ll own you. This was an intense recording session. We had two powerful percussionists playing off of each other while I played guitar and sang. Oh man, we raised some kind of energy that night…

Deena Chappell~ vocals, guitar, bass

Eric Geoffrey~ lead guitar

Scott Carrino~ djembe

Peter Maine~ rock kit

NOT YOU ~ Here’s another song that I wrote on one of my walks with Goldie. A goodbye, so long, seeya kind of song… Recorded live with the Dirty Old Strings and that crazy Randy Gates’ playing killer banjo.

Deena Chappell~ vocals, mandolin

Dave Cuite~ upright bass, vocals

David Lawlor ~ guitar, vocals

Randy Gates~ banjo

THIS DAY~ I wrote this one back around the end of September 2001. This is a big and powerful song that, I feel, reflected the emotional zeitgeist of the day. My son tells me how much he loves the first line…”maybe we can find the strength to turn off the tv…”

Deena Chappell~ vocals, guitar, bass, piano

Eric Geoffrey~ lead guitar, organ

Peter Maine~ drums

YOUNG TROUBODOUR~ originally named ‘Rose Colored Light’, this song is for all of our fellow musicians who died too young and those of us who are left behind to try and make sense of it. Peter Maine and Scott Carrino joined in on the vocals. Eric Geoffrey did an incredible job with the haunting pennywhistle interludes…

Deena Chappell~ vocals, guitar

Eric Geoffrey ~ bass, pennywhistle, horns

Peter Maine~ drums, vocals

Scott Carrino~ vocals