The future, whatever that means

An incredible experience recording this CD. Too many adventures and misadventures to recount - but in the end, at a little distance, I find I'm very happy that it exists. If you're lucky enough to have a song, you owe it something.

Best part of the experience: working with incredibly talented and helpful musicians:

	Ken Kanwisher, recording engineer and basses of various kinds
	Danny Artuso, guitar
	Ross Murray, drum kit and bodhran
	Terry Tufts and Andrea Karam, BG vocals
	Cam Scott, piano
	Leah Wyber, cello
	Anj Daub, whistle
	and of course, Melodie Benger, lead vocal on our duet, "In Another Lifetime"

I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with - unfailingly creative, co-operative, adaptable, cheerful and impeccably skilful.  They should all be rich and famous. Especially Kenny, who never lost his good temper, although a lesser man would have been sorely tempted many times. 

As time goes on, I'll add pages on each of the songs in the album, with my thoughts on the songs, and links to scores and demo recordings, and so on. For now, here's the line-up with links where something exists to link to.

Hard to find a title for the CD.  I knew there was something holding the songs together but it took me a while to figure out what it was.  I won't spell it out here ... and ruin the experience for you.  But after I thought about it, this was the only title that made sense, and it made sense for all the songs. 

In the end it took two years and more to complete.  Mostly me, not finding time to work on it. I would never have finished if it weren't for the unfailing support of Melodie and the strong belief of my sister Elizabeth.

And I would never have started if it weren't for the encouragement of Writers Bloc people like Lee Hayes, Tony Turner,  and Chris White, or my wonderful singing teacher Kim Kaskiw, who encouraged me to believe that the songs were worth hearing, or Beth Ferguson, who led us all by her indomitable example, and also said to me one day, "You're getting quite a few songs together. Isn't it time you did something with them?"

Have to say something about Ottawa here.  How a town with a small music industry can support such an amazing musical community is beyond me, but I'm grateful to be here.  Part of it has to be the work of people like Dean Verger, who has kept Rasputin's humming as a nurturing place for people who want to listen and people who want to make music, for a very long time. (sadly, now gone, but the Spirit of Rasputin's lives on.) And Arthur McGregor, whose OFC Music (Ottawa Folklore Centre) is an equally humming hub as well as a great business.  And people like Ian Tamblyn, Terry Tufts and Lynn Miles, among the founders of Writers' Bloc. Without these people doing their thing, people like me would have no place to connect and develop, much less engage in a project like this CD.

A big part of the scene is the "audience".  "Audience" seems like a silly term for people who are so involved ... they do a lot more than hear, around here.

In my case, I owe special gratitude to the many people who bought the CD in advance, and waited ... and waited  ... and waited.  It was a delight to finally deliver it, where I could, in person.

The graphics were as involving and exacting as the music, though in a different way.  Colour printing is a black art, I've concluded.  I don't like being photographed, but Arlene Moscovitch made a human and relaxed experience of it.  I have to thank Michael Wrycraft for his work on the cover, and offer heartfelt and special thanks to Paul Mills, who pitched in with me to get the design finished (we had fun for a day moving stuff around on his computer) and handled all the manufacturing with aplomb, finesse, and good humour.