Album Notes

Singer, guitarist, song interpreter and songwriter Dick Gaughan is one of the finest musicians of his generation. Conveying enormous depth and passion, he has been called "Scotland's Woody Guthrie," an active proponent for change capable of affecting the way you think and feel through the power of his music.

With "Sail On," Gaughan has created a fine album that is full of biting sociopolitical insight, with a few romantic songs for leavening. Highlights include Michael Martin Murphey's "Geronimo's Cadillac," Pete Seeger's anti-war tale "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," the stirring "Land of the North Wind," and his own socialist manifesto, "No Cause for Alarm." The political high point is probably Brian McNeill's "No Gods and Precious Few Heroes," a powerful work about the real Scotland, delivered with just his voice and guitar.

Gaughan's guitar playing is not to be overlooked. On Richard Thompson's "52 Vincent Black Lightning" he takes the traditionally-structured modern love song and adds his own unique sound to it, making the piece very much his own. There's also a startling rearrangement of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday."

This is one of the more acoustic records Gaughan has recorded in recent years and is a welcome addition to his discography. "The anger and passion come through unadulterated," wrote Folk Roots (now fRoots) Magazine. "Play it loud and play it often."

Bio:
Dick Gaughan is a singer, songwriter and musical interpreter of tremendous depth and passion, often labeled "the Scottish Woody Guthrie." He has one of the finest and most sublime voices on the planet, capable of capturing the heart with the most tender of traditional ballads in one moment and stirring the fire of the spirit with his uncompromising commentary on social injustice in the next.

Born in Leith, Scotland, in 1948, Dick Gaughan was brought up immersed in the musical traditions and culture of the Gaels, both Scots and Irish, which provide the foundation for everything he does. Playing guitar since the age of seven, Gaughan recorded his first of many solo albums in 1971. He was also an early member of the Boys of the Lough, served with the Scottish folk-rock group Five Hand Reel and, in the early '90s, founded the short-lived but extraordinary Clan Alba.

Gaughan is deeply committed to fighting social injustice and standing up for the common man in the face of oppression. As an indefatigable worker among workers, Dick was often found collecting on street corners for the miners during their last strike and has supported workers throughout his career through fund-raising concerts. His unwavering belief in the strength of the human spirit to conquer seemingly insurmountable obstacles has fueled Dick's commitment to singing new songs and reworking old ones to point out the essential optimism and belief in humanity's ability to stand up and be free. In this, he has become a leading voice in the topical song movement and has inspired an entire generation of songwriters, such as Billy Bragg, who has recorded and sung with Dick. His 1980 masterpiece album, "Handful of Earth," was voted by a Folk Roots critic's poll as "the album of the decade."