Album Notes

Parsley (a.k.a. Candy Davis), raised as a military dependent, was born in Buffalo, NY, but can't claim it as home because she doesn't even remember having lived there briefly as a baby. Living in such diverse places as St. John's, Newfoundland (an island); Tucson, Arizona (the desert); rural Chautauqua County, New York (the Allegheny foothills); Hyattsville, Maryland (outskirts of DC); Fairborn, Ohio (the flatlands), Idaho, east Kansas hill country, and Chicago, she finally settled down in her 20s to live in the "Land Between Two Rivers" -- the beautiful Shawnee forest area of Southern Illinois. Candy has adopted that region as home for the other half of her life. In addition to having lived in many biomes, camped out all the way from Alberta to Alaska, and examined fossil ape teeth in Kenya, Candy's diverse work history as farmhand, factory worker, substitute teacher, Scout Leader (both girls and boys), icemaker for the Ice Capades, physical therapist, and anthropology instructor (to name a few) informs her songwriting with colorful characters, tolerance and compassion, and a broad perspective. Candy has been a folksinger-songwriter since around 1976. She can't remember a time when she wasn't fascinated with music - she actually made up her first little song when she was only six years old. (Her mom still has a copy of it somewhere.) Candy first discovered how harmony worked in a brief stint in a junior choir in fifth grade; for a time, she drove her family crazy harmonizing with herself by means of hum-whistling the two parts simultaneously. (A dubious talent, admittedly, but anatomically possible to learn!) Later, in college, she sang in both classical and swing choirs in the mid-1970s. She and her 12-string guitar first started performing for her friends and neighbors in Rockwood, Illinois, on the Mississippi River southeast of Chester. Candy wrote her first folk ballad, "My River Town," in 1976. She was inspired to write this song to celebrate the history of this former abolitionist community for the Bicentennial festival she helped friend Virginia Mansker plan. Later, she collaborated with her late friend Joshua Tree to co-write about 62 songs, some of which she still performs. During the 1980s, Candy experienced a long hiatus in her songwriting-she was "just too busy raising kids," as she puts it. However, in 1998, Candy returned to Southern Illinois University to work on a master's degree in anthropology. It was then that out of the blue, her music muse returned, and she wrote the tragicomic "Ballad of Oreopithecus," a song about a fossil ape. A friend of hers, Eric Schedler, an accomplished harpsichordist, was curious to know about the music she'd written in the past, and soon she was writing more songs, a few co-written with Eric. She started to return to the reawakening folk circuit and began performing at local coffeehouses: Cousin Andy's and Melange in Carbondale, Mungo Jerry's Fat Cat Cafe in Murphysboro, and the Yellowmoon in Cobden, at first as a solo singer; next, with Eric as a duo till he moved away in 1999. As a solo artist, Candy performed several times at the SIU Museum's series "Music in the Garden." In 2001, SIU Morris Library produced a videotape soundtrack of songs Candy had written about local people and places in Southern Illinois. It ran as part of Erika Ritzel's photographic exhibit of the disastrous Flood of 1993 and the relocation of Valmeyer, Illinois. That same year, Candy organized FOLKSTRAVAGANZA, a now-annual local musicians' fundraiser at Cousin Andy's that donates its proceeds to a different cause each year. Candy has also shared her music with other singer-songwriters as a staff musician and around the campfires at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 2003 and 2004. As a result, several copies of the CD have found new homes in Minnesota, California, North Carolina, Texas, and Colorado. One even made its way across the pond to England. Most recently (Fall 2004), Candy's music was featured as part of a concert series at the SIU Museum's exhibit, "Words, Wood & Wire," designed by ethnomusicologist Linda Smith to showcase folk music from past to present that celebrates the history and places of Southern Illinois. In 2002, Candy and Joel met at SIU in an anthropology class and became friends. For a time, Joel became soundman for the trio Knock 3 Times that Candy sang with from 2000 - 2003. One fall day while walking back from lunch, Joel burst into song. Candy, amazed, realized that her friend behind the soundboard really needed to be using his talents on stage. Thus, they became a duo, and Parsley & Sagebrush was born. Sagebrush (a.k.a. Joel G. Aud) is a more recent addition to the music scene. Although he had no formal training in music as he was growing up, he has a keen ear, a deep, resonant voice, and natural stage presence. As a youngster, Joel always enjoyed singing along with the radio and was steeped in a rich tradition of country and bluegrass music in addition to rock and roll and "oldie" folk songs. When in his 20s, he acquired a guitar and started to teach himself to play it. It was in 1990 that he had a musical idea for an instrumental piece. Thirteen years later, he taught it to Candy. She added a 12-string guitar part and a pennywhistle melody line, Joel added an African drum, and the resulting piece, "Broken Voices," was finished just in time to make it onto their CD, "Extraordinary Friends." Like Candy, Joel has roots near the river--the Ohio rather than the Mississippi--in the little town of Equality, Illinois, where he was raised by his coal-miner dad, homemaker/nurse mom, and other extended family members. As a young adult, Joel, too, had diverse travel experiences and as diverse a work history as Candy. An air force veteran, Joel served in the Gulf War. He also worked as a licensed underwater rigger, cop, bartender in an English pub, farmhand, and truck driver (to mention a few), before returning to the university as a non-traditional student to complete concurrent degrees in anthropology, history, and education. It was Joel who had an idea that the duo should have a name that referenced the spices in the traditional folksong "Scarborough Fair," because the two (P & S) often start their shows with it. Joel's original suggestion was that they call the duo "Rosemary and Thyme." About half an hour before they were going to reveal their new name to their audience, Candy suggested, "Why not 'Parsley and Sagebrush' instead?" After Joel stopped laughing at the play on words, he agreed it would suit them just fine. Joel has since written two other songs: the anthem "Life Above" (about trees), and the wickedly satirical "Why Don't We Draft the Elderly?"-"just because my mind's a little weird," he has commented wryly. Most recently, he co-wrote a brand new song, "Chicken Ditty," with Candy. The song, inspired by a high little harmonica melody Joel was playing with one afternoon, is a playful allegory about sticking up for oneself when being bullied-by roosters or humans! It will be featured on the next CD. Parsley and Sagebrush have performed frequently at local coffeehouses in Carbondale, Murphysboro, Cobden, and Lick Creek, Illinois, at the Neighborhood Co-op 10k Fun Run, for children at the Arts in Education Festival at SIU, at Makandafest in the little artisan community of Makanda, Illinois, and three times on WDBX community radio. Parsley and Sagebrush are so-called because Parsley describes herself as "green and environmental," and Sagebrush describes himself as "a little bit cowboy." Together they have melded Candy's lyrical alto folksy voice with Joel's resonant baritone country one-their set lists often have a very eclectic mixture of both genres, plus their originals, where the two styles sometimes fuse! Candy plays a Yamaha 12-string acoustic-electric guitar and occasionally pennywhistle. Joel plays a variety of percussion instruments: African drum, tambourine, wood blocks, and rhythm egg and occasionally plays 6-string rhythm guitar and harmonica. The duo plays both original and traditional folk music and some country and light rock music. Their original music varies from ethereally poignant to side-slappingly funny. On April 30, 2004, Parsley and Sagebrush released their first CD, called "Extraordinary Friends." It has 16 song tracks (14 are originals) and provide the listener with 70 minutes of enjoyment. The liner notes (by Candy) give a short synopsis of how each song came to be written, and the photographs (by Joel) are easily recognizable to local people as being from Campus Lake (on the SIU campus) and from the badly flooded Ohio River in 1993. We hope you enjoy "Extraordinary Friends," which can be purchased for $15 (plus S & H) from www.cdbaby.com