Album Notes

Eileen Quinn - full time cruiser and songwriter - has released her third album of original sailing music. Mean Low Water follows on the success of her first two recordings, No Significant Features and Degrees of Deviation. With her guitar on her 36' sailboat, Quinn has spent the past seven years sailing the eastern seaboard and circling the Caribbean. Her songs are written with the authenticity of someone who has racked up more than 25,000 sea miles and countless beach bar performances. Quinn's latest collection of a dozen songs proves once again she's unequalled in describing the ups and downs of the sailing life. Just about anyone who has ever been on a boat will identify with Quinn's humorous and often irreverent treatment of the nautical scene. In her new album's opening song, "If I Killed the Captain", she reminds the tyrannical skipper that, statistically speaking, the person most likely to kill you is your spouse - "keep that in mind (the) next time you raise your voice!" In "Speedboat Babe", she takes wicked aim at all who would leave her in their wakes. "The Golden Days of Sail" is a rude and hilarious send up of traditional sea chanteys in which Quinn sings longingly of days gone by when "we lost our teeth to scurvy and bathed but once a year." Quinn explains, "For the most part, I wanted this album to be upbeat. It's dedicated to all those poor souls who are addicted to boats. Some people might think we're crazy - and maybe we are - but at least we can laugh at ourselves!" Having said that, Quinn acknowledges that she's slipped in a few quieter songs to balance the mix. "Building a Boat" is a spare and poignant tribute to the stubborn fool who forges his own dream. The concluding song, "Time to Move On", marks the bittersweetness of saying goodbye - "a sailor has a restless heart, what draws us close pulls us apart." In Mean Low Water, Quinn's self-described "blue water music" spans a range of musical styles. The title track about going aground is aptly rendered as a gritty blues tune. "Piranha Potluck" has a driving surf rhythm that underscores the horror of running out of food at a cruisers' potluck. Quinn's whimsical love song for her wayward tender, "Come Back Dinghy", is pure pop.