Album Notes

Sheltering Sky are:
Amelia Hogan - vocals
Angeline LeLeux - fiddle and backing vocals
William Bajzek - guitar


Bold Doherty: This is an old Irish song we picked up from Waterson:Carthy, sung by Norma Waterson who got it from Mary Ann Carolan. A full eighteen verses of it have been found on an old broadside from 1804 but we were content with Carolan's condensed version.

The Watchmaker Set (The Watchmaker / The Watchmaker's Wife / Collier's): The Watchmaker (aka Neil Gow's Wife) originally comes from Scotland, where it apparently began life as a strathspey, and is attributed to Duncan MacIntyre and Niel Gow. It appears in Gow's collection of tunes published in 1802. Watchmaker's Wife was composed by our friend Mike Long, a mighty multi-instumentalist from Santa Cruz. Collier's is a well-known session tune.

Crazy Man Michael: Written by Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick, we learned this from the singing of Eilis Kennedy.

Heather on the Moor: Amelia learned this from Tim O' Brian's recording (minus a verse in the middle). The vocal harmony was created by Amelia and our friend Janet Herman.

The Lover's Ghost: Another we got from Waterson:Carthy, this time from Eliza Carthy's singing. This is a variation on a classic folk music plot in which a soldier's ghost journey's back home for one last night with his lover.

The Cordal Jig / Tell Her I Am: Angeline learned the Cordal from fiddler Erin Shrader after hearing it played by the Shannon Ceili Band at the Plough and Stars in San Francisco. Contrary to popular belief, the title is not a misspelling of "chordal", but refers rather to a village in County Kerry. Tell Her I Am is associated with the great fiddle player of the 1920's, Michael Coleman.

Erin Gra Mo Chroi: A classic Irish song, Amelia mixed together this version from Deirdre Connolly of Cherish the Ladies and Cathy Jordan of Dervish. It's about a woman who leaves her native Ireland, misses it dearly, and knows she'll never see her home or loved ones again.

Go From My Window: A song dating back to the English Renaissance and credited to various well known composers. William first heard it at a performance by Eilis Kennedy and William Coulter.

Good Man: We got this from the singing of Kate Rusby. Similar to "Seven Drunken Nights", it's a funny story about a deceiving wife who tries to pull one over on her "good man."

Bag of Spuds / Glen Allen: Two great session tunes: Bag of Spuds was brought to Angeline and William's attention by accordion player Andrew Macnamara one night at a house concert and Glen Allen (aka Kilmaley) is a favorite of Bay Area pianist Barb Southworth. We play the first tune in D minor rather than the usual A minor setting.

Wraggle Taggle Gypsies: One of the many versions of the song, which Amelia learned as a kid in the San Francisco folk music community. The words we use are from the Rise up Singing collection edited by Peter Blood. It's a traditional English ballad (Child #200) about a free woman, a concept that we are all entirely in favor of!



Produced and engineered by William Coulter at Bear Creek Studio, Bonny Doon, CA with additional engineering by Steve Coulter. Cover painting by Amelia Hogan, photographs by Nancy Hong and Richard Kirby. All songs and tunes traditional except Crazy Man Michael written by Richard Thompson & Dave Swarbrick, Fairwood Music OBO Blue Mountain Music.