LINER NOTES AND CREDITS TO HARVEY REID's & JOYCE ANDERSEN's "Kindling The Fire" ALBUM

1- Jack of Diamonds (Trad.)(5:39)
2- Church Bells (J. Andersen)(3:52)
3- Good Years (R. Goldman)(2:29)
4- Keep Your Lamp (Trimmed & Burning)(Trad.)(4:20)
5- Can't Let Go (R. Weeks)(2:55)
6- Losers in Love (H. Reid)(3:03)
7- The Spring Hill Reel (H. Reid)(2:47)
8- Revelations Roll (K. Long)(3:20)
9- Billy Gray (N. Blake)(4:42)
10- Primitives (T. Burnett)(3:59)
11- Bound for the Promised Land (Trad.)(3:45)
12- I'll Fly Away (Trad.)(3:04)
13- Louis Collins (Trad.)(3:18)
14- More Precious than Gold (J. Andersen)(4:21)
15- Ode to Bille Joe (B. Gentry)(6:45)

CREDITS
Joyce Andersen violin , guitar, lead & harmony vocals
Harvey Reid 6-string, 12-string & slide guitars, mandolin, octave mandolin, 6-string banjo, autoharp, lead & harmony vocals
Jon Ross bass on 'Can't Let Go'
Rick Watson organ on 'Billy Gray'
Mary Dellea bass on 'Spring Hill Reel'

Arrangements, Production, Engineering, Mixing Harvey Reid & Joyce Andersen. Recorded in March & April 2004 in 24-bit digital at Woodpecker Studios, York , Maine, except 'Ode to Billie Joe', recorded at the Unitarian Church in Portsmouth NH 9/20/03 engineered by Mark Nesvig. CD Mastering by Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital.
Design & Graphics Rex Holmes
Photos Christine Nimetz
Instruments 1991 Robert Childs violin, 2002 Larrivee L-05 (L2), 1984 Taylor 810 guitar (T), 1994 Larrivee C-10 guitar (L), 2002 Charles Fox OM (F), 2002 Owens resonator guitar (O), 1996 Dobro resonator guitar (D), 1988 Taylor maple jumbo 12-string guitar (12), 1994 Parker Fly (P), 2000 Chrysalis Damsel (C), 1992 Trinity College octave mandolin (Z), 1985 Givens A-model mandolin (M), 1974 Oscar Schmidt Appalachian autoharp (A)
Strings All guitars use Elixir strings except (O)

(*) a partial capo was used http://www.partialcapo.com

'Billy Gray © 1975 by Norman Blake (Blake & Blake Music BMI), 'Can't Let Go' ©1998 by Randy Weeks (Angry Desert Music/ Bug Music BMI); 'Good Years' ©1997 by Richard Goldman ( Drag Bunt Music BMI) 'Revelations Roll ' ©1999 by Kate Long (Keeny Feemster Music BMI), 'Primitives ' ©1992 by T-Bone Burnett (A B Stahr Music BMI), 'Ode to Billie Joe' © Bobbie Gentry (Northridge Music Co./Universal MCA ASCAP), All used by permission; 'Losers in Love' & 'Spring Hill Reel' ©2004 by Harvey Reid (Quahog Music BMI), 'More Precious Than Gold' & 'Church Bells' ©2004 by Joyce Andersen (Joyscream Music ASCAP)

ABOUT THE SONGS

1- Jack Of Diamonds (Trad.) Learned from the blues slide guitar version by Steve James. Most modern versions stem from Blind Lemon Jefferson's 1926 release (his only slide guitar cut), though it appears in both early blues and hillbilly recordings. We got into a big jam one night with the mandolin and fiddle, and it took on an energy we can't duplicate with guitar. (M)

2- Church Bells (Joyce Andersen) Written in Perugia, during our honeymoon in Italy. There were bells ringing everywhere we went. This is Joyce's debut playing a guitar duet with Harvey (it will be a while till he plays fiddle when she is around...) although she plays a lot of guitar in her solo shows and recordings. The song took on a new shape when we combined the rhythm guitar with the banjo-style fingerpicking. (*)(D)(L)(L2)

3- Good Years (Richard Goldman) Somehow this catchy song has been around for over 10 years and still remains unknown. It sounds like a country song, but it seems to violate unwritten rules of country songwriting and it's doubtful Nashville would embrace it. We learned it from a radio show by New Jersey DJ John Weingart. It seems to only work as a duet, though the ironies are several layers deep when two people who like each other sing it, since it is about two people who no longer do– but of course if they didn't they wouldn't want to sing it. (T)

4- Keep Your Lamp (Trimmed & Burning) (Trad.) Slide guitar blues fans who go upriver to find the headwaters, eventually find the dazzling 1930's work of Blind Willie Johnson. Harvey has known this song for decades, and dabbled with it, feeling unworthy, since so many great players before have played it. When Joyce started listening to the original version, we noticed that Willie's wife sang with him, and realized that we could make it a duet, add the fiddle, and do something different yet still be true to the original. Open D tuning. (O)

5- Can't Let Go (Randy Weeks) We adapted this one from the rather rock & roll version done by Lucinda Williams, having never heard the original. Listening to the song with drums and distorted electric slide guitar, we thought we heard the nugget of a nice fiddle and banjo treatment underneath. It has a different lilt and a faster tempo but it still rocks in its own way. (*)(B)

6- Losers In Love (Harvey Reid) This one was written as a sort of tribute to the wonderful songwriting style of John Prine, who has been a favorite of Harvey's since the early 1970's. It started life as a 4/4 fingerpicked song , but Joyce heard it as the waltz it now has become. (T)

7- The Spring Hill Reel (Harvey Reid) Written for fingerstyle guitar, intended to be a duet with the fiddle. The Spring Hill Tavern is our favorite place to drink and play music. (F)(*Open A capo)

8- Revelations Roll (Kate Long) Written by West Virginia songwriter Kate Long, who said the hill folk were worried at the time of the millennium, thinking the comet and a very red lunar eclipse to be the falling star and red moon predicted in the Book of Revelations. The millennium has come and gone safely, so now we can do this somewhat apocalyptic song without scaring people. (T)(*)

9- Billy Gray (Norman Blake) This was Harvey's favorite song when he was 21, playing lots of bluegrass and admiring the guitar work of Norman Blake. Norman is also a master songwriter, and we consider this to be one of the finest modern American ballads. The organ in the background is an old suitcase organ that belonged to Harvey's great aunt, and it still plays after almost 100 years. C tuning. (P)(M)(T)

10- Primitives (T-Bone Burnett) This appeared on a 1992 CD by T-Bone Burnett, and it has something of the feel of an old song but has intelligent and complex lyrics. Harvey dabbled with solo guitar and even autoharp versions for years, though it never got off the ground until we worked up a duo version last year with the bouzouki and fiddle. We had a banjo arrangement going for a while in the studio, but this one with the 12-string guitar finally won out and felt just right. (12)

11- Bound For the Promised Land (Trad.) Learned from the stirring a capella version by Molly Andrews. It is also sometimes called 'On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand.” The words were written by Samuel Stennett (1727-1795), a Baptist preacher in London. It appeared in the book 'Selection of Hymns, by John Rippon in 1787, and has been sung to several melodies over the years. The way we sing it seems to be a variant of the 1835 melody attributed to Miss M. Durham, though some sources say it is a folk melody. We recorded it live, and this was the first take. (Z)

12- I'll Fly Away (Trad.) The first thing we ever played together was a duet for autoharp and fiddle, and we still love playing them. This is a great song to sing, but also makes a good instrumental piece. Harvey recorded a version on 12-string guitar on his first LP, but it has been out of print for many years. (A)

13- Louis Collins (Trad.) From the work of the great Mississippi John Hurt. This is one we have unfortunately been singing a lot lately as a memorial for friends who have passed away. We both like singing it, so we worked it where we share the melody, and Harvey sings it on the verse and Joyce on the chorus. The version that inspired us to learn this was by our friend Ben Winship. (O) Open D tuning.

14- More Precious Than Gold (Joyce Andersen) Joyce wrote this as a solo fiddle/vocal song but was pleased to find out it makes a nice duet with the autoharp. She tunes her fiddle to GCGD. (A)(12)

15- Ode to Bille Joe (Bobbie Gentry) We have only performed this sixties hit a few times at bar gigs, but the force was with us when Harvey launched into this unplanned slide guitar version in a concert where we were testing some new gear. We couldn't resist including it here. Special thanks to Larry Fishman for his Aura, and Tim White for his amazing Chrysalis guitar. (C) Open D tuning

 ©2017