liner notes and lyrics Produced by Chris Rival with Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem 1. Hear Jerusalem Moan 3:36 2. Bridges 3:54 3. I’ll Fly Away 3:09 4. Miami Moon 3:51 5. Reason to Believe 4:37 6. Will Your House Be Blessed? 3:34 7. Johnny Brown 3:41 8. Fall River 2:52 9. Crossing the Bar 3:32 10. East Virginia 5:04 11. Fire in the Sky 4:35 12. Travelin’ Shoes 4:52 Rani Arbo: vocals, fiddle, Scott Kessel: vocals, percussion, jawharp Andrew Kinsey: vocals, bass, banjo, ukulele Anand Nayak: vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, harmonium With guests: Ray Bonneville: on 12 Mark Erelli: steel on 2, 4, 10 Recorded and mixed by Chris Rival at Middleville Studio, North Reading, MA Mastered by Dave McNair at Sterling Sound Design by Hans Teensma/Impress, Inc. Photography by Joanna Chattman/Chattman Photography Inside right photo by Gracie Kinsey

Our deepest thanks: To Chris Rival, for being Chris Rival • to Jackie, Gracie, Rosalie, Polly, Jack, Leo and Quinn • to our dear fami- lies, friends and neighbors • to Joanna Chattman, Gracie Kinsey, Dre Rawlings and the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum • to Hans Teensma • to Jim Olsen, Flora Reed and Signature Sounds • to Beth Blenz-Clucas, Al Wallace, Justina Golden, Carol Maloney Nelson, Fred Hollister and Oma • to each other, and our audiences and venues, for 12 great years

Song credits: Hear Jerusalem Moan: traditional, with new lyrics by Joe Craven, (c. 2001 Blender Logic Arts) • Reason To Believe: (Bruce Springsteen) • Will Your House Be Blessed?: John B. Spencer (Beann Eadair Music) • Miami Moon, Bridges, Crossing the Bar: Rani Arbo (Jinn Mill Music) • Fire in the Sky, Fall River: Andrew Kinsey (Ditty Ditty Old Man Music) • I’ll Fly Away, Johnny Brown, Travelin’ Shoes, East Virginia Blues: traditional

© & p 2012 Mayhem Music Distributed by Signature Sounds Recordings 1. Hear Jerusalem Moan Traditional; new lyrics by Joe Craven (c. 2001 Blender Logic Arts) When we heard Joe Craven’s agnostic-gospel rewrite of this bluegrass classic, we knew it was for us (we left out the last verse, but you can hear it on Joe’s “Mo’ Joe” CD). Joe is one of those force-of-nature musicians, and a kindred spirit. Like our band, he lives at the crossroads of traditional and original music, the fulcrum of groove and melody, and the intersection of spit-and-polish and wild abandon. He really nailed it here: live with heart, respect the Earth, and let the music fill your spirit. This seemed like the right way to start the CD. — RA

I got a home inside my soul Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan I know I’ll live there forever more Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan Thank the light there’s a rhythm and a ringin’ in my soul And my soul set free Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan Well spiritual people are a thinkin’ people Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan Their mind’s a church and their heart’s a steeple Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan Well the wind in the trees is a mighty fine preacher Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan Old Mother Earth she’s a mighty fine teacher Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan I got a leg for the rhythm and a mouth for the song Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan Let the music fill your spirit it won’t be long Can’t you hear Jerusalem moan 2. Bridges Rani Arbo (c. 2011, Jinn Mill Music) In August of 2011, I was in Palo Alto, California at my brother’s wedding, watching television footage of Hurricane Irene ripping through some of my favorite New England towns, including Shelburne Falls, MA, Brattleboro VT, and Rochester VT, where Irene literally broke the bridge that connected two sides of town. Around the same time, some dear friends chose to split up their two-decade marriage. Those losses flooded together in this song. — RA

Build a bridge where the river flows Build a bridge where the river flows On the bank where the sweet gum grows Build a bridge with your sweat and labor Build a bridge with your sweat and labor But when it floods like this, nothing can save her And I want to walk to you I want to come over the raging river And I want to walk to you I want to come over Build a bridge, watch it tumble down Build a bridge, watch it tumble down Watch it split the heart of this tiny town Build a bridge, watch it break apart Build a bridge, watch it break apart Build a bridge, watch it break your heart 3. I’ll Fly Away Traditional Maybe the best uke-driven version of this classic ever recorded. Maybe the only. We have played this song ever since a late-night, command performance in the lobby of an Akron, Ohio hotel. The overnight attendant required a song in return for our room keys. We obliged, she joined in on the third harmony part, we rocked the lobby, and we went to bed with smiles on. — AK

One fine morning, when my life is o’er I’ll fly away To a home, on God’s celestial shore I’ll fly away I’ll fly away, oh glory, I’ll fly away When I die, Hallelujah by and by I’ll fly away When the shadows of this life have flown I’ll fly away Like a bird o’er the prison walls has flown I’ll fly away Just a few more weary days and then I’ll fly away To a land where joy shall never end I’ll fly away 4. Miami Moon Rani Arbo (c. 2011, Jinn Mill Music) When my late neighbor Rudy was in his 80s, he spent an afternoon telling me swashbuckling stories of his dancing days on the cruise ships in Miami, where he and his wife used to go on vacation. After our conversation, I hurried home and wrote down as much as I could remember; many of Rudy’s words made it into this song. Mark Erelli’s steel playing has a grace and a swagger that remind me of him — and transports this tune right to the dance hall. — RA

Oh they could really see me comin’ I was a man of grace and passion My blue silk shirt, her pleated skirt We were made for dancing Those summer nights away On the boats out in the bay No one could twirl her like I do No other girl ever knew me That Miami moon rose up so high Shining on you and the sea Over the girls and the cruise ship lights Over you and me I’d wear my shirt unbuttoned Just the first few, you know Makes a man feel like a man with that Little glint of gold She always pinned her hair up tight And I would spin it wild No one could touch us on the floor Even the band called out for more That Miami moon rose up so high Shining on you and the sea Over the crowd as they dimmed the lights Over you and me And now my legs ain’t working But they still hear the call On Friday nights, they got a guy Plays music down the hall He ain’t as good as they used to be But he gets along just fine And if I had her here with me I would show ‘em how it’s done Cause that Miami moon went down so fast Shining on you and the sea In the dancing room the band calls out One last tune for me 5. Reason to Believe Bruce Springsteen (Bruce Springsteen) I came to Springsteen later on, long after most people. It was discovering the songs of his “Nebraska” album that did it for me. I love the way these songs observe without judging. They take you right there, to where you can stand right next to the people he’s singing about and feel what they feel. Like a lot of Springsteen, the stories in “Reason To Believe” will have different meanings, depending on who is doing the listening, or the singing, for that matter. — AN

Seen a man standin’ over a dead dog , lyin’ by the highway in a ditch He’s lookin’ down kinda puzzled, pokin’ that dog with a stick Got his car door flung open, he’s standin’ out on highway 31 Like if he stood there long enough that dog’d get up and run Struck me kinda funny, seem kinda funny sir to me Still at the end of every hard-earned day people find some reason to believe Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true She said baby I’ll work for you everyday and bring my money home to you One day he up and left her and ever since that She waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back Struck me kinda funny, funny yea indeed How at the end of every hard earned day you can find some reason to believe Take a baby to the river, Kyle William they called him Wash the baby in the water, take away little Kyle’s sin In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away Take the body to the graveyard and over him they pray Lord won’t you tell us, tell us what does it mean At the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe Congregation gathers down by the riverside Preacher stands with his bible, groom stands waitin’ for his bride Congregation gone, and the sun sets behind a weepin’ willow tree Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly And he’s wonderin’, where can his baby be Still at the end of every hard earned day, people find some reason to believe 6. Will Your House Be Blessed? J.B. Spencer (Beann Adair Music) We learned this from Harry Manx, as he sang it to a packed hillside at Blissfest in Cross Harbor, Michigan. We have been singing it ever since, but only recently found out that its author is the late John B. Spencer, English bluesman and crime fiction writer. — RA

Let it go, let it go, let it go go go Let your sword of vengeance rest Do the blind lead the blind don’t be cruel to be kind Only then will your house be blessed Offer prayer, offer prayer, offer sweet sweet prayer To your uninvited guest Won’t you give him the right to be welcome through the night Only then will your house be blessed Turn your cheek, turn your cheek, turn your other cheek May your mercy manifest When the hawk and the dove fly in circles round your love Only then will your house be blessed Let it go, let it go, let it go go go Let your sword of vengeance rest Do the blind lead the blind, don’t be cruel to be kind Only then will your house be blessed 7. Johnny Brown Traditional, from the singing of Bessie Jones, Georgia Sea Islands Johnny Brown is one of our favorite Georgia Sea Islands songs. There’s a circle game that goes with it, involving folding a small cloth corner by corner and then making up dance moves in the center of the ring. Anand knew this from way back, and Rani and I have taught it to many kids over the years. We weren’t actually planning to record it; we launched into it as a palate-cleanser between some takes of Fire in the Sky, and Chris, who is always listening for what’s interesting, hit record (we didn’t even know he’d done it until afterwards). The song has such a great groove already built in — I feel like all we did was jump on and ride it, not knowing where it was going to take us that day. — SK

Little Johnny Brown, lay your comfort down Little Johnny Brown, lay your comfort down Fold one corner, Johnny Brown Fold another corner, Johnny brown (x3) Make a little motion, Johnny Brown (x4) Lope like buzzard (x4) Take it to your lover, Johnny Brown (x4)

8. Fall River Andrew Kinsey (Ditty Ditty Old Man Music) For all of its staccato notey-ness, clawhammer banjo music has always sounded like moving water to me. I wrote this ditty before a gig in Fall River, . — AK 9. Crossing the Bar Text by Alfred Lord Tennyson; music by Rani Arbo Scott’s grandmother, Elizabeth May, inspired this setting of Tennyson. The first words of the poem were the last words she spoke, at age 97, in her beloved home overlooking the Potomac River Valley. I am overjoyed that this song found its way to the hospice choir movement, thanks in part to Peter Amidon’s beautiful choral arrangement. We recorded this in 1998 with Salamander Crossing, and it was time to sing it again. This is a simple version, almost a lullaby. — RA

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar. 10. East Virginia Traditional The East Virginia Blues, which we’ve called East Virginia, is one of those tunes that shows you just why old- time music is still around. It’s so simple and understated, and by the time you’ve heard one verse it’s already nestled under your skin. I don’t know when I first heard it, partly because it has so many melodic cousins, but I clearly remember hearing Ramblin’ Jack Elliot perform it at the Iron Horse Music Hall in what must have been 2006. Not long after, I heard Scott messing around with this beat, and I started playing the song. It seemed like a stretch at first, and it probably was. It took all the intervening time to bring it to a place that feels natural, open and beautiful, the way the song is to begin with. “I don’t want your greenback dollar, I don’t want your watch and chain, all I want is to see my darlin’ and be in her arms again”. Feels to me like a song about the modern world. – AN

I was born in East Virginia North Carolina I did roam There I met a fair young maiden Her name and age I did not know Well her hair was dark and curly And her cheeks were rosy red On her breast she wore white linen Where I long to lay my head I don’t want your greenback dollar I don’t want your watch and chain All I want is to see my darlin’ And be in her arms again 11. Fire in the Sky Andrew Kinsey (Ditty Ditty Old Man Music) We decided to exhume this song of mine from the Salamander Crossing archive. Not only does it fit the album’s theme of love, death, and other natural disasters, but it also had taken on a satisfying new creepiness with the addition of the banjo and electric guitar. I wrote it in the mid -1990’s after an arson in Plainfield, Massachusetts, near my home. — AK

What’s a man to do? What’s a man to say? He works his whole life through Then just slips away Well it’s fire, fire, fire in the sky Fire, fire, heaven’s burning Fire, fire, fire in the sky You can’t go home no more Well if I’ve lived a year Then I’ve lived sixty-six I’ve lived them mostly here Where you see that pile of bricks I’ll tell you what I’ve seen And I’ll tell you what I’ve learned There ain’t a thing more mean Than a home that’s been robbed and burned It’s midnight overhead And it’s midnight all around Still the trees glow red And it ain’t the lights from town 12. Travelin’ Shoes Traditional One night, Rani started singing this song at a sound check (where quite a few of our songs have had their genesis). A beat just rolled out of me, and Andrew and Anand followed with sparse and funky parts on bass and electric guitar. This is a powerful song, especially when the audience joins us on the Hallelujahs. It combines my favorite things in music: a killer groove, great vocals, and harmonies. I could play this groove all night long: gutsy, laid back, spacious and simple. Thanks to Ray for putting the whole song over the top with his wicked harp. — SK

Well Death walked up into my Mama’s door He said, come on, Mama, aren’t you ready to go? And my Mama stooped down, buckled up her shoes And she moved on down by the Jordan stream And then she shout Hallelujah! Done done my duty Got on my travelin’ shoes Death walked up into my sister’s door... Death walked up into my neighbor’s door... Death walked up into my preachers’ door... Death walked up into my front door...