Don't look for critical commentary from me, folks. I've waited for this for a very long time, and I'm more than delighted by what I'm hearing. Archie's guitar work continues to fill my ears with the beauty of the Borderlands, the sea, Ontario, a beloved horse. He sings of all of these, as well as of friendship and love.
New tracks included are: Borderlands, Ontario Dust, Bonnie Border Lass, Windward Away, Surge of the Sea, River and the Road, Shepherd on the Hill, Every Man's Heart, Ride Through the Rainbow, Speak Your Name, Before Eternity
I've had an early version of "Windward Away" (in poem form, then called "Neptune's Daughter) framed on my wall since the early 1980s, and had in fact set it to music before I learned it was still under revision. I finally know how it was resolved!
Along with the new tracks, there are eight tracks from a once-missing master recorded on the Blackbird label when he was touring with Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy.
Tracks from the missing master are:
Final Trawl, The Winter It Is Past, Silver Coin, Star of Belle Isle, Ashfields and Brine, Eire Lingers, Cuillins of Home, Joy of My Heart. Some of the "missing master" instrumentation surprised me, yet I enjoyed all of the older cuts.
Supporting musicians include Archie Fisher, Flyde, David Paton, Allan Barty, Lucy Cowan, Francis Cowan, Christina Cowan, Mike Whellans. The sound is clean, the musicianship exquisite, and I am so very happy to have this album at long last. I will be learning and singing every one I can glue to my memory.
Thank you to Red House Records, to Hart Street Studios, engineer Roy Ashby, all of the musicians, and to Archie. I am grateful to have this music at long last.