Thanks, Jed! Compliments like this coming from one who has such high standards and talent are high praise indeed. We are honored by them.

The other singer is Michael Scott. It is a pleasure to be in a band with a singer of this caliber. He brings a different sensibility to our song selection, which I think makes us a much more diverse and enjoyable band. Some of the songs that he brings, I never would have. And we are better for that. An example would be Isle of Hope. This is not the type of song that I would normally be attracted to, yet by his bringing it and all of us embracing it, it has become one of the best we do in live performance, as well as on the CD. He sings on Ballad of St. Anne's Reel, Old Dungarven Oak, John Williams and others.

Two of my favorites on this CD were the ones that have never been recorded before and came to us as a direct result of The Mudcat Cafe. One of them, The Sligo Musketeers, came to us from Dan Milner AKA Liam's Brother. He found it in an old 19th century songster, added a chorus and a tune, and originally was considering it for his "The Irish in America" CD. He ran out of room, and very graciously offered the song to me for use on ours. The way it came out is a joy to listen to. The instrumentation is spare...........a 22" bodhran, an Irish Bouzouki, and a jug.......but just right. I simply love that song. The other of my favorites came to me from my first FSGW Getaway. Mudcatters Kath Westra, Jeri Corlew and myself, at the Saturday night concert did a Brendan Nolan song called "Far From Their Home". In the audience sitting with our beloved Sandy and Caroline Paton was Ed Trickett of Bok, Muir and Trickett. He asked me where I got the song and I told him. He took me outside and taught me a song he had been carrying around for a while called "Along The Famine Road". It was written by and acquaintance of his by the name of Brian Flynn. Ed told me he was looking for someone to give it to and wondered what I thought. It is a beautiful song, stark yet full of hope. That is just how I recorded it. To be the first to record songs given to me by collectors/singers/performers of this caliber.....and to be able to call them my friends......is almost beyond my ability to comprehend. I so hope that you all will enjoy this CD, and these two songs especially. There is so much emotion involved in it, from Jim and Darla's death, Shelley's joining us, the receiving of these songs, that I am holding by breath to see how it is received.

Mick