The next evening I met with Matt Brown and talked with him about engineering the project, and the same week called Isla Ross, who I had met at a folkie open mic, and enlisted her for the recording session. We set a date, Jere graciously made the arrangements for us to have access to the space, and on July 15 2005 the 3 of us met and improvised the basic tracks for the album. Isla brought her fiddle, viola, singing bowl and percussion instruments, Matt packed in his mics, cables, sound equipment and computer, and I brought 2 guitars, the banjo/guitar hybrid, the bass/dobro hybrid, melodica, conga, electronics and a gallon of water. It was very hot and dusty in the room. There were all kinds of noises from outside and around the area. We went at it and ended up with about 90 minutes of raw material.
Over the next month I listened to the basic tracks, wrote lyrics and shaped the album in my mind. The themes that emerged were also influenced by a conversation with Dori about an accident I had when I was 2 years old, in which she believes the feminine side of my spirit fled, setting me on a lifelong quest to try and fill her absence. She also talked with me about the family lineage from the union of Jesus and Mary Magedelene. As well, my parents had planned for a girl during my gestation, named Deborah, and the fact that the Good Shepherd Center had been a Catholic boarding school for “wayward girls”, not the happiest place to land by anyone’s description (some detailed stories of former residents were available on the internet) also informed my lyrical writings. The songs that emerged were of suicide, teenage pregnancy, ghosts haunting the halls and birds with broken beaks trying to sing their way out of an existential jail.
Go to song list
In 2 studio sessions with Matt we laid the final tracks. Then he and I teamed up on mixing, and he did the mastering 2 different ways, one of which I requested, and we referred to as the “Dark Master”. All of the selections on the final album come from this version, except “Req for Deb” which was from an earlier mix, less compressed, quieter and more gentle.
Several of the tracks are presented “as is” with no added parts. The project was finished in December of 2005.
Many thanks to Isla, Matt, Jere, Dori, Kore, Walker, Gene, my family, the ghosts and girls of the Good Shepherd Center, and the Good Shepherd himself, who in spite of my fear and resistance continues to guide me with compassion and endless patience.
back to albums