Album Art
The Evening Song album will be released
worldwide in September 2006. You can hear some tracks from
the album, view the cover art and even make advanced orders.
All preorders will be autographed by Michael and include the
2006 theatre program for the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour
as an extra gift.
All Evening Song CDs are $15, post paid. International
orders please add $3 US. Call 800-903-7638 or 859-255-5700
click here for SECURE
ONLINE PRE-ORDERING with a credit card.
“October is the month for painted leaves. We
become more pensive in the twilight of the year ...
Ah, the beauty of the last hour of the day!”
Henry David Thoreau |
MP3 Full Songs
| Song |
Download |
Notes |
| Blue Highway |
MP3, Real
Audio |
Blue Highway lyrics were written on a midnight flight from
LA to Chicago last year. The melody came sitting in front of
my fireplace at the farmhouse about 4am one sleepless
morning. I thought Rob Ickes and Ben Sollee played
brilliantly on this. |
| In The Evening |
MP3,
Real Audio |
In The Evening is an old Leroy Carr blues I first heard on a
Pete Seeger album. I couldn’t quite get the hang of the
banjo roll until I saw Pete perform it on an instruction DVD
a friend gave me as a gift. |
| Spirit |
MP3,
Real
Audio |
Spirit is a song about an over possessive man who get
angrier and angrier as his lover spurns him. Much in the
same lyical family as Shady Grove. It was written
specifically to be recorded and mixed as a studio
interpretation of what I call the “Del McCoury Dance.” All
the great bluegrass bands mix themselves by moving in and
out of the main microphone and that is the effect I was
gunning for. Spirit took almost five whole studio days just
to mix. Again Rob Ickes and Andy Leftwich (playing mandolin
... he’s in Ricky Skaggs band Kentucky Thunder) made the
idea of the song explode. That’s Jody King on banjo. Cheryl
McKenneys’s trailing vocal is a spine tingler. |
|
* Note: RealAudio
files are rather large. MP3 files are smaller
and still sound great. |
 |
COMING SOON
The Deering-made Woodsongs Professional Series
and Campfire line of longneck banjos modeled after
Michael's Vega PS5 pictured above. |
Evening
Song Samples
(Time lengths are for whole song, these are
one minute MP3 samples)
Blue Highways 3:55
In The Evening 3:19
Nightime Star 3:06
Spirit 5:21
Benediction 6:06
Mandarin Mandolins 1:13
Chinatown 3:27
Empty Pillows 3:29
St. James Hotel 6:01
Go Laddy Go 4:14
Midnight Symphony 3:44
Sunday Song 3:51
My Baby 3:32
Masters of War 2:34
Troubadour 3:48
The Story of the Album
Native American fables are filled with tales of courage,
bravery and love. One story that I learned while living in
the Appalachian mountains was very moving.
It seems an Indian warrior, brave and true and a good
hunter, fell deeply in love with a beautiful young maiden.
She became the light of his soul, the spark in his spirit.
But the love was not to be and soon she left to become the
wife of another. The young warrior’s heart was broken,
shattered into pieces.
That night, he stood upon a cliff and looked into the dark,
rocky crags below. Behind him, his great grandfather, weak
and slow with age, walked up from behind. Silently, they
both stared into the dark abyss and, after a while, his
great grandfather spoke:
“My son, look into that darkness below.”
The young warrior looked quietly as he contemplated his
fate.
“Now look at the darkness above you.”
And the young man raised his eyes heavenward.
“See each star, shining so bright in the dark heavens?”
And the young man gazed into the starry night like never
before.
“This is the resting place of your love,” said his
grandfather.
“I don’t understand,” said the young man.
His great grandfather explained,
“My son, Love comes to us from the darkness below. It fills
your heart and your spirit. When it is dies, it ascends into
the heavens above.
The young man held his fist over his breaking heart.
“Each time a man falls in love and that love is broken and
leaves him far away, this is where the spirit of love goes
to rest. Each star in the heavens is the love that some one
held in their heart until it was released back into the
nightime sky.”
His great grandfather placed his arm around him and said,
“The end of love is really the beginning of love. When I
look in the sky I search for the star that is the love I had
for your great grandmother. Our love lives on long after us
as a star in the nightime sky.”
This beautiful, old Indian tale became the basis of the
lyrics for my song, Nightime Star. As I assembled the
compositions for this album I was surprised to find that
each one had a lyrical thread in common: Evening. All the
songs are either about, set in or were written in the
Evening of the day.
Michael Johnathon
folkboy@woodsongs.com
Song by Song Conversation
Blue Highway lyrics were written on a midnight flight
from LA to Cincinnati. The melody came sitting in front of
my fireplace at the farmhouse about 4am one sleepless
morning.
In The Evening is an old Leroy Carr song I first
heard on a Pete Seeger album. I couldn’t quite get the hang
of the banjo roll until I saw Pete perform it on an
instructional DVD a friend gave me as a gift.
Nightime Star was written several years ago and I
performed it a few times live. I wasn’t really confident
about the tune until Rob Ickes laid down his dobro track and
suddenly it fell into place. I love JP’s deep vocals in the
background.
Spirit is a song about an over possessive man who
gets more and more threatening as his lover spurns him, much
like the lyrical spirit of Shady Grove. It was recorded and
mixed as a studio interpretation of what I call the “Del
McCoury Dance.” All the great bluegrass bands mix themselves
by moving in and out of the main microphone and that is the
effect I was gunning for. Spirit took almost five whole
studio days just to mix. Rob and Andy made the idea of the
song explode. Cheryl’s trailing vocal is a spine tingler.
Benediction is a pensive song about a sleepless night
... wanting help, needing help, wishing you knew for sure
what was out there or if anybody was even listening. It’s a
prayer with no response, where the loudest sound in the room
is your own heartbeat. It starts out small, tiny and private
... then moves into the realm of the most powerful hope in
the universe ... and then back into the unanswered silence.
Mandarin Mandolins was born from my cell phone
ringtone. Just me and Andy going at it.
Chinatown was written almost six months before the
runaway bride made headlines. The two mandolins are colored
by Larry Nelson’s sax and a small string section. I was
trying to create the feeling of a Manhattan corner late at
night.
Empty Pillows is for Jenny back when all I did was
wish she would come home.
St. James Hotel is a tale of a city gambler who rode
into an old Texas town and is outplayed and outgunned by a
local cowboy who made a living fooling big city gamblers.
Go Laddy Go is an original Appalachian-Celtic barn
dance with classical overtones. Scott Napier saved the song
from execution by laying down a lively mandolin track for
us.
Midnight Symphony was written on a
hillside by my Kentucky farmhouse while looking up at a
brilliant ocean of stars. How do you musically interpret
that? It would have to be simple, powerful, and universal.
So, I wrote in old-time Appalachian colors with classical
and gypsy rhythms. Cheryl’s vocals really move the song into
the musical galaxy.
Sunday Song is a simple living room song about being
happy to be home with your family. I composed the song in
the same spirit as Grand Ole Opry favorites like I Saw The
Light.
My Baby was written especially for Ben Sollee so we
can show him off on stage. He’s a fine cello player.
Masters Of War is a stark banjo interpretation of a
song Dylan based on the English ballad Fair Nottingham Town.
Troubadour seemed to be a fitting way to end the
album.
The Eveing Song musicians:
Michael Johnathon,
Martin D-28s guitar, Ledford mandolin
Deering Vega Long Neck banjo,
Ben Sollee, Cello and Background Vocals
Andy Leftwich, Mandolin
Rob Ickes, Dobro
Tom Covello, Bass
Harsha Sen, Mandolin
Daniel Carwile, Violin and Viola, strings conductor
Jody King, Banjo
Scott Napier, Mandolin
Rick Marks, Drums
Will Gilliam, Percussion
JP Pennington, Background Vocals
Cheryl McKenney, Background Vocals
David Elliot, French Horn
Jonathan Martin, Flugelhorn
Larry Nelson, Saxophone
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