FOLLOWING THE SUN - David Lowe Take this musical journey to places near and far, familiar and exotic, comfortable and daunting. Life-long roots in traditional folk music have long shaped David’s performances, which are characterized by clear tenor vocals, and evocative finger style guitar; however, over the past 10 years, while living and working abroad - in Thailand, Mauritania, China and Kazakhstan – his eyes were opened anew to the poetry of the human condition, which he began to chronicle in his own words. The songs that emerged are distinguished by vivid images and a strong sense of place. MUSICIANS David Lowe: vocals, guitar, banjo-uke, resonator guitar Tom Ackerman: clarinet Moritz Behm: violin, mandolin Rachel Capon: cello Michelle Carlisle: vocals, piccolo Wynn Gogol: bass, piano, accordion LINER NOTES Songs written by David Lowe & Mary Lightly 1 MY CAPTAIN’S HAT (Lowe/Lightly) I have vivid childhood memories of family boating vacations on the Norfolk Broads, for which adventures my father wore his captain’s hat. I inherited it when he died and wore it until, while strolling through Aldeburgh, a coastal town on the North Sea, I finally found a worthy replacement. 2 SEARCHING FOR RODRIGUEZ (Lowe/Lightly) In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, within a few blocks of the seaside malecon, the land rises steeply and the streets become ever more narrow and capricious. Surmounting obstacles like dead ends and precipitous flights of stone steps we eventually reached our Rodriguez Street destination! 3 FILM OF GOLD (Lowe) What to say about this one? It’s bits and pieces from both life and art. Perhaps a disclaimer: any resemblance to persons or events . . . and so on. 4 SUNSHINE & SWEET SERENADE (Lowe/Lightly) This song had its start at a song-writing workshop. It grew slowly but exuberantly from there, with much feedback from others, which resulted in this change of pace. 5 EVENING IN THE TROPICS (Lowe) While teaching in Thailand we lived on campus, across from the children’s playground. One evening, staff and students alike flooded outdoors, drawn by the sudden arrival of thousands of fireflies. Later, drifting back inside, we were welcomed by a few wayward fireflies, dancing on our ceiling. 6 STUMBLING BLINDLY (Lowe/Lightly) We enjoyed winter in Kazakhstan, but there were challenges. Harsh winters and infrequent snow removal led to treacherous travel. Pedestrians regularly fell hard, like some relationships - fortunately not ours! 7 SONG FOR MARY (Lowe) Mary and I have been married for sixteen wonderful years. The second verse refers to the occasion of our first kiss, which took place at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. 8 SANS-SOUCI (Lowe/Behm) This tune began as an instrumental I wrote for a favourite song - The Old Trail. Inspired by my then-new Blue Ring Acoustics guitar, I developed it further. Moritz’ expressive violin provides the magical finishing touch. 9 WILLIAM LOVED HIS HORSES (Lowe) This song is a tribute to my great-grandfather who worked with horses all his life. He would crack his whip near the ear of the lead horse to indicate the pace he wanted; but his whip never touched the horse. According to my father, he used to say, “A man who hits a horse doesn’t understand horses”. 10 ROYAL TERNS (Lowe) In Mauritania, West Africa, lying on the beach, I watched, with wonder, as flocks of seabirds headed north. These birds - royal terns – boast an impressive four-foot wingspan. They were migrating, by the hundreds and thousands, to Spain for the winter. 11 ERNEST IN DUBLIN 1921 (Lowe/Lightly) My grandfather was in the British army during the First World War. This song is based on a family story from the years after the war, when he was stationed in Dublin during the Irish War of Independence. 12 REACHING FOR THE DELTA (Lowe/Lightly) One June, walking the Yorkshire Moors near Malamdale, we noticed water slowly bubbling out of the ground. It became a tiny stream for a short distance then disappeared into the limestone beneath our feet, only to reappear further down the hill – my first glimpse of the source of a river! A few days later we flew home over the magnificent Fraser Delta. This song combines those two experiences – artistic license. 14 BECALMED IN THE DOLDRUMS (Lowe) As a boy, I loved C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower stories. It seemed to me that, at sea, they were either in the teeth of a gale or becalmed in the doldrums. Other influences were a fascinating newspaper article on waves that I read on a transatlantic flight and the writings of Joseph Conrad. 15 RED FISH, BLUE FISH (Lowe) One of my favourite memories of Thailand is of snorkeling in the Similan Islands, surrounded by hundreds of brightly coloured fish. I managed to slip my father’s 1930s banjolele, as he called it, onto this track - to give it a bit of extra punch.