KANU FLINT HILLS SPECIAL

THE WASHINGTON POST

AUDIO CLIP
Midsummer Moon - title track (234k 8-bit mono)

On this album Keith plays the Didgeridoo, a traditional Australian instrument made from eucalyptus branches that have been hollowed out by termites. He also plays Dreamtime pipes, a North American version of the didgeridoo made from the dried stalk of a cactus. The instruments are played by buzzing the lips and shaping the throat to create vocal effects and sound combinations from ear splitting shrieks to growls, murmurs and groans.

1 THE RED-HAIRED BOY (Traditional Irish, arranged by Amy White & Al Petteway)(guitar tuning DGDGBD)
Myron Bretholz-bodhran. This arrangement began as a front porch mandolin duet. When I translated my part to guitar, I placed it high up on the neck to retain that mandolin-like quality. I also worked with an open tuning so I could play the melody across the strings and let each note ring somewhat like a harp.

2 MIDSUMMER MOON (CGCGCD)
Picture a full moon on a warm midsummer's night spent with your true love.

3 SOLITUDE
A new arrangement of a tune I recorded for an earlier album, Dryad Dance, now out of print.

4 SONGLINE TO SKYE (GGCGCC)
Creation myths of Australia's aborigines tell of beings who wandered over the continent in the "Dreamtime," singing the world into existence. The footprints they left behind are called "Dreaming Tracks" or "Songlines." During "Walkabouts," aboriginal men followed these paths using song as both a map and a direction-finder. If a man strayed from hisSongline, he could be killed for trespassing, but as long as he stuck to the track, he would find people who shared his dreaming and were his spiritual brothers.

5 WINTERTIDE (DADGAD)
I finished this piece moments before walking onstage at the Wintertide Coffeehouse during Christine Lavin's singer/songwriter retreat on Martha's Vineyard.

6 WILD MOUNTAIN THYME (Traditional Scottish)
I first heard this song performed by The Byrds in the late 1960's. Their version had the biggest influence on my arrangement. Eric and I played this selection "live" in the studio with no overdubs.

7 PHOOKA (Petteway/White)
Phooka is a type of mischievous fairy -- sometimes a horse, sometimes a cat -- that can change shapes at will. This tune is dedicated to a Phooka in cat form who shared our home for a while. We still hear his claws race across the floor from time to time.

8 CHASING THE MOON (DADGAD)
This title suggests many things. I like to imagine traveling at night during a full moon.

9 LITTLE EVAN (DADGAD)
Debi Smith-bodhran. For a little boy who warmed my heart.

10 AMY'S TEARS (DADGAD)

11 THE BEAUTY SPOT (Traditional Irish)(DADGAD)
Although the didgeridoo and the uilleann pipes come from different parts of the world, each has a drone effect that relates them in some basic and primitive way. I wanted to put them together. First, Keith recorded an original didgeridoo composition with vocals, growls and shrieks. Then Eric added two layers of improvisation on the pipes, leading into the Irish reel at the end.

12 NEW MOON (DADGAD) (White/Petteway)
This title was inspired by a night on Swans Island, Maine, watching falling stars during a new moon.

13 FAIRIES' WALTZ (DADGBE)
Inspired by two of my favorite "little people," Rachel and Emily.

14 WHITE ISLAND (CAPO 3)
When the Romans first sighted the white cliffs of England's coast, they named the land "Albion" which translates as "white island."

15 EVOLUTION (DADGAD)
This tune evolved during a period of unexpected changes in my life.

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