TALLGRASS EXPRESS STRING BAND - CD SKY & WATER, WIND & GRASS, VOL. 2 & 3

Popis - SKY & WATER, WIND & GRASS, VOL. 2 & 3:
This all original double-album, Volumes 2 & 3 in the Songs of the Kansas Flint Hills series, continues this true Americana band’s celebration of a unique American landscape and culture. Songs cover a wide variety of regional topics including: • Western ranch life with skilled cowboys, brave cowgirls, cattle round-ups, daydreaming drovers, and the joys of wearing cowboy boots • the beauty of the land, with songs about wildflowers, creek-side meditations, mornings awakening to the sweet smell of honeysuckle, and falling asleep on a cozy country Christmas night • stories of ranch family life with children raising bottle calves, harried moms working in town, worries about dry times, being thankful for life’s simple joys, and having kindly neighbors • a tongue-in-cheek ode to the wonders of dung beetles and a humorous prairie walk through the voice of an excited dog • early days of buffaloes and Indians, brave frontier abolitionist heroes, and life on the Santa Fe trail • exploring the Flint Hills on winding back roads, and driving home to the village of Matfield Green Rancher-songwriter Annie Wilson contributes 24 original songs and one new medley of traditional cowboy tunes, along with band partner Carl Reed’s 5 original songs, to bring the listener in close to the land and people of this colorful region. Wilson was named the “Flint Hills Balladeer” by the Kansas governor in 2013 for her work to “inspire an abiding love for the Kansas Flint Hills” by sharing their beauty “through words and music.” The album’s 28 vocals and 2 instrumentals keep the listeners’ interest with a variety of musical styles: country, folk, bluegrass, blues, western, and contra dance, all interpreted through the group’s lyrical vocals and harmonies, and their musical skills on fiddle, mandolin, harmonica, guitar and bass. A great bonus to the physical CD package is a 24-page insert booklet containing composer Annie Wilson’s album notes about each song, along with 75 full-color photos taken by Wilson and other area photographers. The music of Tallgrass Express: • “is a treasure of Kansas and the Flint Hills” – Bob Workman, Founding Director, Flint Hills Discovery Center • “captures the subtle beauty of the land musically…Annie goes deep into the Flint Hills and carries others along with her.”—Jim Hoy, author of Flint Hills Cowboys • “conveys life and love in our rural communities and families…articulates the Flint Hills ranching culture.” –Marty White, Symphony in the Flint Hills