Artist : Meg Baird
Album : Dear Companion
Label : Withita
Genre : Acoustic
Bitrate : 149 kbps avg
Source : CD (LP)
Playtime : 00:42:11 (46.4MB)
Rls date : 2007-04-20
Store date : 2007-06-04
[Track List]
1. Dear Companion 3:44
2. River Song 2:31
3. The Cruelty Of Barbry Ellen 6:27
4. Do What You Gotta Do 2:48
5. Riverhouse In Tinicum 4:01
6. The Waltze Of The Tennis Players 3:05
7. Maiden In The Moor Lay 2:26
8. Sweet William And Fair Ellen 5:13
9. All I Ever Wanted 3:20
10.Willie O'Winsbury 6:09
11.Dear Companion (After Shiela Kay Adams) 2:27
Philadelphia psych-folk act Espers' Meg Baird will release
her first solo record, "Dear Companion," May 22 via Drag
City. The 10-song set was recorded in the fall of 2005 by
Espers principle Greg Weeks, in between the sessions for
Espers' "II" album.
"It was originally going to be released by the
Philadelphia label Tequila Sunrise," Baird says.
"It was planned to be vinyl only, but for
some reason it never came out. I had given it to Drag
City, and they seemed to like it, so I just asked if they
wanted it."
Baird says the actual recording process took "less than 24
hours," over a couple afternoons of tracking. "I thought
it came out spare, but still warm sounding," she reflects.
Baird has long held an interest in rural,
Appalachian-style balladry, and "Dear Companion" follows
in this tradition. Containing only two originals, the
album finds her tackling traditional cuts, as well as
Chris Thompson's "River Song" and Jimmy Webb's "Do What
You Gotta Do."
"'Do What You Gotta Do' is one that nearly didn't make it.
That was the hardest one," she confesses. "A lot of the
covers, I came up with when I was very frustrated, and I
wasn't happy with the 'Do What You Gotta Do.'"
Espers will head out at the end of this month for a string
of gigs in the U.K. Baird says after these shows, se and
Weeks will probably start writing for the next Espers
album. "We've started to do some writing already, but
we'll probably be ready to fully get to it after these
last shows," she says.