Harvest Carts were often wheeled around Britain and other parts of Europe into villages and towns, displaying the finest harvest of the year in that area, in celebration and thanks giving, and for entertainment and rejoicing- with much singing and merriment. People would dress up as harvest goddesses, dancing, riding horses: back in times when a good harvest was truly life-saving and life-giving……… I imagined these songs being the finest harvested songs of the year, and my ‘harvest cart’ is the very album you are now about to hear…..
I also envisioned the album as a musical calendar- with the number of songs being equal to the number of new moons in a year, and with each song being linked to a date (and a corresponding event and place). the album is intended also to be played live on acoustic instruments as a song cycle- either on one’s todd, or as a group.
(More information about each song is included on the individual tracks’ blurb- which is found by clicking on each song.)
*******
Credits
[This album would not have come to fruition without the attentive correspondence, wisdom and encouragement of Aoibheann Devlin.]
Singing, acoustic guitar, melodica, wood flutes, tin whistle, banjo, Egyptian hand drum, accordion (and production, mixing, engineering, and front cover drawing) by Roo.
(With accompanying singing on song 13 by Roo’s mother Lynda
and on song 10, Peter Knott plays the cornet)
Songs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 music and lyrics written by Roo (song 11 is a mixture of Roo’s lyrics and traditional lyrics, and roo’s music)
[Song 6 lyrics by R.Burns (and tune learned from a version sung by Ríoghnach Connolly). Arranged by Roo.
Song 9 is a traditional carol, based on a version by Aoibheann Devlin and Déaglán Ó Doibhlin. Arranged by Roo.
Song 12 is a nursery rhyme from Cymru. Arranged by Roo.
Song 13 is a traditional children’s counting song. Arranged and condensed by Roo.]
*******
If you navigate to Bandcamp, hover over the song titles, and click on ‘lyrics’ of each song individually, you will find not only the lyrics but also some more information about the song.
*******
Released: January 23, 2023
License: All Rights Reserved
