'Fool's Paradise' is done and will be in our hands, a finished product, just in
time for our CD release celebration on Dec. 7th. This 'child', our 7th, truly
excites us... she shines! On it, we've included the song "I've Got to Know",
which was written byWoody Guthrie (with additional verses by Utah Phillips) -
actually one of the.last songs he wrote. We had heard the song many times
before, but we watched Utah perform itagain after one of our area's first peace
marches in '02, with an urgency that we've not shaken since. It was in that
moment that the song struck us as bothtimeless and timely... a true example
of a song which, unfortunately due toman's constant inhumanity to man, finds
itself cycling endlessly with those 'other'timeless songs in the folk tradition.
We told Utah that we would love to performand record it and his response
was, "Well, then I will 'give' it to you......." ~ meaning that as it is passed along,
we keep the tradition aliveby not only singing the song but by adding to it as
well ~ and hopefully with something consistent with Woody's 'voice'...
And now, if you want it, you must do the same.....

We have been plagued this winter by the ferocious viral crud that we all here
seem to be passing from one event to the other.... from all-nighters in honor
of or benefiting an ill friend, deaths, births, the loss of a local institution to fire, a
gathering commemorating 25 years of creative fruition here in our little rural
county, all culminating with a remarkable 'Awakening', an all night, 12 hour, 70
performer Peace Vigil that was conceived by Utah, Terry Riley and Mikail
Graham. Coughing and sputtering and being bed bound and amazed at HOW
much 'stuff' can exist within one's head (are our brains really that small???),
blowing and blowing and blowing noses and squawking like the Canadian
geese nesting in the pasture next door... .....

We had a deadline looming for our CD project, but no voices with which to
finish the 2 remaining songs, 'Josephine', and 'I've Got to Know'! In the final
week before we were to send the *finished* project off for manufacturing, and
after all of the other songs had been through their final mix, our voices
returned..... at the 11th hour, so to speak. Paul rushed out to our studio to final
his tracks on 'I've Got to Know' and then I found myself working until midnight
on Wednesday night to finish up my own. Later that night came a most
ferocious storm and with it 7 inches of rain and 75 mph winds which uprooted
ancient trees and felled power poles, which ultimately left us without power for
the next 3 days..... rendering our studio useless! But we were DONE!! The
Muse surely had been watching over us, as we were able to finish the mixing
and mastering up in Mikail's studio and ease our fledgling out of the nest in the
nick of time...

We thank our elder, Utah, for the gift of the song. May we humans finally
'get it' one of these days, SOON, as the world is turning itself inside out as we
speak - it would be great to have songs such as this just speak to History rather
than as to a constant call to urgency. Over and over and over...
We need Peace.
Be well!
Eleanore (and Paul.....)