Each song was inspired by various places and people in Kansas.
Here is a little about each song I wrote the lyrics to:
Prairie Glimpses: Since I am a landscape painter, primarily in Kansas, I was inspired to write this song to “paint” an image of what I see in the wonderful prairie. I use a lot of imagery in this song…colors, textures, sounds, etc. This song was composed by Diane Gillenwater and recorded by Pastense, of Topeka, Ks. (Jolleen Thorpe - guitar and vocals, Susan Willits - banjo, David Dryer - guitar and mandolin, Don Anderson - bass, Diane Gillenwater - fiddle.)
What Jacob Reilly Saw: This is a true story I ran across in a man’s diary documenting the raid of Quantrill on Lawrence. The story told of a boy who lived on Camp Creek who was kidnapped and was forced to lead the ruffians into town for the vicious slaughter of Lawrence residents. The only modification I made was to give the boy a name…in the story he was unnamed. Jacob Reilly is a fictional name I gave to the frightened boy.
This song was composed by Diane (also on fiddle and mandolin) and arranged/performed by Michael Paull and Terri Laddusaw of Lawrence, Ks with Randy Wills on piano and bass.
Farmer’s Bride: This fun little song is inspired by my days on a farm in western Kansas. I think I had momentary ideas of being a farmer’s wife, but my parents had other ideas for me! In reminiscing what those days of what a farmer’s wife would have been like, this song was born. Unlike traditional jobs, the farmer is often up before sunrise and then out doing chores until well after dark. It can be a lonely life and the song is about a farmer who is questioning whether his “girl” can tolerate this kind of life.
The song was composed by Diane, vocals by Terri Laddusaw, Michael Paull on guitar/vocals, Ed Faris of Ozawkie, Kansas on Banjo, Randy Wills, bass.
Mill Creek Road: This beautiful “coming home” song was inspired by a road I travel on frequently to find material for painting. It is west of Topeka, in Wabaunsee County. I pretended to be a song writer living in Austin TX. I imagined the 12 hour drive coming home to Kansas and all the emotions one would feel when returning to their childhood home. I often feel these emotions when I travel back to western Kansas to see my mother on the family farm. The yard light would often be on, knowing I would be arriving late. The family dog would come barking out to the road to greet me. This was composed and performed by Terri Laddusaw. The cool part is Diane and I had already played with a very similar composition and it was as if Terri could read our minds! It felt like a cosmic synchronicity was taking place. Playing piano on this piece is Michael Paull, Guitar and dobro was played by Rick Faris, of Ozawkie, Kansas, and fiddle by Diane Gillenwater.
Rock of Earth: This song is about the stone fences all over eastern Kansas. There is a historical marker and a great example of these fences south of Alma, Kansas on the Rock Hill Ranch owned by my friends Paul and Nancy Miller. I frequently paint out on their ranch and they are wonderful hosts! The marker describes how the walls were built out of stones from the fields that farmers needed cleared. The money amount is not correct, but I needed a particular word with two syllables! A writer’s creative license!
This song was co-written and performed by myself and Bob Bowden of Wakarusa, Ks.
This song was composed by Diane Gillenwater and performed/arranged by Bob Bowden. Randy Wills and I did the back-up vocals. I am not a high quality singer…just enthusiastic! Diane played viola.
Ghost of Susan Fox: This song was inspired by an article I read in the “Kansas” magazine. It was about the ghost tours in Kansas at Halloween time. I read of one of the supernatural characters named Susan Fox who they claim haunts around the Fort Riley area. I wanted to describe what she would have been wearing and the surrounding area. Cottonwood trees in a rural setting seemed to fit. This song was composed by Diane and performed by Terri Laddusaw and Rick Faris. Diane on fiddle, Michael Paull on guitar, and Randy Wills on bass and piano.
Santa Fe Trail: Hardship of the pioneers traveling along the Santa Fe Trail was the inspiration of this song. I wanted to describe the painterly vistas at sunrise on the Kansas Prairie, and allow the listener to experience throughout the song a vignette of things along the prairie and pioneer times. This song was composed by Diane Gillenwater and arranged/performed by Judy Coder and Pride of the Prairie. (Alan Lawton - vocals and fiddle, Stan Tichenor - mandolin, guitar, vocals, and Phil Thompson - bass and vocals).
Cotton Shirt of White: This is a story of a young soldier, Lyman Stockwell Kidder, who was sent out of Julesburg,Colorado to meet Custer, who was stationed at Ft. Hays at the time. Kidder and his troops were camped near Beaver Creek in Northwest Kansas. Along the trail he and his fellow soldiers were massacred in the night by Indians. The slain soldier who wore a shirt his mother made was later identified by that very shirt. I wanted to enhance the story in a way that would symbolize the pain and grief all mothers feel when they lose a son in battle. I embellished the story by having the mother prick her finger as she was sewing on the button before he left for battle and it left a blood stain on his cuff. This song was composed by Diane Gillenwater, instrumentals by Ed Faris and performed by Anthony DeLallo of St. Mary’s, KS.
Sunflower Song: This upbeat little riff is one that my nephew inspired. During a bout of depression I was writing a lot of sad songs. He gave me a song challenge. “Aunt Cally, can’t you write a happy song/” he asked. Well, he was right, so this began the song that personifies the blooming sunflowers out in a Kansas field. We grow confectionery sunflowers on our farm in western Kansas, northwest of Goodland. I have walked the fields many times looking for photo opportunities. The song came from the golden beauty I would see in the rows of blooming sunflower and how the flowers might think if they were real people. I composed the song and Bob Bowden arranged and did guitar work on it as well as sang lead vocals. My cousin Ronette Rosenow and I sang backup vocals. This is my happy song dedicated to my nephew Shawn Kirby.
Damsel in Distress: A pioneer woman known as Julia Stinson inspired the song about Governor Reeder and a would be lynching that was diverted by Mrs. Stinson dressing the governor up in women’s clothing and sneaking him out in the middle of the night. Gary Gilber, who now owns and lives on Stinson Hill, shared the story with me and loaned me the book about Julia. It is a fun true story that makes a rebel-rousing song.
It was composed by Diane and performed and arranged by the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band of Lawrence, Ks. (Lauralyn Bodle - lead vocals and fiddle, Steve Mason - banjo, bass and vocals, (also singing back-up vocals for Matt Kirby!) Matt Kirby - hammer dulcimer, Mike Yoder-guitar, Jim Brothers-washboard). In addition to being fabulous musicians, Matt Kirby and Jim Brothers are great artists/sculptors.
Blessed Be: This song came about as a song challenge from my friend C.J. Hiestand. In my whirlwind of songwriting, he challenged me to write a song about a Catholic church. Easy enough, I thought. I have driven by the Cathedral of the Plains in Victoria at least a million times over the past 30 years. I wanted to tell a heartfelt story of a young couple that became pregnant out of wedlock and decided to marry. They did not want the parish to know, of course. But the beauty of the song is they formed a loving bond with their children, and lived and loved a good and happy life in the Smoky Hill Valley. The church served as source of peace and unity during their marriage and after death, the prairie and church in which they were buried near, became the symbol of their union. The two spires represented the two souls that united in marriage that day.
The song was composed by Diane (also on mandolin and viola) and performed by folk singer Lee Wright from Topeka. Randy Wills on bass.
Arikaree Breaks: Who knows where Arikaree
Breaks are in Kansas? I was raised in Northwest Kansas and had never visited
this unique land formation until I started gathering song inspirations. When
driving near St Francis, KS, the land is relatively flat. Then from out of
nowhere one comes across the deep valleys and gorges near the edges of the
Kansas/Colorado/Nebraska borders known as the Arikaree Breaks. Legend has it they don’t graze cattle much in
this area, because the cows just sort of disappear, and are difficult to keep
track of. So I imagined this fictional little girl named Katie (after my Aunt
Kate) who is quite a little cowgirl. A storm rages in from the west and the
cattle get out and she and her horse go chasing after them. Like all mysterious
legends, she disappears into oblivion, never to return. I think this was
representational of a time in my life when I felt a little lost.
The song
was composed by Diane (also on fiddle and mandolin) and performed by Terri
Laddusaw and Michael Paull. Randy Wills, bass. Note: Don’t go
looking for her tombstone…it’s NOT there!
Walk My Brother: This is a factual song about the unique town of Nicodemus, KS, the first all African American town in Kansas during the Exoduster era. This is a true historical account of the people involved in the formation of this now nearly desolate town. This song was composed by Lemuel Sheppard, Pittsburg, KS., and is sung acapella along with back up vocals from Ed Brunt from Lawrence, KS. We hope this song will bring awareness to the community, and the wonderful people that still live there.
Prairie Straight Line Wind: Kansas wind…what Kansan is not familiar with this. I always said they invented the “bad hair day” in western Kansas where the straight line winds have been known to move one county’s top soil to the next county over! But it is this wind that blows the blades of the windmills on farms and ranches throughout the state to pump essential water to livestock. The storyline for the song “Some days I get to thnkin’, I may just take up drinkin’ “ was a common term I heard many times from my rural neighbors when the wind would blow for days on end.
And, of course, no Kansas song would be complete without mentioning the ever elusive “jackalopes”. This song was composed/performed by Michael Paull (guitar) and backup vocals by Terri Laddusaw. Diane on fiddle and mandolin. Randy Wills, bass.
Fly Away-Amelia’s Song: Amelia Earhart, the famous Kansas aviator, inspired this song. This poignant song is a synopsis of Amelia as a young girl in Atchison, KS., where she was raised primarily by her grandparents. She is gazing into the big blue skies over the Missouri River, telling her grandma she would love to be up there flying. Then she fast forwards to when she is flying around the world with her co-pilot, Noonan, and her plane goes down. This song is a tribute to Amelia who has been a role model for young women in Kansas and all over the country. This song was co-composed by me and Bob Bowden and performed by his daughter Teresa Bowden. Back-up vocals by Terri Laddusaw. Diane on fiddle, Randy Wills, bass.
Woman of the Sojourn: This song is a tribute to pioneer women across the country who abandoned their lives in established homes to travel with their husbands across the rugged frontier. While the adventure was a natural desire of men, it was a struggle beyond what most of us can imagine today for the women. Nature was often unkind to these women who walked many miles before settling in the wild frontier. They had no amenities and their husbands would often be gone for days, leaving them to fend off unwanted intruders. I hope when people listen to this song, they remember those women who sacrificed in order to settle the west. Performed by Terri Laddusaw. Rick Faris - guitar, Ed Faris - banjo, Diane Gillenwater - fiddle, Randy Wills - piano.
The 3 year project will be ready for release in early 2007.