Physical Albums

Skeins: CD
  • Skeins: CD

Skeins: CD

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Andrew & Casey Calhoun, father and daughter, have been performing together since 2006; Skeins is their debut duo recording.

“Skeins” refers to both coils of yarn and formations of flying geese. “Skeins of shining waters ask you patiently to hear” is a line from the second track, a 19th century Irish lyric called “Open the Door Softly.” Several songs on Skeins are by artists Andrew met through work with Waterbug—Casey grew up listening to their music. Casey’s other continuing passion is dance; she studied at Dance Center Evanston (Illinois) and Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

Skeins is melodic and reflective, spiced with spirited moments of fire. This is a sterling collection of songs. The overarching theme is one of moving through transitions with integrity.

  1. I Will Go With My Father a-Ploughing (Joseph Campbell/A. Calhoun)
  2. Open the Door Softly (Dion Boucicault/Herbert Hughes)
  3. When the Ship Comes In (Bob Dylan)
  4. A Rosebud by My Early Walk (Robert Burns)
  5. Girl With a Hay Rake (Jack Harris)
  6. Journey (A. Calhoun)
  7. Gun-Metal Eyes (Dave Carter)
  8. Mrs McGrath (trad Irish)
  9. When I Have Arms Again (A. Calhoun)
  10. Trumpet (A. Calhoun)
  11. Wild Birds (Kate MacLeod)
  12. Shine On Harvest Moon/The Glory of Love (Jack Norworth & Nora Bayes/Billy Hill)
  13. Midnight Pirouette (Leslie Smith)
  14. The Wren’s Nest (Robert Burns)
  15. Follow the Heron (Karine Polwart)

Andrew’s guitar, Andrew & Casey, vocals.

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Rhymer’s Tower: Ballads of the Anglo-Scottish Border: CD
  • Rhymer’s Tower: Ballads of the Anglo-Scottish Border: CD
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$20.00

Double CD set. These ballads depict events from 1250 to 1600, featuring historic battles; raids and jailbreaks; clan loyalty and retribution; betrayals by family, friend, and king; fateful enchantment, musing birds, and a fool’s victory.

Disc One 1. The Two Ravens (2:50) 2. Thomas the Rhymer (8:46) 3. The Battle of Otterburn (6:48 4. Flodden Field (2:38) 5. The Flower of Northumberland (6:46) 6. Johnny o Cockley’s Well (7:00) 7. Johnie Armstrong (11:36) 8. Jamie Telfer in the Fair Dodhead (8:14)

Disc Two 1. Jock o the Side (9:02) 2. The Rose of Yarrow (7:02) 3. May Colvin (4:38) 4. Death of Parcy Reed (5:34) 5. The Rookhope Ryde (3:42) 6. Hobie Noble (10:14) 7. Dick o the Broom (16:10)

Includes notes on the ballads’ sources and history, and a map of the borders. Calhoun spent five years researching and developing the material from authentic texts; “Jock o the Side” incorporates verses from eleven different versions of “Jock” and a parallel ballad, “Archie o Cawfield.” All are translated into accessible English. Several are reiving ballads from the century of lawlessness on the border outlined in George MacDonald Fraser’s book Steel Bonnets. In our times of terrorism and upheaval, the ballads’ poetry and power reverberates. From the moral of “Thomas the Rhymer” to the conclusions of “Hobie Noble” and “Dick o the Broom,” what matters, in the end, is to keep your word.

from “Thomas the Rhymer”: And they rode on, and farther on, And they waded through red blood to the knee, For all the blood that is shed on earth, Runs through the springs of that country.

from “Hobie Noble”: Word has gone to the land-sergeant, In Askerton where that he lay, The deer that ye have hunted long Is seen into the Waste this day.

from “Rose of Yarrow”: Go hold your own tongue, father dear, And breed me no more sorrow, A better lord was never born, Than the lad I lost in Yarrow.

from “The Two Ravens”: Now winter it has come and passed, And all the birds are buildin’ their nests, But I’ll fly high above them all, And sing a song for summer’s sake.

Andrew Calhoun – vocal & guitars.

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Bound To Go: African-American Spirituals and Secular Folk Songs: CD
  • Bound To Go: African-American Spirituals and Secular Folk Songs: CD
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$20.00

Andrew Calhoun and Campground Bound to Go, Folksongs and Spirituals.

A collection of 35 songs from the African American folk tradition.

“History with a great sound”-Bill Hahn, WFDU

“…this is a tremendously powerful album with a great sense of atmosphere and the deepest possible commitment that shines through both in the performances themselves and the exceptionally fine recording and presentation. Prepare yourself for a heap of neck-prickling moments. This is a landmark release…” -David Kidman, www.netrhythms.com (UK)

“Bound to Go is the best collection of its kind that I have ever heard: not only fine and fascinating, often surprising, pieces of music, but also, every one of them, rendered with intelligence and imagination.” – Fergus Bordewich, author of Bound for Canaan.

Bound to Go includes authentic spirituals, shout songs from the Sea Islands, prison ballads and rare secular folk songs. “Run to Jesus” is the song that first gave Frederick Douglass the notion of escaping from slavery. With an essay and historical/folklore notes on the songs. Recorded with trumpet, fretless gourd and 5-string banjo, guitars, fiddle, cello, harmonica, piano, percussion and many wonderful singers! 72 minutes running time. Cover painting by Gullah artist Jonathan Green. In memory of Joy Calhoun, who worked for justice in the Civil Rights movement, 10% of income from sales goes to support programs for children, half to College of Charleston’s African-American history camps, half to By the Hand in Chicago.

  1. Blow Your Trumpet Gabriel (featuring Runako Robinson, vocals)
  2. Roll, Jordan, Roll
  3. Turkle Dove (featuring Casey Calhoun, vocals)
  4. Come and Go with Me
  5. Bound to Go
  6. O’er the Crossing
  7. Run to Jesus
  8. Run Brother Run (featuring Bob Soper, fiddle)
  9. Molly Cottontail
  10. Go to Sleep, My Baby (featuring Tyisha Williams, vocals)
  11. Old Man’s Song
  12. Jaybird & Sparrow
  13. Sheep and Goat (featuring Darwin Walton, hambone)
  14. Them Ol’ Black Gnats (featuring Big Llou Johnson, vocals)
  15. Milly Biggers (featuring Katherine Davis, vocals)
  16. Sandy Land
  17. Anchor Line (featuring Dave Moore, harmonica)
  18. Rough and Rolling Sea (featuring Valerie Carter-Brown, vocals)
  19. Four and Twenty Elders
  20. Hammerin’ Judgment
  21. Wake Up Jacob (featuring Darwin McBeth Walton, vocals)
  22. Way Up on the Mountain (featuring Big Llou Johnson, vocals)
  23. Ol’ Egyp’ (featuring Fred Campeau, fretless gourd banjo)
  24. Calvary
  25. Run Mary Run (featuring Runako Robinson, vocals)
  26. Sun Don’t Set in the Morning (featuring Tyisha Williams, vocals)
  27. Uncle Billy
  28. Ol’ Elder Brown (featuring Erwin Helfer, piano)
  29. No More Cane on the Brazos
  30. Lost John
  31. Back Home in Georgia
  32. Hear the Trumpet Sound (featuring Lana Ferrante Lupiani, cello)
  33. Open the Window, Noah
  34. Michael Haul the Boat Ashore (featuring Sue Demel, vocals)
  35. Tree of Life (featuring Katherine Davis and Tony Dale, vocals, and David Young, trumpet)

Musicians: Andrew Calhoun, vocals, guitars Tony Dale, djembe, frame and snare drums, vocals Lana Ferrante Lupiani, cello Fred Campeau, banjo, fretless gourd banjo, vocals David Young, trumpet, vocals Bob Soper, fiddle and vocals Dave Moore, harmonica Erwin Helfer, piano Darwin McBeth Walton, vocals, hand drum, hambone

vocals: Casey Calhoun Valerie Carter-Brown Katherine Davis Sue Demel Big Llou Johnson Runako Robinson Bruce Roper Richard Shindell Tyisha Williams

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Staring at the Sun (Songs 1973–1981): CD
  • Staring at the Sun (Songs 1973–1981): CD
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$16.00

“Always a brave songwriter, Calhoun looks back at some of his first songs…his sensitivity to the human condition was in place early on…Some of the songs would be stunning from a writer of any age.” -Sing Out!

“…somber, heartfelt, and introspective songs are wonderfully presented along with his obvious acoustic guitar talents and his abundant gifts as a storyteller.” – Dean Ramos, Illinois Entertainer

“Andrew Calhoun’s songwriting has the patience and clarity of a man who has lived a long time, who has loved, grieved, and traveled much, who has put pen to paper faithfully through many scenes and seasons. At the same time, Calhoun has a unique appreciation for the art of youth, which has earned his Waterbug Records label a reputation for discovering and supporting excellent young writers. It seems fitting, then, that Calhoun’s newest album, Staring at the Sun, is a creative return to the work of his own youth.

Deftly, tenderly, Calhoun brings the depth and focus of his experience to the vivid, inspired verse of his teenage years. The result is a poetic leap of faith; songs that soar on broad wings, borne up by the urgency and beat passion of the young and guided by the even-keeled wisdom of the ancients. Staring at the Sun includes some of Calhoun’s bravest and most abstract songs; frenetic and poignant by turns, they demand the listener’s full attention. Songs like “Kiss That Goblet” elicit triumphant cries of “go man, go!” while others, such as “John’s Wife,” inspire exquisite compassion and above all, silence. Staring at the Sun is evidence that Calhoun is among the most fearless, gifted, and avante poets of our time – keeping company with Leonard Cohen, Galway Kinnell, etc. – and that he shows no sign of slowing down.” -Anais Mitchell

16 songs, solo.

  1. The Living and the Breathing Wind
  2. Walk Me to the War
  3. Circle of Killers
  4. History
  5. Kiss That Goblet!
  6. I Have Run and I Have Crawled
  7. Atmospheres
  8. Broken Boundaries
  9. A Seat in the Mezzanine
  10. God Told Me I Could Come
  11. From Time to Time
  12. Moses
  13. John’s Wife
  14. Eugene
  15. Walking Through Sand
  16. Deliver Me
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Telfer's Cows: Folk Ballads of Scotland: CD
  • Telfer's Cows: Folk Ballads of Scotland: CD
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  1. King Orfeo
  2. The Two Sisters
  3. The Battle of Harlaw
  4. Eppie Morrie
  5. Jeannie o’ Bethelnie
  6. Hughie Grime
  7. Kinmont Willie
  8. Telfer’s Cows
  9. Clark Colven
  10. A Shake in the Basket
  11. The Beggarman
  12. The Unquiet Grave

Elizabeth Nicholson, harp Bob Soper, fiddle, mandola, vocals Rob Stroup, vocals Joe Root, accordion Donny Wright, bass William Pint, octave mandolin, vocals Felicia Dale, hurdy-gurdy, bodhran, vocals

Reviews of “Telfer’s Cows: Folk Ballads From Scotland”:

Bill Margesak, Irish American News:

Andrew Calhoun of Portland Oregon has brought us an incredible piece of creativity. Calhoun is a terrific singer, but never mind that for the moment. What does he sing? Centuries old Scottish folk ballads. And, they are wonderful! Calhoun “gets it”. Each of these incredibly powerful songs has to be closely listened to, and his easily accessible voice and precise pronunciation guarantee we hear them all. And, what subjects! Heroic women and men, battles, love, forgiveness, revenge, and—-let us brace our collective selves—-sex!! Good Lord, each of these songs is an epic!! This album took a ton of work. Translations, discovering the songs, the songbooks, the history, the pronunciations of the Scots Gaelic phraseology, the approach, the tone! This album is produced perfectly. Sparse instrumentation and proper miking techniques assure the fact that what is really important will be stressed—the songs themselves. We found ourselves putting down whatever else we were doing as these songs came on. We listened. Every song is like a book or a great movie. Close your eyes and you will see all the heroes, heroines and villains anyone could possibly want. Lesser talents try this type of material and produce silly little songs no one could really care about. Calhoun is a man and artist in his prime. We understand the power these ballads would have held over people hundreds of years ago. No television, radio, or dancehalls. What there was, was music—including these songs, each of which is hundreds of years old. We understand why these songs held such power over people’s ears and hearts—-and some, indeed, held power in the formation of the very culture itself. This is magic. It is great fun—and it is important. Wow!!!!! Rating: Four Harps

This review is written by Kevin McCarthy, 1/04 “Kevin’s Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews”

Singer-songwriter turned musicologist Calhoun, with assistance from a bevy of others, has researched and “channelled” 12 Scottish ballads, resulting in what will be considered one of the best CDs of 2004. He has provided a lengthy assortment here, with the longest song, the title cut “Telfer’s Cows,” running 7:55. Most of the remaining offerings run five or six plus minutes. “Kinmont Willie” is described as a Hollywood Western prototype and “Telfer’s Cows” similarly qualifies, as this morality tale builds and builds to a climatic battle, with some similarities to “High Noon,” although the aggrieved here does not have to go it alone. Love (and necessity) is the mother of invention in”A Shake In The basket,” a cut that visually conjures up scenes and images reminiscent of a Marx Brothers film. A couple of the songs are compelling a cappella renditions: “The Battle Of Harlaw” and “Hughie Grime.” Renaissance music man Calhoun, also the writer of the best Dave Carter tribute song, “I Shall Not Look Away,” has triumphed again with this release. It is that good.

from Songbook, UK: Reviewed by Dai Jeffries

Subtitled Folk Ballads From Scotland, this CD does exactly what it says on the tin. Singer-songwriter Andrew Calhoun, from Portland, Oregon, has taken twelve Child ballads and, collating a number of versions of each one, rendered them into modern English. The first thing to strike me was Andrew’s voice. He sounds so much like Stan Rogers with all the power, depth and richness of the great man that I had to check that I had the right disc. The second thing was the quality of the material. Three titles are well known: ‘King Orfeo’ was immortalised by Archie Fisher and both ‘Two Sisters’ and ‘The Unquiet Grave’ are in the repertoires of many singers. The rest are new to me and it’s always a pleasure to hear unfamiliar traditional material. One or two are sung accompanied with vocal support on the chorus lines and the accompaniments on the remainder range from the delicate harp and fiddle on ‘King Orfeo’ to the full-blooded band treatments of ‘Eppie Morrie’ and ‘Kinmont Willie’. Andrew’s solo guitar features on four tracks including ‘Jeannie o’Bethelnie’ and the long title track but all the musicians play an appropriate second fiddle to the lyrics. This is not background music. These are big songs with complex stories, frequently red in tooth and claw, and lots of dialogue and they demand your full attention. As an exercise in making ancient ballads accessible to modern listeners Telfer’s Cows is a great success but it isn’t just an academic document. It’s also very entertaining and I know that I’ll be very lucky if I hear a finer collection of traditional material this year.

Judith Gennett, “The Raggle Taggle Gypsies, KPSU: “This is one of my favorites of the year, perhaps because of his attention to singing the true heart of the songs though in American voice, and because he sharpens the same edge of bright magic and barren darkness as on his own compositions.”

THE UNQUIET GRAVE

Traditional, arr. Calhoun, recorded on Telfer’s Cows

Child #78 This expresses the belief that excessive grieving disturbs the dead ‚ it’s seen as a disapproval of the will of God, of Nature’s way. The notion that the tears of mourners wet the shrouds of the dead, upsetting them, is commonplace in folklore. Another angle sees the anguish as mutual ‚ she’s as unhappy about her condition as he is, and asks him to respect that ‚ to find another form for his love.

————————————————————————

Cold blows the wind tonight, sweetheart And soft fall the drops of rain I never had but one sweetheart In cold clay she is lain I’ll do as much for my true love And any a true love may I’ll sit and mourn at her graveside For a twelvemonth and a day

When twelve months and a day had passed The ghost began to speak “Whose salten tears come tricklin’ down And wet my winding sheet?” “It’s only I, your own true love; There’s just one thing I crave, That’s one kiss from your sweet lips, Then I’ll go from your grave”

“Your breath is sweet as roses, love, My breath is earthy strong If you get one kiss from my clay cold lips Your time will not be long Go and fetch me water from the desert Blood from out of a stone Go and bring me milk from a maiden’s breast

That babies never had none.”

“All down in yonder garden, love Where you and I did walk The fairest flower that ever grew Is withered to a stalk.” “The stalk is withered and dry, sweetheart The flower no more we’ll see Go make yourself content, my love Lament no more for me.”

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Tiger Tattoo: CD
  • Tiger Tattoo: CD

Tiger Tattoo: CD

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$16.00

“This life’s a rich and muddled mess We squander, cherish, curse and bless Though it passes all the same Echoing my mother’s name Joy…”

Featuring 12 originals, a Scottish folk song and a musical setting of a Siegfried Sassoon poem, Tiger Tattoo marked a new direction in Andrew Calhoun’s songwriting journey, with a focus on storytelling.

“Joy,” a modern carol, features a vocal arrangement by the late Dave Carter, sung by Carter, Tracy Grammer, and Claire Bard, with Fuzzy Purcell on mandolin. “Catching on Fire,” with Donny Wright on bowed bass, is the first of four chronological, autobiographical story songs, comprising a self-portrait. “Miss Hill” recounts an incident of psychological mob violence from a 5th grade classroom in 1967. “Goin’ Down to See John Prine” contrasts the best and worst of times “Fred’s Brother” portrays a family’s struggles through time. “Day In and Night Out,” written 25 years ago and sung here as a duet with Claire Bard, was the song Calhoun performed at “Fred’s” wedding. “Tom Brown” presents another true story about an unusual family. “Tiger Tattoo” recounts the poignant life experience of a woman Calhoun met while working a temp job in October of 2000. Tracy Grammer contributes a twin fiddle break. “I’m a Rover,” a night-visiting ballad from Northeast Scotland, presaged “Telfer’s Cows, a 2004 project featuring ballads translated from Scots dialect.

Calhoun’s metaphorical style resurfaces on “The Scyther,”; “Shadow Song,” and “When I Have Arms Again,” which refracts a mental breakdown through the prism of the Icarus myth. “I Shall Not Look Away,” written a few days after Dave Carter’s death, as well as a new musical setting of a poem by Siegfried Sassoon, are offered as tributes to Dave. Siegfried Sassoon, a British poet who saw duty in the trenches in World War I, evokes the spirit of Dave Carter’s songs in “Everyone Sang”:

“My heart was shaken with tears, And horror drifted away. O but everyone Was a bird; and the song was wordless The singing will never be done.”

Tiger Tattoo was recorded in Salem, Oregon by Don “Fuzzy” Purcell, and mastered in Portland by Mark Frethem.

  1. Joy
  2. Catching On Fire
  3. Miss Hill Listen
  4. Goin’ Down To See John Prine
  5. Fred’s Brother Listen
  6. Day In And Night Out
  7. Tom Brown
  8. Tiger Tattoo
  9. I’m A Rover
  10. The Scyther
  11. Shadow Song
  12. When I Have Arms Again
  13. I Shall Not Look Away
  14. Everyone Sang

TIGER TATTOO by Andrew Calhoun

It’s quiet as ghosts, 6 am There’s a new temp in the mailroom, Amy Lynn A weary woman of 23 I look at her and she looks at me I look at her and she looks at me

She moved up from nevada last year With her 4-year old daughter and boyfriend to live here Near his kids and the wife that he left for her Now he thinks of returning, he’s not really sure He thinks of returning, he’s not really sure

And her little girl pines for a mystery father She’s got sister and brothers by three other mothers And Amy’s had a cancer, and she’s missing fillings, Can’t afford a pap smear, can’t abide drilling

And she looks so pale, like she’s wasting away I lend her my walkman to get through the day She brings halloween cookies, silly names make us laugh And she shows me a white tiger tattooed on her calf Shows me a tiger tattoo on her calf

She likes Scottish pipe tunes, and she wants another baby “Before I’m gutted” – she says it sedately – As if after all her poor parts have been through They won’t last as long as that tiger tattoo They won’t last as long at her tiger tattoo

Something unspeakable happened to Amy It was held in a poem she never did show me A quiet goodbye, my assignment is through May the angel pass over that tiger tattoo May the angel pass over your tiger tattoo.

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Where Blue Meets Blue: CD
  • Where Blue Meets Blue: CD

Where Blue Meets Blue: CD

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Andrew Calhoun’s 7th album, Where Blue Meets Blue, offers 17 original songs plus covers of John Prine’s “Hello In There” and Kate MacLeod’s “Wild Birds.” Compositional ideas include guitar breaks which move song melodies into the dorian, phrygian, locrian and mixolydian modes. Guest musicians include Andrew Bird and Gerry O’Neill (fiddle), David Chickering (cello), Kat Eggleston (vocals) and Kate MacLeod (fiddle and vocals).

  1. The King
  2. Buffalo
  3. Roads in Disrepair
  4. Peach Song
  5. Portrait of a Girl and Her Parents
  6. Where Blue Meets Blue
  7. Vancouver
  8. River Song
  9. Cows on the Highway
  10. Wild Birds (Kate MacLeod)
  11. Baby-O
  12. Garage
  13. Hello in There
  14. The Golden Gate Bridge
  15. Politics
  16. Reflections
  17. Sea of Snow
  18. Flowers on the Weekend
  19. You Will Know God
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Phoenix Envy: CD
  • Phoenix Envy: CD

Phoenix Envy: CD

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“…he goes an awfully long way toward overturning the prevalent image of folksingers trying to live in a world that never was.” -Renaldo Migaldi, Chicago Reader, “Critic’s Choice”

Calhoun has been writing and performing original music since 1973. Released in 1996, Phoenix Envy is his 5th album.

“Phoenix Envy shows Calhoun’s unique songs at their naked best. They are fine, tough, poems set to music. Except for one song (with Andrew Bird on violin), this is a solo voice and guitar recording. Dancing guitar figures underpin the often dark, dense lyrics, ever reminding us that Calhoun is not a pessimist, but a lusty realist. It is guitar playing that mines the rich veins of Anglo-Celtic ballad tradition with deft, graceful nods to an obvious mentor, Martin Carthy. Calhoun is one of the very few in the current crop of singer-songwriters who knows or cares enough of this rich, subtly powerful tradition. Like those great songs, Calhoun’s are much more than well-told stories; they both illuminate and conceal some of life’s greatest mysteries.” – Dwight Thurston, WWUH

  1. Time
  2. Tunnel Vision
  3. Sparrow Listen
  4. Folksingers Are Boring
  5. No Secret Castle Listen
  6. Here Comes That Lady Again
  7. Never Enough
  8. It’s Not You That I’m Leaving
  9. Journey
  10. Trenches
  11. Lonesome
  12. Freedom Road
  13. Paul Scott Rap
  14. The Model
  15. At The Bar
  16. Sheila
  17. Narnia Song
  18. O My Son
  19. While Jesus Was Waiting To Die
  20. Jack And Jill
  21. When My Time Comes
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Hope: CD
  • Hope: CD

Hope: CD

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“Thoughtful and compelling. Calhoun’s use of traditional folk music enhances his unbelievably powerful imagery.” – Performing Songwriter

“I have always placed Andrew’s songs among the most uplifting music I know. He writes in the tradition of songwriters like Pierce Pettis and Leonard Cohen and poets like Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay whose sense of humor is underrated because their suffering and faith are so great. The characters in Andrew’s songs wrestle in the dark and, no, they they don’t always win. But their ongoing struggles reveal all that is most noble in them-and us. “You Better Get a Lawyer,”; “Balls,”; and “Glad Old Man”; show his brilliant lighter side as he deals with divorce, machismo, and aging; “If”; (a duet with Kat Eggleston) and “She’s Like The Autumn”; are passionate love lyrics; “Survivor”; and “Veteran”; are the album’s centerpieces – soul scorching, impressionistic journeys to the other side of pain.” – Hugh Blumenfeld

May you outlive the end of that story And in Harmony’s banner of light May you walk a long morning in glory Up the hill at the end of the night.

  1. Getaway
  2. I Love You All The Time
  3. Glad Old Man
  4. The Swimmer
  5. Veteran
  6. You Better Get A Lawyer
  7. Balls
  8. Scrapbook
  9. Long Legged Lover
  10. She’s Like The Autumn
  11. If
  12. Survivor
  13. Recall
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Living Room: CD
  • Living Room: CD

Living Room: CD

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Living Room, Andrew’s first recording of his new songs in 9 years, features a blending of historical, spiritual, personal and political concerns, plus “Born a Chicken”: 12 previously unrecorded, 2 old songs reworked, an epic take with the gang of “The Crawdad Song” and a setting of “The Musical Instrument,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s last poem. Living Room was recorded in various living rooms by Greg Figge.

  1. Hallelujah Morning
  2. Walk Easy
  3. People
  4. The Musical Instrument
  5. Jesus Born (Child of God)
  6. Shout!
  7. Dakota
  8. The Gates of Love
  9. Born a Chicken
  10. Crawdad Song
  11. Rabbit
  12. Where You Gonna Sit Now?
  13. Only For Love
  14. Freedom Road
  15. Of Thee I Never Weary
  16. Moon and Sea

Andrew Calhoun, vocals and guitar Casey Calhoun, vocals Gary Cleland, bass Tracy Grammer, vocals and violin Big Llou Johnson, vocals Jenifer Jordan, vocals Lana Ferrante Lupiani, cello Basho Parks, violin Jenn Rawling, vocals Runako Robinson, vocals Darwin McBeth Walton, vocals & drum

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Grapevine: CD
  • Grapevine: CD

Grapevine: CD

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"...one of the best albums of the year." - Chris Spector, Midwest Record

Recorded solo, voice and guitar, Grapevine is Andrew’s tribute to the folk tradition that has influenced and shaped his life. Stephen Foster’s “O Susanna” has been restored to its original length of four verses; “Casey Jones” and “John Henry” reworked to reflect new historical research. There’s a cowboy song, two whaling ballads, a river shanty, a spiritual, 3 old and one new song from Ireland, and a reworked “How Can I Keep From Singing?” that blends Robert Wadsworth Lowry’s 1895 hymn with folk versions. Inner sleeve features photos of: Casey Jones in the cab of his engine; Odetta; Vedran Smailovic, subject of Colum Sand’s song “Buskers” playing his cello in the rubble of the National Library in Sarajevo; and the cover to the original sheet music for Thomas S. Allen’s “15 Years on the Erie Canal” from 1905. 


  1. I Gave My Love a Cherry
  2. The Fox
  3. Gartan Mother’s Lullaby (S.MacCathmhaoil)
  4. The Little Beggarman
  5. O Susanna (Stephen Foster)
  6. Noah’s Dove (Dink)
  7. O Mary Don’t You Weep
  8. Hanging Out The Linen Clothes
  9. We’ll Rant and We’’ll Roar
  10. Sperm Whale Fishery
  11. Shenandoah
  12. I Ride an Old Paint
  13. 15 Years on the Erie Canal (Thomas S. Allen, arr Calhoun)
  14. John Henry
  15. Casey Jones (Wallace Saunders, arr Calhoun)
  16. Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier
  17. The Foggy Dew (Charles O’Neill)
  18. Buskers (Colum Sands)
  19. How Can I Keep From Singing? (Robert Lowry, arr Calhoun)
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