A

Part I. Brief descriptions of the recording projects, under the headings of:

A. Shows,

B. Pre-2109Songs

C. The HK Songs –2019 and onward

D. Other Songs

Part II. Notes on recording and instruments.

Part III. A listing of the tracks in each project

PART I

A. SHOWS

1. One Life at a Time Columbus. A biography of Christopher Columbus. Written in 1992 for the 500^th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage this piece describes the admiral’s life from optimistic child to famous explorer to discarded embarrassment. It was recorded by the Raving Folk Dogs, the group I played with at the time, with a cameo by my son Trevor at age eleven. I describe it as a “folk opera,” the music being that of an acoustic guitar-based folk group. The sections by The Troubadour are short narrative bridges between songs.

2. SAM -- an allegorical history of the United States. SAM tells American history via the coming-of-age story of Sam, whose experiences in his growth from boy to man parallel American history. The other characters in the play represent other countries: Spain (mother) Britain (step-father), France (would-be step father), Canada (brother) and Mexico (the girl next door). The major events in US history, from discovery to the end of WWII, are represented by songs detailing the interactions among the characters.

SAM was produced in 1995 at Glendale Community College as part of the college’s theater season. Ben Tyler directed.

3. Starry Messenger. A biography of Galileo. The life of the great scientist is still gripping and disturbingly relevant. I wrote it to be performed by a small cast but its actual performance life has mainly been as a one-man show. It exists both as an audio recording and as a filmed DVD of a live performance, with Trevor assisting. A substantial part of the music was written by my brother Ragnar.

4. Laxdaela. Laxdaela Saga is among the greatest of the Icelandic sagas, the series of semi-historical chronicles that exploded out of Iceland in the thirteenth century, describing stories that were already two hundred years old. While much of Laxdaela Saga is uniquely Icelandic, the tragedy of a love-triangle that consumes two friends is universal. The imperious Gudrun, at the center of the plot, remains one of literature’s great female characters. My treatment of the saga attacks only the small core of a sprawling multi-generational epic.

The recording was mostly done very quickly in a studio, using single-guitar accompaniment for the sparest possible arrangements. A few tracks were home-recorded with slightly more elaborate instrumentation and singing. Laxdaela exists as an audio recoding, but also as a movie/slide-show that presents the music and lyrics, framed by photographs of Iceland. A significant amount of the music was taken from material written by Ragnar.

5. Westman – a metaphorical genealogy of the western mind. Having written SAM as an allegory, I decided to try the form one more time. In this treatment, the characters are ideas, combining to describe the genealogy of the western mind -- in the person of Westman. The other characters, Judaism and the Christian church, the Greek philosophers and the Roman Empire, combine to make Westman the person he is. The show consists of two parts.

The first part traces Westman background from his grandparents through his adolescence in songs by the relevant characters.

Part two of Westman consists of a single twenty-minute song. It is Westman’s description of his life from age ten to his present age of twenty. Westman has been aging one year a century since he was ten years old in our year 1000: His story therefore amounts to selecting the most important event or issue in each of the last ten centuries, presented as an event in his young life. The second act of Westman exists as a movie/slide-show, backing up the audio performance.

6. Hope and Fear –This is my attempt to encapsulate principles of economics into the story of an Irish farmer who goes to America to escape the potato famine.

7. Holidays – children’s songs

B. PRE-2019 SONGS.

Most of my songwriting in this period was directed at the shows, though I did manage to do some other writing. But I also dedicated some time to recording songs by people I knew and whose writing I admired.

1. Living Room Suite. My musical biography as of the 1990s, it consists of four sets of four songs each, alternating those written by me and by the four songwriters I have worked with most: Ragnar Kvaran, Jerry Foxworth, Walt Richardson and Keith Curtis. A seventeenth song is a medley of four tunes by Ragnar.

2. Witness. Songs by my brother Ragnar Kvaran, my initial inspiration for taking up music and writing songs. My son Trevor contributes several vocals.

3. The Spirit Moves. Songs by Walt Richardson, my long-time musical companion and friend. I have included in this set songs by Walt that I recorded at later dates.

4. Arizona Three or four songs apiece by seven Arizona writer-acquaintances in six configurations: Hans Olsen, D Squared (Don Charles and Deb Gessner), The Clarevoyants (Shay Veno and Billy Brett), Linda Bilque, and Pat Maloney.

5. Salvador’s Fire. A selection of songs by the sparkling, inspiring Duo Guardabarranco from Nicaragua, translated out of their original poetic Spanish with the help of Char Howey. Salvador Cardenal is the main songwriter -- of amazing talent -- while his sister Katia contributes fewer songs (Aunque No, here) but is consistently stunning as a singer. We should all write and perform with this much passion and intelligence.

6. Amateur. Mostly my compositions, with a few by/with Ragnar and one by long-time buddy Ken Morris.

7. Out Of The Fire. Eight songs in search of a theme. Six of the songs outline a story of a distressing romance; the other two (Streamliner and Let the Man) are just there. Brother Ragnar is responsible for the bulk of the lyrics: five of the eight songs began as his. Five of the songs (Let the Man, We Didn’t Know it Then and Out of the Fire excepted) are explorations of the blues structure. The “band” here is essentially three-guitars, drum kit, percussion and bass, the basic line-up of Skunk Creek Railroad.

8. For Jim and Paula. Non-originals for a lovely pair of staunch supporters

C. THE HK SONGS. 2019 and on. In September of 2019, I began writing songs at what was, for me, an unprecedented pace. Covid-19 provided lots of time to work for much of the period.

1. HK 1 2019

2. HK 2 2020

3. HK 3 Next

4. HK 4 More

5. HK 5 Final 5. Ironically titled, because it was neither 5 nor final.

6. HK 6 I gave up trying to find titles for CDs.

7. HK 7 Ragnar. Another full CD of Ragnar’s music. I cannot stay away from his songs.

8. HK 8 Katie. I wrote these songs as a reaction/accompaniment to a book (“Katie”) being written by my friend Wally Bornmann.

9. HK 9

10. HK 10

11. HK 11

12. HK 12 Cowboy (EAC). I put to music four songs by cowboy poet EA Cartwright.

13. HK 13 Ken. Songs by forever friend Ken Morris

14. HK 14

15. HK 15 Connections Redone versions of songs from the preceding CDs

16. HK 16 Others. Another foray into the songs of acquaintances: Blaine Long (3), Andy Hurlbut (3) and Tom Gibney (1).

17. HK 17 Jams 2022. A hoped-for driveway jam repertoire. Something simple for the new year.

18. HK 18 Blues. These are explorations of the blues structure

19. HK 19

20. HK 20 Saga. The story of my parents.

21. HK 21 OZ. The Wizard of Oz as a high school musical.

Cactus Dreams by Him, Him ‘n’ Tim (brother Einar on percussion, and violinist Tim Sadow) was recorded in early 2020. I had previously recorded all the songs on Cactus Dreams, mostly on the CDs HK 1 and HK 2.

D. OTHER SONGS/ OTHER RECORDINGS

Fiddler’s Dream

There are many live recordings made at Fiddler’s Dream coffee house with combinations of Trevor, Einar, Tim Sadow and Walt.

For/with Walt Richardson

1. Morning Star album

2. Double Bridge (several tracks)

3. Silent Artist

PART II NOTES

Recording

Most of my recorded output was done in my home using distinctly amateur means. My usual MO has been to start with the program Band-In-A-Box (BiB) which allows one to chart out the basics of a song and quickly produce an arrangement with computerized instruments from the program. The output from BiB is then put into some other recording platform (a sequencer). Early on it was a Zoom 8-track hard-disk recorder. Later I switched to Apple’s Garage Band. Once in a sequencer I typically replaced the BiB tracks with my own recording. The exceptions were bass and drums; many of my recordings use the bass and/or drums from BiB. A few other BiB vestiges – organ in particular – are scattered among the recordings. On more recent recordings I have played most of the bass.

Playr Studio and the Raving Folk Dogs

Throughout much of the 1980s and 90s I performed with the quartet The Raving Folk Dogs, with Kyle Harris, Sue Harris and Keith Curtis. Around 1990 Kyle turned his interest to recording and opened Playr Studio in his home. There he recorded many of Phoenix’s best acts, mostly in the folk vein.

Columbus was Kyle’s first major effort. The ‘Dogs recorded the piece with cameos by Trevor Kvaran (age 11 at the time) and Emilio Santiago (on percussion).

The CD Silent Artist with Walt Richardson was recorded at Playr in 1997.

Some years later most of Laxdaela was likewise recorded in three sessions at Playr by Kyle.

Ragnar

My brother Ragnar holds a unique place in my music. He was my initial inspiration for playing guitar and for writing songs. We performed together for several years in the Kodai Road. His music has been a source of material for me in several ways.

1. I have recorded many of his songs more or less as he wrote them (though often with rearrangement) as on Witness, Living Room Suite and Amateur.

2. I have taken music from songs of his and put new lyrics to them. This has been my most common use of his material, including significant amounts of ‘my’ shows Laxdaela and Galileo.

3. I have taken lyrics from his songs and set them to different music – usually simpler music, often basic blues. (“Nice groove; I need some lyrics”) This use is most conspicuous on Out Of The Fire.

4. I have taken songs of his and added something, often a bridge or a few lines

The first case I denote by (RK). The last three three cases I denote as (w/RK); the line between cases 3 and 4 is pretty thin.

Walt Richardson

Walt has been a mainstay of my musical life since we started playing together circa 1978. Aside from Silent Artist, my contributions to Walt Richardson’s recordings – Morning Star and a bit of Double Bridge -- were done in professional Phoenix studios.

Other writers

I have always been attracted to the work of people I know. To that end I have recorded material by Ragnar, Walt, Ken Morris, Jerry Foxworth, Keith Curtis, Hans Olsen, Don Charles, Deb Gessner, Shay Veno, Billy Brett, Pat Maloney, Linda Bilque, Andy Hurlbut, Blaine Long and Tim Bradley. I recorded one CD of covers by known artists as a favor for some loyal fans.

Guitars and Tunings

I have tended to dedicate a guitar to any tuning I think I will use with any frequency. I have experimented with which guitar ought to have which tuning, so things often change. Over the ten (?) years my playing has gravitated to DADGAD tuning. I currently use it more than any other. The exception is Walt, with whom I use standard tuning.

The CM9 tuning, of my own invention/discovery, is for lap steel-style playing. It is currently used on Alvarez1 with a raised saddle. From low to high the tuning is

G C E G B D. The idea was to alternate major and minor thirds, for maximum harmony access. I broke the pattern on the sixth string, opting for a major chord on the low four strings.

The cigar-box, a four-string slide-only, open G, was a gift from Trevor. It has turned out to be more of a musical instrument than I would have guessed.

The Samick is a resonator. This and Alvarez2 were found in Matt’s Flagstaff pawnshop.

The Gibson, Gretsch and Ovation 12 are vintage 1960s guitars.

The Suzuki was a 12 string until I had a raised saddle installed.

	#	Current	Past		slide?
1	L'Arrivee	DADGAD
2	Taylor	standard	Open G	DADGAD	some
3	Alvarez 1	CM9	Open G	DADGAD	only
4	Cigar Box	Open G			only
5	Guild	standard	DADGAD		some
6	Gibson 335	standard
7	Alvarez 2	Open G			some
8	Samick	Open D/E			some
9	Suzuki	Dobro G			only
10	Ovation 12	standard
11	Gretsch	standard	MIDI

Slide Guitar

I found that slide guitar records well – playing it live has been more of a challenge – so I have used it in a variety of incarnations. I have played with both a finger slide (little finger, metal or glass) and, more often, using a bar, lap steel style. Guitars:

1. a standard tuned guitar (Guild or Taylor) either with a finger-slide or a bar

2. an open G tuning, usually the Taylor or Alvarez 1 with a bar.

3. the cigar-box guitar, always with a bar. This is most common on later recordings.

4. the CM9 tuning always with a bar.

5. Samick, open E or D. I find this tuning difficult and have used it little.

PART III. Track Listings for all those CDs

A. SHOWS

1. ONE LIFE TO LIFE -- COLUMBUS
01 Currents	07 Troubadour 3	13 Troubadour 4
02- Western Wind	08 Three Ships	14 Sailing Again
03 Troubadour 1	09 Sail On	15 Troubadour 5
04 Just Across	10 Land!	16 One More Chance
05 Troubadour 2	11 These Islands	17 Another World
06 Isabella	12 Who Are These People	18 Troubadour 6
		19 Looking Back
2. SAM
01 Iberia's Back	12 This One's For Honor	Separate Emotions
02 Souvneirs	13 Living Alone	22 Restless Spirits
Look At the Children	14 Take The Money	23 That Kind Of Love
03 A Boy's Got To Have	15 There's No Talking	24 Uncle Sam
04 A Better Deal	16 From Now On	25 Walk Away
Winner Take All	Leave Us Alone	26 Take Me Home
05 Take Me Home	17 Mama's Things	27 Witness to Revenge
06 A Lifetime Ago	Sweet Angel	28 That's Enough for Me
07 Winner Take All (rep)	18 What About Me	29 Broken Down, Busted
08 Part Of Me	19 No Love Lost	30 Walk Away
09 Sweet Angel	20 See My Way	31 Stand Back
10 Brother, Brother	21 Magic Smoke	32 What Next
11 See My Way	Let It Go

3. STARRY MESSENGER -- GALILEO
When I Was a Boy	Passion	Save the Appearance
A Wrangler	Days	Something Must Be Done
Lecture	Target	Still It Moves
Stars Out Tonight	The Letter To Christina	When I Was A Boy
The Brighest Star

4. LAXDAELA
Family and Land	A Woman In Love	Someone Has to Pay
Some Dark Day	There’s A Ship	A Long, Long Time Ago
Friends	Don’t Make Fun of Me	The Final Turn
I Belong With You	‘Til Death Do Us Part	December Skies
Imagining	The Truth of the Matter	Morning Tasks
God’s Right Hand	Running From the Truth	Back Again
So Hard To Stay	Skál -- No More	Stay Your Hand
As Close As I Can Be	Step By Step	Peace and Justice
Somebody’s Shadow	Fire and Ice	Guđrun Smiled
Friend	Any Other Women	Listen Child
Waiting	The Ghost in Our Lives	Which One

5. WESTMAN
Waiting For Something	You’ll Be Surprised	When I Can’t Be
Love Will Show the Way	In Your Eyes	Now and Here
Wait No More	Circle in the Sand	Great Big World
Almost, Already	This Child	The Years
Daddy’s Come Back	What You've Got

6. HOPE AND FEAR
All I Have	What Do I Do Now	Dead Man In Ireland
Inside the Line	If They Need Me	My Last Cigar
One Potato	Ireland I Fear	Dakota Country
The Way It Is	America I Hope	Coming Home

7. HOLIDAYS
New Year	I’ve Been Thinking	Freedom Is Not Free
Valentine Candy	Happy Birthday America	It’s Halloween
Once in March	Thanks	Hang A Star
Look Out My Window

B. PRE - 2019 RECORDINGS

1. LIVING ROOM SUITE
Farewell Song	Sometime Dreams	Cold November Wind
My Kind	South China Sea	Close to the Lightning
Highway to Nowhere	These Days	End of a Dream
I Think You'd Stay	Caretaker	Anna Marie
Lightning in the Sky	Sad Day	Monique
Tell Me Yes	Together

2. WITNESS
Kingdom of Blizzards T	These Obsessions	Wrecked on Love
Ave Marie T	Trains-Long Distance	Desperate Characters
My Baby Thinks	Witness	That's Kathy
Face

3. SPIRIT MOVES
Aferburners	Close, Closer	Roadblock
Always Was	Disgusted	Sad Day
Angel	Dream Arizona	When I Meet Her
Arizona	Leave It Alone	When I Meet Her
Boy Meets Girl	Red Rocks	Spirit Medley

4. ARIZONA
Arizona	I Will Wash My Eyes	County USA
Troubadour on Parade	Vera's Moon	William Waits
Deal It Out	In Planck Time	Emma
You & That Tambourine	Song of the Bottle	Clara Moore
Just Like Goodbye	Guardian Angel	Lucky
Strange Wind

5. SALVADOR'S FIRE
Disco del Sol	Casa	Guerrero
Si Buscadas	Aunque No	Salvador's Fire
Corazon del Nino	Mi Luna

6. AMATEUR
Mending Together	What A Life	Look Back Again
Day By Day	Waiting For Someone	AnnaMarie
Cool Breeze	Lucky	That Time
HardTimes	Wherever	Angelita
Streamliner	Five'll Get You Ten	GetOut

7. OUT OF THE FIRE
Streamliner	South China Sea	Second Time
Let The Man Go	Don't Say	Out Of The Fire
Desert Blues	We Didn't Know It

8. FOR JIM & PAULA
You've Got A Friend	Hallelujah	Early Morning Rain
Into The Mystic	Seven Bridges	You've Got A Friend
Fire And Rain

C. HK 2019 and on

HK 1 2019
Brave Enough	Let The Man	What A Good Man
Days Of Truth	Satisfied	Willow
Keep On Laughing	Tears Of Light

HK 2 2020
Back To Glendale	Fast Train	That Leaves You
Beneath the Green	Stand By The Woman	Two People In Love
Close To The Lightning	Talking to the Violin	When The Police Come

HK 3 NEXT
Close to the Fire	Name Of Love	Ungrateful Child
Fountain	River Of Life	Wanderers
Good Breeze	Rules	Writing On The Wall
Hope To Die Love Songs	San Fernando	You Never Wrote A Song
Maxwell, Street Doctor	Shadow in the Night

HK 4 MORE
Better Days Ahead	Judith	Women's Work
Cactus Dreams	Predictably Crazy	You're The Reason
DWI	Right Now	Your Loving Heart
Hot	Sitting With Strangers
I Got A Feeling	Time Changes

HK 5 FINAL 5
Everybody Knows	Quite A Year	XRay Eyes
O Mercy, Mercy	Vehicle	Zephyr
Peace & Wisdom

HK 6
Annie	Fall	Rolling On
Big City Calling	Full Moon Rises	That Train
Candle in the Window	Hey Angelita	Unsatisfied
Crazy Times	Mister Hey Mister	Wheels
Don't Think About It	Rock and Roll Ladies


HK 7 RAGNAR
A Million Things	I Don't Know	Sleepy Kid
Dolly Parton HK	Knoxville Girl HK	Trains
Helga's Night	Maze Of Love	We Didn't Know
Highway to Nowhere

HK 8 KATIE
Cowboy Coffee	Sing Along Song	Road Song
Too Small A Town	Next Big Thing	Who Is This Girl
Truck Stop	Choices	Secrets, Sorrows, Stones
Place To Call Home	Where I Belong	One Last Song
If I Could Believe	Katie

HK 9
Any Day	Eden	Sheriff Brown
Between The Storms	Old Songs	Walking in the Rain
Dancing In The Eye	Peace Town	Working On The Way
Down To The River	Red River

HK 10
California	Leaning on Someone	One Way
Fade To Black	Max	Revision
Has Anybody Seen Her	No Lady	Whiter
King of the Night

HK 11
Absolutely	Day Ticket	Loving
Backwoods Blues	e - The Way We Grow	Mama Go Tell Papa
Burns	Hideaway	Pi -- Circles and Cycles
Cool Down Bette Lou	I Should Have Known

HK 12 EA Cartwright
Grave of a Stranger	Make Me A Cowboy	Northern Arizona
In Memorium Dicky

HK 13 KEN
Bended Knee HK	These Days HK	Trapeze HK
Move Over Rover HK

HK 14
Around	It's Up To You	Rabbits Sing
Easy Way Out	Job	Souvenir
Green Field Goodbye	Next Month's Rent	Watch The Wake

HK 15 CONNECTIONS
Alabama Woman	e2 - Another Way	Secrets, Sorrows
Anywhere She Goes	Good Man	Shadow in the Dark
Around	Hope To Die 2	Sitting With Strangers
Candle 2 in 3	Lean	Something Like The Blues
Close to the Fire 2	Oh Mercy, Mercy 2	Stand By The Woman
DWI 2	Revisions 2	Working on the Way

HK 16 OTHERS
Do You Remember Me	Just Me Andy	Trains Andy
Far Away	Sweet On You	Waiting On Love
Holy Land

HK 17 JAM 2022
Anywhere She Goes	One	South China, See
Build A Wall	One Dance	Step By Step
I Think You'd Stay	Red Jack	What Goes

HK 18 BLUES
Blue Shadows	Nothing But a Blues	Something Like A Blues
C C Rider	Pull Up A Chair	Strange As It Seems
Corrina	Rational And Real	Too Old To Die Young
Molly In The City	Right Hand Man

HK 19
Alabama Colorado	I Think You'd Stay	Roadhouse
Desperation Alley	If I Ever	Special Delivery
Forward Into The Past	Jennie	Turn Those Blues

HK 20 SAGA
When You Can Fly	Tropical Island	More
There Was A War	Moving On	Keep On Rolling
Top Of The World

HK 21 OZ
Sing!	On Our Way #3	Back With A Broom
Something to Learn	Stand Up Straight	Bad Man
On Our Way #1	On Our Way #4	All That You Wanted
Everybody Knows	Toe The Line	Why the Hurry
On Our Way #2	Great And Terrible	Look Inside
Man Without A Heart