The Secret Society & White Star Bands.
Honestly I could not have assembled a more talented group of lifers.  People who inspire my faith in this art, time and time again.  I do not think I could give you a song by song breakdown of who played exactly what.  We set up a room full of instruments, mics and amps, and literally jumped between them from song to song.  The only rule I had was that no one got to hear the song before we recorded them.  I would strum the song through once, and the band would jump over to whatever instruments felt right.  It was a liberating departure from my usual painstaking and laborious efforts in dissecting and re-dissecting my songs.  So what you hear, with a few exceptions for an overdubbed string or harmony part, is what was recorded on that day, sans click tracks.  Chicago and Television Sun, re-envisioned for the Secret Society Session, have been in my catalog for some time.  So I felt their original spirit needed to be captured as well, which I did in Charlottesville at White Star Sound.  You can find them tacked at the back end of the EP.  All of these songs were begun under the guise of another album, Magnificent Ram A, whose birth is soon to follow.  I am thankful to these wonderful musicians and friends, along with my Kickstarter brethren who helped get the ball rolling.  Thanks also to Little Sue and Bree Sharp for their beautiful voices.  Lastly but of no small note, the artwork of Javier Pinon which graces the cover, has been a great inspiration for the theme of the new music here and to come.  Javier was quite kind in his lending of these images to my music.  Thanks also to Amanda at AIC Entertainment for her unbending support, and to the tireless staff of Velvet Elk Records.  - Don, May 2012