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Circle of Stone (Deluxe Edition)

by Harbord Trio

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soundgal2000
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soundgal2000 This is a blast from my listening past and I always loved the playing and the music. I was very excited to see this available here on Bandcamp. I will never forget seeing the main Don, Kelly and Oliver playing together at Eaglewood, in the glen under the trees. Wonderful!
BassForceOne
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BassForceOne I remember seeing your band in a small tavern in Toronto in the 90’s….loved it and bought the tape. I lost that tape long time ago and was looking for these recordings ever since. Thanks for doing this Don! Favorite track: Lady Franklin's Dream.
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    So way back in the late '80s, my late wife Kelly McGowan (on vocals, harp and bodhran), the (also late) violin wonder that was Oliver Schroer formed an informal three-person "band" that shared its love of tradition music. By 1990 we figured we should admit that we actually were a "band," so we named ourselves Harbord Trio, after a street in our then-neighbourhood in central Toronto.

    That year we went into Manta Sound (also of happy memory), where I had recorded my first two solo CDs, and teamed up with dear friend and master engineer Ron Searles and the then-newly-minted assistant John Rodd. We recorded the album live to 2-track Digital Audio Tape (yup, no multitrack, no remix possibilities...a testament to rehearsal and great engineers!). It was the only way we could afford to record at Manta! Along with bassist Shelley Berger, percussionists Mark Duggan and Anne Lederman, we recorded an album-length collection of all sorts of things: traditional music from Ireland, Scotland & Canada, and original music by Kelly and Oliver. I played guitar, did some singing, and played piano on one track (couldn't pass up the Yamaha C7).

    In the mid-90s we started recording tunes toward a second CD. we got four tunes in, and then Kelly discovered that she was terminally ill and the album project never got finished. But we managed to get those tunes recorded at Norm Barker's Studio 92 in Toronto (with collaborators Shelley Berger and Duncan Ross Cameron on whistle, flute and uilleann pipes).

    I've been doing a lot of archiving of recordings lately and felt it was finally time to let these ones find a wider audience. So, I've finally made them available more widely here on Bandcamp. Tracks 1-12 are from the original CD sequence, and tracks 13-16 are the previously unreleased tracks from the second project. Some of those are originals by Oliver, some are traditional, and one is an interpretation of a song by Richard Begley (the main songwriter from a Toronto band called Taliesin, who wrote "Heart in the Hills.")

    Hope you get a kick out of these blasts from my past. A bit of my "folky" side showing.
    ... more
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about

This is a compilation, including the original Circle of Stone CD, released first on cassette in 1990 and then on CD in 1992. The band started recording a second CD at Studio 92 in Toronto, but Kelly McGowan (vocals, harp, bodhran) developed terminal cancer and the project was never completed. The four tunes that were finished are included in this deluxe edition.

credits

released May 19, 2022

Tracks 1-12 recorded live to 2-track digital in June 1990 at Manta Sound, Toronto

Engineered by Ron Searles with John Rodd assisting

Tracks 13-15 recorded at Studio 92 in Toronto, engineered by Norm Barker sometime in 1995-1996

Track 16 recorded at the Sony Music Writers' Room, Toronto in 1996. Engineered by Don Ross

Compilation remastered in 2022 by Don Ross at the Goby Fish Digital Aquarium in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Harbord Trio was

Kelly McGowan: vocal, harp, bodhran
Oliver Schroer: violin, vocal, hammer dulcimer
Don Ross: guitar, vocal, piano, electric bass (on track 16)

with guest musicians

Shelley Berger: upright bass
Mark Duggan: bodhran (on track 4)
Anne Lederman: bones (on track 4)
Duncan Ross Cameron: Uilleann pipes and wooden flute on Track 15

Cover design by Janet Christie

Photography by Kelly McGowan and Leslie Sagara

Thanks to Max, Jim, Leslie & Louise

Oliver wrote "The Witching Tree," "If the Walls Had Ears," "Swinging in the Maple Tree," "Road to Kullu," "Donald Ross," "Circle of Stone," "Blow, November Wind," and parts of the "Medley of Tunes."

Kelly wrote "Three Faeries"

Richard Begley wrote "Heart in the Hills."

All other tunes and songs are traditional tunes from Ireland, the UK, the USA and Canada.

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Don Ross Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Canadian guitarist and vocalist Don Ross has influenced a generation of new acoustic musicians over his 30-year+ career. In addition to guitar, Don also plays piano, bass, drums, slide acoustic and end electric guitars, and a host of other instruments. He also scores films, video games and television programs. Born in Montreal, he currently lives in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. ... more

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