From Stone

The Marching Band Gone Astray — I learned the basics of music when I was 10, playing alto in the Rockland Marching Band. Founded in 1905, the Band, which is now a thing of the past, has always been a source of pride for the municipality and for all the musicians who took part in it. The guitar is tuned in D (DADF#AD).

The Sun Rises on the Roofs of Taro — A piece in three parts for two guitars played by one person. The eastern part of Rockland is called Taro, from “Tar Road”, a name that clearly shows the working class roots of its citizens. One of my earliest childhood memories is of the red sun rising over the roofs on the far side of the main street in winter, and the vertical smoke from the chimneys rising in the sky.

Song For Watching the Cars Go By — In some small towns, there are two types of people – those cruising the main drag in their cars and those sitting on the stoop watching those cruising the main drag in their cars. This piece is for Doc Watson, who taught me the respect of tradition through his recordings.

Distances — Like most Rockland residents, I traveled back and forth between Rockland and Ottawa for years to earn a living. Eventually, the road disappears into a kind of mental fog. The guitar is tuned in A (EAC#EAE).

Aristocrat in Rags — A play on words. Like many guitarists, I’ve been inspired by the music of Scott Joplin, which was called “ragged time”, “rag time” or simply “rag” because of its syncopated tempo.

Countryman — A country stomp. For the Reverend Gary Davis, a guitar wizard who made the best recording of the 20th century, the unbelievable “Cincinnati Flow Rag.” At the turn of the century, certain communities were able to flourish in cultural isolation, which allowed some musicians like Gary Davis and Joseph Spence of the Bahamas to create a truly unique style. This cultural isolation reminds me of Franco-Ontarians and especially of our grandfathers’ generation, the last of the real countrymen. The guitar is tuned in C (CGCGCE).

The Marionettes — The music box sound comes from a “high-strung” guitar. The first two strings (E-B) are plain strings, tuned as usual, while the four others (E-A-D-G) are smaller gauge strings tuned one octave higher than usual. The third string (a banjo fifth string) ends up being a tone and a half higher than the first string. I’ve always wanted to own a real music box that would play this melody but I never found anyone who builds them.

The Village Simpleton — Another country stomp. Infinitely more interesting than towns, villages are full of unique individuals and they all seem to have at least one simpleton in residence. Rockland had two or three. In the city, you can find a simpleton on every street corner.

Nostalgia for a Player Piano — A rickety kind of rag. At the turn of the century, Scott Joplin’s music, which preceded the first recordings, was only available in sheet music or in rolls for player pianos.

Crows’ Concerto — In the pop music world, there are songbirds and there are crows. It’s been this way since the 1950’s. Like in the real world, the crows have never been very popular, which explains why certain crows are now songbirds. This is for the crows Jerry Lee Lewis, Captain Beefheart, Graham Parker, and Richard Thompson. The guitar is tuned in C (CGCGCE).

Blues For Times Gone By — A companion piece for “The Last Ones To Leave”, from my LP Rumors in the Barnyard. The time in question is the one I wasted in taverns and bars, when I was young and angry.

The Sweat of Our Brows — A blues for my father, Jean-René Séguin, and for all laborers. Like many Franco-Ontarians of his generation, my father became a laborer by necessity. With little education and a family to feed (we were nine, including grandpa Villeneuve), my father worked hard all his life and died too young. The guitar is tuned in D (DADF#AD).

Grandpa Villeneuve — When my maternal grandfather died in 1915, my grandmother moved her family from Cache Bay in northern Ontario to Rockland. There, she met a widower named Alphonse Villeneuve Amyot. They married and, after my grandmother’s death in 1947, grandpa Villeneuve lived with our family until his death in 1960, at the age of 95. Grandpa was a silent oak and one of the persons who most marked my youth. The piece, played somewhat in the style of Mississippi John Hurt, is also dedicated to this guitarist, who influenced me greatly. The guitar is tuned in C (CGCGCE).

Never Known — A more recent composition for my maternal grandparents, Antoine Comtois and Rosa Bédard. The guitar is tuned in D (DADF#AD).

Autumn Blues — For Bert Jansch, a great guitarist and a great influence. The guitar is tuned in C minor (CGCGCEb).

Richard Celebrates His 10th Birthday — A companion piece for “When I Was Small” from my LP Rumors in the Barnyard. My youth was a time of great joy and discovery, a period that came to an end when my brother Gabriel died — he was 23 and I was 9, hence the title. The guitar is tuned in D (DADF#AD).

Field of Stones — This title comes in part from an old tale whereby the parish priest of Rigaud was so enraged with a farmer who worked on Sundays that he turned the potatoes in his field to stone. The title also comes from something that happened one day when I was working as a surveyor. The sun was hot and I rested at noon in the shade of a tree. With the sound of locusts filling my ears, the field of stones at my feet disappeared in a daydream. This piece came to me when I got back home. At the end, you hear my interpretation of the church bells of the Parish of the Most Holy Trinity of Rockland. The guitar is tuned in A (EAC#EAE). This piece is for Leo Kottke, the complete composer-guitarist.

The Same Dream (Mauve) — A more recent composition for “Mauve”, an interactive CD-Rom for teenagers in crisis. “Mauve” is produced by Pentafolio Multimedia, of Clarence Creek, Ontario and has received awards from the Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada, and from the Festival international du multimédia et de la vidéo santé.