Utilizing live cuts recorded on 16 track wave files during shows with my band, I have carefully crafted & sculpted 10 songs with overdubs over the course of nine months. The CD includes all new songs. Overdubbing of parts (guitar, voice, keyboards, strings & special effects) was done in a local studio with sound wizard Tim Gray (of Dell'Arte International). My longtime co-producer Stephen Hart (head engineer at "The Site", a top of the line recording facility in Marin) has mixed and mastered.

THE SONGS: These songs (playful & energetic, personal & universal) cycle through me. I am excited to share them with you. Find Lyrics at http://joannerandmusic.wordpress.com:

1. "Rise" Tribute to that old adage: “Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood carry water.” I once saw nuns outside a Tibetan Temple on hands and knees scrubbing the cobblestone steps as an act of selfless devotion. There are two pulls in me: towards humility and towards striving to reach my highest height (raise my spire).

2. "Ties That Bind" My Southern roots are strong, though I have chosen to spend my life out West. Describes a vivid dream I had the night before flying back out west from my southern family home. I wrote the song on the airplane the next day. Harkens back to the story told in fairytales about the prodigal son who returns home after a lifetime of adventure to be received warmly back into the arms of his family.

3. "Breathe" The words were primarily written by my songwriting student (for 6 years) and dear friend, Ali Nelson. Ali is now 18. It describes her safe passage through the tumultuous storm of adolescence.

4. "Bones and All" Inspired by a fragment of conversation I heard between women in a dressing room: “I’m here to stay, bones and all!”

5. "Hut by the Sea" This is the true story of a visionary man who has chosen for 25 years to live alone in a hut with the sea swirling around him.

6. "Redwood" Completed in a giant redwood circle in N. California’s Richardson Grove, this is an incantation of protection for all endangered groves.

7. "Happy Song" –by Elizabeth Gahm I borrowed this song from another one of my songwriting students, as it is GOOD MEDICINE!

8. "Jump" I sing weekly in a preschool daycare center. This song was written there spontaneously. It is a dance number, very playful and catchy.

9. "Where the Waters Flow" Written on Mothers Day, sitting with my husband and child by a running stream in the forest. My young daughter helped me with the lyrics: “I will always be there for you, if you want me to.”

10. "Hush Ye My Bairne" Adapted from an old Scottish traditional lullaby, but played in an upbeat, danceable, syncopated rhythm.

THE SHOWS: I had been rehearsing for weeks and had just come off a solo tour, meeting up with my beloved band in Southern Oregon for shows. The first day we played an outdoor festival in a torrential rainstorm. As we started our set, the clouds parted and the setting sun shone brilliantly upon our heads. People responded. This kind of energy infuses the show. I am grateful!