Songs for Dreamers has a touch of the US West Coast with a halo of vocal harmonies and the jangle of 9 string guitars. Add to that some Celtic roots with some Irish whistles & flutes, a hint of world music with zithers, kalimba, some jazz piano, and even a little theremin.

Chris Conway's 8th solo studio songs album features, as well as his usual West Coast harmonies (reminiscent of Crosby Stills & Nash) a stronger Celtic element - 3 songs have definite Celtic roots - perhaps due to his increasing work with Irish band Govannen. There are also some world music touches, a straight jazz ballad (Damned) and a bossa (Time Will Tell). But it's all obviously Chris Conway at work - the multi-instrumental wizardry, the detailed layered production and that soulful voice.

Dreams
Dreams have played quite a regular part in Chris's songwriting in the past and that is acknowledged here. Some songs came about through a dream. As Chris explains, "One song (Above My Head) came to me from waking at 4am, I grabbed a pad hey presto - it was written. I wish all songs came that easily." He also went for quite a dreamy atmosphere with the halo of lush vocal harmonies one of the threads that weave through the album.

Lost songs.
Songs for Dreamers is also an album of lost songs (or secret songs!!) Some of CCs songs have been sung by other artists and he was keen to sing his own versions of them. Some songs he had up his sleeve for years but they'd never found a home. As Chris says, "Writing Time Will Tell with Toronto singer Jodi Krangle began 8 years ago - we went back to it every few years and were quite happy with it, then when working on this album I tired a bossa rhythm and it all fell into place. I'm so glad we nailed it and got to record the song together". To these Chris added some new songs including a touching song (Flying) in memory of his mother who recently passed away.

Old songs and new, old dreams and new were woven it all together to make what may be one of his most popular albums.

Brian Wilson, Donal Lunny, The Free Design, John Sebastian, Alan Stivell, David Crosby, Jesse Colin Young, Richie Havens, Marcos Valle, John Phillips, The Association, Marty Balin

recorded digitally at the Oblong Studio and Muses Muse Studio, Toronto, Canada

Flying

Flying is dedicated to the memory of CCs mother.

A couple of songs appeared in different forms on other albums CC produced. Above My Head is on Kyms A Womans Journey album (as Angel Voices) and Life Road is on Bridget McMahon's Celtic Woman album (as Walk With Me).

Sunrise started out as an instrumental on CCs River of Life album as Spirit of the River

Damned was written on piano ina lounge on a ferry from Harwich to Hook van Holland.

Time Will Tell was written with Jodi Krangle - they knocked the song back and forth across the web for 8 years before it found it;s final form.

Some of Bridget's McMahons whispering on Dreamcatcher found it's way into it;s own little piece on her Celtic Woman album as I Could Hear Your Voice

1. Finally
A mellow upbeat love song for those who find love later in life. The music was written around the time of my Close The Circle album but the words only came much later. When I first recorded it it came out like a bad 80s pop track - so I got more hippy West Coast and added the Celtic hornpipe on the Irish whistles.

2. Gather Me
Gather Me came out of a dream I had about a kind of protective blanket that kind of supported you in all that you do. Musically it has some connections to my Summining the Spirit album I made with Will Pimlett.

3. Above My Head
This ballad was originally written for singer Kym - she had an experience with angels in a scary moment in a bar. This song came to me upon waking at 4 in the morning - just had to grab a pad and jot it down - I wish all songs came to me so easily.

4. Time Will Tell
This song was written with my friend singer Jodi Krangle. We started writing it 8 years ago after we had written Wherever on my Earth Rising album. We couldn't find a version we liked so picked it up every few years, tried a folk version, a jazz version, til after finishing my Chocolate Bossa album I tried a bossa version - at last it sees the light of day.

5. Solstice Circle
A Celtic pagan inspired song with a nod to Alan Stivell. It is an idealised memory of being at Stonehenge on summer solstice sunrise and the feeling of community there. Of course in reality Hawkwind rock band struck up in the next field and we were all a bit tired but I like to thin of it this way.

6. Don't Turn Away
This was written for singer Kym but she took the structure and added her own melody and words for a song on her album. I fancied recording my own version. It's about the importance of communication.

7. Damned
I wrote this song on a white grand piano on the ferry from England to Holland on the way to a German tour. I've been singing this jazz ballad for a while. I;m glad it found a home here.

8. Flying
This is about my mother who died the previous year. Her last couple of years were hard and that runs through the song I think.

9. Life Road
Written for my friend and former Govannen bandmate Bridget McMahon about her love of family and music. She recorded a version on her album.

10. Leaves
When I was a kid we played a game in autumn - if you caught a leaf , you got a lucky day next year. Recently, when I was walking across a carpark wrapped in thoughts, a leave flew over my head - I made an instictive jump for it. Passers by looked at me a little oddly but I noticed mood had lifted.

11. Dreamcatcher
This started out as a track for Bridet McMahons album - but I got kind of carried away and it became a bit of a musical playground for me. Hence the theremin and the jig in 5/8.

12. Sunrise
The theme of this song came from a track on my River of Life album. I just had to set words to it, reflecting new beginnings and a glow on the horizon.

This record is, I believe, Chris Conway's ninth solo outing, following on from "Close the Circle" (which was well received in HT#40). If you are already familiar with Christo's work then you can anticipate that this is an album of warm gentle shimmering music drenched in West Coast harmony work reminiscent of CSN - and you'd be right.

Chris wrote all 12 songs in this loosely themed collection (the theme being dreams). He sang them and played most of the instruments himself (including acoustic and electric guitars, kalimba, keyboards, theremin, whistles and zither), layering the sound and vocals at his home studio in Leicester and in Toronto. A little bit of folk., occasionally jazzy but with soem Gaelic and world music touches, Chris was supported principally by Neil Segrott's bass guitar on four numbers, Zorpinda Zorpin's percussion on six of the cuts and musical partner Dan Britton's bodhran on two. In fact, the Gaelic influences (found on "Gather Me", Solstice Circle", "Life Road") probably stem from Conway's involvement with Briton in the Gaelic band Govannen (who have a new album of their own "Spirits of the Forest" out on Paradise Music).

"Songs for Dreamers" is an impeccable recording. The musicianship is dextrous and inventive, the vocals are rich and soulful for all their laid back style and this is a really lovely relaxing album. Highlights for me are the sprung bossa ballad "Time Will Tell" ("one wa sfor you to love me, two was to forget you, and three was for the passage of time" - I can actually imaginge Marty Balin singing this one), the celtic-tinged "Life Road" ("wont you walk with me a while"), the jazzy dilemma "Damned" ("damned if I donlt and damned if I do"), the affirmative "Finally" ("I believe in love...finally") which actually opens the album and the wordless, ethereal vocals and spell-binding pipe playing of "Dreamcatcher".

It is beautiful music and it deserves to be heard.

CHRIS CONWAY - Songs For Dreamers (OBLONG MUSIC) www.chrisconway.org
*****
Albums from this Leicester-based singer-songwriter seem to come along like the seasons. I’m beginning to lose count now, for songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist Conway certainly likes to keep things interesting. There he was on the pages of Word magazine alongside fellow theremin enthusiasts; there he is, performing with his Celtic band, Govannen; elsewhere, a solo concert or two, some studio production work, his experimental electronic group, a little New Age noodling and, if this is Saturday … well, maybe time for some jazz piano. The man is indefatigable.

Songs For Dreamers is Conway’s gorgeous new collection of songs. It’s typically mellow, upbeat and positive. Indeed, he’s an even happier man these days, if opening track ‘Finally’ is anything to go by: ‘I believe in love … finally’, he declares.

Throughout, Conway sings, plays, arranges and produces his own distillation of platinum-brand West Coast-style pop-rock. An American long since relocated to the UK, he also infuses his work with the various influences he’s absorbed here in Blighty, so there’s an element of traditional folk and Celtic music in the mix, for example, reflecting Conway’s successful assimilation into our own culture. There’s also an abundance of ‘good vibes’ sunshine sounds, a little light jazz and the usual Conway humour (’Damned’).

Listen to Songs For Dreamers and bask in its summer warmth.
Dave White

1. Finally
I had lost the dream inside
I had not the eyes to see
Now a star is in the sky tonight
And a heart is calling me

chorus
I believe in love x3
Finally

Theres a dark electricity
There's a spark loose in the air
Does it take half a century
Not to break your heart to care?

Gone the years of silent running
And time spent living in the past
Now it's time to let the sun in
I've been saving the best til last

There's a voice fighting to be heard
Through the noise of day to day
And the sound of a magic word
Now has found me here to stay

CC - vocals, acoustic & electric 9 string guitars, keyboards, tin whistles, percussion
Neil Segrott - bass

2. Gather Me
Each step of the way - I'll be beside you
Each hour of the day - I smile upon you
Each step of the way - I'll be beside you
Each hour of the day - I smile upon you

When you fall when you fall - I'll lift you up and
Every wall every wall - I'm climbing with you
When you fall when you fall - I'll lift you up and
Every wall every wall - We're climbing to the sky

Sail on til midnight
Tomorrow's hindsight
Gather me round you
Feel my spirit flow into your heart
We'll never part
Inside your heart
It's just a start

Question the answers
Seize all your chances
Gather me round you
Feel my spirit flow into your mind
Let it unwind
Inside your mind
Cruel to be kind

Live every minute
Seize what's within it
Gather me round you
Feel my spirit flow into your soul
To reach your goal
Inside your soul
We'll make you whole

Climb to the sky and
Open your eyes and
Gather me round you
Feel your life flow back into your hands
Like grains of sand
Into your hands
You understand

CC - vocals, keyboards, acoustic & electric 9 string &
low Irish whistle, kalimba, theremin, samples, loops, programming, percussion
Dan Britton - bodhran, percussion

3. Above My Head
Some might say I am deluded
Some might think me insincere
But I know just what I know and
What I hear is what I hear

chorus
Above my head
In my heart
Angel voices call to me
Above my head
In my heart
Angel voices comfort me

I remember smiling faces
And how they turned from joy to fear
How a sound came from the darkness
Far away but crystal clear

chorus

Ther e are days when life feels empty
When the journey seems too long
Then inside a golden whisper
Fills my soul and sings my song

chorus

CC - vocals, piano, electric 9 string guitar, synthesizer, drum programming
Kym - vocals
Neil Segrott - bass
Zorpinda Zorpin - synthesizer

4. Time Will Tell
Time will tell
Time keeps no secrets
Tells no lies
Turns all stonesIf I knew then
What I know now
I would have left you
On your own

chorus
One smile makes two
Two lies make twenty
Three wishes I made in a line
One was for you to love me
Two was to forget you
And three
Was for the passage of time

"Don't get too close
Keep your distance"
My defences
Tried to say
But with spider eyes
The spell is woven
And maybe I'll never
Get away

chorus

Did I miss a turning back down the road?
Were there warning signs pointing to today?
I ignored the voices, I could not be told
When they said it would
And that time would tell

We planted deep
In wishful thinking
And in fear
Of being alone
Time heeds well
The passing of moments
And we will reap
What they have sown.

chorus

CC - vocals, acoustic 9 string & nylon string guitars, keyboards, percussion
Jodi Krangle - vocals

5. Sun Circle
We shall see the stones at solstice
At the rising of the sun
We will link to the love
And the spirit of everyone in the world
We will dance dance til morning
Til we're back where we've begun

We will look to the left hand
And our friends toward the right
We will trust in the Earth
And the stars that shine at night from the sky
We will know who we are
Beneath the early dawning light

Come away to the circle
Stay with me til the morning
Come away to the circle
Til the break of dawn

Well we don't know just where we're going
But we do know where we're from
But the spring it has come
And the winter is on the run like a wolf
When we gather here at solstice
We know where our hearts belong

Come away to the circle
Stay with me til the morning
Come away to the circle
Til the break of dawn

CC - vocals, tin & low Irish whistles, zither, keyboards, samples, percussion
Chloe Singer - vocals
Zorpinda Zorpin - percussion
Dan Britton - bodhran, percussion

6. Don't Turn Away
Don't turn away from me
Everything that you can see
We built together
So don't bring it down around us
Don't turn away from me
This is no way to be
We're lost in the darkness
So turn on the light

Don't let the sky fall down
Til some answers can be found
Don't let the sun go down
While we still hurt

Don't turn away from me
Everything that we can be
Is just around the corner
So talk to me now

You know I can read your face
I know that you need your space
I know we can't fix everything today
But if we start to talk we'll find away

I wont turn away from you
There's so much that we can do
So step back from the edge
The hardest step is always the first one
I wont turn away from you
Together we will see it through
So take my hand in yours
The hard part is done

Don't let the sky fall down
Til some answers can be found
Don't let the sun go down
While we still hurt

Don't turn away from us
Or what will become of us
There's a path out of the forest
So talk to me now

Have I told you I wanted you
Have I told you I needed you
Never has a day gone by when I
Haven't looked at you and felt a sigh

Don't turn away
Talk with me now
Don't turn away from me
Don't let the sky fall down

CC - vocals, acoustic & electric 9 string guitars, keyboards, tin whistle, percussion
Kym - vocals
Neil Segrott - bass

7. Damned
My friends all tell me
And maybe it's true
I spend too much time
And money on you
But depending on the weather
And on your point of view
I'm damned if I don't
And damned if I do

I'm feeling kind of heady
My brain's in a stew
I turn to the clouds
They haven't a clue
I don't know what I'm seeing
But I'm seeing it through, coz
I'm damned if I don't
And damned if I do

Gardens of Eden
To the left and to the right
Just out of reach
But not out of sight
And I'm afraid that the jury
Has retired for the night
So I'm damned if I'm wrong
And damned if I'm right

So decisions, decisions
What shall I do?
There's a fork in the river
There's a choice of two
But rather than dither
I think I'll stick along with you
Cos I'm damned if I don't
And damned if I do
Damned if I don't
And damned if I do if I do.

CC - vocals, piano, synthesizer, bass
Zorpinda Zorpin - percussion

8. Flying
Through so many years,
Your worries and fears
I watched you, I watched you,
Waving goodbye.
Signals grew weak with time
And growing distance. Persistence.
We never stopped trying

And I listen,
And I learn
And I wonder

Paintings line the walls
From every chapter, and capture
With artists eyes
A shop in Venice selling masks
To strangers, whose faces
They need to disguise

And I listen,
And I learn
And I wonder

Oh how she loved the country
A last walk between the trees and the sky
Captured like a photograph
We could be flying

Through monochrome screens
And movie screens
The Lady Vanishes, the Spanish
Lessons once more
Empty halls and telephone calls
Til one day, one day
You found the door

And I listen,
And I learn
And I wonder

CC - vocals, acoustic & electric 9 string guitar, keyboards
Zorpinda Zorpin - percussion

9. Life Road
When I was still just a child at play
Wont you walk with me a mile or two?
I'd sing and sing through the live long day
Wont you walk with me a while?
I met a lass that I liked so well
Wont you walk with me a mile or two?
She sang to me and she cast her spell
Wont you walk with me a while?
Well she made me laugh and she made me sigh
And I never thought to reason why
The moon had risen up in the sky
Wont you walk with me a while?

Two children came along by and by
Wont you walk with me a mile or two?
And we'd sing together and laugh and cry
Wont you walk with me a while?
A beautiful girl and a bonnie wee boy
Wont you walk with me a mile or two?
They gave me love and brought me joy
Wont you walk with me a while?
Though each one grew up bright and strong
After twenty years they were up and gone
But each had found their own true song
Wont you walk with me a while?

The years have flown and I'm singing still
Wont you walk with me a mile or two?
Of Carrickfergus and Spancil Hill
Wont you walk with me a while?
When music calls me I have no choice
Wont you walk with me a mile or two?
The spirit moves me and fires my voice
Wont you walk with me a while?
Songs and family fill my heart
And I'll never see them torn apart
Til I find myself back at the start
Wont you walk with me a while?

So we come to the journeys end
Wont you walk with me a mile or two?
I know you've always been my friend
Wont you walk with me a while?
We've come so far across this land
And there's still so much to understand
So if you'll kindly take my hand
Wont you walk with me a while?

CC - vocals, keyboards, tin & low whistles, kalimba, bodhran, percussion, handclaps, drum programming
Bridget McMahon - vocals, handclaps
Zorpinda Zorpin - percussion, handclaps

10. Leaves
When I was a child
I watched the leaves in autumn
And saved them when I caught them
In a book so old and grey
Each leaf was a smile
A secret, sacred treasure
A reminder of the pleasure
Of a simple carefree day

New days soon come by
That bring with them new distractions
Persuasive attractions
Seem to beckon from the shelves
We all now know
All that glitters is not gold
But we're too clever to be told
And have to find out for ourselves

And the years flew by
And the years flew by
And the years flew by
Until today.

When out walking in the wind
A leaf blew over my head
A little voice inside me said
It must be caught before it lands
I jumped for it glee
And to my great surprise
I rediscovered things so wise
Only a child would understand

CC - vocals, nylon string guitar, synthesizer, birdsong samples




11. Dreamcatcher
..and then you disappeared.

CC - vocals, synthesizer, tin & low Irish whsitles, theremin, kalimba, electric 9 string guitar, percussion
Bridget McMahon - vocals, violin
Neil Segrott - fretless bass
Zorpinda Zorpin - percussion

12. Sunrise
In the night when the skies are falling
And the light in the fire is calling
I can see a reflection in your eyes
Then I realise
The sun is rising

Though the storm in my head is blowing
There's a warmth in my heart that's growing
There's a balance between the world and my mind
There for me to find
The sun is rising

When the last of the wars have ended
And with our past on the shore befriended
With a wing and a prayer and a song
Though it took so long
The sun is rising

See the sunrise
The night is over
See the new day dawning

CC - vocals, kayboards, low Irish whistle, acoustic 9 string guitar, kalimba, samples, percussion
Georgina Sear - vocals

 

 

Produced by Chris Conway