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Shiver Into Spark is an interconnected suite of songs about the twilight between endings and beginnings where the soul’s ashes and coals are laid bare and things are stripped down to their essence. It’s about the pain and freedom that come with loss and letting go, and the wide eyed, dew drenched beauty of the sunrise. Otter Creek moves easily between old and new, weaving their original material, with powerfully moving arrangements of traditional songs and covers.

Songs on the album explore the necessity of letting go and living in the moment, the agony of trauma, shame, and rejection, as well as the excitement of beauty, wonder, and opening oneself to love.

The album features Mary’s recording debut on the viola (Meadow Green, Nine Hundred Miles) and the duo has worked to more fully incorporate Peter’s award winning mandolin playing (2nd place National Mandolin Championship 2011) as well as his innovative fingerstyle guitar style, combining elements of classical, folk, and clawhammer banjo techniques.  Full and focused arrangements together with virtuosity and precision gleaned from Otter Creek’s classical training create a musical journey that sounds far larger than two people.

Description/Review of Tracks

Shiver Into Spark, the title track, sets the mood for the journey, it’s philosophical lyrics about letting go and living in wonder accompanied by a sparkling rhythmic guitar accompaniment and soaring vocals. With Farewell to Ireland the journey begins. This traditional Scottish tune about sailing off to another land begins slowly but quickly builds steam, gradually incorporating elements of jazz and funk along the way. A lullaby for the downtrodden, Stephen Foster’s song Hard Times eases us back into the realities of life on our planet. Arising almost as if out of the earth, the “song of the weary” is accompanied by Appalachian dulcimer and fiddle in this unique arrangement.

Pioneering Otter Creek’s “Low Lonesome Sound” a trio of songs explore tragedy and loss. Nine Hundred Miles explores the plight of the outcast who can’t return home. A unique instrumentation (viola and long neck banjo) lends a dark, bluesy, and urgent tone to this traditional American tune.  Meadow Green,  a folk song collected by Thomas Cheney and published in his book  Mormon Songs from the Rocky Moun­tains,  is about one of the greatest tragedies in Utah history; the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The military precision and percussive beat of Peter’s guitar coupled with the eerie pleading Mary evokes from the viola back a powerful tale that transports the listener to the scene of the tragedy with frightening clarity. Take the Climb explores the tragic death of violinist Tyler Clementi after a painful instance of cyberbullying. It is a plea for a more kind and inclusive society.

Several songs benefit from Peter and Mary’s award winning fiddle and mandolin skills. Ashokan Farewell revisions this American classic with unique instrumentation. The fiddle takes the lead accompanied by fingerstyle mandolin which shifts to flatpicking for a shimmering repeat of the melody accompanied by plucked fiddle, evoking the image of a soft rain in the forest.

Devil’s Boots artfully explores anxiety, and the need to let go of perfection in support of happiness. The mandolin part mirrors this progression, switching back and forth between fingerstyle and flatpicking. In Fisher’s Hornpipe a stunning mandolin arrangement evokes the excitement hooking fish on the line for the first time. Mary’s solo rendition of Old Joe Clark is sure to get you up and moving.

Several songs artfully explore beginnings. Getting Past The Barking is a semi autobiographical account of how new friends are sometimes found in the least likely places. It is about letting go and learning love. It features flowing fingerstyle guitar, duo harmonies and mandolin. Local chapters of the humane society have already asked permission to use the song for adoption campaigns. Otter Creeks cover of Morning Has Broken featuring the vocal talents of The Three Muses (Peter and Mary’s three daughters, Eliza, Kjersten, and Lucy) has already gathered quite a bit of attention with people everywhere describing just how touching it is to hear children singing this song about the innocence of morning. Hi Diddle Di explores the experience of someone newly sober and trying to hold things together long enough to get back on their feet. The song features a wild romping mandolin part and spoons add an edge to the infectious rhythmic drive of the piece.

Sister San Rafael an award winning song by Utah Slim was described by Rich Csenge (Organizer, The Amazing Earthfest) as the best environmental song he’s ever heard.  It is about a place in the Utah Desert that Peter and Mary both go to in order to find their way back home to themselves. It explores how we might treat wilderness once we find a sense of reverence for the places that center us.

The album ends with a challenge to the listener in Otter Creek’s visionary arrangement of Dylan’s classic The Times They are a Changin’ once again employing Peter’s unique guitar techniques and powerful use of the duo’s harmony vocals as well as Mary’s ability to play complex fiddle parts and sing at the same time.

Shiver Into Spark

Lyrics and Music by Peter Danzig

I’ve been walking many roads
Trying to find myself
I don’t know just how I lost me,
Hope that someone else can tell.
Yes it’s hard
To hear the whisper
Somewhere in the dark
Calling me to let that ember
Shiver into spark.

What’s the meaning, where’s the payback
What do we have to gain?
Why shouldn’t we just lay back
See if we can escape the pain?
Yes it’s hard
To hear the whisper
Somewhere close at hand
Calling us to let our fire
Burst upon the land.

This neediness to know
Is killing us inside,
Until we let it go,
We’ll never realize…

Life is breathing, breathe it deeply
Don’t question it, don’t doubt
Let the questions you can’t answer
Be a joyful shout.
Let it go, drop the burden
Join the cosmic dance.
You don’t need any reason
To seize upon a chance.

Life is breathing breathe it deeply
The universe will show
Answers flutter all around you
Everywhere you go.
Yes t’s hard
This letting go but
Every time you start
You can feel the light around you
Shiver into spark.

Hard Times

Lyrics and music by Stephen Foster
Adapted and arranged by Peter and Mary Danzig

Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears, 
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
 There's a song that will linger forever in our ears; 
Oh hard times come again no more. 

While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
 There are frail forms fainting at the door;
 Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
 Oh hard times come again no more. 

Tis the song, the sigh of the weary, 
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more 
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.

There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er: 
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
 Oh hard times come again no more.

 Tis the song, the sigh of the weary, 
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more 
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.
 
Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore 
Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave 
Oh hard times come again no more.

Nine Hundred Miles

Traditional, adapted and arranged by Peter and Mary Danzig

Walkin’ down this railroad track, tears in my eyes 
Tryin’ to read a letter from my home 
If this train run me right
I’ll be home by tomorrow night
 Lord I’m nine hundred miles from my home 
And I hate to hear that lonesome whistle blow.
 
Well this train I ride on is a hundred coaches long
 Hear the whistle blow a hundred miles. 
If this train run me right
I’ll be home by tomorrow night 
Lord I’m nine hundred miles from my home 
And I hate to hear that lonesome whistle blow.
 
Well I’ll pawn you my watch, pawn you my chain, 
Pawn you my gold diamond ring, 
If this train run me right I’ll be home by tomorrow night 
Lord I’m nine hundred miles from my home 
And I hate to hear that lonesome whistle blow. 

Walkin’ down this railroad track, tears in my eyes 
Tryin’ to read a letter from my home 
If this train run me right
I’ll be home by tomorrow night.

Meadow Green

Traditional, adapted and arranged by Peter and Mary Danzig

Come all you sons of liberty, 
Unto my rhyme give ear;
‘Tis of a bloody massacre 
You presently shall hear. 
On a crisp October morning 
At the Mountain Meadows green. 
By the light of the rising sun
Those Mormon bullets screamed. 

In Indian garb and color 
Those bloody hounds were seen, 
To flock around that little train, 
All on the meadow green.
 When Lee the leader of the band,
His word to them did give, 
That if they would give up their arms
He’d surely let them live.

It was a lie! 

Elias Higbee gave the order 
Mormons, “Do your Duty!” 
As soon as they gave up their arms 
And turned for Cedar city, 
They melted down with one accord, 
Like wax before the flame; 
Both men and women, young and old,
Oh Utah! Were’s they shame?

The women and the children 
All rolling in their gore 
Oh such an awful sight was never seen
In that meadow green before!

Then afterward they tried to clean 
Themselves of all the shame,
Put out the word as best they could
The Indians were to blame. 
On a crisp October morning
In the mountain meadow green 
By the light of rising sun
Those Mormon bullets screamed.

“Men, do your duty!”

Devil'sBoots

Lyrics and Music by Peter Danzig

I was born with cold feet 
Watched others sail while life just passed me by
Always thought that maybe 
My chance would come to catch them by and by 
But then I think about motion sickness 
If I get the move on
I get so worried ‘bout moving right 
I never travel at all. 

I want to wear the Devil’s boots
and dance through the night 
Walk in them for a mile 
Wear the Devil’s boots instead of my own 
And warm my feet for a while. 

Went to church each Sunday 
Did the things I should and paid an honest tithe.
All in hopes that someday 
God would reward me with eternal life.
But what about the life that I’m here missing 
Feels like I can’t catch the ball 
I get so scared of misbehaving 
That I’m not living at all.

I want to wear the Devil’s boots 
And dance through the night 
Walk in them for a mile 
Wear the Devil’s boots instead of my own 
And warm my feet for a while. 

Spent my life so far from the edge
 Afraid of it all. 
All I want is a chance to cut loose 
And the courage…
The courage to face a fall.

I was scared that someday 
I’d look back and see a lonely man 
Then you came and hey 
You stole my heart and took me by the hand 
I still remember how you loved dancing
 And wanted to go to that ball 
I was scared but I made advances 
I finally risked it all! 

I wore the Devil’s boots 
And danced through the night 
Walked in them for a mile 
Wore the Devil’s boots instead of my own
Lived my life with a smile.

Getting Past the Barking

Lyrics and Music by Peter Danzig

I used to know a little dog,
Lived down the street from me 
I saw her every day
As I walked to the city.
She looked half-starved and I wondered once
Why her people didn’t care 
Even in the winter time 
She was always there. 

The first time that I met her
We didn’t hit it off 
She said she didn’t want me there 
And tried to chase me off,
But it happened once that I had some food
And I knew at a glace
She could smell it walking by
Her gaze was so intense. 

A little food, a little love 
Can soften any heart.
Getting past the barking,
That’s the hardest part. 

I fed her for a couple months 
And pretty soon she knew 
If I stepped onto her block 
There’d be a little food. 
It started out with kitchen scraps 
Or things I’d thrown away 
But soon I bought food just for her 
Sometimes I’d stop and play.

A little food, a little love 
Can soften any heart.
Getting past the barking, 
That’s the hardest part.

I was just a lonely boy far from my home, 
She was just a hungry dog in her yard all alone.

A thousand other people 
Must have walked that fence each day 
The little dog just barked at them 
Scared some of them away. 
But abuse cannot remove the soul’s
Capacity for love 
Nor can the ignorance of those 
Who treat their dog so rough. 

A little food, a little love
Can tame the wildest heart. 
Getting past the barking, 
That’s the hardest part.
The hardest disposition
Just needs a little shove. 
Getting past the barking, 
That’s the task of love.

Take The Climb

It was late in the evening one September night when Tyler found out what they’d done
They’d taken a scene from his private life and placed it online just for fun.
Now he didn’t do anything wrong, he’d just fallen in love
Instead of drowning in the Hudson he should have been left to climb high
Should have been left to climb high on the mountain of love

There stand many others alongside of Tyler who have been thoughtlessly shamed
By those who profess that the core of their nature is unnatural, sick, and profane
Now it isn’t really that hard to grab hold of their hand
To walk with them in the valley below and take the climb high
Take the climb high on the mountain of love.

Now I have a message for preachers of hate: I think you may be confused.
The road to salvation’s not paved with rejection, intolerance, or abuse.
So stand down your guard and I’ll do the same
Let’s meet each other in the valley below and take the climb high,
Take the climb high on the mountain of love.

Take the climb high on the mountain of love.
Climb high on love.

Hi Diddle Di

Lyrics and Music by Peter Danzig

I walk down to the liquor store 
Stand outside all day, 
Then I work all night at a deadbeat job, 
But I make it another day,
Make it another day.

Well I can’t go home to my wife and kids, 
She told me to stay,
To stay away from all of them
 ‘till I’m sober a hundred days, 
Sober a hundred days. 

Hi diddle di, diddle um day, 
Hi diddle diddle um day, 
Diddle di diddle dee, diddle um day, 
Diddle um diddle um day. 

Today’s about day fifty-three
And Lord knows that I pray 
To stay away from whisky’s touch 
But I always walk home this way,
I always walk home this way. 

I love my family, love ‘em dear 
And Lord you know I try
To stay away from whisky's fire
But it feels like I’m gonna die
Feels like I’m gonna die 
Feels like I’m gonna…

Hi diddle di, diddle um day…

So I’ll walk down to the liquor store 
May stand outside all day, 
But I’ll work tonight at my deadbeat job
And make it another day
Make it another day 
Oh  I’ll make it another

Hi diddle di, diddle um day…

Morning Has Broken

Traditional: English Lyrics by Elanor Farjeon
Adapted and arranged by Peter and Mary Danzig

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

Sister San Rafael

Lyrics and music by Utah Slim
Adapted and arranged by Peter and Mary Danzig

She lives north of the Henrys, east of the Sevier,
She was born to the desert and wants to take you where
She gets all dressed up in red, wanting you to kiss and tell
Everyone who comes around her loves the San Rafael.

You should see her in the morning, when the color sparks your eye
She’s been known to leave one breathless and smitten by the sight
Oh the painting on her face is like to put you in a spell
Well now you’ve got some feeling for my sister San Rafael

Chorus :
The writing on her canyon walls if spoken just might say
This life is your temple live or die by its way
Oh you big boys and you big oil are fixing up to drill,
Would you not put a stop to the rape of a girl?

Everybody nowdays needs a tank full that’s for sure
She’s sitting on a week’s worth, maybe a little more
Oh our brains have got it backwards if for this we would despoil
All the beauty and the wonder of my sister San Rafael.

Chorus:

We have no sense of beauty much less gratitude for grace
Which keeps this warm blooded planet alive in endless space
Some kill anything for money don’t you care if her kind fail
This here and now is all we’ve got and my sister’s not for sale.

Chorus:

The Times They are a Changin'

Lyrics and Music by Bob Dylan
Adapted and arranged by Peter and Mary Danzig

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

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