Compass (2013)

Track List:

1. Compass

2. Water is Wide

3. The Landing

4. Solid Ground (by Dougie MacLean)

5. Guinevere

6. Call and the Answer (by Phil Colclough)

7. Fairy Dance Jig

8. The Whistling Gypsy Rover

9. A Song for Lark (feat. Ruth Vanden Bos)

10. Feast of the Elven King

11. Danny Boy

12. Flying Sails

 1. Compass (W. Gothard)

Greta Gothard: guitar, electric guitar, bass, keys, drums, hand claps
Willow Gothard: violin, mandolin, hand claps
Solana Gothard: violin, shaker

The beginning of a journey. This tune was written for dancers and arranged to feel like you’re setting sail on an epic adventure. It had several other names, including being called “voyager reel” for a while, but when we settled on Compass it all made sense and ended up being the name of the album. 

 2. Water is Wide (Traditional English, arr. G. Gothard)

Greta Gothard: guitar, cajon, djembe, bongos, bass, violin, vocals
Willow Gothard: octave mandolin, violin, vocals
Solana Gothard: vocals, backing vocals

Water is Wide describes unrequited love, as the woman laments the fact that she loves someone who will never love her back. We wanted to do a “Gothard Sisters version” of this beautiful traditional love song. Greta took on the challenge and found the key with the repetitive guitar groove at the beginning that gave it a very rhythmic, expressive feel. She added several violins playing together in an almost classical style, then Solana added distant vocals until we felt we’d created something quite atmospheric and new. 

Verse 1
The water is wide, I cannot cross o’er / And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two / And both shall row, my love and I
A ship there is, and she sails the sea / She’s loaded deep, as deep can be
But not so deep as the love I’m in / I know not if I’ll sink or swim

Verse 2
O love is handsome, and love is fine / the sweetest jewel, when first it’s new
But love grows old and waxes cold / and fades away like morning dew
Must I go bound, while you go free / must I love a man who does not love me
Must I be born with so little art / as to love a man who’ll break my heart

Verse 3
The water is wide, I can’t cross o’er / and neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two / and both shall row, my love and I
And both shall row, my love and I

 3. The Landing (W. Gothard, Traditional)

(Tunes: The Landing / The Contradiction)

Greta Gothard: fiddle, guitar, hand claps
Willow Gothard: cajon, fiddle, dance taps, bodhran, bass, hand claps
Solana Gothard: fiddle, dance taps, percussion, hand claps

A peppy tune about coming ashore after a long sea voyage, Willow wrote the first tune in this set and paired it with a traditional reel, the contradiction. The middle felt like it was missing something, so out came the Irish dancing! 

 4. Solid Ground (Dougie MacLean, arr. Gothard Sisters)

(Tunes: Cat in a Bush / Stealth)

Greta Gothard: guitar, keys, vocals, bass
Willow Gothard: vocals, lead violin
Solana Gothard: vocal, percussion, cajon, octave violin
Darin Watkins: drums

Solid Ground is a wonderful song by Dougie MacLean, a Scottish songwriter and musician who we’ve always admired. It’s a song about remembering the wisdom of am older generation that was more connected to the land and the things that are the most important. We loved the message and have arranged the song in a new (perhaps slightly more urgent) way. 

Verse 1
Where is the honest truth, where is the open soul, where is the simple smile?
A friendly word or two for the passing stranger who may rest a while

Verse 2
Across the Arlick face the amber sun beats down upon the vivid green
I hear it wide and loud, feel it wild and proud the way it’s always been

Pre Chorus
My fathers they have walked this road, and now I know, yes didn’t they know?
There is no great and heavy load, and now I know, yes didn’t they know?

CHORUS
Fa-la la la la 
We stand on solid ground, on solid ground
Fa-la la la la 
We stand on solid ground, on solid ground

Pre Chorus
My fathers they have looked this way, and now I know, yes didn’t they know?
No clever words we have to say, and now I know, yes didn’t they know?

CHORUS

Violin Solo

Bridge
It’s the land, it is our wisdom
It’s the land, it sees us through
It’s the land, it feeds our children
It’s the land - you cannot own the land
the land owns you

Verse 1 (refrain)
Where is the honest truth, where is the open soul, where is the simple smile?
A friendly word or two for the passing stranger who may rest a while

Pre Chorus
My fathers they have said these things, and now I know, yes didn’t they know?
The joy that shared friendship brings, and now I know, yes didn’t they know?

CHORUS
CHORUS

 5. Guinevere (Traditional, arr. Gothard Sisters)

Greta Gothard: violin, guitar, bass, bells, djembe, cajon, keys
Willow Gothard: octave mandolin, bodhran
Solana Gothard: whistle, octave violin, percussion

A tune set that is distinctly medieval, this one came from a slip jig Greta wrote that sounded distinctly ancient. It is then combined with a more recently (relatively) slip jig from Ireland. Adding whistles and mandolins and percussions give it the atmosphere of being in a courtly wood in the 1400s.

 6. Call and the Answer (Phil and June Colclough, arr. Gothard Sisters)

Greta Gothard: guitar, bass, violin, vocals
Willow Gothard: octave mandolin, violin, vocals
Solana Gothard: cajon, vocals, violin

Written by husband and wife Phil and June Colclough. We heard this song and instantly found it to be such a wonderful expression of love that also used lovely nature imagery that we decided to cover it on Compass. Using a guitar and octave mandolin duet and soft strings and choirs, the goal was to create something which feels warm and cozy and held, like the deep affection the song describes. 

Verse 1
You called and I ran / wild as the wind which rolls across the moor
All we need is each other / with the eagles we will soar

CHORUS
You are the call, I am the answer
You are the wish and I am the way
You the music, I the dancer
You are the night and I am the day

Verse 2
You and I, we’re like two rivers / run and fall down to the sea
When we meet, we’re lost forever / lost forever, you and me

CHORUS

Verse 3
Lay your head upon my pillow / let your heart and beat close to me
With no past and no tomorrow / two hearts lost in space and time

CHORUS

 7. Fairy Dance Jig (W. Gothard)

Greta Gothard: guitar, cajon, violin, bass
Willow Gothard: violin, mandolin, bodhran
Solana Gothard: violin, percussion

A light and airy set of jigs written by Willow. This short tune was originally written for dancers. Using fiddle, guitar and bodhran, the mandolins set off on a lively romp that reminded us of fairies dancing among the trees. 

 8. The Whistling Gypsy Rover (Traditional Folk, arr. Gothard Sisters)

Greta Gothard: guitar, bass, cajon, keys, vocals
Willow Gothard: violin
Solana Gothard: vocals, violin, whistle

This is a traditional folk song that our mother used to sing as a lullaby. The trouble was that it was such a lovely song that we wouldn’t actually fall asleep - we’d stay awake and listen instead. Our version is quite a bit more theatrical than the original. The words tell a story that sounds like a Disney princess movie, so we added a chorus and a string orchestra to turn it into a fairytale love story. 

Verse 1
A whistling gypsy came over the hill 
Down through the valley so shady
He whistled and he sang ’til the green woods rang
And he won the heart of a lady

Verse 2
She left her father’s castle gate
She left her handsome young lover
She left her servants and her estate
To follow the gypsy rover

CHORUS
When the whistling gypsy sings
When the whistling gypsy plays
When the whistling gypsy sings
I’ll run away

Verse 3
Her father mounted his fastest steed
To search the valleys all over
He searched for his daughter with great speed
And the whistling gypsy rover

Verse 4
He came upon a castle fine
Down by the river so shady
And there was music and there was wine
For the gypsy and his lady

CHORUS

Verse 5
He is no gypsy my father, she said
But lord of all these lands over
With him I’ll stay ’til my dying day
In love with the gypsy rover

 9. A Song for Lark (G. Gothard, W. Gothard, S. Gothard)

Greta Gothard: guitar, violin, bass, keys
Willow Gothard: mandolin, violin
Solana Gothard: violin
Ruth Vanden Bos: piano, violin

A song written for our mother and a collaboration with pianist and violinist Ruth Vanden Bos. This one describes the beautiful flight of a morning lark and also our family ties, harkening back to our classical roots in music. Ruth joined us on piano and also on the string parts. 

 10. Feast of the Elven King (G. Gothard, W. Gothard, S. Gothard)

Greta Gothard: guitar, bass, harpsichord, violin
Willow Gothard: mandolin, violin
Solana Gothard: bodhran, percussion, bongos, hand claps
Darin Watkins: drums

Come one, come all to a medieval faire in the forest! For all the Lord of the Rings fans out there - these tunes describe the atmosphere of a hobbit party or a romp through the forest. We named the set the “Feast of the Elven King” after a chapter in the Hobbit. Willow wrote the fiddle tunes as a challenge to see if Greta could play them. However, the joke’s on her because now she has to play it at shows. 

 12. Flying Sails (W. Gothard)

Greta Gothard: guitar, bass, keys, violin
Willow Gothard: violin
Solana Gothard: bodhran, percussion, violin

A tune about a rare sunny day in the Pacific Northwest. When the sun comes out everyone heads out onto puget sound in their boats and it’s a beautiful sight to see all the sails fluttering in the wind. This tune set actually began as a serious, minor reel. But Greta accidentally played major chords and it stuck. Perhaps that’s why this tune set has a poignant feel to it. 

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