The Crooked Road CD Launch-Hugh’s Room Nov.16
Porkbelly Futures will be celebrating the release of their 3rd. CD “The Crooked Road” at Hugh’s Room on Tues. Nov.16. After 3 weeks on the road in the western provinces we’re back and ready to party. Please join us!
For tickets and reservations call Hugh’s Room 416 531 6604 or www.hughsroom.com
The Crooked Road
The Crooked Road CD/Tour Official Press Release
NEW CD RELEASED ON CORDOVA BAY RECORDS OCTOBER 19th!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/porkbellyfutures/ (PHOTOS)
September 27, 2010 (Victoria, BC) – Cordova Bay Records is pleased to announce the release of Porkbelly Futures’ 3rd CD – The Crooked Road.
From folk to blues, country to rock, The Crooked Road once again gives listeners the music that is uniquely Porkbelly Futures. With a fall tour (whose routing mirrors the CD’s name) beginning October 12th in Regina, the group begins a new chapter.
Followers of Porkbelly Futures will know that this recording was not destined to fall into place like the two that had come before it. In January of this year the group lost their lead singer and founding member – author, musician, filmmaker and playwright – Paul Quarrington
Paul’s joie de vivre, silenced by lung cancer, can be found in corners and pockets of the recording, but at the core lives the heart and soul of each member. The Crooked Road is a CD that speaks to optimism and resilience and an acknowledgement that nothing was meant to stay the same.
With the vocal roles now taken on by Martin Worthy and Rebecca Campbell, many of the tracks were co-written by Paul, alongside his longtime friend Martin.
“I Ain’t Leavin (‘Til The Wine is Gone)” was Paul’s answer to his diagnosis, as he returned to the house on that fateful day with several bottles of fine wine – there would be, he said, “no more cheap wine”!
“Crazy Rain”, penned by Worthy is about a year of firsts – specifically the first time he imagined going fishing without Paul – a pastime they loved. Quarrington called fishing ‘an act of faith’ – you could not be a pessimist and be a fisherman – very much a metaphor for how Paul lived his life.
The title track, was the last song Worthy and Quarrington would work on together, but not in the usual way. As Paul was getting near the end, he and Martin talked about “The Crooked Road”. Martin felt he had the body of the song completed, but it needed Paul to come in with a fourth verse and tie it together, which had always been his special talent. When Paul heard the song however, he talked it through with Martin – he didn’t actually write the fourth verse but rather told him how to close it out. It was classic Quarrington – to stand back – take it in – and offer up an observation that once stated was seemingly so obvious you would wonder how you missed it.
And so “The Crooked Road” leads Porkbelly Futures into the next decade with their trademark sound, their love for playing live and their ever present muse quietly guiding the way.
TOUR DATES:
October 12 - Regina, SK - The Cultural Exchange www.culturalexchange.ca
October 13 – Lethbridge, AB – The Slice www.theslice.ca
October 14 – Twin Butte, AB – Twin Butte General Store and Mexican Restaurant www.twinbuttestore.ca
October 15 - Bragg Creek, AB - The PowderHorn Saloon www.powderhornsaloon.ca
October 16 - Banff, AB - Margaret Greenham Theatre – Celebrate Paul Quarrington (Banff Centre) www.wordfest.com
October 18 - Kelowna, BC - Minstrel Cafe and Bar www.minstrelcafe.com
October 20 - Denman Village, BC - The Back Hall www.artsdenman.com/venues/community-hall
October 21 - Duncan, BC - Duncan Garage Showroom www.duncangarageshowroom.ca
October 22 - Vancouver, BC - Granville Island/Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/porkbelly
October 23 - Victoria, BC - Hermann’s Jazz Club www.hermannsjazz.com
October 26 - Calgary, AB - The Ironwood Stage and Grill www.ironwoodstage.ca
October 27 - Edmonton, AB - The Blue Chair www.bluechair.ca
October 29 - Winnipeg, MB - Park Theatre & Movie Cafe www.parktheatervideo.com/cafe
October 30 - Brandon, MB - The Music Studio (204-728-7993)
November 16 - Toronto, ON - Hugh’s Room www.hughsroom.com
November 27 - London, ON - The London Music Club www.londonmusicclub.150com.com
FOR INTERVIEWS PLEASE CONTACT: Marlene Palmer/Palmer Publicity Ink, Ltd – 250-590-6261 marlenepalmer@shaw.ca
CORDOVA BAY ENTERTAINMENT CONTACT: Jocelyn Greenwood – 250-361-1444 jocelyn@cordovabay.com
Related show
Porkbelly Futures talk about The Crooked Road
In anticipation of the new CD release from Cordova bay Records, Porkbelly Futures band member Martin Worthy provides fans with a few “behind the songs” anecdotes about some of the tracks. Watch the website here for music excerpts!
Porkbelly Futures The Crooked Road CD cover art
Coppertown
In my early years, I had occasion to live in a few small towns. Before the internet connected everyone everywhere, it was possible to live in a place where the world seemed to whizz past and around you. A place where there were no pressing problems and the tribulations of the inhabitants might seem so trivial that even God would give them a miss. Folks seemed to want to live there in order to “give their dreams a rest…” and get out of the fray.
BooCatDo
I had the music idea for this song for quite a while. However, given the weight of the past year’s events, I couldn’t seem to find a lyric idea that was upbeat and fun. I looked out the window and saw my neighbour’s cat “Boo” lolling, carefree in the sun on the grass. I thought “I wish I could be just like him…”
Judgement Day
When Paul and I first got together to write songs in 1972, we wanted to be one of the few local singer songwriter teams to play entirely our own repertoire. He would come to my place, late in the morning and each day we’d write a song. We did that for around 2 years. The good songs would stick, the others would fade. I found this lyric but neither Paul or myself could remember the music, so I wrote new music and added a few more lyrics. Again Rebecca sings the hell out of this one. The song’s about consequences. Somehow it seemed apt.
The Crooked Road
This is last song Paul and I collaborated on. We talked, late at night about a song like this. A song that seems like it has always been there. Something that’s at once new, yet familiar. I said I had an idea for a song called “The Crooked Road”. Time was running short for Paul, so the thinking was that I would begin the song, get it close and he’d wade in to finish it. When I played it for him, he wondered what I thought he should add. I said I thought it needed a fourth verse to tie it together and close it out. ( his specialty) His feeling was that, at this point, the song had a “nice open ended sense of closure. If that’s at all possible.” He could write a fourth verse but it would take the song to a place where one would have to write a lot more to get it back to where it is now. “Why don’t you just take the first line and sing it again at the end? You’re done.” Despite the fact he didn’t actually write any of the content in this song, I share the credit with him because he helped shape the notion and spirit of it. And if he hadn’t pointed the way, I might still be writing it.
The Crooked Road will be released in October 2010 – to pre-order online, visit Cordova Bay Records website here.
Crooked Road Song Notes – It Deals With You
Porkbelly Futures photo by Lance Gifford
Paul was inspired to write this song after watching a game show in which the contestants must stand with their hand on a brand new pick-up truck. After hours and sometimes days, the last person standing with their hand on the truck, would win it. At some point early in the game, one fellow dropped out. When asked why, he said that he turned to the person next to him and saw the devil staring back. “When you look at someone and the devil is staring you in the face, it deals with you!!”
IT DEALS WITH YOU LYRICS
The law had me on the run
So I’d gone into hiding
I was out on the bum
Down by the railway sidings
I was makin’ the measure of a southbound train
I had my fill of pleasure, i had my fill of pain
When nothin’ works out like you want it to…
It deals with you
I was down by the river
Where the cool waters flow
I was hungry and shiverin’
I had no place to go
I took the rivers’ direction
I did not trust the wind
I was lead to reflection on the nature of sin
When the lord tells you ten things that you shall not do…
It deals with you….it deals with you
It deals with you….it deals with you
I was down in the valley
Where the devil met the christ
Both had asked for a talley
Of my virtues and vice
I was had a loved one but i had one no more
All the things that i have done, wore upon me like sores
You know that eternity is overdue
It deals with you…it deals with you…
It deals with you…it deals with you…
CREDITS
Composer – P.Quarrington
Publisher – Cordova Bay Music Publishing- Pork Belly Music
Martin Worthy-Lead Vocal-Drums
Rebecca Campbell-Harmony Vocal-Ac.Guitar
Stuart Laughton-Slide Guitar-Harmony Vocals
Teddy Leonard-Elec. Guitars
Chas Elliott-Bass Guitar
Megan Worthy-Harmony Vocals
Performed on the CD The Crooked Road released by Cordova Bay Records (Oct 19, 2010)
(Pre) Purchase THE CROOKED ROAD CD from Cordova Bay now!
Crooked Road Song Notes – The Difference You Make
Porkbelly Futures Rebecca Campbell Recording in Creemore
I was determined to have a few Q/W songs on this album. So I wrote this song with a view to collaborate with Paul. I played it for him and asked him to write a lyric for the second verse. We were in the studio doing a demo of it. It took him 5 minutes….and it’s the best verse. Rebecca sings this song so well!
Listen to an excerpt of the song >> The Difference You Make (Excerpt)
Performed on the CD The Crooked Road released by Cordova Bay Records (Oct 19, 2010)
THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE
Composers – P. Quarrington-M.Worthy
Publisher – Cordova Bay Music Publishing- Pork Belly Music
Rebecca Campbell-Lead Vocal- Ac. Guitar- Percussion
Stuart Laughton-Pedal Steel-Harmony Vocals
Martin Worthy-Drums-Harmony Vocals
Chas Elliott-Bass Guitar
Teddy Leonard-Elec. Guitar
Chris Brown-Hammond Organ
LYRICS
Funny how the rain comes every time you go
First I’m standing in the sunshine
Then I’m standing in the shadow
Of a cloud that seems to follow me
It’s one I’ve come to know
The temperature’s falling
And the wind, it blows…
And when it blows I bend and bend
Til I feel that I might break
Oh you don’t know
The difference you make
Funny how the sun goes down
And disappears from sight
First I’m standing in the sunlight
Then I’m underneath the streetlight
The skies so full of shadows and clouds
It can’t even hold the moon
Morning ain’t arriving
Any time soon
And when it does I bend and bend
Til I feel that I might break
You don’t know
The difference you make
And when the storm is raging round my door
And the ground begins to shake
You don’t know
The difference you make
Oh, I don’t need to know that you’re here beside me
It’s enough to know that you’re somewhere out there
And when it blows I bend…
(Pre) Purchase THE CROOKED ROAD CD from Cordova Bay now!
Crooked Road Song Notes – Crazy Rain
Crazy Rain
This next year will be a year of “firsts”. This song imagines myself up north on a perfect summer’s evening, fishing for the first time, forever without my friend. I tried to invest it with meaning without being too maudlin. Paul said that he thought it was impossible to cast your line into the water and be a pessimist. “It’s an act of faith.” For me, fishing is a metaphor for how Paul lived.
CRAZY RAIN
Performed on the CD The Crooked Road released by Cordova Bay Records (Oct 19, 2010)
Martin Worthy-Lead Vocal-Drums
Rebecca Campbell-Harmony Vocal
Stuart Laughton-Pedal Steel-Harmony Vocals Teddy Leonard-Elec. Guitar Chas Elliott-Bass Guitar Chris Brown-Hammond Organ
Composer – M.Worthy
Publisher – Cordova Bay Music Publishing- Pork Belly Music
LYRICS
Verse:
A perfect day sittin’ by the river
the sky’s a sea of blue
A gentle breeze blows across the water
I feel the ghost of you
The glory of creation is laying out in all it’s grace
But there’s this crazy rain
Runnin’ down my face
Verse:
I cast my line out into the water
Just like we used to do
An act of faith, that’s what you said
Can’t help but think of you
The sun in splendor sinking down
All that’s fine and good is in it’s place
But there’s this crazy rain
Runnin’ down my face, down my face
Bridge:
What’s gone is gone, what’s done is done
That’s some folks point of view
But when you think you’re done with the past
It’s not done with you
Verse:
Twilight falls along the shore
The stars they spark and wink
I’ll just sit a little more
And think and think and think
About the mystery of creation
How the days can disappear without a trace
‘Cept for this crazy rain, still this crazy rain, oh this crazy rain
(Pre) Purchase the CD from Cordova Bay now!
Crooked Road Song Notes – Can’t Find My Way
Martin Worthy
For the longest time after his divorce, every song Paul wrote was about the dissolution of his marriage. Only Paul could write such a happy sounding song about being so sad…
Listen to an excerpt from the song >> Can’t Find My Way Back (Excerpt)
CAN’T FIND MY WAY – LYRICS
Sitting in a bar, drinking in a bar
Wondering how the hell you are
My new best friends have all gone home
But that’s okay, I kinda want to be alone.
I can’t find my way back to you
Doesn’t seem to be nothin’ I can do
A hundred lies would all have to be true
And I can’t find my way back to you
Driving in a car, tryin’ to see how far I can go
On a single tank and a cheap cigar
Every town I pass looks a lot like my home
Feel like I’m livin’ in the twilight zone
I can’t find my way….
I’m in an old hotel, I like old hotels
Despite the way they look and the way they smell
Tomorrow may bring a small shaft of light
But if it doesn’t, ah hell that’s alright
I can’t find my way………
CREDITS
Composer – P.Quarrington
Publisher – Cordova Bay Music Publishing- Pork Belly Music
Martin Worthy-Lead Vocal-Drums
Rebecca Campbell-Harmony Vocal-Ac.Guitar
Stuart Laughton-Pedal Steel-Harmony Vocals
Teddy Leonard-Elec. Guitars Chas Elliott-Bass Guitar
Chris Brown-Hammond Organ
Megan Worthy-Harmony Vocals
Performed on the CD The Crooked Road released by Cordova Bay Records (Oct 19, 2010)
(Pre) Purchase THE CROOKED ROAD CD from Cordova Bay now!
Crooked Road Song Notes – Nothing Costs a Nickel
Stuart Laughton and Porkbelly Futures during summer recording sessions in Creemore, ON July 2010
Like a lot of stuff Paul wrote, he would come at things from an oblique angle. This is about feeling like an anachronism. He was also determined to use the word “bull….” in every verse. He quietly produced this little gem at a rehearsal 2 years ago and it’s been a mainstay of the PBF set list ever since.
Crooked Road Song Notes – I Ain’t Leavin’ (Til the Wine’s All Gone)
Paul Quarrington Tribute April 2010 Photo by Mark Tearle
After receiving his diagnosis, Paul and I drove home from the doctor’s in stunned silence. We sat in the back yard for a while and soon after, he vanished for a couple of hours. Just as I was getting concerned, he reappeared holding two very large bags with many bottles of Chateau Neuf, Amarone etc. He looked at me and said “No more cheap wine!!” This was written as the finale for his tribute this spring at The Opera House.
Listen to an excerpt of the song >> I Ain’t Leavin ‘Til the Wine’s All Gone (Excerpt)
I AIN’T LEAVIN’ (‘TIL THE WINE IS ALL GONE)
Performed on The Crooked Road CD released by Cordova Bay Records (Oct 19, 2010)
Composer – M.Worthy
Publisher – Cordova Bay Music Publishing- Pork Belly Music
Martin Worthy-Lead Vocal-Drums
Rebecca Campbell-Harmony Vocal-Percussion
Stuart Laughton-Slide Guitar-Harmony Vocals
Teddy Leonard-Elec. Guitar
Chas Elliott-Bass Guitar
Chris Brown-Hammond Organ
Megan Worthy-Harmony Vocals
LYRICS
I had a friend and he used to say
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
Seems like he told me just the other day
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
When the wine’s all gone, we’ll just open another
Keep the party rockin’ ‘til four
I think it’s high time, for drinkin’ only fine wine
Just promise me there’ll always will be more…..
You’d better be believing, this be no time for grieving
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
I ain’t gonna stop ‘til I’ve drunk the last drop
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
When the wine’s all gone, there’ll be a space at the table
An empty glass by the door
A few steps to the gate
And as it’s still swingin’ you might hear me singin’ for more
Pay no attention at all to that clock on the wall
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
The best epitaph is to hear you all laugh
I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the wine is all gone
When the wine’s all gone, we’ll just go to my neighbour
And we’ll knock knock knock knock knock on his door
We’ll tell the fella, (we’re) gonna raid his cellar
Then we’ll come back to mine and we’ll pour, more, more, more…..