As I write, the physical CDs for my third solo album are still somewhere in the parallel universe that Parcelforce occupies, having apparently arrived at the Edinburgh Depot at 6.30 a.m. yesterday, and hung around there ever since. Frustrating when I’ve a gig to get them to!

Anyhoo, I’m very excited to say the album (actually a double, or at least over two CDs) exists, virtually and, in that parallel dimension, physically. It features a lot of my friends on various tracks. This means a lot to me. Without sounding too aw shucks about it, I still consider myself a newbie to the music scene, so it’s a buzz for me that bandmates and others – all of them my heroes in their own particular ways – want to contribute to an individual project like this. So, since there wasn’t room to put the full credits on the album cover, here’s the list of personnel and what they played in full:

Andrew C Ferguson: vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, harmonica, kantele

Mountain View – Norman Lamont, bass

The Stand – Mark Allan, bass

Prufrock’s Revenge – Norman Lamont, electric guitar

Last Call – Norman Lamont, keyboards, production

Roy Orbison – Jeff Sniper, electric guitar

Another Eden – Norman Lamont, production

Camouflage – Gerry Callaghan, production

Clara Said, Yesterday – Gerry Callaghan, production

Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – Mark Allan, bass, electric guitar

Winter That The Snow Fell – Emma Gow, vocals; Graham Crawford, production

Speed Trap Town – Emma Gow, vocals; Graham Crawford, production.

There were also a couple of Freesound samples, and thanks to the Freesound community for being there:

Police Radio Chatter on Speed Trap Town courtesy of https://freesound.org/people/Guardian2433/sounds/320351/

Thrush Nightingale on Another Eden courtesy of https://freesound.org/people/genghis%20attenborough/sounds/36152/

There are 18 songs in all: 16 of them my own, and one each from Bob Dylan and Jason Isbell. I’ve posted about most of them already (and if you want to check back and hear if the final track was any different, I’ve updated the previous posts with the album versions) so I’ll mention just a couple:

Camouflage was recorded live at the Bridge of Orchy songwriting weekend a year past May. Set up in the main room, some of us did a live session, engineered and overseen by Gerry Callaghan. It’s not perfect, because I muff a line, but Gerry’s production is so good I wanted to include it anyway. I’ve learned a lot about production from Gerry and Norman especially over the last year.

Despite the Dylan cover, I spend most of my time in my songwriting trying to avoid sounding Dylanesque. However, I read a review recently about a band called Wave Pictures, and how one track was the main songwriter’s ‘Desolation Row,’ and I thought, yeah. Everyone should write their own ‘Desolation Row,’ just once. So that’s Bus Stop.

If you like what you hear, and you still believe in physical manifestations of music like CDs, I’d be delighted to send you one for free. All I ask is that you consider making a donation to Glenrothes Foodbank.

Just as soon as the CDs physically manifest out of that parallel dimension, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just adverts down here good buddy. You don’t need any of it