Grus Americanus (Album)

by Stephaniesid

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  • Compact Disc

    High-quality digipak CD with original artwork by John Payne and Jenny Greer.

    Includes immediate download of 11-track album in your choice of high-quality MP3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

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  • Digital Album

    Immediate download of 11-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

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1.
03:39
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2.
03:17
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3.
03:24
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4.
03:31
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5.
04:34
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6.
04:18
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7.
04:03
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8.
04:02
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9.
04:54
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10.
06:07
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11.
06:46
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about

"The awareness of the process of becoming alive in the world and surviving to continue to grow as a species rings persistently through these songs inspired by the plight of the endangered Whooping Crane (Grus Americana)." --Brother Wayword

credits

released 15 September 2007
All lyrics by Stephanie Morgan except “Just Wanna Show Ya” (lyrics by Stephanie Morgan and Vic Stafford)

Wash Us Down With Sea Saline (S. Morgan, C. Lichtenberger, H. Childress)
vox: S. Morgan; piano: Chuck Lichtenberger; bass: Rob Geisler; drums: V. Stafford; guitar: Michael Libramento; chimes, vibraphone, & bells: Matthew Richmond; bowed upright bass: Mike Alexander; backing vox: Sarah McDonald

Blue (S. Morgan, C. Lichtenberger)
vox: S. Morgan; Wurlitzer: C. Lichtenberger; bass: R. Geisler; drums: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; guitar: Holiday Childress; cello: M. Alexander

Unmistakably Love (S. Morgan V. Stafford, C. Lichtenberger)
vox: S. Morgan; keyboard, piano, Moog: C. Lichtenberger; drums, Moog, bass, Mellotron, keyboards, drum programming: V. Stafford

Cindy (S. Morgan, C. Lichtenberger)
vox: S. Morgan; organ, keyboard, addl. vox: C. Lichtenberger; bass & addl. vox: R. Geisler; drums: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; guitar: H. Childress; addl. vox: M. Alexander

Hey Hey Hey (It’s Gonna Be OK) (S. Morgan, C. Lichtenberger, H. Childress)
vox: S. Morgan feat. Woody Wood; Fender Rhodes: C. Lichtenberger; bass: R. Geisler; drums: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; backing and addl. vox: Sarah McDonald, Jenny Greer, Mary Ellen Bush, Mike Morel, Julian Dreyer, (intern)

Cold Cold (S. Morgan)
vox: S. Morgan; piano & addl. vox: C. Lichtenberger; bass: R. Geisler; drums, Moog, B3: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; guitar: H. Childress; cello: M. Alexander; vibraphone, chimes: M. Richmond; addl. vox: Mike Morel, Julian Dreyer

Aeroplanes (S. Morgan, C. Lichtenberger)
vox: S. Morgan; piano, Fender Rhodes: C. Lichtenberger; bass: R. Geisler; drums: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; flugelhorn: R. Willey; euphonium: Dave Wilken; clarinet: Aimee Sullivan; chimes, triangle, & vibraphone: M. Richmond

Ozone (S. Morgan, C. Lichtenberger)
vox: S. Morgan feat. S. McDonald; Fender Rhodes: C. Lichtenberger; bass: R. Geisler; drums: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; guitar: H. Childress

Quite Enough (S. Morgan, C. Lichtenberger, R. Geisler)
vox: S. Morgan; Wurlitzer: C. Lichtenberger; bass: R. Geisler; drums: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; guitar: James Salter; guitar: H. Childress; guitar: Nathan Hughes; harp: Michelle Bonn; addl. vox: S. McDonald

Just Wanna Show Ya (S. Morgan, V. Stafford, C. Lichtenberger)
vox: S. Morgan; Wurlitzer, Moog: C. Lichtenberger; bass: R. Geisler; drums & Moog: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; cello & upright bass: M. Alexander

Bounce (S. Morgan, C. Lichtenberger)
vox: S. Morgan; Wurlitzer: C. Lichtenberger; bass: R. Geisler; drums: V. Stafford; guitar: M. Libramento; guitar: H. Childress; vibes & chimes: M. Richmond; harp: M. Bonn

Engineered, Produced, and Mixed by Vic Stafford
Additional Engineering by Russ Fowler and Julian Dreyer
Bird on cover: Whooping Crane, 2007, John Payne
See more of John Payne’s captivating raptor marionettes at www.paynestudios.com
Jacket design and layout: Jenny Greer of Sound Mind Media www.soundmindmedia.net
Learn more about the endangered Whooping Crane (Grus americana): www.savingcranes.org
A percentage of sales from this record goes to the support of the International Crane Foundation.

Stephanie thanks Chuck for unconditional love and beautiful music, everyone who lent their talents to this record, Vickie Stickie for big ears and tireless (and tireful) hours, Rob for challenging points of view and making me feel like a rockstar, Michel for being ma belle (aww…), John Payne for warming up to the idea and giving the world that intensely beautiful crane, Sarah for the grace of her voice, Woody for the old soul, Jenny for your curiosity and aesthetic vision, Mike for the invaluable historical perspective, a certain phone call, and hearing just the right part, Matthew for celestial talent and that deep understanding, Mary Ellen, Mike M., and Julian for bustin’ through the ceiling and bringing it into focus: “We got somethin’ here.”

tags

tags: grus americana grus americanus rock stephanie's id stephaniesid indie pop indie rock pop-noir Asheville

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about

Stephaniesid is a smart rock/pop-noir band made up of jazz players with a penchant for pop hooks. Stephanie Morgan (vox/guitar) is equal parts smoke, teenaged boy, cabaret coquette, and “Bjorklike panache” (-- Bonnaroo Beacon). Chuck Lichtenberger (keyboards) is a seasoned jazzer. Tim Haney (drums) is a loud-proud rocker. Songs are emotionally charged and beauty-seeking. ... more

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Track Name: Wash Us Down with Sea Saline
Sunset on water; the tiny particles hold it there. Say, "It's only natural... everything comes from somewhere." I stare at these grains, and think them into heat-seeking missiles... crafted in our sleep! I pray to the masses: keep us clean; wash us down with sea saline.
Track Name: Blue
Blue
He’s been out there a long time (a good swimmer, a good fisherman). He’s forty fathoms above the ocean floor. Changed his mind about the wife, the daughter… kissed them and just walked out the back door. Knows what to name that fishing boat… the SS Heartache! Says, “We can’t even see the coast, for god’s sake.” (But all those boys keep singing,…) “Better late than never to know. Better wise than to just grow old. Better to be smarter than the Average Joe.”
Track Name: Unmistakably Love
Unmistakably Love
The girls, they all like swimming together, in the scrumptious snowbird sea. I’m flying above, a visitor… this place is just too cold for me. And one by one and altogether they file beneath the pull… lusciously beautiful, unmistakably love. And when the women’s trumpet sounds, when they make their rounds, all their heads turn ‘round (it’s something we understand)… and though it’s nothing we’ve all heard, it’s brutally just beautiful. And one by one and altogether they file beneath the pull….
Track Name: Cindy
Cindy
Cindy was a singing queen; wrote the songs and everything… traveled ‘cross the world, and she would write me. Met up with a handsome man, led her straight to Jesusland, kept her safe from devils and lightning. Now she got promises to keep… ‘nough to commandeer the sleep… ring-a-rough and slingin’ tough. It’s dirty stuff… it’s just enough to keep her home, keep her low (to deny what’s inside)… Can’t be heard! Locked up bird! (Fly high baby, fly high!) “Cindy, send me a letter saying you’re not home… if you ain’t got time to write, then you can call me on the telephone. If it suits your fancy, bring the Good Book and the family stone… but Cindy, give me something, baby, throw me a bone.” You can take a human brain; poke it with most anything… blame it on somebody else. What the hell we doin’ to our lovely daughters? Free their minds. Shine the light so they can shine. Show them how to live a life (mother, daughter, sister, wife)….
Track Name: Hey Hey Hey (It's Gonna Be OK)
Hey Hey Hey (It’s Gonna Be OK)
Lately I’m the one who’s got the answers all wrapped up inside a pretty bow. I wear it on my head, I tie it in my hair, and I go dancing in a green meadow! And when I get that feeling, I wanna bust through the ceiling, ‘cause I got what makes the lovely flowers grow… But you make yourself a liar when you cling to something higher. It’s gonna stop you if you won’t let it go. Sometimes I hit a wall and I fall and I can’t stand up and somebody says, “Hey, it’s gonna be ok.” We got somethin’ here. There’s somethin’ here.
Track Name: Cold Cold
Cold Cold
There’s a fly stuck on the wall down in the hall (she sees it; she knows about everything… the throwing the pillow and all of the mess…it’s not my best, but I swear I can do better). Itchy-gitchy ya-ya-ya, gonna get in the car, gonna make ya proud just to be around a superstar! I put down the top. I drive the car. To the left, to the right (stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight). You can never take a frown and turn it up (I always take a frown and turn it up). I’m your happy-happy-joy-joy girl, but if you got a minute (while I fly down the open road)… I tell you gotta lighten the load, ‘cause we’re headed for a cold cold side of the road. One look in the mouth of a horse made of gold brings you down like that mound of a mountain we hold. I’ll be running out one day now. Gonna tear it up one day now. “Is it tough making enough love?” Yeah, it’s rough, people. You gotta sleep some. I’ve been an insomniac… I know the way to suck problems like a minivac (Oh fuck. There’s a fly stuck on the wall down in the hall… says we’re headed for a cold cold side of the road). Smile to the left, lurch to the right (stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight). Oh, my love… you’d better get out… and find yourself another ride.
Track Name: Aeroplanes
Aeroplanes
The hot window stares out into the air where the airplanes leave Atlanta thru the brown into blue. The coffee I didn’t need grows cold because it’s given up, and now sits in sympathetic disapproval there, on my knee. And you think I’m careless ‘cause I’m not on that flight… so obviously careless (and everyone’s waiting for me to come home and give them something to talk about). The clock looks me in the face, puts me right in my place… and the air is too hot and too cold to breathe. The fantasy telephone rings so I’m not alone (says, “Take this gift of time to write a song”). And you never know where the waiting will take you, but I know one thing… I’ll miss you two hours more, and kiss you harder.
Track Name: Ozone
Ozone
Somethin’ ‘bout April to June… weakens my knees and makes the rest o’ me swoon. Complain about you and everything I’ve got to do. Restless… I need an intermission. See a star, catch me wishing for a change. I’d take a car, but I’d drive it insane. Ozone! You say you wanna make my day? Here’s how you make my day: 1) Take a cloud; 2) Make it big, dark, and ominous; 3) Smash it down (‘til it becomes a fog); 4) Take a girl; 5) Put her smack dab in the middle with no compass, map, or flashlight (yeah, that’s right). I say you’re a sun, and I’m no bigger than a five-foot grain of sand, pushing back an ocean. Well, I’m full of all this trying not to go against the grain, but when I lay my head I find myself praying for some rain. Ozone!
Track Name: Quite Enough
Quite Enough
Go to the allegory… we have not yet learned our lessons. “Sell us some territory, big enough for our possessions!” Smile for the camera (critics raving, flags are waving)… kill us another one (bird in hand’s no bird worth saving). I live among people whose mouths are so easily fed… I buy into the stories; they fill up my head…and watching the TV I learn of so many dead… with all of that blood you could paint my whole hometown red. There’s not enough love! (Rain Armageddon! “Evil must endure the flood.”) Bring my umbrella… fainting at the sight of blood. There’s not enough love! (And quite enough of everything else.)
Track Name: Just Wanna Show Ya
Just Wanna Show Ya
A spider crawls off of my tongue, from the darkness to embrace the light. I’m not the kind who can smile easily, so I’m grateful that she’s taken flight. I just wanna know ya. I just wanna show ya what I need. Most of the time I’m a slice of politeness; I come from a nice family… but I need a pipeline; someone like you, honey, mining the light out of me. I just wanna know ya. I just wanna show ya what I need. I get the most out of life when I’m wearing a dress and a smile… but it’s terribly easy to sleep with the spiders, legs to my chest like a child. I just wanna know ya. I just wanna show ya what I need.
Track Name: Bounce
Bounce
“I got a daddy and a little boy, too. I got them both when I met you. It’s strange to be the other here, between you two… but I got a way to keep you in full view. I just bounce up to the ceiling (and I float safe, down to the floor). I just shape-shift into a mother (or into a child). I like to be a mother, and a good one, too (kiss on the weepy nose and tie your shoe). I like to be the baby girl inside your womb. A lively crowd here, but there’s always room! We just bounce up to the ceiling (or we float safe, down to the floor). We just shape-shift into the other when it’s time. We just shape-shift into each other… we go wild. La da da di do ya… I’m gonna roll up to ya. Lullaby, and goodnight.”