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Fraser Union has released the following albums:
Barry Truter has released the following album:
For more information on any album, click on the title.
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"Listening to --Faith Petric |
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This
collection of traditional and contemporary songs of The album's stunning cover art is from "Road to the Cariboo", a mixed media on canvas work by Wells, BC artist, Claire Kujundzic. Song
titles: Kettle Valley Line, The Grand Hotel, Hard Rock Miner, When the
Tide Goes Out, Home, Dear Home, The Ballad of Robert Harkness, Drill Ye
Tarriers, The Bridge Came Tumbling Down, Are You From Bevan? Snap the
Line Tight, The Truck Driver's Song, Bank Trollers, Canning Salmon,
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As with our previous albums, this one reflects our penchant for content. Many of the songs treat the subject of what most people do most of their waking lives: work. In addition, as with our previous recordings, the album has a decidedly Canadian bent - especially West Coast. You may recognize some of the songs from much earlier recordings (now out of production). We re-recorded those that have been most requested, but even on some of the earlier songs as well as newer ones we've added new elements: Henk's dobro, Barry's banjo, and guest drummer, Duncan Truter. Like this old world, we've been around for quite a while doing what we do. But we hope you find some surprises here. For instance, a Bruce Cockburn song that has never been recorded. Song
titles: This Old World, The World Turned Upside Down, Everything
Possible, Everybody's Cryin' Mercy, When The Tide Goes Out, Canning
Salmon, Westcoast Lullaby, Drill Ye Tarriers, The Truck Driver's Song,
Goin' Down The Road, The Ballad of Robert Harkness, Hard Rock Miner,
Bank Trollers, All Used Up, Where I Stand |
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The title refers to geography and time: the songs span three centuries and move from the Scottish Highlands to Vancouver Island, tracing the movement of peoples and events from the highland clearances to computer programming and globalization. A sampling of the songs gives a sense of the recording's themes and relevance. "Lady Franklin's Lament" tells of the ill-fated voyage in search of the Northwest Passage. Andy Vine's "Woman of Labrador" is based on the story of Elizabeth Goudie's difficult life on the land in Labrador. "Empty Nets" by Jim Payne laments the plight of the fishing industry. Bill Gallaher's "Augustus and Catherine" is the inspiring story of two "Overlanders" who survived their arduous journey on the strength of their love. "Ships of the Deep" is the reflections of Barry Truter, one of the group's members. Barry's song describes the harm that has been done to a once-proud industry by ships operating under "flags of convenience." The West Coast appears in John Lyon's "Home Dear Home," set off the north coast of Vancouver Island, and Fraser Lang's "Salmon Circle," about the mysterious and fragile cycle of the mighty salmon. Current and future directions of Canadian society are indicated in the lyrics of Zeke Hoskin's "The Ghost Program" and Rick Keating's "One Big Highway." Accompanied by guitars and mandolins, the 14 songs on this album form an important reflection of our lives: past, present, and future–From There To Here. Song Titles: Don't Cry in Your Sleep, Lady Franklin's Lament, Woman of Labrador, Empty Nets, Free in the Harbour, Augustus and Catherine, Make Me A Pallet, Home Dear Home, One Big Highway, Ships of the Deep, Bosses' Lament, Salmon Circle, Canaries in the Mine, The Ghost Program
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As
with all of Fraser Union's repertoire, the contents of this album were
chosen carefully over time. Canadian
history is represented in the opening track, "Are You From Bevan"
(Vancouver Island's Coal Strike 1912-14) collected by Phil Thomas, and
in Bill Gallaher's "The Last Battle" about the Metis rebellion
of 1885. Allister
MacGillivray's " That song and most of the others have to do with the ordinary heroics of daily life, of adapting by necessity to the conditions we encounter. Tommy Sands' "Your Daughters and Your Sons" is an anthem of courage and hope, while Bob Blue's "Their Way" ironically twists "My Way" to describe the familiar adaptations required by academic life. These songs are balanced by two well-loved blues standards, "Deep River Blues" and "Trouble in Mind." "God
Speed the Plough," "Aa Cud Hew," and "Chemical
Worker's Song" carry on the theme of working lives.
"Walls of Song titles: Are You From Bevan, The Last Battle, The Goodnight-Loving Trail, God Speed the Plough, Deep River Blues, Coal Town Road, Their Way, Trouble in Mind, Your Daughters and Your Sons, Snap the Line Tight, Aa Cud Hew/Chemical Worker's Song, Walls of Troy, Upon the Road Again
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Traveller (Barry Truter; 2011) |
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Truter's lead vocals accompanied by guitar, octave mandolin and ukulele shine on the album's arrangements, from sparsely emotive versions of Bruce "Utah" Phillips' "The Killing Ground" and the Fijian farewell song "Isa Lei" to tasteful licks and soulful backing vocals by some fine Vancouver musicians on the self-penned "Levuka Town" and Leadbelly's "The Bourgeois Blues." There is no dearth of content on the album. Originals such as "Song for Robert Dziekanski" and "Ships of the Deep" are reminders that we live in an insecure world of increasing inequity. But there is also hope and spiritual regeneration on offer in the lyricism of "Roll River Free," the east/west musicality of "Dravida" and the anthemic chorus of "This Old World." Song titles: Levuka Town, Walking Blues, I Wandered By a Brookside, Duncan's Dream/The Soda Jig/Siobhan's Gallop, The Killing Ground, The Bourgeois Blues, Song for Robert Dziekanski, Roll River Free, Dravida, The Amphritite, Ships of the Deep, This Old World, Time to Go, Isa Lei
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"A beautiful
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Split Shift (Fraser Union with the Vancouver Industrial Writers' Union) |
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Song titles: Bank Trollers, Snap the Line Tight, Grand Hotel, Bosses' Lament, Truck Driver's Song, Everything Possible, The Soda Jig, Hard Rock Miner, Canning Salmon, All Used Up
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Out of print |
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Fraser Union (The self-titled first album) |
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Song titles: Bank Trollers, Lord Franklin, The Yankee Sails Tonight, Canning Salmon, This Land is Whose Land, Arthur MacBride, God Speed the Plough, Drill Ye Tarriers, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, Don't Cry in Your Sleep/Campbell's Farewell to Redcastle, Children of Africa
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Out of print |
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All content copyright Fraser Union 2011. Website design by Marian Buechert. |
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This
Old World takes its title from a recent song written by Barry, but
it is paired with a song that dates from the 17th century. It is an old
world, and "The World Turned Upside Down" reminds us that our
concerns today are not all that new.
Fraser
Union is known for a meaningful repertoire of Canadian material
reflecting the lives, history, and landscape that make up this country.
From There To Here is a strong representation of those themes.
The
title Hello, Stranger! took on new meaning in 2003.
Barry
Truter has been a traveller for most of his life. He was born the son of
a diplomat whose assignments took his family to a new home every few
years. But Truter's wandering lifestyle didn't cease when he moved
into adulthood; his first job was as a sailor on a merchant ship sailing
from Europe around Africa and into the Red Sea. His journeys are
reflected in the musical style and diversity of this album of seven
originals and seven carefully chosen covers supported by guest
appearances from some outstanding musicians.
(Cassette; out of print)
(Cassette; out of print)