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Bones & Secrets

by Shannon Kingsbury

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Bones & Secrets is the 2nd solo offering from Canadian based songwriter and harpist, Shannon Kingsbury. The physical CD package features a beautiful full colour booklet of illustrations by Ryan Price.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Bones & Secrets via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Spring Song 03:13
Spring should be a hopeful time But I'm blue as the sea Spring brings an old sad feeling Year after year to me “Haven't I proved time and time again,” Said the woodsman to the tree “I take only what I need. Why do you still fear me?” Your love's as sweet as honeycomb And you're faithful to your queen bee But I've been stung by that mean old ghost, Keeps sneaking up on me This old sad feeling It plagues me in the spring Well I'm sure it'll all be fine It's just fodder for blossoming...
2.
Dinosaurs 02:24
If you listen really closely, you might hear The imprint of the past in the density here: Density of these concrete walls Where Dreamer sleeps long after the fall In the Dreamer's forest, he will step on stones, In waking life they form the tomes Foundations of industry, relics of bones But the little one's eye is still drawn : The sway of coral and the flick of a fin In a lone aquarium The sway of living coral and the flick of a tropical fin Don't you know this metropolis was built On the backs of dinosaurs and layers of silt? We have turned this operation on itself But the little one's eye is still drawn: The sway of coral and the flick of a fin In a lone aquarium The sway of living coral and the flick of a tropical fin
3.
Cinderella, Vasalisa, c’mon girl, find your wise Listen to the little birds, the mice, the squirrels or the doll your mother left behind C’mon Snow White, don’t be fooled another time, find your wise Learn to run, Learn to hunt, sharpen senses, cut your hair Find your wise Summon strength (learn to run, learn to hunt) Summon your will (don’t be fooled another time) Lay down the good sweet child The frail one must die Find your wise C’mon Gretel, c’mon Rapunzel, find your wise Little Red: go to the woods, Wolf is doing you a favour Strange little girl, you’re not a girl for much longer Hurry up or your naivete will call in the witch doctor To scare you alive Come Persephone, Hades is waiting To take you down to Elysian fields, Uncover the secret that you’ve always been Queen Young bride of Bluebeard: there’s blood on the key Open your eyes, you’ll be the first to escape free Find your wise Summon strength (listen to the little birds) Summon your will (sharpen senses, cut your hair) Lay down the good sweet child The frail one must die Find your wise Cinderella, Vasalisa, Gretel, Rapunzel, Little Red, Persephone Find Your Wise Cinderella, Vasalisa, Gretel, Rapunzel, Little Red, Persephone Find Your Wise
4.
There's a hole in the sole of your shoe Invisible drain that sucks all your secrets away Hole in the sole of your shoe Where the truth disappears when the words that you use Bounce off the walls and the things that you wanted to say Slip away Through the hole in the sole of your shoe And the bigger it gets the more you will sense White rabbits whiskers On your sore blisters Have you ever listened to the sound of your own voice? Has it felt in a way disembodied and strange- Like a part of you is not really there Well maybe it slipped through the hole Unaware Through the hole in the sole of your shoe Invisible drain that sucks all your regrets away Hole in the sole of your shoe With just the right mirror in just the right light At just the right angle on just the right night: Look through the hole to the lives that you’ve lived, The miles you’ve walked, the people you’ve been, The vows that you’ve broken, the secrets you’ve kept The ones that got loose and the things left unsaid
5.
Hush 02:57
We sway to the rhythm of the heartbeat of the earth With the trees blown by the winds with which we sing We dance in the patterns of the stars of the night and we shine like the moon full with light given from The Sun In the dark of the night we feel the magic rise In the glow of silver cast down from the moon In shadows we will play and shadows we will be We will steal across the hills weaving webs of mystery in The Night Hush, the moon in rising Hush, the moon in rising Hush, the moon in rising
6.
Proserpine 02:03
WHERE, countless as the stars of night, The daisies made a milky way Across fresh lawns, and flecked with light, Old ilex groves walled round with bay,- I saw thee stoop, oh lady sweet, And with those pale, sweet hands of thine Gather the spring-flowers at our feet, Fair as some late-born Proserpine. Yea, gathering flowers, thou might'st have been That goddess of ethereal brow, Revisiting this radiant scene From realm of dolorous shades below. Thou might'st have been that Queen of Sighs, Love-bound by Hades' dreadful spell; For veiled within thy heaven-blue eyes, There lay the Memory of Hell. Lyrics from the poem “The New Proserpine” by Mathilde Blind from “Birds of Passage: Songs of the Orient and Occident” (London: Chatto and Windus,1895)
7.
Insomnia 04:05
Insomnia, don't come to me tonight The dawn looms soon and I'll be back on a train with the sun Back so soon Midnight on the subway train. Metal rocket shakes, sliding through the underground in the belly of a snake The wheels and the track screech with contact Familiar spectre sits beside me I've known this one since the age of 13: “Insomnia” Tell me what you know of the plight of bees One spoonful of food out of three is pollinated by bees and we're killing our bees Tell me what you know of the milky way It was born ten billion years ago, so they say, so they say Have you ever looked at a Queen Anne's lace and seen an ancient milky way, or a drop of blood on the Queen's crochet? Speaking of Anne, you remind me of the Queen, waiting for the swordsman to come for her execution (in the very same chamber as her bridal 'one') Insomnia, whose arms would be more sincere: the hothead king or the reaper of all things? (reaper of all things) Insomnia sews lines between these things: the subway, the bees, the lace, the Queen, the Milky Way, the King. She says “The evidence is everywhere in ordinary things, there's star dust in the dirt beneath these feet, even on these filthy city streets.”
8.
Ribcage 03:19
So the story goes, at the bottom of the sea lies a skeleton woman amoung the weeds One day a fisherman casts his rod, He pulls up her bones instead of a cod When he reaches the shore, he runs for his life, but she's caught in the line: his new ghastly wife I've read this story and it comes to me in dreams, I wake in a sweat and I just can't breathe, I just wanna: Break free from the cage of these ribs. Break free... So the story goes, in the firelight, fisherman takes pity on skeleton's plight Carefully untangles her from the line, puts her back together, almost looks alive She takes his heart and plays it like a drum, sings back her flesh and they join as one I'd kill to know what made them so unafraid, 'cause me I just wanna melt away. I just wanna: Break free from the cage of these ribs, I just wanna... break free... I just wanna break free from the cage of these ribs, I just wanna... break free ... So the story goes, the lovers ran away, helped by the creatures she knew 'neath the waves As for me, you can see I'm still here, but I think I feel a tug on this line over here...
9.
Mother, call me home I will always come Down by the river, bird song is harbinger Mallards, robins, red winged blackbirds Call up the Trout Lily, Melt all the snow Time after time, I'll always come home Home I remember nothing of an abduction Only a fascination with a strange flower in the grove Then all went dark He was no Bluebeard, He was no thief I had free reign, they called me Queen I had another name Remember my true name He was the touchstone to my descent and the sweet anesthetic to Home I was intoxicated by a most fragrant flower, A strange variety I did not recognize Each night as the moon rose in the sky, the buds began to tremble... Like time lapse photography, opening to the night And on the seventh night I was overcome by desire to taste the plant... I gingerly picked a blossom, and from the stem dripped a liquid clear, Shinning on my palm, I tasted with my tongue: Sweet... And the next thing I knew I had a another name Remember my true name We danced in the shadows and pools of candlelight Oh mother I have fallen for the Prince of the Night Mother, your breath wakes the earth There's nothing like the pallor of your spring Anemones After the storm, everything is clear Technicolored world, Tornado's done What the waves wash in ain't pretty but its real: Bones & secrets, all that's thrown from the deep I come from the deep Mother, you are Queen of this green So must I reign in the dark

about

Bones & Secrets is the 2nd solo offering from Canadian based songwriter and harpist, Shannon Kingsbury. On her sophomore release, the ever ambitious artist explores an even more diverse sonic palette than on her debut, Luminocity. The widescreen production and rich instrumental mix of harp, cornet, hurdy gurdy, double bass, accordion, layered vocals, tuba and more, transports the stories conjured in her lyrics into both familiar and foreign worlds. The album’s myriad images of spring, transformation and rebirth, the Greek origin myth of Persephone, heroines reclaiming and retelling their own stories, melancholy lullabies and middle-of-the-night musings play like a picture book for the listener.

This is a songwriter’s record first and foremost, but it also dips fearlessly into the unknown. The epic, album closing, 16-minute “Persephone Suite” suggests the orch-pop terrain of ‘Spirit of Eden’-era Talk Talk and yet Kingsbury and co-producer Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies) do not shy away from suggesting more buoyant musical worlds like on the whimsical “Dinosaurs” and “Hole in the Sole”. “Spring Song” quietly breaks your heart with an intimate vocal and harp arrangement, while “Insomnia” winks at you with a gin-joint, vaudevillian come hither swagger.

“Bones..” began as a series of group improvisations led by co-producer Ben Grossman, with hours of recordings being culled for musical seeds which were then developed and added to by Jeff Bird. An army of instrumentalists completed the canvas and includes Gary Diggins, Colin Couch, Sharlene Wallace, Tannis Slimmon, Sue Smith and many more. At the centre of all this, however, lies Shannon’s richly textured voice, nuanced stories and deeply affecting melodies.

credits

released May 7, 2017

Produced by Jeff Bird, Ben Grossman & Shannon Kingsbury
Recorded by Nik Tjelios & Ben Grossman at The Monastereo and Jeff Bird at Ty Tyrfu, Guelph
Mixed by Nik Tjelios & Jeff Bird at the cottaGe, Guelph
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova
Illustrations by Ryan Price
Design by Kathe Gray
All songs written by Shannon Kingsbury – SOCAN 2017

1. Spring Song
Vocals & Harp: Shannon Kingsbury
Cello: Lucas Tensen
Harmonica: Jeff Bird
Cello Arrangement: Lucas Tensen & Jeff Bird

2. Dinosaurs
Bamboo Xylophone, Angklung, Percussion, Low F Whistle: Jeff Bird Vocals, Angklung,
Percussion: Shannon Kingsbury

3. Find Your Wise
Vocals & Harp: Shannon Kingsbury
Taishogoto, Double bass, Percussion, Keyboards: Jeff Bird
Vocals: David Beattie, Tricia Brubacher, Tannis Slimmon, Sue Smith

4. Hole in the Sole
Vocals, Harp, Whistling: Shannon Kingsbury
Double Bass, Percussion, Shruti Box, Whistling: Jeff Bird
Vocals: Tricia Brubacher

5.Hush
Vocals & Sansula: Shannon Kingsbury
Prepared Guitar: Ben Grossman
Accordion: Angelique Van Berlo
Harp: Sharlene Wallace
Percussion & Keyboards: Jeff Bird

6. Proserpine
Lyrics from the poem “The New Proserpine” by Mathilde Blind from “Birds of Passage: Songs of the Orient and Occident” (London: Chatto and Windus,1895)
Vocals: Shannon Kingsbury, Tricia Brubacher and Sue Smith
Mandolins & Keyboards: Jeff Bird

7. Insomnia
Vocals: Shannon Kingsbury
Ukulele, Double Bass, Lap Steel Guitar, Pump Organ: Jeff Bird
Cornet: Gary Diggins

8. Ribcage
Vocals & Harp: Shannon Kingsbury
Double bass, Percussion: Jeff Bird
Cornet, Water Harp & Percussion: Gary Diggins Tuba: Colin Couch
Vocals: Tricia Brubacher, Tannis Slimmon, Sue Smith

9. Persephone Suite
Vocals, Harp, Harmonium: Shannon Kingsbury
Hurdy Gurdy & Prepared Guitar: Ben Grossman
Double Bass, Shakuhachi, Bowed Psaltry, Percussion: Jeff Bird
Cello: Lucas Tensen
Flugelhorn & Didgeridoo: Gary Diggins
Tuba: Colin Couch
Harp: Sharlene Wallace
Accordion: Angelique Van Berlo
Vocals: David Beattie
Cello Arrangement: Lucas Tensen & Jeff Bird

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Shannon Kingsbury Guelph, Ontario

Equal parts philosophical musing and modern mysticism, the stories and worlds conjured in Shannon's music are at once familiar and somehow borne of another time.

While firmly rooted in the songwriter tradition, the ever ambitious artist explores a diverse
sonic palette that features harp, cornet, hurdy gurdy, double bass, accordion, layered vocals, tuba and more.
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