Cd Isle...CDs by BC island recording artists

This album is the newest to be released, December, 2003. It tends to reflect my personal philosophies. I try to live an uncluttered life close enough to civilization to keep a skeptical eye on it ... removed enough not to get tangled up, ... just trying to keep it real. I am currently a politician. Isn’t that a segue-and-a-half. It is a fascinating engagement with a great many people, each perceiving the other with a unique and ever-varying take. But it does tend to kill off any faint illusion that it is innate to us to operate according to the principals we espouse.

~ Check out ‘Bittersweet.’ Robby Steininger’s in-the-moment guitar work, Brian Newcome’s oh-so-tasty bass, Rocky Vaugois’ touch on the brushes and Bill Buckingham’s production cannot be adequately described in words. And the other side of the story in ‘Cold Wind Through My Heart.’

~ A lament for “Oh Canada” my friends. She is being sorely assailed.

~ And a Christmas carol stripped of all but the spirit in the title song‘No Believer.’

~ And of course the 'Suicide' that originated in a subtly disparaging assessment from a girlfriend of my younger years which I have been trying to live down ever since.

RUNNIN' DOWN THE DEVIL
"In a dream I was driving through the dark forests of Vancouver Island, not unlike driving through a prairie night, without the trees, when the devil leapt out from the woods and the nightmares of childhood into my headlights. Overcoming the urge to assume the foetal position....I stepped on the gas. And shouldn’t we all? The complete lyrics to the album are on this site. Try the CD with earphones on. The musicians are brilliant, the production sublime." ... John

Runnin' Down the Devil was arranged, produced and engineered at 'The Palace' studio by Bill Buckingham, who has worked with Valdy, Rita McNeil and Skywalk, among others. Awardwinning guitarist Robbie Steininger drives the album instrumentally on acoustic, Spanish and electric guitars, dobros, mandola and mandolin. He also produced and engineered 'Land of the Tree'; a late addition to the album.

He is supported by a cast of Westcoast notables: Jim McGillveray on percussion, Brian Newcombe on Bass, Keith Bennett on harp, Tom Keenlyside on soprano sax, Rocko Vaugeois on drums, Kathy St. Germain, Megan Metcalfe and Rocko Vaugeois on backup vocals and fiddler Mike Sanyshyn. The resulting clean uncluttered sound makes your home system sound as good as you thought it was when when you bought it.

PULLING FOR THE WOODS has been out for some years now. It still works for me. Particularly the songs on this site. The photo is of my last glory days, when I was fitter, healthier, better looking and still working my independent way along the shores of Georgia Strait, pulling the good drift logs off the beach with my beachcomb boat. She was a beauty, as you can probably tell from the picture.

~ ‘Want to See Me Splice Rope’ is about the political and economic dynamics of that occupation, infused with the manly, outlaw energy of working alone in storms and calms. I love this song. It was targeted to make certain elements of the Forest Industry sweat. It sure pisses some of them off, so I’ve been told.

~ ‘Ricki and I’ came to me at the very time when my heart was breaking with the news that a dear friend had contracted cancer at a too-young age. ‘Each Cancer Cell’ is cold, sardonic rage at the elements we accommodate that have all the characteristics of that disease and which it may be a reflection of.

~ And I’m acknowledging that yes the anger this man occasionally feels towards a woman can indeed have a sexual edge to it in ‘Somethin Always Seems to Come Between Us’. Which is not to agree that I, or men in general, are all inclined towards rape.

John Marian - words, music, rhythm guitar, vocals, guitar
Len Hill - lead & rhythm guitar; Maynard Smylie - bass; Jerome Jarvis - drums; Ken Dalgleish - keyboard; Caridwen Irvine - violin & back-up vocals on 'Ricki, Genuine Appreciation & Somethin always seems to come between us'; Ken Gustafson - peddle steel on 'Genuine Appreciation & Ricki'; Melanie Berg - back-up vocal on 'Each cancer cell & Genuine Appreciation'; Merv Charboneau - bass on 'Hang on Folks'