Notes to the songsMatty Grove (trad)The 16th century ballad, called Little Musgrave, was and is a place in Northumberland near Barnard Castle, from which Lord Banner in this American version gets his name. His noble lady has taken a village lad to bed with tragic consequences. The themes of lust, social misalliance and honor killing are timeless. The first time I heard it was from Peggy Seeger.All Used Up (Phillips)The songs of Bruce “Utah” Phillips, travelling singer, story teller, union organiser and lifetime anarchist, are always filled with the dignity of labor, bitterness of exploitation, injustice and equality of worth. I first heard it when I was about 30. I seem to perform it more as I get older.Anniversary Waltz (Warshaw)A young man recalls meeting, courtship and passion for the girl he married 40 years ago. It’s taken 10 years to find a fitting tune for the lyrics. Still in love, it’s finally emerged as a waltz. The Last Tree (Warshaw)I stumbled on a Cree Indian prophesy: Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten. That was 4 years ago. Now a world movement brings hope.Never Asked for Nothing (Warshaw)Written 10 years ago. My response to the plight of many Vietnam vets, the 2007 sub-prime banking collapse, foreclosures, joblessness and the US recession. The legacies, including the Trump presidency, are still there.Pretty Saro (trad)Peggy Seeger did a version in 1962. It stayed in my mind with many of her songs. Iris DeMent sings it in authentic Appalachian style in the film Song Catcher. I’ve fitted it, a little accidentally and a little consciously, with a new melody.Goodbye Miss Liza Jane (trad)Recorded by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers in 1927. The distinctive string band sound found its foremost revival in the astounding and hugely influential New Lost City Ramblers of the 1960s. Richland Woman Blues (? Mudcat credits W E Myer of Richlands Va. Around 1925)Mississippi John Hurt gave us this song about a married woman. Her husband’s away. She’s all dressed up and her “sugar daddy’s come round to take her out in his “Tin Lizzie,” show her a good time and buy her a new dress. Meanwhile, she’s the life and soul of the church congregation. Green Green Rocky Road (trad/Chandler)In 1955 Harold Courlander collected some African American chorus-and-leader game songs from the children of Lilly’s and Browns Chapel Schools in York, Alabama. Two somehow got joined up. Len Chandler polished. Dave Van Ronk got a signature song. I heard it 60 years ago. Infectious. i Poor and Rambling Boy (trad)A “song from the gallows,” or last words of a condemned prisoner. Texts, called Broadsides, were sold at public executions, or sung by the composer as local news. Jean Ritchie sing this version. 1913 Massacre (Guthrie)Powerful and tragic, Woody Guthrie, read about the event in the news. It puts you right in the upstairs hall. A miners’ Christmas ball in progress. Company thugs surround the place, create a panic and laugh as families try to escapePretty Fair Miss (trad)A “broken token” kept by parted couples as an identity check is played out here. A stranger approaches a young woman and quickly asks her to marry. Her love is far away, she replies. The stranger tests her loyalty, then shows the proof that he’s returned. Heather Heyer (Warshaw)She was a paralegal in Charlottesville Virginia, supporting poor families. In August 2017 she joined protesters “spreading love” against a white supremacist rally. A neo-Nazi drove his car into the crowd, killing Heather. Many came to pay tribute but President Trump would blame no one.The Mountain Miners (Warshaw)Written in 1974, after viewing a documentary about the lives of coal miners in Kentucky and West Virginia who work the “dog holes,” dangerous, small-scale mines dug into mountains, in horrifying conditions. Lives mean little to owners and unions are enemies The Day You Sold Your Soul (Warshaw)A Long, Dark Winter has descended on Britain’s soul. Written in the months before the General Election of December 2019 that brought Boris Johnson, his Tory Brexiteers and billionaire backers to near-absolute power. Colorado Girl (VanZandt)Townes VanZandt met girlfriend, Fran Petters, of mysterious power over natural forces, in 1962 at the University of Colorado. Separated when he returned to Texas, he came back and they married in 1965. I just had to redirect the geography a little to stake a claim.Roving Gambler (trad)An Irish Broadside, “Roving Journeyman,” around 1820 could be its origin. Immigration helped it spread. The gambling theme is an American stamp. Kelly Harrell’s 1925 recording is close to this.Come Tomorrow (Warshaw)As a lifetime of migration and adventure across a vast and spectacular continent draws to a close, a man’s thoughts turn towards the place he came from and those he left behind.