"Ms. Marshall, Your Maggies Music album Cottage in the Glen is one of the most natural hammer dulcimer CDs I have heard. [It] sounds like an LP with a very pleasing quality. Hope future CDs are as good, so keep the engineer!" Donald H.

Jody's new and long-awaited debut solo recording, Cottage in the Glen, is now out on the Maggie's Music label (MM232). Featuring enchanting original and traditional music performed by Jody on hammered dulcimer and piano, Cottage in the Glen also includes guest performances by a host of the Washington, D.C.-area's finest acoustic musicians. Jody's skills as an arranger and composer of tunes ranging from the whimsical to the compelling are delightfully displayed in this Celtic-inspired collection. Two songs featuring award-winning vocalist, Grace Griffith, augment a fine collection of spirited and evocative instrumentals.

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Tracks

1. Three Sisters of Erin (Jody Marshall) / Little Martha (Duane Allman) 3:31
2. Cau'l Chouzano (Fernando Largo) 4:34
3. The Gaudy Bauble (Amy White) / In the Grip of Stronger Stuff (Ian Anderson) / -
        Ides of March (Jody Marshall) / The Gaudy Bauble Reprise 7:13
4. Brandy Tree (Gordon Bok) 3:29
5. Mrs. Anne McDermott Rowe (O'Carolan) 2:48
6. Ross' Reel no. 4 (trad. New England) / Robertson's Hornpipe (trad. Scottish) /-
         Banks Hornpipe (Parazotti) 3:36
7. Ragtime Tabby / Catnip Fling / Scattercat Polka (Jody Marshall) 5:20
8. Words Unspoken / Labyrinth (Jody Marshall) 7:33
9. Cottage in the Glen (Jody Marshall) 3:19
10. Vivace (Adam Falckenhagen) 2:42
11. Pumpherston Hornpipe (Jim Sutherland) / Puddleglum's Misery (John Kirkpatrick) 4:30
12. Summer Garland (music by Padraigin Ni Uallachain; words adapted by Grace Griffith)/ Miss Stewart of Grantully (Neil Gow) / Half-Past Three (Jody Marshall) / The High Road to Linton (trad. Scottish) 5:55

Total time: 55:07

Produced by Jody Marshall.

Engineered and digitally edited by Chris Murphy, RHL Audio. www.rhlaudio.com

Guest Musicians (tracks in parentheses): PAUL OORTS: guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, mandocello,         musette accordion (3, 7, 9, 10, 11) ANDREA HOAG: fiddle (3, 7, 9) STEVE BLOOM: percussion (1, 3, 8) KAREN ASHBROOK: wooden flute (9, 11) GRACE GRIFFITH: lead vocals (4, 12) AL PETTEWAY: guitar (3, 4) MYRON BRETHOLZ: bodhran , bones (3, 12) RICO PETRUCCELLI: fretted and fretless bass (3, 8) ELLEN JAMES: Celtic harp (2, 8) CAREY CREED: harmony vocals (12) ELISE KRESS: silver flute (2) ZAN MCLEOD: guitar (12) PAUL NAHAY: piano (4) CATHY PALMER: fiddle (2) CHARLIE PILZER: acoustic bass (11) CHRIS MURPHY: shaker (3) AMY WHITE: mandolin (3)

Engineer Chris Murphy and Jody Photo by Amy White

Notes on the Tracks

1. Three Sisters of Erin (© Jody Marshall/BMI)/Little Martha (Duane Allman) - 3:31
     Hammered dulcimers & percussion

• In Ireland, the Nore, Barrow, and Suir rivers - known as the "Three Sisters" - converge in the city of Waterford. In the first tune of this set, three separate dulcimer tracks converge to create my musical interpretation of cascading rivers. There are still more dulcimer tracks (I lost count!) in "Little Martha," a tune I learned from the Allman Brothers' classic album, Eat a Peach.

2. Cau'l Chouzano (Fernando Largo) - 4:34
     Hammered dulcimer, Celtic harp, silver flute & fiddle (Cathy)

• A beautiful tune from Asturias, a region near Galicia on the north coast of Spain where Celts influenced the culture centuries ago. I am joined here by my band mates from the Celtic ensemble, MoonFire.

3. Celtic Jig Suite: The Gaudy Bauble (Amy White)/In the Grip of Stronger Stuff (Ian Anderson)/Ides of March (© Jody Marshall/BMI)/The Gaudy Bauble Reprise - 7:13
     Piano, hammered dulcimer, fiddle (Andrea), bodhran & bones, shaker, mandolin (Amy), guitar (Al), tambourine & djembe (Steve), bouzouki, & electric bass

• I'm grateful to Amy White for her wonderful tune which marks the beginning and end of this journey in 6/8 time. I first heard the next tune at a Jethro Tull concert and adapted the melody for hammered dulcimer and mandolin. The third tune came to me during the wee hours of a March morning as the wind blustered outside.

4. The Brandy Tree (Otter's Song) (Gordon Bok) - 3:29
     Hammered dulcimer, vocals (Grace lead; Jody harmony), guitars (Al), & piano (Paul N.)

• Here's what Gordon Bok says about this whimsical song: "I learned this from a small otter on Sherman's Point, Knox County, Maine, on a cold morning in 1966. The refrain is my own."

5. Mrs. Anne McDermott Rowe (Turlough O'Carolan) - 2:48
     Solo hammered dulcimer

• O'Carolan is the best-known of the 17th- and 18th-century itinerant Irish harpers. Many of his compositions are well suited to the hammered dulcimer.

6. Ross' Reel, No. 4 (trad. New England)/Robertson's Hornpipe (trad. Scottish)/Banks Hornpipe (Parazotti) - 3:36
     Hammered dulcimer & piano

• A New England contra-dance tune (presented here with the second part first, an inspiration from the playing of fiddler Alisdair Fraser), followed by two tunes from the Scottish dance tradition. I particularly enjoyed playing with the classical elements of "Banks Hornpipe," which is attributed to Parazotti, a 19th-century Italian fiddler.

Jenny & Jackie

7. Ragtime Tabby/Catnip Fling/Scattercat Polka (© Jody Marshall/BMI) - 5:20
     Piano, hammered dulcimer, fiddle (Andrea), mandolin,
          guitar & musette accordion (Paul O.)

• The antics of our many and varied cats inspired me to write these tunes.

8. Words Unspoken/Labyrinth (© Jody Marshall/BMI) - 7:33
     Piano, hammered dulcimer, Celtic harp, chime, percussion, & fretless bass

• Sometimes, it's the words you don't say that speak volumes....Labyrinths, long used for walking meditations, have a single path that leads to the center and back out again. The second piece in this set explores the realization that, despite your good intentions, sometimes you end up right back where you started.

9. A Cottage in the Glen (© Jody Marshall/BMI) - 3:19
     Piano, fiddle (Andrea), wooden flute & guitar (Paul O.)

• Oh, to have a little cottage where friends can drop by and share tunes around the hearth! This tune is a musical toast to simple pleasures, not to be confused with the traditional reel of a similar name.

10. Vivace (Adam Falckenhagen) - 2:42
     Hammered dulcimer & classical guitar (Paul O.)

• Falckenhagen was an 18th-century German composer and lutenist. I like to play this lovely piece at a tempo slower than its title suggests.

11. Pumpherston Hornpipe (Jim Sutherland)/Puddleglum's Misery (John Kirkpatrick) - 4:30
     Hammered dulcimer, wooden flute, mandocello & guitar (Paul O.), & acoustic bass

• When I first heard these two twisty tunes I knew they belonged together. Their chromatic nature makes for quite an adventure on the hammered dulcimer! "Pumpherston Hornpipe" was originally written for the euphonium-a big brass instrument that's basically a bugle on steroids.

12. Summer Garland (or "The May Song") (music by Padraigin Ni Uallachain & English translation of traditional Gaelic words adapted by Grace Griffith)/Miss Stewart of Grantully (Neil Gow)/Half-Past Three (© Jody Marshall/BMI)/The High Road to Linton(traditional) - 5:55
     Hammered dulcimer, vocals (Grace lead; Jody and Carey in harmony and background), guitars (Zan), & bodhran

• There are many versions of the summer carol known as "The May Song." This one is based on a version set to music by Gaelic singer Padraigin Ni Uallachain. "Miss Stewart" is a Scottish tune typically played as both a march and a strathspey. My version is more or less a combination of the two. "Half-Past Three" is an example of the fruits of insomnia. And "The High Road to Linton" is a popular Scottish reel.

Recorded and mixed by Chris Murphy, www.rhlaudio.com

CLICK HERE for information about Jody's holiday CD Carol of the Bells.

CLICK HERE for information about the MoonFire CD: Present, Past and Future.