Forgiving Dreams

Margarita Luna

When my daughter was little we used to take her to the beach in the evening and watch the sunset and moonrise. The full moon in a smoggy southwestern sky arrives like an orange disc dwarfing the city. She’d put her arms out and grasp at it. When it was time to go home she’d always cry, “More Moomb!”

The Tea Garden

Between my first and second trips to Vermont to make this record I was giving a friend a guitar lesson outside in the garden. At least one of us was having a crappy day, and we were drinking wine, not tea, but both were better off for the company. As I was fooling around with the picking pattern (which, because nothing can be simple for me, begins one way and reverses half way through), the rest of the song came out in all its Jasmine Oolong glory.

Echoes

My oldest son is a gifted musician and composer in his own right. After spending time with him recently I came home and sat down with the guitar, and this song came through.

Roses in December

My mother died unexpectedly at a relatively young age in 1992. This song was written for her, shortly after her death, and was my first instrumental piece. As such it was a part of my working through my grief at her passing, and the seed of the healing that is part of my music. I have played this song, in more versions, and for more people, than any other song I’ve written before or since.

This Sweet Embrace

This is a song for lovers. A processional or wedding piece.

Lily’s Travelling Lullaby

This song came to me as I was sitting on the corner of the bed playing pretty chords to help my girlfriend fall asleep. I play it for her almost every night.

Eye of the Needle

We used to have dinner at a small, family-run Halal restaurant here in Seattle. At dusk the proprietor would roll out his rug and kneel on the floor to pray. I was quite moved by this, and in talking with him I came to realize that regardless of what we see in the news our religions are embodied in people who simply practice their faith.

Thursday At Seven (Ashleigh’s Song)

I wrote this music to describe an experience of being healed in a way that I cannot articulate and for which I’ve never been able to properly express gratitude. If this piece sounds like warm sunlight pouring through open windows while angels lift you bodily from all that has ever troubled you, that’s a start.

Forgiving Dreams

This song is about shedding layers of fear and remembering who we are supposed to be. It grew rather spontaneously out of another song I wrote called “The Four Angels.” Thanks to Will for coaxing it out of me on the last day, and for joining me in the playing of it.

Tibet

Until 1949 Tibet existed as a culturally rich and independent nation of peace and breathtaking beauty. This song was inspired by the long nonviolent struggle of the Tibetan people to regain their culture and religion.

The Butterfly

On a camping trip to the ocean with my children years ago I was playing the guitar by the campfire and a friendly-enough stranger came over and sat with us for a time. Drawn by the music, he described it as sounding like flowers. I’ve carried that memory with me ever since. I wrote this song out of that space, simply to be beautiful, to describe the motion of a butterfly’s wings in a garden on a summer day.

A Conversation In The Rain

This is a song about the sadness that comes in passing and transition, and the relief and joy in letting go and moving on.

Special Thanks

To Will Ackerman for being my producer and mentor, to Corin Nelsen for capturing the best of my performances and weaving them into a beautiful tapestry, and to both for their kind friendship and support that goes far beyond the studio/artist relationship. To the power of Texas Sliders! To Susan Whittle and Laurie Griffin for making my stays in Vermont infinitely more comfortable than they would otherwise have been. To Virginia Andrew. To Keith, Megan, and Christopher. To Kelly Finkel for being my muse, my comforter, and my friend. To Tea Mars for lovingly reminding me, over and over, that I do have a family. To Ash for so profoundly comforting my existence on this planet. To Brendan & Juanita Perkins for love and encouragement and for inspiring The Four Angels. To Will and Ruth Buxton for filling our lives with faith and hope and love. To David Haxton who built my beloved S-004 and whose hand work and craft are present in this music. To Malixe for capturing my likeness so graciously. To Susan M. Carr for teaching me to believe in music as a profession. To my sweet Lily for being my devoted lover and companion, and for making so many of my dreams her own. To my loving and supportive family of friends - it is because of you and for us that I am able to create these things, this life that I adore.

Damon Buxton
August 20th, 2007
Seattle Washington

Produced by Will Ackerman

Recorded at Imaginary Road Studios, Windham County, Vermont

Engineered, Mixed, and Mastered by Corin Nelsen.

All songs written, arranged, and performed by Damon Buxton except Forgiving Dreams written by Damon Buxton and arranged and performed by Damon Buxton and Will Ackerman. All songs copyright ©(p)2007 Damon Buxton and published by Many Miles Music (BMI)

Damon Buxton plays:
1996 Mark Stanley Classical Guitar
2003 David Haxton S-004 Concert Steel String Guitar
Guitar luggage by Rock Hard Cases

Creative direction, graphic design, and website by Amadeo

Cover and background model: Kelly Finkel

Back cover and background photos of Damon Buxton copyright © 2007 Malixe Photo

Front cover and background photos of Kelly Finkel copyright © 2007 Damon Buxton Recording studio photo of Damon Buxton copyright m 2007 William Ackerman

Gnome photo copyright © 2007 LA Smith

PRAISE CORIN