Liner Notes for "Home Cookin"
All instruments and vocals by Russell Lawson except: David Berry, 12 string guitar on "Lazy Gal Café" and "Charleston, SC"; Josh Jones, electric guitar on "Hurricane" and "Babylon", MIDI programming on "Babylon" and "Lonely Landscape", backing vocals on "Babylon" and "Lonely Landscape"; Liz Nance, backing vocals on "Pause". Recorded and engineered at 3rd Floor Productions, Richmond, and In The Studio, Fincastle, VA. Copyright © 2001.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this life and these friends.
"Lonely Woman (for MJB)" was written as a response to a story of personal tragedy, and is about how inside us is the ability to rise above what's outside us.
"Charleston, SC" is about the Holy City of my ancestors, my birthplace, and one of the most special places I've ever known.
"I know you" is about obsession. I exorcise many demons by confessing them in music.
"Echoes" is about a 1992 journey to Fincastle, the home of my friend, Josh, that I took with my best friend, Dave.
"Family Ties" was written after the death of my mother.
"Flashed Out Blues" was written under the influence of Springsteen and Bowie.
"Bryant's Song" was written for a friend who had to do some time.
"Free" is about how dangerous it can be to lose yourself in a relationship (see "Wicked Mind").
"Lazy Gal Café" is about having a goal, no matter what you have to endure to get there.
"Only Heaven Knows" was written to celebrate the marriage of one of my sisters.
"Babylon" was written after my father died.
"Heaven 2" was written with Josh Jones. This is the alternate tune, hence the "2".
"Hurricane" is about those summer storms, written back when they only had women's names, but they still crashed ashore with the same fury.
"Shipyard Creek" was written for my uncle, dying of cancer, and is about going to a safe place in your mind when life is full of pain. The name comes from a small tributary of the Cooper River in Charleston where his maritime construction business was located.
"Lonely Landscape" is about loss, but is also about how the world appears filtered through emotions.
"Walk Back" was written for one of my sisters and is about holding on when huge changes come along in life.
"Pause" is about loss and recovery.
"Wicked Mind" I started writing about obsession, but ended up also being about dangerous relationships.
This set of works is dedicated to my family: Katherine, Sarah, Ben, Rosamond, Marian, Laura, Molly, Louis, Rosy, and all the rest. And to my dearest friends: Dave and Josh. ""Shine your light, so I'll know you're there."
I play Martin and Ovation acoustics, Fender electrics, and use a Creative Labs
AWE-64 sound card with my custom-built studio PC for the MIDI tracks. All these songs were recorded on a Fostex X-18 four track cassette recorder. Words to
some of these songs can be found on my Web site: www.russell-lawson.com.