Review Text
This collection of acoustic, folk-oriented music is by songwriters primarily from the Cascade Mountain area of the Northwestern US. Calling themselves the Cascade Songwriter's Collective, the group has created this CD as a fund raiser for Sisters of the Road Café. Sisters is a 27-year old nonprofit organization that helps feed the hungry from their café in Portland, Oregon. Focusing on the themes of homelessness and poverty, the songs ask the listeners to stop, think, and consider these issues in a variety of ways with beautiful and sometimes haunting melodies and lyrics. The songs strive to tell a story, ask a question, or set a mood. Produced by Ken Vigil, one of the artists, the collection includes acoustic instrumentation (guitar, mandolin, banjo, piano, and harmonica), heartfelt singing and playing, and straightforward production. The CD packaging and production are spare, fitting the theme of homelessness and poverty well. Songwriters/artists include: Ken Vigil, Paul Edward Sanchez, Barb Galloway, Matt Meighan, Deb E. Dee, Kathleen Lundquist, Dave Mullany, Jim Burke, Tracy Klas, and Richard Colombo. This is a fine collection of music by singer/songwriters with a social conscience responding to an important social need. Following in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Utah Phillips, and many others, these songwriters are standing up and singing on behalf of the poor and oppressed.
