Dad's Dinner Pail and Other Songs From the Helen Hartness Flanders Collection FREE

About Dad's Dinner Pail and Other Songs From the Helen Hartness Flanders Collection

Debra Cowan's 2005 release, Dad's Dinner Pail and Other Songs From the Helen Hartness Flanders Collection on recording label Falling Mountain Music is a captivating alliance of new and old. Co-produced with composer and guitarist Michael DeLalla, Dad's Dinner Pail brings forth eleven traditional songs from the Flanders Song Collection in which a dance is created between Michael's exquisite guitar settings and Debra's elegant vocals. Dad's Dinner Pail also features Falling Mountain Music artists Tabby Finch (Bog Wanderers) on hammered dulcimer and accordion, Chas Fowler (Unfortunate Rakes) on whistle, Joe Dezarn (Bog Wanderers) on fiddle, Ralph Gordon on cello and bass and acclaimed singer John Roberts (Roberts and Barrand, Nowell Sing We Clear) lending his voice to two hymns, Fearless In the Fire and Star In the East. Highlights include Michael's beautiful guitar arrangements in songs such as Bold Richard and Debra's glorious vocals nested in three part harmony on Poor Soldier.

From the minute she begins to sing, Debra Cowan grabs her audience and doesn’t let go. Her ability to communicate the story within the song is rare. Her rich voice conjures images of stony grey Celtic castles, green and rolling English landscapes, and humorous American urban scenes. Just as the audience is left spellbound after Debra presents a woeful traditional ballad of love gone wrong, she immediately brings laughter with an outrageous comic song. Her love of songs from the British Isles has led her to search out the connections with their North American ancestors and her desire to be true to the song brought her to Edinburgh, Scotland in 1997.

While there, Debra studied the performances of that country's finest singers. She was chosen to be a resident musician at Edinburgh's premier folk music pub, Sandy Bell’s Bar, following in the footsteps of Scottish musicians such as Dick Gaughan, Aly Bain, Tony Cuffe and the Wrigley Sisters. Almost ten years later and based near Worcester, Massachusetts, Debra tours extensively in the USA and United Kingdom.