Available at

Despite having songs featured on a number of excellent compilations and a performance reputation that earned them back-to-back nominations for "Best Local Folk Act" in The Providence Phoenix Readers Poll, Jeff and Donna Olson were never satisfied with the "duo sound" and were never happy with their recording efforts.

At the time of the musical merger, the Wire & Wood album project was in limbo. In Folks Together, however, Jeff and Donna found the sound they were looking for. Like Rick and John, they did not want to abandon songs which they and others felt deserved a decent voice. So, they asked Rick and Henry Gauvin to bring some of the honesty of From Now On to their songs..

It didn't take long for the Wire & Wood CD to become a "transition" project. The songs were Jeff and Donna's, but the sound came across as pure FolkTogether. With Rick, John, and Vincent featured on every cut, the "live" FolksTogether sound became the yardstick by which each song was measured. "Keep it simple, keep it real" was the mantra repeated over and over whenever anyone mentioned using some kind of digital wizardry....

To achieve the desired sound and feel, the basic instrumental tracks on The Grand Carousel were recorded essentially live. Vocal harmonies were done in a similar live performance fashion, and lead vocals were spared the digital processing and "pitch correction" common in most recent recordings. The only real concession to multi-track recording is Donna's harmony against her own vocal on Everytime.

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Playlist

The Age of The Grand Carousel
Crazy In The Night
A Rainy Day
Tomorrow
The S.E. Graham

A Waltz For The Ladies
Everytime
Lord Knows
Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Sandy Denny)
I Don't Care (Buck Owens)

All songs by Wire & Wood (Donna and Jeff Olson) except as noted..

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The Players

Donna Olson: lead and backing vocals

Jeff Olson: lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar

Rick Bellaire: vocals, acoustic 6 & 12 string guitars, high strung guitar, mandolin, mandola, accordion, and banjo

John Dunn: backing vocals, fretless bass

Vincent Pasternack: violin, viola, and "whistling

Produced by Rick Bellaire, Henry Gauvin and Folks Together
Studio: Summer Lightning
Engineer: Henry Gauvin
Medium: Analog Tape (8 Track) and ADAT
Mastered by: Henry Gauvin and Christine Lilley at Celebration Sound Studios
Design/concept: Jeff Olson with John Crafton II and JQ Crafton
Musicians: Donna Olson, Jeff Olson, Rick Bellaire, John Dunn, Vincent Pasternack
Instruments: 6/12 String Guitars, Nashville Tuned Guitar, Fretless Bass, Mandolin, Mandola, Violin, Viola, Banjo, Accordion
(All instruments used are acoustic except Fretless Bass)
Released and Distributed by: Soft Wind Productions
All original songs: BMI
Publishing by: Wire &Woodworks 1994-1998

You can purchase and hear Real Audio soundclips from

The Age of The Grand Carousel

at

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Hear Sound Clips in MP3 Format at www.milomusic.com

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