A colourful collection of thought provoking music featuring classical and steel string guitar along with mandolin, dulcimer, harmonica, accordion, autoharp, cittern, keyboards, electric & acoustic bass and percussion.

All songs - SOCAN Made in Canada

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
Barry Lubotta

PRODUCED BY:
Kirk Elliott and Michael Jack

ENGINEERED / MIXED BY:
Michael Jack @ Power Plant (Barrie) & Phase One Studios (Toronto)

ADDITIONAL ENGINEERING:
Kirk Elliott

MASTERED BY:
George Seara @ www.phaseonestudios.com (416)291-9553

PHOTOS BY:
Donna Griffith Photography
GRAPHIC DESIGN:
Jason Sansalone

THE PLAYERS:
Kirk Elliott - Classical, Steel string and electric guitars, Mandolin, Mandola, Cittern, Accordion, Dulcimer, Autoharp, Psaltery, Keyboards, Percussion
Garth Vogan - Electric bass, Double bass (5)
Steve Heathcote - Drums, Congas, Percussion
Grant Slater - Hammond B3 (1,4 & 8)
Don Rooke - Dobro
Carlos del Junco - Harmonica
Pat Collins - Double bass (4,8 & 11)
Rick Gratton - Drums (4)

Oskar Graf for his fine guitars (1,2,12), Bram Morrison for the loan of his Contreras Spanish guitar (11), Twelfth Fret for the mandola, Barry and the lads at Phase One, Michael Jack for musical remedies, those who make and repair musical instruments (Tim, John, Rick & Steve at Heinl's), also Philip Davis, Ray Nurse, and my friends who smile and look politely into the distance when I babble.

1. UP FROM THE GROUND · All sorts of good things coming up from the ground &endash; things to eat, water to drink, trees to make instruments from. All those endangered things.

2. PAPAGAYO COWGIRL · We went to Costa Rica. "Let's go horseback riding", said Donna - "on the beach!" Being the greenest of greenhorns, I was given a sleepy old nag named Dolce, which I believe means 'comatose' in Spanish. Donna's horse was named, well, Camaro, or Firebird, maybe. After plodding through the backwoods, Dolce lingering as if at an all-you-can-eat salad bar, we hit the beach, where Donna metamorphosed into some kind of Amazon and streaked across the sands at about warp 9. Inspired by such an equestrian display, I spurred Dolce onwards to the lobby bar for a margarita or two.

3. THE NEIGHBOR'S CAT · Our neighbor's cat's name is Max, but we call him Spike because he is missing an upper canine (feline?) tooth, giving the lower one a decidedly upward thrust. He often appears in the late afternoon, commandeering the wicker chair with the best shade. We stroke his chin, rub back and tummy, play attack-the-evil-string, and occasionally offer a small saucer of milk. In return, he tolerates our presence. Political alliances have been based on less.

4. NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLE I'VE BEEN · Nobody knows but Jesus ... and my parents, I guess. My teachers & Donna, that's for sure. Internal Revenue? Oh, yeah. Rogers Cable & well, you get the picture.

5. HELL CREEK · Creek Formation lies in the badlands of eastern Montana. A treasure trove of dinosaur fossils, it is where Barnum Brown discovered the first Tyrannosaurus rex. Other T. rex skeletons, the world's largest duck-billed dinosaur, and over 50 Triceratops remains are there, the previous tenants of this land from a time when the world's largest mammals were the size of field mice.

6. LITTLE PINK SOCK · The comic strip MUTTS (Patrick McDonnell, King Features Syndicate), features Earl the dog and Mooch the cat. Mooch is hopelessly in love with a little pink sock. "Somewhere there's a cold tootsie", he declares, "but I DON'T CARE!"

7. DIFFERENT EVERY TIME · Waking up. Food. Driving somewhere. Playing music. Sitting on the back step. Making love.

8. THE MAN FROM CEREAL · My good friend Michael James Baker was an important figure in Toronto's arts community, writing music for dance, concerts, and film. During a lengthy wait for a bus one day in Burnaby, B.C., he told me about growing up in Cereal, Alberta, where once upon a time he sold his horse to buy a trumpet.

9. FOOL'S PARADISE · At the turn of the millennium, I phoned my Aunt Wilma and Uncle Ken in Victoria, B.C. I asked Wilma how things were going. "Not so good," she said. "Since I had my cataracts removed, I can see my wrinkles." "Kirkie", said Uncle Ken, "she was livin' in a fool's paradise!" I know I live there, too &endash; Aunt Wilma has no wrinkles, I am a world class tennis player, and all of our elected officials are doing a bang-up job.

10. PILLOW TALK · Well, this originally had a slightly naughtier title, but the idea is the same. Intimate moments - inspired by Rock Hudson and Doris Day, perhaps. I think I'll stop right here.

11. SEE YOU ON THE FLIP SIDE · Some people believe that, when you die, you are taken to a room in heaven that contains everything you have ever lost (in my case, this would be a warehouse). If I ever get there, I hope there is a corresponding cocktail lounge, full of laughter and real music, where some missing friends will be waiting.

12. ROMANZA · A little tune I wrote a long time ago, when my friend Geri went to Mexico and loaned me her guitar.

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Kirk Elliott "Up From The Ground" CD Review
Kirk Elliotts third CD "Up From The Ground" released in 2005 by Marshmellow Records. This folk/jazz mix is a colourful collection of thought provoking music featuring classical and steel string guitar along with mandolin, dulcimer, harmonica, accordion, autoharp, cittern, keyboards, electric and acoustic bass and percussion. Kirk plays all instruments listed except for bass, drums and harmonica.

Overall, "Up From The Ground" is an eclectic, warm, listenable album.


Green Man Review
The third album is described as "a colourful collection of thought provoking music featuring classical and steel string guitar along with mandolin, dulcimer, harmonica, accordion, autoharp, cittern, keyboards, electric and acoustic bass and percussion." It sounds so dry described like that. Kirk Elliott's own liner notes are much more entertaining, and his playing is superb. Oh, by the way, he plays all the instruments in that list except for harmonica (Carlos del Junco), bass (Garth Vogan and Pat Collins), and drums (Steve Heathcote and Rick Gratton). He is also joined by Grant Slater on Hammond B3 and Don Rooke on Dobro.

The music here is a bit less obscure and exotic than that on the Rooke and Manx CDs, but it is every bit as interesting and well played. Elliott provides notes on each track to give the listener a way in. Up > From the Ground is both the album title and the first song. "All good things come from the ground," Elliott says, "--things to eat, water to drink, trees to make instruments from. All those endangered things." And there's an earthy quality to the music. Elliott's rhythmic guitar playing, the solid rhythm section, overlaid with del Junco's bluesy harmonica, and a touch of Rooke's slide. Very tasty.

"Papagayo Cowgirl" describes a trip to Costa Rica. "'Let's go horseback riding on the beach,' said Donna . . . I was given a sleepy old nag named Dolce (which means comatose in Spanish.) Donna's horse was Camarao or Firebird, maybe. After plodding through the backwoods, Dolce lingering as if at an all-you-can-eat salad bar, we hit the beach, where Donna metamorphosed into some kind of Amazon and streaked across the sands at about warp 9. Inspired by such an equestrian display, I spurred Dolce onwards to the lobby for a margarita or two." The music tells the story. Try to imagine it!

Kirk Elliott's album is more mainstream, not as abstract as Manx or Rooke, and yet it feels very much a companion to the others. Again, the recording is luscious. You cannot ask for better duplication of sound than these three CDs provide. The guitars are in the room with you. It's a bonus when the playing is as good as the sound, and Harry Manx, Don Rooke and Kirk Elliott have no problems with technique or feel.

A trio of thoughtful, melodic, inventive albums, each featuring acoustic guitars on a journey of discovery and imagination.
[David Kidney]