Liner Notes: It Is Time is Ginger Ackley's newest CD! It's full of melodies that stay in your heart and lyrics that delight – and sometimes challenge your mind. The title track, It Is Time, was written aboard a cruise ship in the Carribbean back in 2005. It was a serendipity of music because there was an almost-bad romance, which led to doing something completely different and special for herself.... and that was the Celtic Nations Heritage Cruise with Danny O'Flaherty that sparked a growing hobby for music into a fully involved music career! Between some highly respected judges, like Danny O'Flaherty, Danny Doyle, Andy M. Stewart and Aoife Clancy, Ginger's It Is Time was chosen as the winning song. That same year she sang it in Ireland and the following spring performed it on an Alaskan cruise – which was the prize for winning the song contest! The song It Is Time is about “leaving one place and going to another, but in a happy way” - that was the subject assigned during the contest. No sad emmigration songs allowed! It Is Time is an expression of Ginger's love of history and family, which works well for another hobby: genealogy! The song opens the door to a musical journey that touches so many emotions and dreams... Beyond the Wildest Dream is filled with hope and a desire to trust. The lyrics tell you to dream outside the box and dare to love – whether for the first time or on another round! White Rose Sailor was originally written to entertain friends at renaissance faires.. friends who often choose personae of a seafaring nature and say “Arrrrrr!” a lot! Most everyone likes sea stories, though and White Rose Sailor tells a tale, indeed. It is a story of two young lovers separated by need and the ocean. The sea will often take life away, but sometimes allows it to return. Bird That Has Flown is a light-hearted song about the eternal dance between lads and lasses. Hearts can get hurt in the process, of course, but each part of that dance brings us closer to the one we can really be in love with... The Water Is Wide is a traditional song – actually related to Child Ballad 204, Jamie Douglas and another version, Oh, Waly, Waly. Many of Ginger's generation were introduced to this beautiful ballad back in the wonderful days of the Folk Music Scene, when such names as Pete Seegar, Judy Collins, Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez (among many) became icons of a generation. It was also a great piece to have in the repertoire of young college students, and Ginger has been singing it ever since! Tell Me Of The Sky has actually brought a few tears to the eye, as the story unfolds of a young girl asking her father to remember what the sky and the water and the earth were like back when he was young – before disaster forced people to live in caves to protect them from the harsh elements on the surface. Could it happen? Cottage For One is a happy little waltz tune about a young maid being courted by a rich young man – a frequent theme in folk songs. Ginger's version has her holding out for true love – which does happen after her suitor fails to impress her with his worldly goods. Lovers Lullaby came about in an unusual way. One night, as Ginger was talking to a friend on the phone, he fell asleep after a long day of work. Unsure whether to just hang up or not, she listened for awhile then reached over and strummed her autoharp – and discovered that he was breathing in the key of D Minor! The rhythm and sound of his long-distance nap became entwined with a poem about wishes for a lover's happiness... and the result is a hauntingly beautiful song to share with you! Her Face In The Sky is an instrumental between Ginger's autoharp that was customized for her by Hal Weeks and her pennywhistle. She “heard” the melody one evening while walking on the high plains of Wyoming. There had been thunderstorms over Cheyenne and the clouds where moving in the wild way that happens in that part of the world. As she watched, a face formed in the sky of a great She Wolf... something out of legend and time... The Great Silkie is another traditional song and is listed as number 113 in the Child Ballads. It is a sad tale from the Orkney Islands of Scotland, where many believe they are descended from Silkie or Selkie matches with human kind. The Selkie folk live as seals in the sea, but shed their skins and walk as men on the land, often “fostering” their offspring with village girls, who would be gifted with gold when the chid was old enough to go to the sea. The Selkies were said to be gifted in knowing the future – which was not always a happy thing, indeed! The songs of the meadow lark and the nightingale give expression to a heart broken by a callous lover in She Wears No Ring. It is a melody inspired by the larks that sang for Ginger when she was in Wyoming. How Is It? is a rather light-hearted tune, and you can even hear a smile in the voice as the question is asked, “How is it you did not know that you had taken my heart?” As the legacy of folk songs shows, it has always seemed incredible that one could be so in love, yet the object of that affection remains oblivious. In How Is It? , Ginger employs a bit of the bard's weapon, satire, to the story – which shows that one should not be careless about breaking a bard's heart! (It all came out fine in the end, though.... one bit of sadness led ultimately to finding the love of her life... but the other guy still was something of a cad!) The story that Bonnie Green tells is of a time when young men often had to leave to fight for their homes and land – though that hasn't changed too much today. Back in that time, though, it wasn't always the ones who fought who lost their life. There were illnesses and such that struck the loved ones back home, and it was the young soldier who was left with the sadness. Gaia's Lament is a song with a driven rhythm and harmony, sharing the sadness of the Earth as mankind uses her resources to the limit. She sing both to her children and laments about them. This song, along with Tell Me Of The Sky, were written after a stirring conversation with Danny O'Flaherty, a good friend and Irish performer who lost his pub and his home to Hurricane Katrina. Lark's Farewell began when Ginger visited Ireland in 2005, with a wonderful sight of the barman standing by late in the evening, wanting to close up but caught up in the music being played. One of the things that Ginger cherishes about being a musician is the connection that happens when she shares her songs. She holds the memory of her audiences and hopes that they also will remember her as life goes on down the road. “For our hearts have shared the musc and we've touched each other's soul... and no matter where my road may lead, there's a part of you will go!” Enjoy these songs and tunes and may they lift your spirits and spark your dreams! On the technical side of things.... Ginger did all the recording on this CD herself. Having been burned in the past by a pseudo-studio and encourged by the success of her children's CD, All Earth's Children, she utilized her Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop and Adobe Audition software and produced the songs included on It Is Time. Her autoharp is an Oscar Schmidt body with 24 chord bars modified by Hall Weeks and Pete Daigle. Unlike a regular autoharp, it uses two keys at a time and can make over 100 chords. She plays a collection of pennywhistles on the CD. Some are the Susato brand of PVC plastic. The Low G is one of her favorites for its wonderful mellow tones! Her other whistles were made by Eric the Flutemaker – one of her regular friends out at Renaissance Faires. His whistles are handmade wooden creations that make some of the best music ever. Her favorite mic is a Shure PG58 acquired in a little music shop in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Adobe's Audition software allows her to sing and play all the parts, and to balance them with beautiful effects. She originally acquired Audition for a project to transfer her father's old vinyl recordings to CD to share with family and others... but then she got sidetracked with making her own music! No artist exists in a vaccuum – regardless of how they might feel at times duing the creative process! It Is Time is a product of much support, especially by Ginger's husband of only a year, Donovan Ackley. He made sure she was fed and watered during the times of intense effort – and he even managed to break her away to enjoy friends and other music, like seeing the great folk singer, Judy Collins, in concert. He breathes a sigh of relief as the project comes to an end and his new wife returns to reality!