Robert Neuenschwander studied piano and trumpet as a child. When he turned 18, his musical interests expanded to guitar. In the mid 70's, he began writing songs, and by the late seventies began performing at various musical gatherings in Olympia, Washington with Daniel Maguire (bass and penny flute) and Jenny Woods McLaughlin (vocalist). In 1980, he met Lubomir Wachtl, a Czech guitarist and song writer. They performed together as street musicians across Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon Territories and continued their musical collaboration for several years while planting trees in Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado. In 1986, Bob studied Chinese bamboo flute, and performed guitar concerts at the Sichuan Music Conservatory, and the No. 1 Cloth Factory in China (the latter with Lubomir Wachtl). In West Africa he was introduced to djembe drumming, and later to the didgeridoo while traveling in Australia. In 2001, he released his first album - Club of Two, a collaborative project with Julie Silvera (vocalist), Charles Argersinger (piano) and Gretchen Gunter (oboe). In 2015 he released his second album – Eminent Domain Music: Vol. I a collaborative project with Greg Yasinitsky (saxophone), David Loewus (clarinet), Julie Silvera (vocals) and Amara Reitz (vocals). Email: bobn@uidaho.edu. Gregory W. Yasinitsky, Regents Professor of Music and Director of the School of Music at Washington State University, has an international reputation as a composer, arranger and saxophonist. He is a member of the Washington State Music Educators Hall of Fame and a recipient of grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Commission Project, Artist Trust and ASCAP, Yasinitsky has performed with Randy Brecker, Sean Jones, Ed Calle, Alex Acuna, Kirk Whalum, Claudio Roditi, Conrad Herwig, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Louis Bellson, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Lou Rawls, Manhattan Transfer, and many others. He has written music especially for David Sanborn, Clark Terry, Dave Liebman and the USAF "Airmen of Note" big band. Yasinitsky has over 185 published musical works performed in over forty countries world-wide and his compositions and saxophone playing are featured on over forty CD recordings. Yasinitsky is a Yamaha performing artist and JodyJazz Artist. Under Yasinitsky's leadership, the WSU Jazz Studies Program has received widespread recognition including awards from Down Beat magazine, invitations to perform at prestigious conferences and top awards at major jazz festivals. Email: yasinits@wsu.edu. Amara Reitz, trained as a classical and jazz singer, has been singing professionally for several years now. She is a graduate of Washington State University, where she participated in VoJazz and has worked under Seattle based jazz singer and song writer Greta Matassa. Email: amara.joy@hotmail.com. Album cover design by Cody Muir. Email: muir1506@vandals.uidaho.edu Music recorded and mastered at Palouse Music, Pullman, WA. Robert Neuenschwander: song arrangements, lyrics, vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, keyboards, percussion. Greg Yasinitsky: soprano and baritone saxes (Islands, Waters Fall, And I Love You, You Can’t Take it Back, Charred Beams and Broken Glass, Gotta' Be Kind, American History, Life as a Circus, Goa Fisherman, Rivers Carry You Away, Another Day at the Office). Amara Reitz: vocals (Islands, Waters Fall, You Can’t Take It Back, Life as a Circus). Lyrics Waters Fall Why do these flights of raging birds Abrade my lonely solitude They pitch and dive, they’re oh so sly Against the sorrows passing time Chorus Change, change, change, change Now crawl upon the earth you worms For you, that have no home Your caves are filled with arcing fish Giving chase amongst the foam Make haste, oh you that linger in The shimmering of tide pools For soon the fires shall prick your ribs Till leather rests upon the dew The winds of change, it’s all the same Around the bend and through the glade With joyous shrills voices curd The milk from skies as waters fall You Can’t Take it Back Navel gazing leaders Leading from behind Spewing out barbs From their bottom feeding brine Chorus Words are doors that close Words are doors that close You can’t take it back You can’t take it back Citizens gathered like clowns In a fools’ galley Regurgitating their slog Because it makes them happy Cannons ablaze Metal in my belly I am afraid Blatant disregard, disrespect, meanness A punch in the dark Homeless Spare change brother Spare a quarter sister Life is full of strangeness It can take a sudden turn Chorus Wrong friends Or associates Drags the dream away In a puff of smoke it’s all gone “I may have issues,” he raised “I was this person, like it never…” Like you before, it was all taken away Spare change brother Spare a quarter sister Someone to cast a wide arc around Avoid at all costs Charred Beams and Broken Glass Harry was a lumberjack Built his life from wood Billy was an educator Surrounded himself with books Chorus Charred beams and broken glass Charred beams and broken glass Searching for meaning For things that came to pass Then there came another Who one day was their lover A triad of passion and feeling Filling the spaces of each other Standing tall before a window Harry felt that surge of power Gunned his friend down Burned his house to the ground The sheriff gathered clues Puzzle pieces to explain How love could become so twisted To ghosts of living pain They buried what was left of him In a place no one remembers now They say he was still alive As his walls came tumbling down Gotta’ be Kind Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Kindness reigns Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Kindness reigns Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Want to do something for someone Gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind, gotta’ be kind Kindness reigns American History Salmon in the river, river now be damned Competing interests scrambling for all the water it can Farmers in their fields eking out a living from the land Tribal nations longing for fish they can’t have Chorus American history, American history OxyContin pickers picking blooms of dire relief Spin pain into devastating everlasting peace While mourners in their pews howl out in grief And pharma moguls sow the seeds of hungry corporate greed Worker on the pier, shipping freight at the docks In containers piled high to places he can’t pronounce To feed consumer frenzy repressed by decades that were lost As he imagines his job hitching a ride out on waiting open trucks Violence on the streets every side has its cause Lines drawn in blood that no one dares to cross Numb from it all we turn a weary eye As community leaders grapple with the loss On any given day I could really start to drown But I don’t want to be that man that’s only looking down I have to play the long game, have faith in what’s ahead Remind myself that on any given day there is someone Somewhere doing something that’s absolutely amazing As I dance to thoughts that are at once hopeful and sad Goa Fishermen A boy kicks a pufferfish Over and over it rolls Into the milky wash and spume Till crested it surges Back to the platter of jewels A banquet for jackdaws By unlikely invitation Women squat on their haunches Near the place where all the sea Lies in a heap On a writhing summit A courtly lobster stands The king of the mountain He’ll be the first to be sold Chorus I am there Goa fishermen I could be one of them Goa fisherman I’ve climbed mountain peaks Watched starry nights As others lay asleep Felt the vibe Of a vibrant city street The tickle of the dew As it pressed against my feet But who has seen more Than the fisherman Who gazes over the sea As if it was his friend While knowing Beneath each and every wave There lay an open grave Rivers Carry You Away Rivers carry you away Tides they bring you home You will never be as alive as when You immerse yourself into the unknown Chorus Push and pull, push and pull Never knowing where that road will lead you Push and pull, push and pull Not knowing what lies on the other side It’s in your blood and bones This thing that makes you want to go To the wishing well of experience You can always tell a tourist He’s the one casting out stones Out to a sea that wants no more Then to heave them back to shore Mr. B Baby showers Birthday flowers Living day to day Soccer games Growing pains Nothing more to say Chorus Mr. B He has his worries They’re just different from yours or mine Wags his tail Never fails To greet me at the door I wonder what He dreams about When darkness calls his name Running wild Through fields of grass Tracing all that went before Home work, school work Merge together Fading into grey And through the fog I hear Mr. B Calling me to play