The songs on this recording are centered on the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, a struggle between the young United States and Great Britain for the riches of North America. Caught in the middle were native peoples, whose land and culture were forever changing with the influx of settlers from the cities of the east coast. Also, American land speculators looked longingly north of the border to the fertile lands of Upper Canada, now the province of Ontario, to continue the “American experiment of democracy.” The stage is set with Jefferson and Liberty, which is a traditional American song from the campaign and election of 1800 and followed quickly by Loyal She Remains (Alex Sinclair), giving the Canadian or loyalist perspective. Then Rebecca’s Lament (James Keeleghan) speaks about the American frontier and the intermingling of pioneer and native peoples. The war starts with The Constitution and Guerriere, written by the victorious American sailors who fought on “Old Ironsides” in the mid-Atlantic in August of 1812. In The Shannon and Chesapeake, the British returned the favor the following May off of Boston Harbor. The Gullible Americans chronicles the loss of Michigan territory in the first two months of the war from the perspective of a British officer. The tales continue in Lee’s own song, The Ballad of Ned Meyers, about surviving the loss of the USS Scourge in Lake Ontario in a sudden storm in August of 1813. The rollicking tune, Perry’s Victory on Lake Erie, describes the major sea battle and American victory on Lake Erie on September 10, 1813 between the British fleet and the Americans under Commodore Oliver H. Perry. Our Vanquished Hero is a life song about the great Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, who commanded Indian warriors allied with the British forces. It was written to a melody derived from a Winnebago warrior song. In this piece, we hear the sequence of events that marked the life and death of this amazing political and military mind and those who followed him. The Burlington Races follows and describes the last major encounter between the American and British fleets on Lake Ontario, which ended in neither side able to claim victory. This indecision proved decisive after the war, leaving the border unchanged. Then we move to the east coast in 1814, where the full power of the British war machine is unleashed on North American ports after the defeat of Napoleon in Europe the previous year. Here We’ll Stand, is a riveting account of the defense of Baltimore in the wake of the burning of Washington D.C. Then the full version of Francis Scott Key’s The Star Spangled Banner, is performed unaccompanied and reminiscent of what could have been heard in some Chesapeake Bay tavern. The war ends with a fiddle tune, Jackson’s Victory, composed shortly after the Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. (Jimmy Driftwood used this tune for his hit song, The Battle of New Orleans.) This album closes with an original song by Lee, Why Do They Have To Burn, about the power of words and a call for a return to civil discourse, certainly a worthy pursuit after a conflict of any type, military or political. It is a fitting end that is a celebration of 200 years of peace between two countries with the longest unfortified border on Earth.