Calloused Hands: a song about my grandfather, Kitchener Harnish and some great memories of being around the house and barn “Up Home” as we called it. He drove trucks for years and before he retired, he worked on the paving crew for Department of Highways, before the arthritis got too bad and he had to give it up. Broken: A song about the lure of great paying jobs in the west and beyond. Written with thoughts of a singing Newfoundland friend from Toronto, Jim Martin, who died recently. He was an iron worker or “High Steel” man as he called it The Last Ticket Home: The “Cape Bretoners going west” theme runs through several of these songs. This is loosely based on a story I saw on the TV news a few years back, about a guy from North Sydney, who was coming home for Christmas, on his last company paid trip. Due to the recession at the time, the ticket was only one way. Blood Stays Strong: Finished off with the help of cousin Roger Stone, a song about our pioneer people at Lynche’s River, and how in the early to mid 1800s, survival was based on hard work, strong faith and close knit families. At Home: Written in 1993 in Toronto, a song about Cape Breton, written shortly after receiving the Brakin Tradition CD “Powerfolk” in the mail. They covered Alastair Macdonald’s classic song, “Headin’ for Halifax” and it stirred up the juices a bit The Road From the Causeway: Another 1993 song, about the summer trips we used to make with our grandmother Ida Harnish, to Sydney for shopping and visiting family down there. I will never forget the first time I heard her say “Well whoever laid out this road, must have followed a Jesus snake!” (something like that) *The Old Soldier’s Eyes: A song about Remembrance Day, written about 2006/2007 after watching the annual service from Parliament Hill. I was drawn to a veteran who was in a wheelchair, sitting beside his daughter. He got to shake hands with Prime Minister Paul Martin. At the end of the ceremony, as Martin drove away, it showed the same veteran with a tear running down his face. Streets of McMoney: Read a story in the Daily News some years back about the exodus of young Cape Breton and Newfoundland workers to Fort McMurray. The writer mentioned “McMoney” in his text. Had to use that in a song. Roger again helped tie this one together. All The Tired Faces: A song from 1991 about the decline of the east coast fishery and the reality of what it meant for the many families already struggling to make ends meet... Build a House: As they said in the Rise and Follies of Cape Breton in 1980, the island was good at producing carpenters and teachers amongst other trades. This is a song for the carpenters, as my father Leo Stone was a long time ago. This is for his memory. The Last in a Long Line: This one’s about a Newfoundland guy out west, who was forced away as a result of the fishery collapse a generation earlier. I met a guy at the Old Triangle Pub in Halifax, in 2009, one night while my band was playing there. He said I should write this song. Whether true or not, he also said that he had been talking to Ron Hynes in St John’s who told him about me in Halifax. Shine Bright: Written for a friend, Arnold Sampson, a fine singer/songwriter who died from cancer in the fall of 2010. He was an inspiration to many musicians and inspiring writers around Richmond County, Halifax and beyond... The Devil’s Seam: The last of the 1993 songs, written after reading an old copy of the Cape Breton Magazine in Toronto. Found a story about a coal miner from the 1930s and 40s, who did it the hard way - pick and pack and aching back. He referred to the mines as “the Devil’s Seam” I knew that would become a song... Here We Are: The lure of the west has been strong around my hometown since I finished high school in 1977. Many of my friends went to Calgary and Edmonton. I went to Halifax first and then on to Toronto. There was a promise of the offshore taking off when we were heading out... Never really panned out though... As Long as There’s Time: Written for a friend, David Morris, whose father in the UK died from cancer a few years back. He told me a moving story about his father and a conversation he had with him when he first discovered he was sick...