“Crossin That Bridge” CD Album Notes..
We couldn’t fit all this on the CD Jacket so we decided to put it here. It is basically a few thoughts on each song on the album.
1. THE OLD WISHING WELL
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
This is a simple upbeat song written about a turn of the century well on the property of my family bungalow in Gabarus, Nova Scotia. The well has sustained life for many generations and has been on the property since the turn of the early 1900’s if not before. Many wishes have been granted over the years including the making of this CD.
2. MY DREAM GIRL
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
A light-hearted Caribbean Island sounding song about a self sufficient type of guy who has relationship problems and can never seem to meet the right girl; all except for one in his dreams. The song has many Jimmy Buffet and Zac Brown Band type of influences.
3. AND THEY DANCED
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
A simple story of how two people met at a young age and could never be together because of circumstances beyond their control. They met at different times in their lives in the coming years and could never share their bond with one another because one or the other had a partner at the time. It wasn’t until they were in the late stages of their lives that they finally got together to have that final dance. This guitar track on this cut is played exclusively in DADGAD on my dad’s (Bill Mills) 1955 Gibson J-45.
4. AROUND THE BEND
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
This song is written in bluegrass style and tells the story of a woman who up and left one day never to return. She still haunts the halls of their once happy home and he thinks she is returning each time he hears the sound of that haunting train whistle at the edge of town. A cool tune with lots of guitar work and vocal harmony throughout.
5. EIGHT MORE HOURS
Buddy MacDonald
This song was written about 12 years ago by one of our Island’s great bards of song – Buddy MacDonald. It was penned primarily as a tribute to all those road warriors who travel while plying their craft and measure distance between gigs in hours and not in miles.
6. I’M COMIN BACK
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
This song was written on a hot summer day in 2011 while reflecting on how family members, sons and daughters alike, tend to travel back and forth across Canada out of necessity to work and go to school. We all have one thing in common however, we all feel the need to come back home, eventually, and thus “I’m Comin Back” discusses the very nature of this dilemma.
7. THE GIANT FIDDLE
Phillip Williams/Tom Mills (SOCAN)
This song is collaboration between Phillip and Tom and paints a local picture of Cape Breton culture and how The Giant Fiddle stands fixed, rising high from her perch on the Sydney Waterfront, calling out to the young and old alike to celebrate and sing out proudly the praises of our rich Cape Breton heritage.
8. FOX ON THE RUN
This classic toe tapper has become a band favourite and has been sung at many performances and kitchen parties throughout the Maritimes. It has become an upbeat, all out, foot stompin’, pub-style bluegrass tune written many years ago by Tony Hazzard and includes driving rhythm on banjo, mandolin and bluegrass guitar accompanied by three-tiered harmony.
9. MASTERS MEDLEY
Sound the Pibroch (John Allan Cameron)
Waters of Bras D’or (Charlie MacKinnon)
Grand ballads written by Cape Breton Masters of song and have become Island traditions sung and recorded by many artists throughout Cape Breton and around the world. Both troubadours have become legends and are remembered for their gift of song and influence over many generations of performers to come.
10. THE MIDNIGHT FLAMES
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
A reflective type of song about changes and how a family gathers around a blazing campfire for one final send off before a situation arises that forces all to move on to the next stages of their lives. Singing and fellowship are the order of the evening while all present sing, dance, and laugh to the sound of the crickets and the blazing embers.
11. WAGON WHEEL
Old Crow Medicine Show
“Wagon Wheel” is composed of two different parts. The chorus for the song comes from a demo recorded by Bob Dylan, and the verses written by Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. Secor’s additional lyrics transformed “Rock Me Mama” into “Wagon Wheel” and was recorded on their O.C.M.S. self titled album in 2004. We’d like to note that the song was officially adopted by Matt Andersen of Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, and sung at festivals and special events throughout the Maritimes and beyond. It has since become a campfire favourite and has been covered by dozens of bands in recent years throughout Atlantic Canada.
12. THE FARM
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
A song about how hard times during the depression forced thousands of immigrants thru the gates of Pier 21 in Halifax to their newly destined homes across Canada. Two young children Bob and Florence Sproson, ages 9 and 6 respectively, are two just such children to share an epic journey from England to Halifax in the mid 1920’s via boat, train and then finally horse and buggy to a farm on the Marion Bridge Road where they were adopted by Liza and John M Ferguson. The years that passed saw them thru both good and trying times but they still managed to raise a large family, and to this day, all friends and family members still gather to sing, tap their toes, and tell stories until the wee hours of the morning.
13. CROSSIN’ THAT BRIDGE
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
This is a little departure for the band’s usual Rootsy-Grungegrass style of play, and it a hard driving Celtic-Rock song which tells the story of a band travelling from town to town sharing their love of music and chasing their musical dreams into the dawn. The adventure takes place somewhere on Canada’s East coast and is shared by many a musician with hopes of making it big in the music industry.
14. MONEY OR FAME
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
The serious musician’s dilemma has always been do I play for money or fame? Well back in the good old days most of us guitar wielding rock star wannabees only believed in playing for the fun of it and neither money nor fame came into the picture. The song actually paints a picture of a fun era in around Sydney, Nova Scotia and hanging out with friends at places like The Shingle, the old Sydney Forum, Wentworth Park Bandshell concerts and shooting the drag on Charlotte St.
15. I LIKE GIRLS
Tom Mills (SOCAN)
This 80’s style rock anthem was written for the local 2011 Nova Scotia Comedy Horror Flick, “The Legend of the Psychotic Forest Ranger” and features hard driving rock riffs and satirical lyrics that poke fun at the 80’s. The movie is a tongue in cheek parody of similar comedy horror flicks from this era like the Evil Dead, Psycho Cop, and Sleepaway Camp and was written and directed by Brad Mills (Bradmills.ca) and filmed by his sister Jacquelyn Mills (Jacquelynmills.ca), both born and raised in Cape Breton. Is the legend true? Check out “www.Thelegendofthepsychoticforestrangerthemovie.com” to find out more.