Don Haynie & Sheryl Samuel - Water from the Moon (2018)

Don Haynie & Sheryl Samuel set out once again to capture a little magic, and reach out to explore some new musical territory. Their base in upstate New York's Hudson Valley is also home to some of the best musicians anywhere, and they have pulled together some great support from keyboard and accordion player Professor Louie, drummers Gary Burke and Randy Ciarlante, and bassist, engineer, and co-producer Scott Petito, along with guest appearances by Larry Packer on violin, Bill Keith on banjo, Bobby Ingano from Hawai'i on lap steel guitar, and Steve Gorn on the bansuri flute.

Don & Sheryl open the album with their trademark vocal harmonies on "Just Remember My Love, My Love", with Don on acoustic and electric guitars, and Sheryl stepping out on the mid-song percussion break. The title song, "Water from the Moon" tells a timeless story of the search for real love in this world, laced together by Steve Gorn's bansuri flute work atop gradually building layers of guitars, percussion, and kalimba. We hit the surf in "Just One More Ride", bringing forward Don's ukulele playing, and Bobby Ingano's soaring steel guitar. "Oh, If You Were Mine" poses a question: Are we looking at the past from the future, or the future from somewhere in the past? It features some flowing piano work, and handclaps to remind us that, hey, it's only folk'n'roll! "The Missionary's Position" is a short-story in song form, born on a late-night drive through a seedy section of Spokane, Washington; there are many faces of love...

Back in the 1990s, Don & Sheryl sang for a while with the Hudson River Clearwater Sloop Singers, a group organized by Pete Seeger to support the work of the Clearwater foundation in cleaning up the Hudson River, and "Something in a River's Song" was written especially to perform with them. The song showcases Don's 12-string guitar work, and is highlighted by Bill Keith's innovative banjo playing--and since the 12-string and the banjo were Pete Seeger's favored instruments, there's something very appropriate going on here. In "Another New Year", Sheryl gives us a sweet and true vocal performance, full of the bright poignance of the season, and Scott Petito's cello solo brings it depth and heart.

Now we come to what some people are calling "the rain trilogy": We are told a mysterious and dark tale in "Is That The Rain I Hear?", with a haunted and perhaps hunted protagonist who may have done something terrible, while Steve Gorn on clarinet charms the snakes in this little border town: "It Sure Is Raining"--just a nice, happy rainy day song...we need those, right? And the album closes with "It's Only Raining On Me" (who hasn't felt that way?), and some beautiful string playing from Larry Packer on violins, and Scott Petito on cello.

Recorded at NRS in Catskill, NY. Scott Petito engineer, Beth Reineke, assistant. Bobby Ingano recorded at Pacific Music Productions in Honolulu, Kit Ebersbach, engineer. Mastered by Toby Mountain, at Northeastern Digital in Massachusetts.