Description: From the album "Murmurations." Available 8.5.16. Order/pre-order at simonbaltomusic.com.

Description: For my buddy Doug. Miss you.

Description: A song by Peter Mulvey, who asked some colleagues to write a middle verse in honor of one member of the Charleston 9. For Sharonda Coleman-Singleton.

Description: LYRICS: Last night deep in the woods, Two kids in winter hoods Argued over heaven. One tall and plain to see And one faded just like me As they trudged blindly through the snow. And the whippoorwill in the forest Sang a lonely chorus For the questions they asked there. With their faces to the ground They listened for a sound To come floating 'cross the air. For some kind of sign they might find her there. At dawn the sun it came, And the snow did not remain And the kids took off their jackets. And as the dew burned off the hill And the forest stood quite still One grabbed a stone and began to stack it. And the whippoorwill in the forest Sang a lonely chorus For the labors he did there. While the other cried and shook The Driftless birthed a brook, And it matted down his hair. And he looked for her eyes in the rushing water there. They built a tower to the skies Past where the bluebird flies And sat upon its highest peak They stayed there throughout the day And here and there they'd pray Otherwise too scared to speak. And the whippoorwill in the forest Sang a lonely chorus To the prayers they whispered there But on that mountain made of stones A fear crept in their bones As the sun beat in their hair And they may not find her in the clouds up there. So at dusk they looked around And still heard not a sound So they started down the tower One wept into his hands Said "the question of heaven still stands," The other pointed to a flower. And the whippoorwill in the forest Laughed a perfect chorus To the smiles they shared there. For that bloom in all it's glory It sang their mother's story As the trees gathered to stare. And they laid her down to rest in the forest there. --- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "The Tower and the Bloom" was recorded on a Zoom handheld recorder, in Chicago in May 2013. For more material from Simon Balto, visit simonbalto.bandcamp.com.

Description: LYRICS: This is one for the shuttered home, This is one for the drifting snow. Braid your hair up, darling, I'll see you in the Spring; I'll murmur my way home on a starling's wing. Out of the city, I'm coming home; I'll meet you where the west wind blows. With backbone up, I'm coming home; I'll lay you down where the willow tree grows. This is one for the July fire, And this is one for the celebration pyre. Autumn always comes like the springtime flood; I'll sleep with you in a little room awash in love. Out of the wastelands, I'm coming home; I'll meet you where the north star glows. Sure as hellfire, I'm coming home; I'll lay you down where the willow tree grows. --- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "The One for the Coming Home" was recorded in one take and in one track in Chicago on November 7, 2012. For more material from Simon Balto, visit simonbalto.bandcamp.com.