#5 -"Lovely on the Water" - Ballads in the Wilderness Series

#5 - "Lovely on the Water" - Ballads in the Wilderness - Luddites on Location The National Park Service describes Shell Falls as "the thundering heart of the Bighorn Mountains". Rising across northern Wyoming and southern Montana, the Bighorns embody the richness and wild grandeur of the Rocky Mountain West. Lush grasses and tall pine forests gather around clear streams along whose banks bloom profusions of wildflowers. In late summer, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and choke cherries provide a feast for the black bear who populated area alongside moose, elk, pronghorn, deer (three of whom were kind enough to appear in cameo roles in this video) and the full panoply of wildlife. For thousands of years, the Bighorns have have provided shelter and abundant food for native peoples. The mountains are laced with game trails and hunting trails, deep canyons and gorges. On a high plateau not far from Shell Falls lies the Medicine Wheel, an ancient and sacred ceremonial site. When I arrived in Shell Canyon last month to make this video, my plan was to share some of these grand vistas. Nature had other ideas. Low clouds and heavy fog moved in and created an otherworldly atmosphere that reflected the somber message of the music. The floating mist and circling ravens captured the mood of this war-time love song more powerfully than any landscape I could have conjured. I was inspired to record Lovely on the Water by the English folk group, Steeleye Span, who released it on their 1971 recording, Pleased to See the King. Their body of work is a treasure chest from which I have gratefully drawn so many wonderful traditional songs. My thanks, as always, to Clayton Stubbs, for his endlessly inventive editing of my humble iPhone files. Take care, Everyone, and thank you for watching.