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Strike the Match

by Billy Wylder

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1.
I will follow you I will follow you like birds flying away great blue heron in the sky tell me why won’t you tell me why tell me why we live this way lazy river floating by taking time taking time stay for a while I will follow you I will follow you like birds flying away grains of sand through my hands I am falling I am falling I am falling for you babe in the stillness of the night on the mountainside on the mountainside we can hear the great divide I will follow you I will follow you like birds flying away
2.
long white coat don’t you make no joke got the medicine in hand but she can hardly stand it ain’t her fix no none of your tricks she’s been used and abused raped and confused stepped on like garbage on the concrete streets left by the guests in her holy guest house left by the guests in her holy guest house we are barely listening we are barely listening in the shadow of the building can’t see the sun tide between the walls there’s nowhere to run hear the clock in the hall losing the beat beggars bare their wounds like meat on the streets and the flags of freedom they whip in the wind built on the towers of original sin built on the towers of original sin we are barely listening we are barely listening the wheels keep spinning in the patterns of the past gotta let the skin die before the new one can last there are cracks in the frame of this temple of freedom got God on our money a future to believe in as leaders of the world line up like enemies mother’s crying, mother’s crying they’re nowhere to be seen mother’s crying, mother’s crying they’re nowhere to be seen a thousand red flags burning in the face a thousand red flags what will it take feel the fire now feel the fire now don’t you wait don’t you wait we ain’t got time we ain’t got time we are barely listening we are barely listening
3.
December thirty first and you feel like you could burst take a deep breath mama you’re here today now you have served your time and there’s no chance to rewind may your burned little heart find peace in time Anita is your name and your children sling cocaine the streets took your man who’s to blame there’s chaos in the air it’s about damn time we care we’re all on this ship and it’s sinking fast she said… take the back roads to Birmingham and maybe you’ll understand this ginger lil’ place ain’t Dixieland my granddaddy Jim he and all his kin worked them fields through thick and thin Anita is my name and my children sling cocaine the streets took my man who’s to blame there’s chaos in the air it’s about damn time we care we’re all on this ship and it’s sinking fast Burrell’s laying in that cold cell on a rusted out bed six feet underground with no rock at his head stars and stripes above me they’re whipping in the wind in the name of liberty a nation filled with sin la la la la la la la la let the bird fly out
4.
riding on a ferris wheel living in the ideal bliss on the holiday amused by the revolution round and round you’re turning staring out at the bay Uncle Sam always gets his way on the fourth of July cotton candy brown bag brandy lazy river ride kids and coca cola just like they sold ya with your beautiful bride just for a moment you can hide on the fourth of July holding all the glory as you run on the boardwalk you can’t avoid the bums glowing like the faces round the fire sing the star spangled banner with the choir Coney Island living in the big fun castles all along the beach poisoned seagulls dirty needles right before your eyes you see freedom at the cost of being free on the fourth of July windows breaking mothers shaking walls are caving in the world keeps turning backward learning the streets they smell of sin grandson are you listening it’s the fourth of July sitting in a carriage in the sun you take another shot and then you’re done praying for a home up in the sky take a look at your footprints before you die take a look at your footprints before you die take a look at your footprints before you die
5.
you said you loved me and then you left you broke every promise you win every bet you never miss your water till your well runs dry tell me, tell me… whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry I’d like to know… whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry listen to me darling you cheat and you lie now you come runnin wanting second try you never miss your water till your well runs dry tell me, tell me… whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry I’d like to know… whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry we prayed before you on sacred land you stood on the mountain with guns in your hand but I know that you wonder and you’re feeling blue tell me, tell me… whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry I’d like to know… whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry can’t drink the oil leave it in the soil mni wiconi water is life can’t drink the oil water is life whatcha gonna do, when your well runs dry we’d like to know we’d like to know we’d like to know we’d like to know
6.
Moonshine 04:35
I was just a dream turned to water down the stream racing through the rocks turned to clay and then to chalk words I then became written on the wall a poem in their brain like a rolling waterfall I am the moonshine I am a baby’s cry and I am forgiveness am I fictitious, woah oh in the spring I am the green come and see me we will sing in the golden hour glow be not afraid if you don’t know for the sun will come again you will grow my friend imagine you’re the sand and the water and the wind I am the moonshine I am a baby’s cry and I am forgiveness am I fictitious, woah oh
7.
the lion’s breath a young one’s heart the vital signs not far apart falling stars missing tears another home another year woah, fire woah, water hollow home refugee your shadow as real can be desperate eyes beneath the veil we are broken and we are frail woah, fire woah, water Damascus gate Aleppo road guerrilla guns where do we go across the sea to Sicily Malaga take mercy on me woah, fire woah, water
8.
went walking in the desert with just my shoes made me a headdress I danced with my muse the stars all above me the sound of their silence I was reminded there in the night solace and stillness I leave a world of illness take a desert’s sweet kiss on my weary head come a rolling thunder and the rhythm of rain I am free from these chains that I did not choose roar of the wild may I be your companion I will defend you until I am dust there will come a time down rivers and highways when you and me are one in the same it’s my good fortune a haven from madness if money makes sadness then a poor man I’ll die I’ve danced with holy women and children ghosts in the mountains under one sky roar of the wild may I be your companion I will defend you until I am dust there will come a time down rivers and highways when you and me are one in the same let me hear your voice desert angel let me hear your voice mountain muse let me hear your voice lonesome cannon it is you, I can’t refuse
9.
We Rise 00:44
hear the pounding of drums, deep in the distance at the foot of the mountain, we rise in resistance to the black snake and her poisonous smile
10.
there was a time when she was the earth as fine as the sand, as true as the north her soul inside the soul of the world, round deep in the fold of her history one with the land, one with the sea mother to child, river to soul, whole circles of glass reflecting the sky she lights up the darkness with diamonds in her eyes dancing with shadows, turning herself to the fire she cried her song to the call of the wild prayed for her kin, the spirit of the child mama, mama what have they done the waters are rising, there’s nowhere to run dried in the lines of her sun kissed hands a mirror for the earth, she understands the magnetic connection, bending her heart towards the water the blackness of night, transformed by the stars guided her home, from near and from far now the light that she sees, shines from the streets she can’t find her home, she can’t find her peace she can’t find her home, she can’t find her peace she cried her song to the call of the wild prayed for her kin, the spirit of the child mama, mama what have they done the waters are rising, there’s nowhere to run the waters are rising, there’s nowhere to run
11.

about

“A spiritual cousin to Paul Simon’s Graceland” –Seven Days

From the front-lines at Standing Rock to the archaic streets of Jerusalem, the Sahel Desert to Carnegie Hall, music has been the source of strength for Billy Wylder. The band features Avi Salloway (Bombino/Hey Mama/Avi & Celia) joined by an inspired cast of singular artists who have performed across five continents including concerts at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival, Newport Folk Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Montreal Jazz Fest, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center. From 2013-16, Salloway toured the globe with Bombino, the Tuareg guitar hero from Niger, Africa. While on the journey and since returning, Salloway wrote the collection included on the band's new album Strike the Match (Sand & Gold Records).

Salloway has been bringing these songs to life with the Wylder Family, a group of dear friends and musical kindred spirits. In between shows, the band spent ten days recording at Eyeland Studio in the Columbus Theatre, home of The Low Anthem. The music weaves together American folk and rock with sensibilities from the Sahara Desert: think Andrew Bird meets Ali Farka Toure, Pete Seeger and Talking Heads. Strike the Match expands on American musical traditions, building a bridge to their African roots and coloring the songs with experimental art-rock textures: gilded string lines, synthesizers, and angular guitars. Mother Earth is at its center, surrounded by stories of love, conflict, change and dreams.

Salloway shares, “This album is a reflection of the world we’ve been born into, one filled with supernatural beauty and incomprehensible struggle. My social and environmental activism work has taken me to territories that have been colonized and occupied in the Middle East, North and West Africa, the South Pacific and Standing Rock, here at home. I have experienced the creative spirit rise up in the face of darkness and adversity and it is the most life-affirming feeling I have witnessed. This record has become the artifact at the intersection of these moving events in my life.”

On Strike the Match, Billy Wylder grapples with some of the most pressing questions of our time. How can we reorient ourselves to nature as a source of strength for resistance to the forces that seek to destroy and profit from it? How can we use music to move beyond capitalism and nationalism to a global society for the benefit of the earth and all living beings? How can we reconcile our painful history with hope and optimism for the future? The album calls the listener to engage with these questions and illuminates the path towards participating in the creation of a more just and sustainable world.

The band is named after Salloway’s grandmother, Wilma “Billie” Hotaling.” She was a prolific painter, author, musician, and educator. Billie wrote Count the Stars Through the Cracks, a harrowing historical fiction novel about a young brother and sister’s escape from the Antebellum South along the Underground Railroad. Billie’s writing was raw and fearless and her book delivered a powerful narrative about America’s hard truths and the long journey to freedom. “My grandma Billie led by example, showing me what creativity looks like and how critical art can be as a form of love and resistance. She is part of me and part of the Wylder family,” Salloway reflects.

“Raised in a progressive home and taught to play by Pete and John Seeger, activism is a constant in Avi Salloway’s life and art. During the past decade, he’s performed in world crisis spots, from the Palestinian territories to Standing Rock, always delivering a message of music’s power to heal and bring change.” –The Hippo

credits

released September 7, 2018

All songs written by Avi Salloway © 2018 Wylder Moonshine Publishing/ASCAP. All Rights Reserved
With exception of “Till Your Well Runs Dry” written by Peter Tosh © Irving Music, Co.

The Wylder family:

Avi Salloway - singing, guitars, electric bass on Great Blue Heron, December 31st, Moonshine, piano on Fourth of July, organ on We Rise
Rob Flax - violin, Juno 60 on Medicine Mama, upright bass and tambourine on Till Your Well Runs Dry,
pump organ on December 31st, singing
Jeremy Gustin - drums on all songs except Roar of the Wild and Till Your Well Runs Dry
Lucy Clifford - electric bass on Medicine Mama, Fourth of July, She the Earth, Nowhere to Run
Zamar Odongo - calabash on Roar of the Wild, singing on Fourth of July, Till Your Well Runs Dry,
Moonshine, Vital Signs, Roar of the Wild
Alexander Anderson - organ on Fourth of July, synthesizers on Vital Signs
Bridget Kearney - singing on Great Blue Heron
Isa Burke - singing on Fourth of July, Moonshine, Vital Signs
Krista Speroni - singing on Till Your Well Runs Dry
Jeff Prystowsky - electric bass on Vital Signs
Daniel Fox - shekere on Roar of the Wild
Daniel Fox, Brian Paulding, Avi Salloway - claps on Great Blue Heron

Wylder family singers on December 31st & Till Your Well Runs Dry: Cassie Kollman, Nouredine Ousmane, Laura Smith, Danilo Henriquez, Blair-Victoria Dutra, Linda Alila, Rob Flax, Avi Salloway, and Krista Speroni

Bridget Kearney appears courtesy of Nonesuch Records

Produced by Avi Salloway and Daniel Fox
Recorded at Eyeland Studio at the Columbus Theatre, Providence, RI
Additional recording at Wondersmith Audio, Lynn, MA and ZUMIX, East Boston, MA
Engineered by Daniel Fox
Additional engineering by Andrew Nault (1, 3, 6, 7)
Mixed by Daniel Fox and Avi Salloway
Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering, Boston, MA
Assistant Mastering Engineer: Maria Rice
Album cover by Avi Salloway, Great Blue Heron print by Laura Smith
© 2018 Billy Wylder & Sand & Gold Records

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Billy Wylder Hancock, Vermont

"Music band" led by Avi Salloway (Bombino/Hey Mama). Music makers, activists, adventures.

"a sense of mystery and majesty" –No Depression

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