Annie Wenz’s "Ride the Sky" is a bigger than life vagabond writer's magnifying glass-ified kaleidoscopic vision of back road Americana! From stop sign wielding hitchhikers thumbing rides on Harleys in Chattanooga to coal mining & snake handling in Appalachia, sticky floors in skanky bars, five & dimes & neon signs, & dirty blues swirling circles around bottles of Jim Beam. It’s about lone coyote lovers... like grains of sand slipping through fingers where palms meet lips on train windows... Where wandering gypsies meet lonely road dogs spilling guts on the head of a pin...while ghosts still circle around dusty boots leaving footprints in the sky. And baseball... yeah! Popcorn kisses pink cotton candy while old leather gloves slap in hands... to the voices of Annie AND former Red Sox pitcher & wild man Bill "Spaceman" Lee. (Bill's bona-fide musical debut!) Annie songs run the gamut from picky acoustic guitar & delicate piano with string accompaniment, to natty rockin blues with nasty slide guitar, to the closing chorus of angelic voices questioning "are we poets or drunkards or incarnate souls" waiting, waiting, waiting for manna to fall from the sky...Talk about a Ride!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ride the Sky"- Produced by Neale Eckstein/Jagoda; & Recorded by Neale at Fox Run Studio-Sudbury, MA. Artwork & Design- Nancy Koucky- NRK Design; Photos- Neale Mastered by Toby Mountain Accompanists: Jagoda, Tom Prasada Rao, Pat Wictor, Adam Rothberg, Adam Frederick, John Ingman. Vocalists: Bill "Spaceman" Lee (yes, former Red Sox wildman;), Jimmy Lafave, Barbara Kessler, Neale & Special THANKS go out to Robert Dean who’s been a huge part of Annie’s musical journey & continued to be through every part of this CD contributing his thoughts & wisdom from Costa Rica. Unlike Annie’s previous multicultural flavored CD's, this one is American Roots- with many songs written in her head while riding her motorcycle (Sally Libelula- a Harley Heritage Softail Classic across natty dusty back roads of the US. (thus the title) Songs: 1- "Hallelujah Rose" -Stop sign wielding hitchhiker thumbs a ride on a Harley in Chattanooga. 2- "Life in Harlan" -Coal mining, snake handling & my life as an RN in Harlan. (w/ Jimmy LaFave!) 3- "Tick Tock Lounge"- Sticky floors in skanky bars, five & dimes & neon signs. 4- "Melting" - Where palms meet lips on train windows. 5- "Roses & Candy Heart Parades"- Dirty blues swirling circles around bottles of Jim Beam. 6- "Coyote Calls" - Native flute intro to Lone Coyote 7- "Lone Coyote"- That would be Annie... grains of sand sifting through your fingers;) 8- "Play Ball"- Popcorn kisses pink cotton candy while old leather gloves slap in hands... (former Red Sox pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee's bona-fide musical debut!) 9- "Lonely Road Dog Meets Wandering Gypsy"- When a guy spills his guts on the head of a pin... 10- "Promised Land" - For Nurses & Hospice workers & those who dance between footprints in the sky. 11- "Still Circling"- Inspired by Dave Carter dream visits & Rachel Bissex (it was the last song Annie sang to her) 12- "And We Wait"- About what we do! "are we poets or drunkards or incarnate souls" "waiting, waiting, waiting for manna to fall from the sky..." (written on the way home from performing at Kerrville Folk Festival) Annie is internationally known as Singer/Songwriter & Multi-Instrumentalist who's music seamlessly slides between Roots/Americana, Blues, Folk, & Indie Acoustic, blending poetry & funky grooves, accompanying herself & others on guitar, piano, indigenous/Native flutes & percussion instruments. Her intricately descriptive lyrics are drawn from her journeys... as a road rash proud biker, round the world backpacker, rafting guide, kayaker and working as an RN & humanitarian activist. She has traveled over 25 countries over 25 years "bringing people together through music" & hoovering every possible drop of fun out life! She's shared her music... in Pakistan for earthquake victims & dignitaries, "New Zealand's Millennium Celebration", The Kennedy Center, music festivals, house concerts, coffeehouses, arts centers & theater productions throughout the US, in Costa Rica, Germany, Sweden, Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, Mexico & more! Her former band members are truly some of the world's most shining artists -Senegalize talking drum wizard Massamba Djop of Babba Mal's band, Steppenwolf's Guy DeVito, & London's Robert Dean (Sinead O'Connor's guitarist). She has taught with “Futureman” Wooten of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, & co written/collaborated with the late Dr Jeri Nielsen of the Ice Bound book & movie, and National Boyd Award winning novelist Robert Macomber. In addition to “Ride the Sky”, Annie has 6 prior recordings on her own independent label “Island Gypsy”. Her all instrumental CD "Winds of the World" is soundtrack for the feature film “Gateway to Faeries” & is also used by yoga & massage practitioners internationally. When she’s not performing & touring around the world, she has been sighted planting bananas in her yard on SW Florida, riding her Harley on dusty roads & chucking her cast net at marker 13!