This is the first solo album of original music by guitarist Alan Shoesmith titled Greenwood Fountain. It builds on his previous work with the members of Cedar & Spruce while exploring many new acoustic and electric sounds. With this album, Alan delves into a wide variety of guitar tones and sonic textures. Every song has memorable melodies that are set amongst lush and detailed musical arrangements. Alan composed, arranged, performed, recorded, produced and mixed the entire album at his home studio in Maple, Ontario. There are a couple of brief guest appearances including virtuoso keyboardist and composer David Myers, who plays electric piano on Febble Jebble and the multi-talented musician Jamie Bonk who plays mandolin on Challenging The Oracle. There is a lot of musical diversity on this debut solo album by Alan Shoesmith. A brief pastoral prelude leads way to smooth jazz, classical guitar chamber ensembles, folky acoustic textures, warm electronic grooves and ethereal surf sounds. Liner Notes: 1) Wayward & Wise: The opening track began as a classical guitar duet in the fall of 2011 but it gradually evolved over the years with the addition of string/mellotron pads, various guitars and other sounds. The aim here was to capture the pastoral side of progressive rock in my own way. 2) Blue Water Child: It was during the summer of 2010, after our annual family trip to Mexico, that the initial ideas for this tune began to emerge. I was influenced by the joy of watching my son swimming in the resort pool and the ocean of Banderas Bay. No doubt there is a bit of a surf vibe going on here. I played about 6 different guitars on this one track alone. 3) Challenging The Oracle: This is guitar ensemble piece that I composed for my students at Bramalea Secondary School during the summer of 2013. After finishing the score I made a multi-track recording of the piece. I performed all of the parts with the exception of the mandolin which was played by my friend Jamie Bonk at his studio in Toronto. The live world premiere of this work was made by the Brantford Guitar Ensemble in the fall of 2013. 4) Febble Jebble: The basic melody and chord progression for this song emerged sometime around 2005 while observing my son playing with his toys. The quirky title was drawn from his initials along with the month in which he was born. The incredible electric piano part on this song was created and performed by my childhood friend David Myers at Consequent Music in Hamilton, Ontario. 5) When We Meet For Coffee: This track is the most recent song on the album that developed in the fall of 2015. For this piece I wanted to create an organic, quaint, folky and acoustic feeling to evoke the calm mood of friends meeting briefly for a coffee. I decided to keep this one simple so throughout the recording sessions I had to continually resist the urge to add extra keyboard sounds and percussion. 6) Greenwood Fountain: I have always been a big fan of electronic music. With this track I wanted to place an emphasis on texture and timbre. The title is taken from the two streets where I lived during my formative years as a musician which would be 17 Fountain Drive and 405 Greenwood Drive on the West Island in Quebec. 7) Forgotten River: This is a classical guitar trio piece that I created for a composition competition during the summer of 2015. I made a recording of the piece as a demo for the judges. Sadly, I wasn’t one of the finalists but I am quite pleased with the result. Although I performed and recorded the parts, my friend David Myers helped me with the mix. 8) Renewal: I wrote this piece on September 11th, 2011. It was inspired by the various ceremonies that were taking place that day at the location of the former twin towers. 9) Meeting Point: Here is another guitar ensemble piece that was composed during the summer of 2012. Buried somewhere in the mix you will hear my debut recording on the mandolin. 10) Victory Wave: Sometimes the best way to learn how to work a new music software program is to use it create something. This is the only track the album that was created using Logic Pro, all of the other recordings were made with Cubase. I thought that the rockin’ guitar solo at the end of the song would act as a nice finale to the album. Instruments: Alan Shoesmith: Fender Stratocaster, Gibson ES175D, Fender Telecaster, Godin LGX SA (2009), Godin Multiac Nylon SA, Sakurai Standard classical guitar (1982), Fender FM100 mandolin, Fender Precision bass, Taylor 414CE acoustic guitar (1998), Sigma DM-3 acoustic guitar (in Nashville tuning), Yamaha FG 312 (12 string) guitar, Roland GR-33 guitar synth, various synthesizer plug-ins, drum machines and samples. David Myers: electric piano on Febble Jebble Jamie Bonk: Eastman MD515 mandolin on Challenging The Oracle Recorded at Muirside Studio, Maple Ontario between 2010 and 2016. David’s electric piano part on Febble Pebble was recorded at Consequent Music in Hamilton (summer of 2015) and Jamie Bonk’s mandolin part on Challenging The Oracle was recorded at Bonk Productions in Toronto (summer of 2013) Artwork: Alan Shoesmith All compositions, arrangements, performances, programming, recordings, production and mixes by Alan Shoesmith (except where indicated)