(Photo by Mark Simons)
With a total running time of over 60 minutes, Greg Latta's latest release "Headed for Home" is an acoustic tour de force featuring vocals and instruments such as 6 and 12 string guitars, hammered dulcimer, recorder, harmonica, appalachian dulcimer, and electric bass guitar. The album also includes unusual sound effects and percussion instruments such as the Mexican rain stick. The fine mandolin playing of Frostburg musician Randy Bandura is also featured on several selections.
"Headed for Home" features 6 original works by Greg and 9 other works, some traditional, others by composers such as:
(Photo by Mark Simons)
I first heard my friend Tim DeFrange perform this song over 20 years ago, and I fell in love with it. It's a timeless song for anyone who has been lucky enough to grow up in one place and be able to go back and appreciate it as an adult.
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning, HO-Train, Train Whistle
I love all of the seasons, but Fall is my favorite, especially that brief time, typically in October, when the weather warms up and it's almost like summer. In Ohio, where I grew up, we always called it the Indian Summer.
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning, Mexican Rain Stick. Randy Bandura: Mandolin
I first heard this beautiful Irish song performed by the great Irish singer and musician Mick Moloney. Reynardine is a figure in Irish mythology, half man-half beast, that wanders the highlands of Ireland in search of beautiful women who are usually never seen again. In this version, however, the woman escapes.
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning
Who of us can't use a jug of "punch" at one time or another? When I heard this done by the Irish band "Altan," I immediately decided to add it to my repertoire. It has since become one of my most requested songs.
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning
In this turn-around love song, the man feels he must wait until the woman first expresses her love to him. The words came to me on Interstate 68 one evening while on the way to play a showcase in Washington, D.C. I had to pull off and scribble the words down on a napkin before I forgot them!
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning
I originally recorded this composition as a piece of electronic music, but when Randy and I jammed on it one evening with the tape rolling, it was forevermore an acoustic piece. That original jam is what you hear here, with some extra mandolin work at the beginning.
Greg Latta: 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning, Shakers
Randy Bandura: Mandolin
So you thought that "getting away from it all" was a recent idea. Not so, as evidenced by this traditional American song where we hear the lament, "I leave behind these troubles in mind, and go the whole world round."
Greg Latta: Vocals, Appalachian Dulcimer in Aeolian Tuning, Alto Recorder
"Wake Up Susan" is a classic example of traditional hammered dulcimer music from New York State. I learned this from the playing of Paul Van Arsdale, who learned it from his grandfather, Jesse Martin. Supported by the great industrialist Henry Ford, Jesse Martin was popular on vaudeville and radio in the late 1920's.
Greg Latta: Hammered Dulcimer, 6 String Guitar in Standard Tuning
Life can be hard at times, but we must learn to take the bad with the good. Whenever we get too proud or confident, it's important to remember that "life's a big highway," and all we are really doing is "weaving in and in and out, barely in control."
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning
This haunting song was written by Ewan MacColl about winter, a terrifying time to seasonal farm workers in the British Isles who were put out of work at the end of the harvest season. I often wonder if the homeless here in America are any better off.
Greg Latta: Vocals, Clocks, Guitar Synthesizer, Alto Recorder
I love this song because I get to step out of character and play the part of someone who will stop at nothing to be a millionaire. Randy plays a couple of great mandolin solos in this track, and I get a chance to stretch a little on the harmonica. Now, if I only had a million bucks...
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Standard Tuning, Electric Bass, Harmonica
Randy Bandura: Mandolin
"Blue Diamond Mines" is a great and often-recorded coal mining song by Jean Ritchie, one of the finest and most prolific songwriters of our time. I first heard her perform years ago at the Kent State Folk Festival. Another popular coal mining song of hers is "The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore".
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning
I'm a morning person and really enjoy those early hours of the morning when the sun is coming up and everything is clean and pristine. And if the coffee's brewing and the bacon is sizzlin', so much the better!
Greg Latta: Vocals, 12 String Guitar in Open D Tuning, Soprano Recorder
I had to include this piece. It "came to me" as a gift from the muse after I won the Mideastern Hammered Dulcimer Championship for the third time. It was as if the arrangement just flowed out of me. If only that would happen more often!
Greg Latta: Hammered Dulcimer
The rythm for this tune was inspired by a scene from the movie "Dumbo," where the little circus train chugs across the desert. We all have to spend our time on the road, but the best part is when it's over and we're "Headed For Home".
Greg Latta: Vocals, 6 String Guitar in DADGAD Tuning, Afuche Cabasa, Train Whistle, Harmonica
Greg Latta is an award winning multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter who plays the hammered dulcimer, guitar, banjo, harmonica, recorder, and Appalachian dulcimer. He is an award winning 5-string banjo player, a three time Mid-Eastern hammered dulcimer champion, and two time runner-up in the National hammered dulcimer championships held at Winfield, Kansas.
"Headed for Home" is currently available at Main St. Books in downtown Frostburg, MD and at the Frostburg State University Bookstore on the campus of Frostburg State University. It is also available by mail order, or you can purchase the album at one of Greg's concerts. If you would like to be put on a mailing list to receive information on Greg's concert schedule, just send Greg an E-mail message at:
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"Headed for Home" is also available by mail order for $16 (which includes taxes) plus shipping.
For more information on mail order, just click on the link below and print out the order form.
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