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Department of the West

from The Department of the West by Deborah Crooks

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    Exploring themes of natural history (“River Stones”), family (“All Signs”), and the #metoo movement (“Long Roads”), while also addressing the nature of land ownership and Native American history (“Department of the West” “What the Land Will Tell You”) and relationship (“Let the River do the Running”).

    Co-produced by Danny Allen (Baby Buck Studio, High Diving Horses) and recorded at Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco. Allen also played guitars, ukulele and banjo on the album, and was joined by Mike Stevens (The Uptones, Sun Kil Moon) on drums and percussion, Kevin T. White (Chuck Prophet, Shelby Lynne) on bass. Longtime collaborator Kwame Copeland (Bay Station, Straw Coyotes), as well as Heather Davison (Loretta Lynch), Maurice Tani and Maryam Qudus contribute backing vocals. Mixed and engineered by Qudus (Tune-Yards, Kronos Quartet) and mastered by Piper Payne (Infrasonic Sound).

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Department of the West via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    8
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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Twin Lakes, The Department of the West, Adding Water to the Ashes Remix (10th Anniversary Edition), Be Your Own Bird, Beauty Everywhere, Something Special EP, Little Bird, and It's All Up to You (EP). , and , .

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lyrics

Lost the job now you’re losing the house
Gonna put one last log on the fire
From a tree planted long ago
Finally cut it down after decades watching it grow
Great Grandpa’s rifle on the hearth
Apache’s called him Chief Wolf
Not a hater still a fighter Indian War guide
Time to smoke out this misplaced family pride

Here we stand but this land was never ours
No matter who spoke truth or who lied
Settled scores, this land was never ours
In a war there are always two sides

Yeah your made of Irish a little Cherokee
That’s what you were always told
But no one said who ventured into that squaw’s teepee
How honor can be bought, taken and sold

Split the wood, split it again,
roll it down the hill, dad used to give you ten
Ten cents for every log, eucalyptus, Monterey Pine
Now you see so many things were never yours, never mine

Here we stand but this land was never ours
No matter who spoke truth or who lied
Settled scores, this land was never ours
In a war there are always two sides

Throw another log on the fire
Oak burns best long and slow
Your heart maybe breaking
But it’s our turn, our turn to go

Here we stand but this land was never ours
No matter who spoke truth or who lied
Settled scores, this land was never ours
In a war there are always two sides

credits

from The Department of the West, released December 6, 2019
words & music by Deborah Crooks (ASCAP)
Acoustic guitar, vocals: Deborah Crooks
Electric guitars: Danny Allen
Bass: Kevin T. White
Drums: Mike Stevens
Backing vocals: Danny Allen

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Deborah Crooks Alameda, California

"Deborah Crooks makes the case for a return to the roots of rock"- Consequence of Sound
California-based songwriter Deborah Crooks' music draws on folk, rock, and the Blues. Her diverse, ever-evolving artistic path has included studying writing and poetics at The Naropa Institute, voice in India, co-founding the band Bay Station, and gigging throughout the Western US. ... more

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