Fifty years ago, this song was on the charts, as they say. Teens were dancing to it all over the country and it climbed to number 5 in Los Angeles, for which I will be forever grateful. The Sunshine Company had the hit, and I got to sing with Linda Ronstadt on her recording of the song. Enjoy my new recording. (Lyrics and article @ AbouttheSong.com)

Young love remembered. Wish we could have played this one for Jesse Winchester. (Lyrics and article @ AbouttheSong.com)

"Grapes On the Vine" is Steve's setting of the poem by Charles John Quarto. It's been recorded by many including Waylon Jennings, Tony Rice, Bill & Bonnie Hearne, and Ronny Cox, and has been adopted by many bluegrass bands. Enjoy my new recording. (Lyrics and article @ AbouttheSong.com)

A wedding song. Please share this with someone you know who is getting married. Or sing it yourself with the instrumental download. The sheet music is available here. (Lyrics)

Here's the instrumental track for the song. Feel free to use this as accompaniment for your own performance. You may also use either version in a wedding video (just give us credit, please). Please contact us about obtaining rights for any commercial use.

Tom Lehrer meets Charles Addams, with help from Jonathan Swift. Ghoulish austerity begins at home. (Lyrics)

Tom Lehrer meets Phil Ochs. Steve's protest song about billionaires behaving badly. Fractional reserve morality. (Lyrics)

An epic creation myth in which The Human is late when attributes are distributed, and all that's available is The Thumb. All's well that ends well. (Lyrics)

Cindy's version of Geoff Bartley's wonderful song, a concoction of fanciful presents suitable for a birthday at any age. (Lyrics)

Words of wisdom, gambler's hubris, and true love. (Lyrics and article @ AbouttheSong.com)

The first offering of a new project of Irish tunes and stories. In progress, more soon. (Lyrics & project description)

A new working of a wonderful idea. A song Steve recorded in its old form in 1998 on "Texas & Tennessee." (Lyrics). (New version of the song a/o 11/07/2020).

Another protest song about wealth disparity among the one percent of the one percenters. (Lyrics)

Latest duet album:

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-14, 2013): We admit it. We are huge fans of Lou & Peter Berryman and their songs. Over the years, we've recorded several, and now we've bowed to our better natures and recorded a whole album of their wonderful, wicked, insightful, and zany works.

With: Peter Davis (tenor banjo, clarinet, saxophone), John Kirk (fiddle and viola), Nathaniel Parke (cello), Scott Petito (bass), Pete Sutherland (piano and fiddle), Jennifer Weeks (oboe), Jack Williams (guitar)

The songs: It's Better Than That, Your State's Name Here, Do You Believe In Me, Mr & Mrs Noah, An Hour Away, Talking at the Same Time, Red Kimono, Walking With Roget, A Chat With Your Mom, Whose Is Yours?, Ralph to Rose, Now Everything Does, Family Car, Double Yodel.

Click on the CD title (above) for lyrics and clips for all the songs.

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-13, 2012): A stellar new duet album, just released in January 2012! An eclectic mix of old favorites and new songs ranging from Child ballads to classic rags to new original songs, with the help of some of our favorite players: Peter Davis, Will Patton, Scott Petito, Pete Sutherland, Jennifer Weeks, and Jack Williams. The songs: Holy Smoke, Some Boats, California Zephyr, Sur la Route de Dijon, The Two Sisters, Blue, Birdsong, Rosmini's Rag, Seal Harbor, Manoment Waltz/The Mathematician, The Gnu, Home By Dark.

Read a great review by Mike Regenstreif: Home by Dark Review.

Listen to clips from Home By Dark here.

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-11): The 2006 duet album of a dozen new songs. "Great singers, innovative songs, gorgeous arrangements, and expert playing" (Sing Out Magazine). Includes songs from many of our heros, new ones of our own, and help from Nat Parke, Pete Sutherland, Scott Petito, Jennifer Weeks and Jack Williams. The songs: Hurricane, The Road Through the Woods, Concertina Garden Medley, The Kid With the Comic Book, Odd Man Out, High Cotton, Mr. O'Reilly, Nola, J'Entends le Moulin / 2-Step d'Armand, The Vermont Waltz, Homelessness, Darkness Comes.

Listen to clips by clicking on the song names.

(Redwing Music, RWM-5409): This album is available only as an MP3 download.

This album is as close as we could come to a musical synesthetic of our life in Vermont. Steve sings and plays rhythm guitar, lead guitar, high-string and feet, Cindy sings and plays guitars, accordion, English concertina, mountain dulcimer, Mark Schatz: bass, Scott Petito: bass on "Traveler", Pete Sutherland: fiddle, piano, Jennifer Weeks: oboe, and Jack Williams: guitar on "Long, Long Trail".

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-7): Stunning original and traditional songs and tunes, highlighted by their tribute to Gamble Rogers (Song for Gamble). With help from Don Baldini, Peter Davis, Karen Donnelly, Anne Hills, Kerry Ryer-Parke, Mark Schatz, David Surette, Pete Sutherland, Jennifer Weeks and George Wilson.

Songs include: 1800 and Froze to Death, Johnny Appleseed, Dark of the Moon, The Restless Wind, The Bonny Light Horseman, Far Away / The Coast of France, En Montant la Riviere, Get Up and Bar the Door, The Unicorn, Swede-Finn Medley (Horgalaten / Varpunen), Right Says Fred, Hole In My Shoe, Song for Gamble.

Listen to clips from this CD here.

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-2, 1991): This is Steve & Cindy's only live album, and it is magnificent. It includes many of Steve's most well known songs, recorded by artists like John Denver, Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers and many others. Although there are no Cindy original songs, she contributes exquisite interpretations of several traditional songs, as only she can. The album is rounded out by a few well chosen covers.

Digitally recorded live at The Ark in Ann Arbor this CD contains an hour of music (19 songs).

(Compass Rose Music): (Compass Rose Music, CRM-12, 2010)
Midway between Huckleberry Finn and Holden Caulfield, Danny Murrow confronts coming of age in the early days of the jazz era. From battered street-waif to celebrated guitar savant our hero endures and abides in "The Man," newly released by Steve Gillette and Compass Rose Music.

Assisted by a miraculous aggregation of masterful musicians on some newly-roasted chestnuts and a handful of inspired originals, the CD draws from the realms of roots-jazz, folk, and blues; romance and boogie woogie in a time of prohibition. The songs: Conversion on 13th Avenue, St. Louis Blues/Ja-da, Cordovan Boogie, Johnny & Betty, Sunday, Sweet Lorraine/Ain't Misbehavin', Your Feet's Too Big, Old Jim Crow, Whispering, Basie's Boogie, There's a Cradle in Caroline, Creole Belle Medley, The Man Who Loves a Train, Brother Can you Spare a Dime?, Good Old Wagon, St. James Infirmary Blues, Let the Rain Decide, God is Love, Wade in the Water, On the Sunny Side of the Street.

Read reviews
Listen to clips

Visit the web site here.

(Redwing Music, RWM-5404): They say that if you've lived in two places, you know more about both of them. There are songs that have dual citizenship too. I spent about ten years on a journey that was all about that kind of song.

Texas & Tennessee is an ambitious concept album with help from many talented friends; Larry Atamaniuk, Rey Castillo, Charles Cochran, Richard Curiel, Jeff Gillette, Mark Graham, Wayne Hartel, Anne Hills, Orville Johnson, Cindy Mangsen, Mike Williams, Steve Richards, Mark Schatz, Roger Spencer, Pete Sutherland, and Pete Wasner. The songs: Here's To the Rocky Road, Cornstalk Pony, Ghost Rider's Medley, Railroad Written All Over Him, Two Ten Train, Two Men In the Building, Lorena, No Pronuncias Mi Nombre, The Windows of Heaven, One Door, The Eye of the Hurricane, The West Texas Wind, If You're Ever In Texas.

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-4): An album of twelve of Steve's best original songs, produced in Nashville by Jim Rooney and featuring Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Mark Schatz (bass), Roy Huskey, Jr. (bass), Mark Howard (guitar), Kenny Malone (percussion) and Cindy Mangsen (harmony vocals).

No fewer than five of these songs — (That Song About) The River, Grapes on the Vine, Bed of Roses, Healing Hands and The Old Trail — have been recorded by artists including Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, Don Williams, The Kingston Trio, Bobby Vinton and many others. Use the button below to see all the songs and to play clips.

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-9): Produced by Graham Nash in 1976 this album is wonderfully remastered and now available as a CD. The new version contains two songs not included on the original LP. A sparkling example of the folk-rock era's infatuation with the Nashville tradition. Featured performers include David Lindley, Johnny Barbata, Pete Sears, Chris Ethridge, Graham Nash, Hank DeVito and others too numerous to mention. Includes the chart single, Lost the Good Thing We Had a duet with Jennifer Warnes.

The songs: Sweet Melinda, A Little Warmth, Lost the Good Thing We Had, Babe, Oh Babe, You'll Never Be the Same, Holdin' On to Nothing, The Arms of Mary, Ships That Pass In the Night, She's Not You, Three Lines, I Believed In You, To Be Good Friends.

 

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-10): Cindy's "All Cat Songs" CD. Music for the cat lover in you: ten wonderful songs about cats!

Besides Cindy's own most requested, "Rudy's Big Adventure," based on the true story of the cat who got his head stuck in the garbage disposal and lived to bask in fame and glory, there are songs from Cheryl Wheeler, Buddy Mondlock, Les Barker, Nancy White, Grant Livingston, The Berrymans and others. No cats were injured in the production of this fine recording, a musical treat for all cat lovers.

The songs: Meow, Open That Can, The Cats of the Coliseum, Rudy's Big Adventure, The Familiar, Our Cats, Guide Cats for the Blind, My Pretty Kitty, Le Chat Gris, and The Dog of Time.

Listen to clips from Cat Tales here.

(Redwing Music, RWM-5403): These are songs of experience. Most of them are old songs, shaped by various singers and times. They open a door between past and present. Most of the songs tell stories, some with all the details, some with just a glance. I don't sing them because they are old, but because they speak to me, as they must have to the singers who brought them this far. I sing them because they connect me to the long line of human beings who sing, for so many reasons.

With help from a few special friends, Steve Gillette, Priscilla Herdman, Anne Hills, and Pete Sutherland.

The songs: Wedding Dress, October Roses, The Snow Is On the Ground, The Haunted Hunter, She Perished in the Snow, Dessus le Pont de Londres, The Cruel Mother, Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still, Clerk Saunders, I Hela Naturen / Gus's Waltz, Shallow Brown.

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-5): Released in December 1992 and selected as one of the year's Top Ten folk albums by the Boston Globe, Cindy's solo album was produced by Pete Sutherland and features backup by Steve Gillette (guitar & vocals), Priscilla Herdman & Anne Hills (vocals), Chris Layer (bassoon), Abby Newton (cello), and Jennifer Weeks (oboe).

The songs: The Wren, A Smuggler's Song, Mr. Fox, The Presence, Black Diamonds, Where the Light Comes From, Daughters of Feminists, Sundown, Sweet William's Ghost, Chant du Foulon, Northlight / Requiem, Songlines.

 

Available again!
(Gadfly 235, 1997): Taken from live multi-track recordings of Priscilla Herdman, Anne Hills and Cindy Mangsen's "Voices of Winter" concert tour. Priscilla Herdman: vocals, guitar, drum, wooden spoons, Anne Hills: vocals, guitar, banjo, Cindy Mangsen: vocals, guitar, concertina.

Songs are: Wintergrace, Snow In The Street, Raise The Dead of Wintertime, Witch Hazel, Serving Girl's Holiday, Hanerot Halalu, A'Rovin' On A Winter's Night, Joy Health Love & Peace, The Wren, Unto You This Night (A Child is Born), Frozen Logger, Proper Cup Of Coffee, Voices Of Winter, Red And Green, Hot Buttered Rum, Mister Santa, Chickadee, More Wood, Lo How A Rose E're Blooming

Available again!
(Hand & Heart Music, HHM-2000):
The trio's third album, a celebration of the cycle of the seasons. Priscilla Herdman: vocals, guitar, wooden spoons; Anne Hills: vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica; Cindy Mangsen: vocals, guitar, concertina, accordion. With Peter Davis, Steve Gillette, Brian Melick, Larry Packer, Scott Petito, and Jennifer Weeks.

Songs are: At the Turning of the Year, Candlemas Eve, The Winter It Is Past, Forget-Me-Not, Swinton May Song, Goodbye to the Roses, Away Ye Merry Lassies, Uncle Dave's Grace, Solstice Round, The Snow, The Druggist, Corn Water and Wood, Years, Winter's Come and Gone .
 

(Appleseed Recordings, APR CD 1071): An album of old and new story-songs, sung in full harmony. A true labor of love from four friends. This is the kind of album we might have heard coming out of the dormitory window when we were in college.

Songs include: Four Rode By, Molly and Tenbrooks, Pendle Hill, Joshua Gone Barbados, Panther in Michigan, Darcy Farrow, Ballad of Springhill, Aramalee, Nine Little Goblins, Two Men in the Building, I Drew My Ship, Run Come See Jerusalem.

 

(Sing Out Press): In this 200-page sourcebook there are many valuable insights on the work of songwriting. Steve has written detailed chapters on music theory, melody, harmony, rhythm, song critique, poetic principles, alliteration, titles, hooks, collaboration, creativity, writer's block, left brain and right brain, social issues, publishing, and surviving in the music industry.

Also included are articles and interviews with Graham Nash, Tom Paxton, Len Chandler, Fred Koller, Butch Hancock, Mary McCaslin, Michael Smith, Lou & Peter Berryman, Bob Franke, Nancy White and many others.

In her introduction to the book, Judy Collins wrote, "Use what you learn from this great book, you will get better as a songwriter: you can't fail!"

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-3): Songs written by Steve Gillette alone or in collaboration. Words and sheet music for 47 of Steve's best known songs with guitar chords, tunings, and some poetry. 100 pages. Note: we are beginning to offer sheet music for individual songs as PDF downloads. See below.

Full song listing: Always a Train In My Dreams, Back On the Street Again, Bed of Roses, Buddy & Carol's Waltz, Cornstalk Pony, Cryin' Don't Even Come Close, Darcy Farrow, The Erl King, The Eye of the Hurricane, Glass Houses, Grapes On the Vine, La Guitarra, Happy Hour, Healing Hands, Heartland, Here's To the Rocky Road, Home By Dark, If You're Ever In Texas, Johnny Appleseed, A Little Bit of Solitude, Lost the Good Thing We Had, Margery Grey, Mister O'Reilly, Molly and Tenbrooks, My Vermont, The Old Trail, One Door, Railroad Written All Over Him, The Restless Wind, (That Song About) The River, Runnin' Out of Sunlight, Share Me With Texas, She's Not You, So Close, So Far Apart, Song for Gamble, Songs of the Season, Sweet Melinda, The Test of Time, Two Men In the Building, The Unicorn, Unto You This Night, The Ways of the World, The West Texas Wind, What She Don't Know, When the First Leaves Fall, The Windows of Heaven

Sheet music: treble clef, chords, and lyrics, plus tablature for guitar instrumental. Page 2, the tab, must be printed landscape.

Sheet music: treble clef, chords, and lyrics.

Sheet music: treble clef, chords, and lyrics.

Sheet music: treble clef, chords, and lyrics.

Sheet music: treble clef and chords. An instrumental written for their friends' wedding.

Sheet music: treble clef, chords, and lyrics.

Sheet music: treble clef, chords, and lyrics.

Sheet music: treble clef and chords.

Sheet Music

(Compass Rose Music, CRM-6): A one-hour lesson teaching how to play guitar. The CD covers the elements of fingerstyle (fingerpicking) guitar technique and walks you through how to play, from the most basic guitar sequences to the most complicated, in easily understood stages. Also includes a link to additional online information, currently featuring the tablature (tab) for the guitar solo in Darcy Farrow. (Recordings of Darcy Farrow are found on Live In Concert, and Fourtold).

Tracks: (download sample lessons) Tuning, Basics of Fingerpicking, Sequences, Melodic Elements, Hammering On & Pulling Off, Double & Triple Hammer Ons & Pull Offs, Slides, Pinch Pick Variations, Soloing Exercise, Flatpick & Fingers, "D" & "G" Tunings, Darcy Farrow Chords & Positions, Triplets, Harmonics, "DADGAD" Tuning, The Erl King, The Bells, Blues Shuffle - Parallel Sixths, Corrina.