Honoring Our Ancestors & Influences
Artists/albums that inspired and influenced the campfire chants sound. Many of these were reference albums as we mixed the album – we’d listen to these artists, then our mixes, and hear where we needed to do more work.
- John Lee Hooker (early acoustic recordings – these rhythms anchor several of our songs, notably Welcome Flame)
- Kimya Dawson (clarity and purpose)
- Nirvana (Unplugged – garage music with passion)
- Will the Circle Be Unbroken (by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – features Maybelle Carter, Flatt & Scruggs, Doc Watson, and many other old-time artists)
- The Roots (Things Fall Apart – relaxed, cooperative artistry)
- Woodstock (the original 3-record album – you are there)
- The Weavers (did they invent campfire singalongs?)
- Muddy Waters (early acoustic recordings – classic roots)
- Indigo Girls (self-titled first album – drive and purpose)
- Buena Vista Social Club (presence & clarity)
- Kate Wolf (acoustic purity)
- Libertines/Babyshambles (Up the Bracket/Albion – ragtag beauty)
- Ingrid Michaelson (Be OK – natural singing voice)
- Hot Tuna (1969 acoustic album – live and lo-fi in a Berkeley café)
- Peter Paul & Mary (Around the Campfire – ‘nuff said)
- Public Enemy (Fear of a Black Planet – cooperative vocals with drive and message)
- Doc Watson (a fountain of arrangements and harmonies)
- Parliament (Mothership Connection – gentle rhythms)
- Michelle Shocked (Campfire Tapes – showed the possibilities)
- Gillian Welch (Revival – clarity, beauty, and Maybelle-influenced guitar)
- Rolling Stones (Exile on Main Street – lo-fi blues taped in the basement of their French chateau – almost like us!)
- Wailin’ Jennys (Live at the Opera House – singing with one voice)
- Bob Dylan & The Band (Basement Tapes – loose, good-humored recordings)
- Grateful Dead (American Beauty – our San Francisco roots)
And of course our previous Reclaiming albums – especially these songs:
- Barge of Heaven from Second Chants
- Ocean Is the Beginning from Chants: Ritual Music
- No End to the Circle from Let It Begin Now
- Who Is the Goddess (by Moonrise) from Witches Brew
Campfire Chants 