This is my fifth album and again mostly about a time forgotten. Most all songs are about real people and real things. My first song is 'Vine Covered House'. This house is on the cover of my new album and located on The Mercer Settlement road in Norton New Brunswick.
The house alone can tell you a story of hard and also good times. My 2nd. song 'Charlie', is about and older gentleman who lived up a narrow dirt road from where I lived as a boy. He cut most all folks hair in the area. He used hand clippers and sissors to gouge our skull and pull our hair. It wasn't pretty but we were young and didn't care. He lived off the land,trapping,fishing,picking berries,making snowshoes,mending his clothes and tending his small garden. His cabin was neat as a pin and very clean and was one room. My 3rd. song 'Henrieville' is about visiting the little town in Garfield county USA where my mother lived as a child (1899-1908) below the big pink mountain. I visited my mothers people for the first time and visited my grandmothers grave .
It was like going back in time for me as I knew alot about the area through my grandfather,Matt Scarlett and my mother. My relatives there are most all true cowboys and saddle many horses and mules to guide guests through Bryce,Zion,and Grand Canyon rides (Red Rock Rides website).
See and hear more about this history of my mother and grand father and the my people of Utah on my other albums--Album-Memories of Mine --song-'Folks of Yesterday'-------Album -Home-'song-'The Guardian'(Sung by my son,Peter Vail)----Album-In the Name of Progress--song- 'North Wind Blowing'----Album-Life ---song--Matt Scarlett. I felt that I had lived there all my life. My 4th song, 'Aubrey Rode the Big Saw'. This about a terrible mill accident in 1919 which happed to a young man. I knew him when I was younger and he was an older man. My song says it all. The silver dollars he had in his back pocket wre cut in half.
He thought they might have helped saved his life. His name was Aubrey from Belleisle New Brunswick. My5th song ',Living Alone' is about some people in my home area. My 6th song ' Everyone'e Friend' is about an old friend of mine and everyone else in our area. His name was Howard . My 7th song---'Meet Me Tonight' is about an old war vet whom I became friend with. He lived all alone and one day I asked him why he never married and I waited until he passed on to tell his sad story. My 8th song----- 'When I was a Boy' is bit of a tribute to my mother,Esther Jane (Scarlett) Vail and my father Hedley Cecil Vail who raised a big family (10) in very hard times. This should not be forgotten as most everyone in these times were in the same boat. My 9th song 'His Room' is just about so many lonely people in nursing homes. My 10th song----'Growing Older', is about the changes that happen to people as we grow older.
This was based on observations of others and myself. My 11th. song--'The Old Man'--- I met this old man one day and decided to tell his life story.
Only met him once and could hardly get away from him as he sure needed to talk to someone. My12thsong --'Before Things Went Wrong' is just my observations of a time past and and a very troubled world today. Our leaders surely need to pull the world out of this crime fill mess and get back to reality and forget this so called POLITICAL CORRECTNESS that is ruining our great country (Canada and United States) My 13th. song--'-A Key Hole Club Night' is about a club located in the back woods of New Brunswick where our band played on a regular basis.
It burned to the ground one night after we were finished playing and all our equipment went up in smoke. It was never rebuilt but will always be remembered. My 14th. song ---'Small White Church'--There are many of these little churches throughout the country that have fallen by the wayside for bigger commercial looking buildings that do not even resemble a place of worship. The size of the church will not get you into Gods House any faster. I hope you enjoy this album as much as I did making it and working with all the fine musicans who work
