Just An Idea

Released: September, 1999

Featuring: Ian Byington, vocals and guitar
Songs by Ian Byington (with one by Kate Wolf)

This compilation of songs features the expressive vocals of longtime folksinger Ian Byington, who also wrote seven of the eight songs on the CD (the eighth: Kate Wolf's "Give Yourself to Love.")

Ian's songs speak to matters of the heart. The title track traces the course of a promising relationship which founders, with a background musical bed put together by producer Joe Bongiorno, who also plays on several of the other songs.

The album begins with folk favorite Kate Wolf's "Give Yourself To Love," a staple of Ian's live set for some ten years now, and a much-requested song for weddings and receptions. Three of the songs were recorded live during a concert at Friday Harbor, Washington's Community Theatre, including the newest cut, "(I'd Rather Be An) Outlaw."

Both "Outlaw" and "Flowers in the Sand" question the direction our hearts are sometimes headed and our world is taking us, while suggesting there may be a better way.

Particularly affecting is Ian's lullaby written for his older son, "Shay and the Milky Way," with an arrangement by Bongiorno that reminds one of Enya...and of that comfortable time before we go to sleep.

Ian has been singing and playing for over 20 years, with frequent appearances in different folk venues around the Pacific Northwest. His well-received "Flowers in the Sand" album (with Mary Heubel) as well as Mellow Sounds Music's "All in the Mix" album, featuring Ian as well as 13 other San Juan Island musicians, are also available from Ahimsa.

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