Songs of Heart and Home

Songs of Heart and Home is a studio album from John Reischman, Sally Van Meter, and Mark Schatz — three of the West Coast acoustic community's most respected instrumentalists — joined by additional performers in a program of original and traditional material presented in the spare ensemble format that suits musicians whose individual voices are strong enough to carry substantial weight without orchestral support. Reischman plays mandolin and sings; Van Meter plays dobro and sings; Schatz holds the bass; Craig Smith plays guitar and sings; and Mary Gibbons contributes vocal work. The three principals — each with deep roots in the California and Pacific Northwest acoustic tradition — find a common musical language in the traditional and original repertoire that the album assembles, presenting their ensemble work with the formal intimacy of a long-standing musical partnership.