The Kansas Song Project
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The Kansas Song Project
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How the Songs developed….
By
Cally Krallman www.prairiesagestudio.com Each
song was inspired by various places and people in Kansas. Here
is a little about each song I wrote the lyrics to: Prairie
Glimpses: Since I am
a landscape
painter, primarily in Kansas, I was
inspired to write this song to “paint” an image of what I see in the
wonderful prairie. I use a lot of imagery in this song…colors, textures,
sounds, etc. This song was composed by Diane and recorded by Pastense.
Jolleen Thorpe-guitar and
vocals, Susan Willits-banjo, David Dryer-guitar and mandolin, Don Anderson-bass,
Diane Gillenwater-fiddle. What
Jacob Reilly Saw:
This is a true story I ran across in a man’s diary documenting the raid
of Quantrill on Lawrence. The story told
of a boy who lived on Camp Creek who was kidnapped and was forced to lead the
ruffians into town for the vicious slaughter of Lawrence residents. The only
modification I made was to give the boy a name…in the story he was unnamed.
Jacob Reilly is a fictional name I gave to the frightened boy. This
song was composed by Diane (also on fiddle and mandolin) and arranged/performed
by Michael Paull and Terri Laddusaw of Lawrence, and Randy Wills on piano/ bass. Farmer’s
Bride: This fun
little song is inspired by my days on a farm in western Kansas. As a farm girl I
wondered whether it was my destiny to be a farm wife. My parents had other ideas
for me! In reminiscing what those days of what a farmer’s wife would have been
like, this song was born. Unlike traditional jobs, the
farmer is often up before sunrise and then
out doing chores until well after dark. It can be a lonely life and the song is
about a farmer who is questioning whether his “girl” can tolerate this kind
of life. The
song was composed by Diane, vocals by Terri Laddusaw, Michael Paull on
guitar/vocals, Ed Farris on Banjo, Randy Wills, bass. Mill
Creek Road: This
beautiful “coming home” song was inspired by a road I travel on frequently
to find material for painting. It is west of Topeka, in Wabaunsee
County. I pretended to be a song writer
living in Austin TX. I imagined the 12 hour drive coming home to Kansas and all
the emotions one would feel when returning to their childhood home. I often feel
these emotions when I travel back to western Kansas to see my mother on the
family farm. The yard light would often be on, the folks knowing I would be
arriving late. The family dog would come barking out to the road to greet me.
This was composed and performed by Terri Laddusaw. The cool part is Diane and I
had already played with a very similar composition and it was as if Terri could
read our minds! It felt like a cosmic synchronicity was taking place. Playing
piano on this piece is Michael Paull, guitar and dobro was played by Rick
Farris, and fiddle by Diane Gillenwater. Rock
of Earth: This song
is about the stone fences all over eastern Kansas. There is a historical marker
and a great example of these fences
south of Alma, Kansas on the Rock Hill
Ranch owned by my friends Paul and Nancy Miller. I frequently paint out on their
ranch and they are wonderful hosts! The marker describes how the walls were
built out of stones from the fields that farmers needed cleared. The money
amount paid for this labor intensive task in the song is not correct but I
needed a particular word with two syllables! A writer’s creative license! This
song was composed by Diane and performed/arranged by Bob Bowden of Wakarusa.
Randy Wills and I did the back-up vocals. I am not a high quality singer…just
enthusiastic! Diane played viola. Ghost
of Susan Fox: This
song was inspired by an article I read in the “Kansas” magazine. It was
about the ghost tours in Kansas at Halloween time. I read of one of the
supernatural characters named Susan
Fox who they claim haunts around the Fort
Riley area.
She was engaged to be married but her fiancé was called to help care for
those with the cholera. She
contracted it while he was away and died there alone.
They buried her in her wedding gown. I
wanted to describe what she would have been wearing and the surrounding area. Cottonwood
trees in a rural setting seemed to fit. This song was composed by Diane and
performed by Terri Laddusaw and Michael Paull.
Diane on fiddle and Randy Wills on bass and piano. Santa
Fe Trail: Hardship
of the pioneers traveling along the Santa
Fe Trail was the inspiration of this song.
I wanted to describe the painterly vistas at sunrise on the Kansas Prairie, and
allow the listener to experience throughout the song a vignette of things along
the prairie and pioneer times. This song was composed by Diane Gillenwater and
arranged/performed by Judy
Coder and Pride of the Prairie (Alan
Lawton-vocals and fiddle, Stan Tichenor-mandolin, guitar, vocals, and Phil
Thompson-bass and vocals. Cotton
Shirt of White: This
is a story of Lyman Stockwell Kidder, a young soldier
sent to meet Custer,
who at the time was in Hays, and along the trail was massacred in the night by Indians
in Northwest Kansas along the banks of Beaver Creek. I wanted to enhance the
story in a way that would symbolize the pain and grief all mothers feel when
they lose a son in battle. It was true that the slain soldier who wore a shirt
his mother made was identified by that very shirt. I embellished the story by
having the mother prick her finger as she was sewing on the button before he
left for battle and it left a blood stain. This song was composed by Diane
Gillenwater, instrumentals by Ed
Farris and performed by Anthony
DeLallo of St. Mary’s, KS. Sunflower
Song: This upbeat little riff is one that
my nephew inspired. During a bout of depression I was writing a lot of sad
songs. He gave me a song challenge. “Aunt Cally, can’t you write a happy
song?” he asked. Well, I saw this as an admirable challenge, so this began the
song that personifies the blooming sunflowers out in a Kansas field. We grow
confectionery sunflowers
out in western Kansas on our farm, and I have walked the fields many times
looking for photo opportunities. The song came from the golden beauty I would
see in the rows of blooming
sunflower and how the flowers might think
if they were real people. I composed (in as much as a non-musician can!) the
song and Bob Bowden arranged and did guitar work on it as well as sang lead
vocals. My cousin Ronette Rosenow and I sang backup vocals. This is my happy
song dedicated to my nephew Shawn Kirby. Damsel
in Distress: A
pioneer woman known as Julia
Stinson inspired the song about Governor
Reeder and a would be lynching that was
diverted by Mrs. Stinson dressing the governor up in women’s clothing and
sneaking him out in the middle of the night. A relative of Julia’s, Gary
Gilbert, shared the story with me and loaned me the book about Julia. It is a
fun true story that makes a rebel-rousing song. It was composed by Diane and
performed and arranged by the Alferd
Packer Memorial String Band out of
Lawrence. Lauralyn Bodle-lead
vocals and fiddle, Steve Mason-banjo, bass and vocals (also singing back-up
vocals for Matt Kirby!) Matt Kirby- hammer dulcimer, Mike Yoder-guitar, Jim
Brothers-washboard. In addition to
being fabulous musicians, Matt Kirby (www.mattkirby.com) and Jim Brothers are
great artists/sculptors. Blessed
Be: This song came
about as a song challenge from my friend C.J. Hiestand. In my whirlwind of
songwriting, he challenged me to write a song about a Catholic church. Easy
enough, I thought. I have driven by the Cathedral
of the Plains in Victoria at least a
thousand times over the past 30 years. I wanted to tell a heartfelt story of a
young couple that became pregnant out of wedlock and decided to marry. They did
not want the parish to know, of course. But the beauty of the song is they
formed a loving bond, had children, and
lived and loved a good and happy life in the Smoky
Hill Valley. The church served as source
of peace and unity during their marriage and after death, the prairie and church
in which they were buried near, became the symbol of the unity. The two spires
represented the two souls that united in marriage that day. The song was
composed by Diane (also on mandolin and viola) and performed by folk singer Lee
Wright from Topeka. Randy wills on
bass. Arikaree
Breaks: Who knows
where Arikaree
Breaks are in Kansas? I was raised in
Northwest Kansas and had never visited this unique land formation until I
started gathering song inspirations. When driving near St Francis, KS, the land
is relatively flat. Then from out of nowhere one comes across the deep valleys
and gorges near the edges of the Kansas/Colorado/Nebraska borders known as the
Arikaree Breaks. Legend has it they don’t graze cattle much in this area,
because the cows just sort of disappear, and are difficult to keep track of. So
I imagined this fictional little girl named Katie (after my Aunt Kate) who is
quite a little cowgirl. A storm rages in from the west and the cattle get out
and she and her horse go chasing after them. Like all mysterious legends, she
disappears into oblivion, never to return. I think this was representational of
a time in my life when I felt a little lost. The song was composed by Diane
(also on fiddle and mandolin) and performed by Terri Laddusaw and Michael Paull.
Randy Wills, bass. Note:
Don’t go looking for her tombstone…it’s NOT there! Walk
My Brother: This is
a factual song about the unique town of Nicodemus,
KS, the first all black town in Kansas
during the Exoduster
era. This is a true historical account of the people involved in the formation
of this now nearly desolate town. This song was composed by Lemuel
Sheppard, Pittsburg, KS., and is performed
acappella along with back up vocals from Ed Brunt from Lawrence, KS. We hope
this song will bring awareness to the community, and the wonderful people that
still live there. Prairie
Straight Line Wind:
Kansas wind…what Kansan is not familiar with this. I always said they invented
the “bad hair day” in western Kansas where the straight
line winds have been known to move one
county’s top soil to the next county over! But it is this wind that blows the
blades of the windmills on farms and ranches throughout the state to pump
essential water to livestock. The storyline for the song “Some days I get to
thinkin’, I may just take up drinkin’ “ was a common term I heard many
times from my rural neighbors when the wind would blow for days on end. And,
of course, no Kansas song would be complete without mentioning the ever elusive
“jackalopes”.
This song was composed/performed by Michael Paull (guitar) and backup vocals by
Terri Laddusaw. Diane on fiddle and
mandolin. Randy Wills, bass. Fly
Away-Amelia’s Song:
Amelia
Earhart, the famous Kansas aviator,
inspired this song. This poignant song is a synopsis of Amelia as a young girl
in
Atchison,
KS., where she was raised primarily by her grandparents. She is
gazing into the big blue skies over the Missouri River, telling her grandma she
would love to be up there flying. Then she fast forwards to when she is flying
around the world with her co-pilot, Noonan, and her plane goes down. This song
is a tribute to Amelia who has been a role model for young women in Kansas and
all over the country. This song was co-composed by me and Bob Bowden and
performed by his daughter Teresa Bowden. Back-up vocals by Terri Laddusaw. Diane
on fiddle, Randy Wills, bass. Woman
of the Sojourn: This
song is a tribute to pioneer
women across the country who abandoned
there lives in established homes to travel with their husbands across the rugged
frontier. While the adventure was a natural desire of men, it was a struggle
beyond what most of us can imagine today for the women. Nature was often unkind
to these women who walked many miles before settling in the wild frontier. They
had no amenities and their husbands would often be gone for days, leaving them
to fend off unwanted intruders. I hope when people listen to this song, they
remember those women who sacrificed in order to settle the west.
Performed by Terri Laddusaw and Jolleen Thorpe.
Rick Faris-guitar, Ed Faris-banjo, Diane Gillenwater-fiddle, Randy
Wills-piano. The 3 year project was released in early 2007.
Listener Comments:
Prairie
Glimpses author:
Kay Scharping I
love the CD - I've been listing to it everyday on my commute to work. I'm
originally from Kansas and this is like a trip home. Thanks! Well
Done! author:
Robin Shrimplin It
is really wonderful to hear Kansas History in song! Exodusters, Bleeding Kansas,
and more! Thanks for remembering Kansas History and keeping it alive in this CD!
Well Done! Fantabulous
!!! author:
Patti Bowden Apikos (Bobs' Mom and Teresas' Grandmom) I
might be slightly prejudiced but this CD is beautiful.I don't consider myself a
very emotional person but some of the songs in Prarie Glimpses brought a tear or
two.
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