1) The Gift
2) Magnolia
3) Gratitude
4) Parting
5) Legacy
6) Something Unexpected
7) Beginnings
8) Old Friends
9) Still Dreaming
10) Redeemed
11) Love
Gratitude was an album I didn't think I'd ever be able to make. Back in the summer of '22 I retired from music because I was so frustrated with playing nylon string guitar. It's fabulous instrument, but I'm just not suited to it. When I sit down to play the guitar I typically use 4-5 tunings in any 45 minute to an hour session. I often use up to 14 different tunings in a concert. And I always either felt like I was tuning the guitar, playing the guitar out of tune, or forced to play sets of material stuck in just one tuning. I HATED that. So I quit. The only guitar playing I did was while I taught lesssons.
Then something happened. Later that winter a friend came by with an OM sized steel string he made and asked to hear me play it. I did, and I loved the guitar, and I realized that in the 6 or 7 months I hadn't played that my hands had gotten to the point I could play steel string again if I was careful. And I have been. It's taken a full 3 years to get my hands back to studio ready, and a couple of years to get the guitars I needed for the studio, but everything has worked out and I could not be more grateful.
The songs on this album reflect the joy I feel being reunited with steel string guitar. I can only hope you enjoy this album as much as I enjoyed making it.
Ken Bonfield: Beau Hannam '25 OO on 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, Alan Carruth '09 baritone 5, and Eastman '23 Parlor High-string guitar on 4 and 11.
Tom Eaton: Produced, recorded, engineered, and mastered at his Sounds & Substance Studio in E. Kingston, NH March-June 2026
The Players
Charlie Bisharat, violin
Kim Deschamps, pedal steel guitar
Vin Downes, nylon string guitar and high string guitar
Tom Eaton, piano, keyboards, bass, electric guitar
Michael Manring, fretless bass
Jeff Oster, flugelhorn
Michael Rivard, upright bass
Recording an album is such an interesting process. I've always gone into the studio well rehearsed and with a plan for how I want the album to sound, and when I walked into Sounds & Substance on a chilly March morning I had a clear idea of what the album was going to be. This is NOT that album and I couldn't be happier. But one of the things I planned didn't change, and that was leaning on Tom Eaton not just for his engineering skills ,which are prodigious, but also for his skills as a producer. I've worked with Tom on two solo guitar albums, '09's Whistlin' Past the Graveyard, and '13's Legacy. But I've been listening to albums Tom has produced with Vin Downes, Will Ackerman, Jeff Oster, and others for years and I was a fan. I knew I my music was in good hands.
One of the biggest surprises on this album is the inclusion of Kim Deschamps on pedal steel guitar. That was all Tom's idea, but I immediately fell in love with it. I've been a fan of Kim's playing since I first heard him with the Cowboy Junkies on the Trinity Sessions. And I've never heard any pedal steel player that can ride a line between folk and ambient the way Kim can.
And Charlie Bisharat, the violinist on this project is no stranger to me either; he was supposed to play on my '98 album Homecoming but was touring with John Tesh at the time. Listen to Charlie's entrances in the songs. They're always perfect, and he wrings every bit of emotion out of those strings.
As many of you know I've recorded and toured with Michael Manring since the late 90's, so his inclusion on this album is no surprise, but man, that sound. It's just so much fun to write a tune I know Michael is going to play on.
I am ecstatic that Vin Downes included his talents; he's so musical, and hands down my favorite acoustic guitarist currently recording. If you like my music you'll love Vin's.
I had a chance to meet and hear Jeff Oster about 10 years ago when he was in town with Michael Manring and I knew right then I'd work with him in the future. Sorry it took so long brother, but so happy to finally have you on a couple of tunes. You are magic.
And lastly Michael Rivard added the upright bass a couple of songs required. He laid down his parts about a week before he was part of the Boston Pops 4th of July Festivities. If I've done one thing right in my career it's been surrounding myself with musicians much better than I can ever hope to be.
Tom Eaton directed each player as if he was a conductor and they were part of an orchestra. It was so incredibly cool to watch Tom's vision turn into reality. To be honest; I think it caught both of us by surprise; the reality was better than what we'd imagined. I still enjoy listening to it, and that's never true this deep into the process.
I only have one request; before you add individual songs to a playlist, or god forbid, hit the Shuffle button, listen to the album from the first song to the last. It's not a long album, but the journey the album takes you on is worthy of a full run through. At least once. Pretty please?