We are proud to announce the release of our new CD "Sword of the Spirit" on the Sliced Bread label. This CD has been a labor of love, the fruit of three years of intensive research into the fascinating saga of John Brown. (See other links to "Sword of the Spirit" on our home page) The dual project of our one-act play and this song-cycle found us traveling to John Brown historical sites: Harpers Ferry; North Elba, New York; eastern Kansas; Hudson, Akron, and Kent Ohio, our hometown, where Brown grew up and lived; and Torrington, Connecticut where he was born. We researched the archives at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the Library of Congress, and Columbia University, and several other places, including many notable books and biographies.

When our friend Todd Bolton at Harpers Ferry suggested that we perform some music in addition to our play for the National Park’s celebration of the 200th anniversary of Brown’s Birthday as part of their bicentennial symposium, we were delighted. So, we began to assemble a set list of songs we already knew, and then, referring to the rather large archive we now have in our own library, decided to write some songs to tell other aspects of the story.

When we went to record we immediately went to our good friend and excellent engineer, Ronnie Freeland, who co-produced the CD with Terry. Additional recording was done at Nevessa Production in Woodstock, engineered by Chris Andersen. Art direction and graphic design is by Todd Palmer at Virtual Farm Creative.

We invited Ralph Gordon to once again join us with his excellent and evocative string bass, and Myron Bretholz, one of the finest bodhran players in the country to help us out with percussion. We also were pleased to have fiddler Jay Ungar, famed for his beautiful sound track for Ken Burns’ "Civil War", grace our track of "Pretty Little Bird." We were honored to once again join our voices with our dear friends and long-time partners Kim & Reggie Harris, whose harmonies on the final track, "The Testimony of Frederick Douglass" are nothing short of breathtaking.

Here are some notes on the songs:

Old John Brown - words & music by Si Kahn

Si Kahn’s ode to Brown is an excellent distillation of the essence of his story and legacy, and contains some ingenious musical quotes.

Heaven Is Less Than Fair - words & music by Reggie and Kim Harris

Based upon a true story of the Underground Railroad, Reggie and Kim Harris’s beautiful song interweaves one of the songs and some of the code words used to secretly pass messages and instructions among escapees and conductors.

This songs was previously released on our "Seed on the Prairie" CD and features our good friend Alan Sherwin on soprano saxophone.

The Ballad of Harriet Tubman - words & music by Woody Guthrie

Guthrie wrote this ballad in 1944 and recorded it in 1945, but it wasn’t released until Smithsonian Folkways released it on CD in 1994 on an excellent collection entitled "Long Ways to Travel."

Goodbye to Old Ohio - words & music by Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino

We wanted to write a song about the men in Brown’s company who went with him from the state of Ohio, and we wanted it to have a rousing, marching feeling. We found exactly what we wanted in this jig. Each of the verses is in the voice of a different member of the company.

Pretty Little Bird - words & music by Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino

A ballad about a strange, symbolic, and mystical occurence at the Kennedy Farm during the summer of 1859, while the company prepared for the raid on Harper’s Ferry. The song is in the voice of Brown’s daughter, Annie. With Jay Ungar on fiddle.

I Stood on the River of Jordan / Heaven Bound - traditional / words & music by Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino

We combine a traditional spiritual full of symbolic meaning from the Underground Railroad with our own gospel-influenced song telling the story of Shields Green, the only member of Brown’s company to have escaped slavery.

Dangerfield - words & music by Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino

The first song composed in the cycle, we were so moved by the story of Dangerfield Newby, it just had to be written. He was a freed man who went back into Virginia to liberate his wife and children, and carrying the letter he had received from her, was the first man shot down in the streets of Harper’s Ferry.

Mary Brown, Abolitionist - words & music by Peggy Eyres

This song is the one that started it all. Our friend Dan Berggren passed this wonderful song onto us, and its poignancy had us both in tears. We learned it almost immediately and have been singing it ever since. Peggy is a wonderful singer from the Adirondacks who does a lot of the same kind of work we do in history and the environment.

John Copeland - words & music by Greg Artzner

Todd Bolton at Harpers Ferry encouraged us to write this song based upon the letters that Copeland, one of the five Black raiders, wrote to his parents from his jail cell, awaiting execution. We’re glad he encouraged us because for us the poignancy and eloquence of Copeland’s letters was one of the most compelling episodes of the entire story.

Captain - words & music by Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino

We had to have Captain Brown say a few words for himself, so we based this song on his answers to questions he received during the lengthy "grilling" he underwent in the immediate aftermath of the raid, as he lay bruised, cut, and having just regained consciousness.

The Testimony of Frederick Douglass - words & music by Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino adapted from traditional music

So close was the relationship between Douglass and Brown that when the Old Man was captured Douglass was compelled to leave the country to avoid being charged with conspiracy, although if anyone tried to stop Brown from going to Harper’s Ferry, it was Douglass. In subsequent years, in speeches and in writings, particularly in 1881 in a speech given at Storer College in Harper’s Ferry, Douglass revealed many of the intimate details of their relationship, some of which are recounted in this song.

Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino who perform as Magpie, have long been two of the most under-appreciated artists in the contemporary folk idiom...perhaps because they stand by their beliefs and imbue every recording with their conviction. John Brown: Sword of the Spirit is akin to a folk opera, like the old ballad operas Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd used to record. It traces, in song, the lives of abolitionists John Brown and his wife Mary Brown (who helped foment the Civil War), and the historical period around the Civil War. While most of the eleven songs are by Artzner or collaborations with Leonino, Si Kahn, Kim and Reggie Harris, Woody Guthrie, and Peggy Eyres also contribute songs. Guthrie's song is "The Ballad of Harriet Tubman." As with all of Magpie's recordings, the musical values are very high. Greg and Terry are in great voice and their musicianship is strong. While Artzner plays guitar, Leonino holds forth on harmonica, dulcimer, mandolin, and guitar. They're joined here throughout by Ralph Gordon on acoustic bass, and guest appearances by five other artists including Jay Ungar and Kim and Reggie Harris. Leonino and Ronnie Freeland produced this acoustic CD (The only "non-folk" sound is Alan Sherwin's soprano sax on "Heaven Is Less Than Fair.") John Brown is a rich, deep, and wide creation. While each song can stand on its own, the CD is meant to be heard as a whole. Artzner and Leonino have taken a risk for the sake of creating a rare work in the folk idiom. This recording should be assigned to every student studying American history, because it brings history to life as no textbook can. Whoever thought real history could be so entertaining?

Rich Warren

Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, better known as the award-winning folk duo Magpie, have created a fascinating work with "Sword of the Spirit", which looks at the history and legacy of abolitionist John Brown and the famous HarperÕs Ferry raid of October, 1859. Brown hoped his violent civil action would galvanize the nation against slavery, which he called "sum of all villainies." He failed and two months later, Brown and those in his party not killed in the raid were hanged. Sixteen months later, the Civil War began.

"Sword of the Spirit" is a musical extrapolation of a similarly titled one-act play created by Artzner, Leonino and Richard Henzel, set in Brown's jail cell and constructed as letter-based conversations between Brown and his wife, Mary. Like the letters, the songs recount tumultuous history in decidedly human terms, focusing not just on Brown but his family and several others who made the ultimate sacrifice to end slavery.

Si Kahn's kaleidoscopic "Old John Brown" provides a frame for the story, while Peggy Eyres' "Mary Brown, Abolitionist" locates the familial cost of the raid. And Woody Guthrie's "The Ballad of Harriet Tubman" and Kim & Reggie Harris' eloquent "Heaven is Less Than Fair" evoke the horror and anticipation of travel on the Underground Railroad.

Artzner and Leonino wrote the seven remaining songs after a tremendous amount of research at the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the Library of Congress and elsewhee, relying on original documents and particularly, letters by the participants. As compelling as the Browns' story may be, it is the voices of three former slaves [sic*] who fought and died with Brown that imbue this tale with deeper moral authority. They were Shields Green ("I Stood on the River of Jordan/Heaven Bound"), Dangerfield Newby ("Dangerfield") and "John Copeland," and their roles are wisely elevated in the musical telling of the story.

Brown's personal epiphanies are recounted in "Goodbye to Old Ohio" and "Captain," in which he states his conviction the "only blood can purge these crimes [of slavery] away." And just as Si Kahn's opening song offers a snapshot of coming events, the closing Testimony of Frederick Douglass recasts them with both personal and historic perspective. Distant history is made human by song, in voices that feel authentic and committed.

Richard Harrington

For info on our new CD "Sword of the Spirit" on Sliced Bread Records.

Here is a link back to Magpie's home page.