In early 2011 I wrote"Song for Bradley Manning" (later with a new vocal track and a new title --"Song for Chelsea Manning"). The Arab Spring kicked off and I wrote a song about that. I started thinking, it's been 6 years (at the time) since I did a real studio album. Which was before my daughter was born, back when I could afford to do such things. So I did a fundraising campaign to make a studio record (without Kickstarter or any of that on this occasion), raised $7,000, then pitched in several thousand of my own money, booked a whole bunch of time at Big Red Studio and a bunch of stellar Portland area musicians that Billy Oskay knew, and made this record. Ten New Songs (the bonus tracks) came later in 2011, and was a 2-day project involving me singing and playing acoustic guitar, and coming in later to record vocal harmonies with myself.Vocals and acoustic guitar: David Rovics Electric guitars: Nick Angelo, Tim Murphy Bass: Arcellus Sykes Drums: Demitrius Keller Keys: Asher Fulero Harmonium and fiddle: Billy Oskay Claps and crowd (on “East Tennessee” and “Burn It Down”): Lauren Sinead, Jackie Emm, Tessa Makai, Sienna Ohia, Reiko Maeda, Zach Simon, Ed Howler, Lizzy Marie Produced by David Rovics and Billy Oskay Recorded, mixed and mastered by Billy Oskay at Big Red Studio Production ideas and mixing assistance: Nick Angelo Assistant engineer: Jim Cuda Studio intern: Zach Stamler