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Treasures in My Chest

by Andrew McKnight

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    "A songwriter’s fantastic journey of family discovery comes alive before your ears and eyes, seamlessly blending compelling stories, helpful DIY tips, and a richness of connection and experience that standalone genealogy books can’t match."

    Treasures has a companion book in e-reader and paperback format. Why a book? It started as a way to convey the liner notes and context of a recording in the era of containerless streaming and downloads. That freedom encouraged Andrew to share the deeper stories from the seven years of family history research that went into the project - of unimaginable connection and discoveries far beyond simple context for the 15 songs. The book is also loaded with great tips for finding your own family stories. 298 pages, 25 chapters . ISBN 978-0-578-63083-0

    Purchasing music directly from the artist helps make more art possible. Thanks for buying discs and downloads in addition to streaming - it makes a big difference!
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Disc in a shrink-wrapped heavy cardboard sleeve, with the beautiful graphic design by Stilson Greene. Lyrics and liner notes included in album downloads and free at andrewmcknight.net/treasures

    Includes unlimited streaming of Treasures in My Chest via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 100 

      $9 USD or more 

     

  • E-reader does not include Kindle version - sorry! Please email us at info@andrewmcknight.net if you don't get the book download link within 24 hours; we're actually manually emailing it to you, complete with our thanks :).

    Includes unlimited streaming of Treasures in My Chest via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

      $13 USD or more 

     

  • Includes unlimited streaming of Treasures in My Chest via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days

      $13 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Book & CD signed, sealed and shipped to you direct from the artist.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Treasures in My Chest via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days

      $18 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 12 Andrew McKnight releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Treasures in My Chest, Live: Bound for Glory, Live from the Appalachians to Austin, Sampler Download, One Virginia Night, Something Worth Standing For, 1845, Red-Haired Boy, and 4 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $45 USD or more (25% OFF)

     

1.
Embarking 01:14
Music ©2019 Catalooch Music, BMI
2.
"Margaret" ©Andrew McKnight, 1906 Success Music "Treasures in My Chest" words & music ©2019 Catalooch Music, BMI Scent of cedar rising, as I open up the lid childhood things and so much more, darkness kept safe hidden and it holds my stories like a sailor’s prized possessions, while he's out to sea Wrinkled scraps of paper, and faded photographs my name on a manuscript, and notes upon the staff the lines unfolding on these pages I am holding, written long ago are the gift running through my veins, and fingers on the strings as they flow Chorus: From these treasures in my chest timeless rhythm beating, steady in my breast memories and hand me downs present from the past countless treasures in my chest Pieces of this puzzle, of how I came to be family names and question marks, somehow part of me now I'm climbing up this tree exploring, branches that I see for the first time samaritans and saints, rogues and renegades, all come alive Message tone awakens me, from my imagining connections in the here and now, that music brought to me for they've sat here at my table, raising toasts and breaking bread, and it was real we are bound by magic twists, and proof that they existed, now revealed I'm rich with treasures in my chest
3.
Words & music ©2018 Catalooch Music, BMI I've been trying to touch the past, I wanna know just why I am reach back through the mists of time, so much I want to understand You were a child once like me, full of wonder, full of pain I know sometimes that you were scared, I know that sometimes, you were brave Chorus: ah ha, ah ha ha ah ha, this is the only life I've known In part you gave it to me look behind or look ahead, you are woven in the thread in my web of mystery I'm still trying to touch the past, while the present slips away I've gotta know how your part goes, before those pages fade to grey You were old once like me, I wish that I could see your face no one else knows what's passed our eyes, hurt and anger, love and grace Someday centuries from now, like coaxing ember into flame since I've left a verse or 2 behind, someone might still speak my name someone might still speak my name someone might still speak my name
4.
Left Behind 03:56
Words and music ©2019 Catalooch Music, BMI My people braved boats over angry seas, risked everything giving life to me Left the home they’d known for a stranger’s shore, hope and hunger for once chance more Irish blessings at American wakes, glasses raised to the hearts that break, gathered at the door to see them go, of the rest of their lives, we'll never know hold on tight, storms on the ocean hold on tight, storms on the ocean, hey break through the doors slammed in your face, with the love that remained Chorus: Left behind, left behind, I’ll never let go in my heart and mind of all their prayers and desperate dreams Left behind, left behind, forever changed once you cross that line, the great divide that lies between, the leaving and the left behind coyote howls in the Mayan night, a boy in the shadows slips from sight the packet in his belly is his only chance, at someone else's promised land put one foot down, in front of the other one foot down, in front of the other, hey climb the wall rising in your face, with the love that remained A newborn face in the morning sun, another journey has just begun for time is a river and the river flows, through a mother's love towards the letting go don't turn back, even if you want to can't turn back, even if you want to the way ahead is yours to claim, with the love that remains
5.
"Passage" music ©2017 Catalooch Music, BMI "Our Meeting is Over" traditional, public domain Fathers now our meeting is over, fathers we must part and if I never see you any more, I'll love you in my heart til we land on the shore, til we land upon the shore til we land on the shore, and are safe for ever more Mothers now...
6.
Words and music 2018 ©Catalooch Music, BMI My name is Aretas Culver, in summer of '62 I traded in my papers, for a uniform in blue I took Abe Lincoln's bounty, and Union swore to save what I've seen, since that day, haunts me to my grave We were farmers, merchants, clockmakers, and I knew all their names some escaping trouble, still others seeking fame proud we marched down Main Street, while Bristol rang her bells none could know our destiny, to glory or to hell Chorus: ohh-oh, I can't escape the dreams ohh-oh, don't you hear their screams ohh-oh, I will kill no more ohh-oh, let them fight their civil war Put on a train to Maryland, with but a single drill to Antietam's killing fields, upon that cornstalk hill we faced their fiercest legion, in a withering hail of lead in terror ran while rebel yells, echoed in our heads We dug graves for many days, watched by lifeless eyes then rifles marching at our backs, in hands that fought at our side Little Mac called it victory, but for failure we were blamed and if I might survive this war, I vow to clear my name Four nights surrounded, siege at Plymouth town til our white rag of surrender, stopped the shells from raining down to Andersonville through gates of hell, its deadline we had crossed when they paroled my skin and bones, my soul had long been lost I am Aretas Culver, my breath is fading fast tell my wife and children, I loved them to the last the curse I leave this world with, before the fighting's done is those that vote to start the wars, be those that face the guns
7.
Words & music 2017© Catalooch Music, BMI A flickering candle, on cold window glass, brave and small in the dark it beams like a lighthouse, on winter shores, guide me safe home in its glow The wee ones a'slumber, deep in their beds, tucked close in a room much too small their dreams burn brightly, far more than they should, have reason enough to believe Lord give them reason to believe Chorus: raise a dram to the holidays, long may they last where hopes for the future dance, with ghosts of the past hold tight to the best of what's been we're still here at the holidays again they come home off the water, and home from the mines, with worry lines worn in their souls outside the revelers, filling the square, voices raise hymns up on high proclaiming that Christmas is nigh the longest of nights, gives way to the dawn, its radiance christens the sea there's sweets in the oven, a log on the fire, and an angel rests high on the tree blessed angel keep watch over me
8.
The Gift 04:00
Words & music 2019 ©Catalooch Music, BMI It sits here in my living room, on the stand with window view, somehow the strings stretch out of sight, wrap softly round the words I write I cannot tell you what it means, family ghosts and ancient dreams, in moments where the veil is thin, I feel their presence beckoning Chorus 1: Like a king returned his family sword Torn battle flag or coat of arms, and gold coin in a peasant's palm, All the things I might become, with this gift of family A double helix crossed the sea, part of you the same as me the proof is singing in my hands, magic sound from distant lands On some far-off moonlit night, long after I have passed from sight Will it still know these songs I weave, held in hands not yet conceived The papers on my table, the lines that fill my head a spirit-conjured melody, mystically surrounding me Final chorus: Like a king returned his father's sword Torn battle flag or coat of arms, Gold coins in a peasant's hand, All the things that I now am
9.
Words & music ©2019 Catalooch Music, BMI We are all born screaming, naked and afraid, looking back it’s funny seeing, all those plans I made We'd throw our balls and race our bikes, sometimes dare to dream manhood ain't as hard as, fathers make it seem I guess it's just the way of things, we take our place in line like our fathers and their fathers did, when it was their time Now we're slowly trading places, I suppose those are the rules, father time won't suffer any fools Chorus: all those things we cannot say perfectly imperfect at, getting out of our own way but we do not, we will not, could not though we know it's true Nothing else gets quite as tangled up in knots, as sons and fathers do Leave behind settling old scores Gotta meet him where he’s at, on the bridge or that far shore Now it’s my turn in that easy chair, it's the hardest thing I’ve done Though any man can take the gig, it ain't for everyone the have tos and the must dos, credit and the blame we earn Hoping what we teach, is what they need to learn
10.
Words & music ©2019 Catalooch Music, BMI We close our road, on the 4th of July, for the kids to ride by with streamers on their bikes, in red and blue and white, let the judges decide bring a dish to share, and your favorite folding chair, try to stay cool, we read the famous words, just like we've heard, since we were kids in school in my little town Renamed for Honest Abe, somehow it became, where I put roots down graveyard stones, hide more than bones, in the red clay ground these sunken gravel roads, wind back in time and slowly disappear the last dairy farm, keeps holding on, another year in my little town Chorus: When the fire breaks out, when the roof caves in when the snow’s piled high, times are worst they've been,  or progress of the present brings the future crashing down stand up with each other here in our little town try not to blink and miss, our little town The holiday lights, cold winter nights, herald angels sing from door to door, just like the year before, firelight caroling we pray that it lasts, cherishing our past before it's gone where neighbors still wave, stories we still save to pass on down in my little town a world of change swirls around my little town
11.
Words & music 2019 ©Catalooch Music, BMI When I was just a child, full of hope and dreams of everywhere I'd go, and everything I'd see My grandmother’s knee and stories that she’d saved, of lives, that we’d lived, long ago and far away In the face of my child, full of hope and dreams of everywhere she'll go, and everything she'll see I will keep treasures safe, and pass to her one day twice the tales that were lived, long ago and far away When I’ll wear, shades of gray, around my wrinkled face a child of my child, held in my embrace in her turn she will share, stories that she saved When it is I, who once lived, long ago and far away
12.
Entrelazando 00:51
Music 2019 ©Catalooch Music, BMI
13.
Words & music 2016 ©Catalooch Music, BMI Two thousand years ago today, a farmer walked his fields, Wondered what the land would yield, before the winter snow Two thousand years ago today, two young lovers kissed, laughed and made a wish, beneath a shooting star glow Chorus: Someday in a far and distant future Millennia beyond imagining as time ticks away, what will remain of how we lived and loved, today Two thousand years ago today, anger hurled a stone, to break another's bones and keep some fool upon a throne Two thousand years ago today, a cog in a war machine, drew his last breath on a distant plain, as he dreamed of home Two thousand years ago today, a mama hushed her little ones, kissed them on the head and tucked them into bed turned her face towards the sky, for blessings from on high prayed to guide them safe, on the unknown path ahead she wondered,
14.
Traditional; arranged Lisa Taylor & Andrew McKnight Brothers now.our meeting is over, brothers we must part and if I never see you any more, I'll love you in my heart til we land on the shore, til we land upon the shore til we land on the shore, and are safe for ever more Sisters now....
15.
Words & music ©2019 Catalooch Music, BMI When my time comes, don't shed a tear (repeat) I've got all I need and it's beautiful here When my time comes, raise your voice & sing (repeat) it sounds like angels when, that joyful noise rings When my time comes, hold out your hand (repeat) don't worry about me, lift up your fellow man and woman too When my time comes, yeah ring them bells (repeat) until we meet again, fare thee well

about

Treasures in My Chest is a full-length music album AND companion book drawn from his experiences researching his family history over the last six years. The album is a defiant throwback to the days before song streaming, carefully sequenced to produce a stunning aural journey of discovery.

The core band includes longtime Beyond Borders drummer Lisa Taylor along with Andrew on acoustic, slide and electric guitars. They are ably joined by Lisa's daughter Rachel on cello and Michael Rohrer on upright and electric bass (The Bitter Liberals, Loudoun Symphony). In addition to guest appearances by past bandmate Jeff Arey (Dang Varmints!) on mandolin, Jon Carroll (Mary Chapin Carpenter) on accordion and organ, and Tony Denikos on harmony vocals, Andrew's father Warren (keyboards), sister Alyson (piano) and daughter Madeleine (fiddle) all contribute a track. Coupled with a piece written and published in 1906 by his Scottish great-grandfather Andrew McKnight, Treasures in My Chest musically spans five generations of his family.

The powerful tools of modern genealogy led him to some extraordinary discoveries about music in his heritage; how his great-grandfather's American descendants had endured difficult childhoods and pursued music in many forms, largely unaware of each other. He encountered fascinating discoveries about fortunes lost on the Titanic, ancestors falling on the battlefields of the Civil War, and impoverished immigrants braving weeks on the stormy Atlantic in the hope of a new life and a better start.

Why a book? It started as an outgrowth of a new reality; how to convey the liner notes and context of a recording with no "container" in the era of streaming and downloads. The freedom to not have to fit artwork and information in a booklet for a CD jewel box first encouraged Andrew to plan an easy to read pamphlet. But the incredible stories he uncovered and experienced demanded more than a paragraph here and there, and before he knew it a full length paperback book took shape - part inspiration, part memoir, and part "how to" guidance for others wanting to learn more about who they are.

The album will be mainly available in digital download form (limited number of CDs printed) with the book in softcover print or in Kindle/e-reader version. Treasures will be available as a digital download in December, and the book and album package in both print and digital form will be officially released in late February 2020.

credits

released February 28, 2020

Produced by AM & Dustin DeLage
Recorded, engineered and mixed by Dustin DeLage at Cabin Studios, Leesburg VA
Mastering by Bill Wolf, Wolf Productions, Alexandria VA.
Graphic design by Stilson Greene, Leesburg VA
Artist photo by Christi Porter Photography, Lincoln VA
Additional remote recording by Ken Lubinsky at Black Hills Studios, Plainfield CT
Atlantic Ocean recorded by Michelle McKnight at East Beach, Charlestown RI.

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Andrew McKnight Lincoln

Nationally-acclaimed singer/songwriter and guitarist celebrates rural America, weaves masterfully crafted songs, humorous stories and poetic drama into a musical soundscape sketched with shades of Appalachia, tasteful slide and jazzy blues, feisty anthems, and rustic folk. 5 solo CDs heard on many public & community radio, plus NPR "Art of the Song" & "River City Folk" and XM/Sirius. ... more

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