You I love, and will forever
You may change, but I will never
The ties between us will be unsevered
You I love, and will forever
… My heart beats with yours in measure
Our time together I will treasure
You I love, and will forever.
While sifting through a box of stuff from his childhood, Jim Faddis found a notebook. He turned a few pages and was about to put it aside, but then, one more page in, he found a couplet written by his father, James Martin Faddis.
This was a man he’d never known; Mart Faddis, as he was called, died in 1954 when his son was just 2 years old.
Glimpse of the past
The notebook bore the date Dec. 23, 1935; it was a dark day during the Depression, but Mart’s mind was on his new bride, Lillie Florence.
“You I love and will forever/ You may change but I will never,” was all he wrote there.
Eight decades later, Jim Faddis — singer, songwriter, guitarist — was inspired. He composed “Forever,” the title track on the new album from his band, FarmStrong, and together with his fellow musicians, chose a worn-notebook look for its cover.
This record, FarmStrong’s second CD, is a collection of bluesy Americana, with originals from Faddis and bandmate Cort Armstrong alongside covers of The Band’s “Ophelia,” Kate Wolf’s “Across the Great Divide,” the Delbert McLinton-Benmont Tench song “Livin’ It Down” and even Ric Ocasek’s “Drive.”
FarmStrong, after playing the Northwest’s bluegrass festivals all summer, will have its album-release party in its hometown of Sequim this Monday.
Show time is 7:30 p.m. at Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave., where the beverage and snack bar opens an hour beforehand.
Tickets are $15 via the venue’s website, www.OlympicTheatreArts.org, and the box office at 360-683-7326.
At the concert only, the “Forever” CD will be on sale for $10, as will FarmStrong’s first album, “The Summer Sessions.”
The quartet, which includes Rick Meade on dobro and John Pyles on upright bass, recorded the album at Dungeness Community Studios, where owner Bill Yates worked with the band plus Colin Faddis, Jim’s son.
Colin, a drummer, wove his rhythms into “Livin’ It Down” and the CD’s final track, “O Death.”
“The guys in the band didn’t know how it was going to go,” Armstrong said of Colin’s visit.
But “it was amazing. He’s a great drummer,” who helped make “O Death” one haunting tune. In it, Armstrong and Faddis greet Death and ask for another year’s deferment.
Like FarmStrong’s live performances, the CD is a mix of fast-clip country blues, wistful reflection and humor.
The foursome knew they wanted to start off with “Ophelia,” one of their strongest tunes, and include “Across the Great Divide” soon after.
The latter was finished in just one take.
“Recording is great. It really helps you,” said Armstrong.
Traveling around, playing festivals and concerts in the park, “you sort of coast along. Everything sounds fine, and you’re kind of idling a little bit. And then you get in the studio, and the songs you felt were perfect, you really listen to them,” and realize they’re maybe 60 percent evolved.
“Your performances are so much better,” Armstrong said, after this closer look.
