The Tree People chronicles

The Tree People's "Human Voices" on New Yorker writer Sasha Frere-Jones' Best of 2009 list!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:07:00 +0000

Here is our reissue album, Human Voices, at number #34 on the New Yorker magazine music writer Sasha Frere-Jones' Best of 2009 album list. We love the New Yorker, it is one of our favorite magazines, and we are honored to be on their music writer's list.

BEST OF 2009, Sasha Frere-Jones, December 7, 2009

ALBUMS
1. Sleigh Bells
2. Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca” (Domino)
3. The-Dream “Love vs. Money” (Def Jam)
4. Neko Case “Middle Cyclone” (Anti-)
5. Mastodon “Crack The Skye” (Reprise)
6. Annie “Don’t Stop” (Totally/Smalltown Supersound)
7. Micachu & The Shapes “Jewellery” (Rough Trade)
8. Lily Allen “It’s Not Me, It’s You” (EMI/Capitol)
9. Sunn O))) “Monoliths & Dimensions” (Southern Lord)
10. Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest” (Warp)
11. Little Dragon “Machine Dreams” (Peacefrog)
12. Edan “Echo Party” (Five Day Weekend)
13. DJ Sega “Live at The Bowery Ballroom”
14. Mr. Chop “For Pete’s Sake” (5DW/Now Again)
15. Fever Ray (Rabid/Mute)
16. Raekwon “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2” (Ice H20)
17. Sonic Youth “The Eternal” (Matador)
18. Lil Wayne “No Ceilings” (Young Money)
19. Harmonia & Eno ’76 “Tracks & Traces” (Grönland)
20. Freddie Gibbs “midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik”
21. Prefuse 73 “Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian” (Warp)
22. Lady Gaga “The Fame” (Interscope)
23. Joker “Purple Wow Sound”
24. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It’s Blitz!” (Interscope)
25. Black To Comm “Alphabet 1968” (Type)
26. Eugene McGuinness (Domino)
27. Mokira “Persona” (Type)
28. “Freedom, Rhythm and Sound: Revolutionary Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement 1963-82” (Soul Jazz)
29. Brad Paisley “American Saturday Night” (Arista)
30. Vowels “The Pattern Prism” (LOAF)
31. Here We Go Magic (Western Vinyl)
32. The Phenomenal Handclap Band (Friendly Fire)
33. N-Type “Rinse: 09” (Rinse FM)
34. The Tree People “Human Voices” (Guerssen)
35. Air “Love 2” (Aircheology/Astralwerks)
36. Erin McCarley “Love, Save The Empty” (Universal Republic)
37. Vladislav Delay “Tummaa” (Leaf)
38. The Arch Cupcake “Box of Bees” (Patriarch)
39. Dude ’N Nem “Tinted Incubators” (TVT)
40. Thee Oh Sees “Help” (In The Red)
41. “Sensacional Soul Vol. 2: 32 Groovy Spanish Soul & Funk Stompers 1965/1972” (Vampisoul)

some press for Friday night's concert at Mississippi Studios

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:28:00 +0000

Tree People, Foothills

Mississippi Studios Friday, November 27th, 9 PM $12 21+

(Fathers of Freak Folk) Having seen two of their early albums reissued in recent years, Oregon's own Tree People are currently transitioning from rehashing their heyday material to working on some new stuff. The spirit of the project has not changed. Early tracks "Legends of the Tree People" and "More Than Yoko" mix dry
acoustic guitar flourishes with other acoustic dreamy elements to create ethereal folk that feels whimsical and wierd. "She said I love you even more than Yoko could ever love John," front man Stephen Cohen sings on the latter. There's a reason the band reissues have found a cult audience, and it looks like the Legend of the Tree People will live to see a few more chapters.

Casey Jarmin, Willamette Week

The Tree People – Back, New Album Out Next Year

by Barbara Mitchell on November 18, 2009 Oregon Music News

Portland’s acoustic-folk pioneers the Tree People are indeed back in action, and preparing to release their first album in 26 years in 2010. The band’s gently meandering tunes have been rediscovered thanks to reissues of their first two albums (originally released in ’79 and ’84) and a renewed interest in off-kilter folk music in general. Whether you were an original fan or a newbie who’s just getting hip to the band’s earthy, wide-eyed positivity, this is good news.

9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 27, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi Ave. 503-288-3895, $12

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The Tree People recording session at Dead Aunt Thelma's Recording Studio, August 24, 2009, photos by Ben Sussman

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:43:00 +0000

photos by:
Ben Sussman

musicians:
Stephen, Jeff and Rich

engineer:
Dean Baskerville

4 recent reviews of "Human Voices"

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:10:00 +0000

Reviews are always interesting because each reviewer has unique preferences, unique frames of reference, and unique backgrounds to bring to the listening.
Some gravitate towards the songs and lyrics, some the instrumentals, some the core atmosphere and feeling of the album.

Here are 4 recent reviews of Human Voices

Human Voices
The Tree People

Review

by François Couture, Allmusic

The discreet Oregon band the Tree People released their second album, Human Voices, as a cassette, in 1984. A minor folk gem, it remained unavailable on CD until 2009. This album contains peculiar underground folk songs and acoustic guitar-and-flute instrumentals. The writing is delicate, careful, almost fragile at times, and features occasional dissonances and complex chords that keep the emotional charge in the murky waters of melancholia, indecision, and disappointment. There is a strong influence from Pearls Before Swine and the kind of American freak folk that happened outside of the major urban centers and didn't get much exposure (or get recorded) back in the day. With hindsight, one could easily put the Tree People near the roots of the tree whose branches would give birth to a flurry of groups usually lumped together (rightfully or not) under the label "New Weird Underground." That said, this trio is closer to Simon & Garfunkel than bands like In Gowan Ring or Jackie-O Motherfucker would ever get. However, in the vocal delivery and use of recorder, one could hear a precursor of In Gowan Ring ("Opus II" falls somewhere between that band and one of Steve Hackett's instrumental tunes). Guitarist and main composer Stephen Cohen has a pleasant understated voice, with something of a childlike tone in the phrasing, as if he was pouting. The songs "Grandfather" and "Thomas" sport exquisite melodies supporting strong lyrical content, and "If That's Entertainment" is a surprising song/tirade about what the people want and what the artist is willing to give them. On the instrumentals front, the highlights are "Things Fall Apart" and "Opus II," two tracks that could appeal to a wide range of people, if they were given exposure. Human Voices is not a life-changing record, but it is definitely above average, has a timeless quality (already obvious upon its release in 1984 -- rarely has an album from that year sounded so un-mid-'80s), and it sweats honesty through every pore. Recommended.

The Tree People : Human Voices (US,1984,re.2009, Guerssen Records).

Gerald Van Het, www.psychedelicfolk.com

Hearing the second release of The Tree People I can hardly believe how this never had an LP version or CD/LP reissue before. Reminding me slightly of Ptarmigan with its flute improvisations and endless shoreline waves of skimming fingerpickings in between some very strong songs I understand how Tree People became one of Johan’s (Tiliqua records) favourite bands. By some reasons the reissue now was released in Spain instead of in Japan, reaching hopefully a wider public. The two songs I meant that pop out very well in between the improvisations or drowned in its atmosphere songs are “Thomas” and “If That’s entertainment”, two very conscious songs which I think beg to be covered some day, for they will remain actual and recognisable, as strong statements. The opener, “Human voices” is the only track which has a triple voice arrangement, of an almost religious introduction. The song “Grandfather” is moving too, about someone who passed away and leaves their traces of being there amongst his family members. This song is drawn into the atmosphere, with some dreamy sadness. A very strong album, that should be regarded as a classic for the genre.

Audio : "grandfather","human voices","opus II","thomas" (or here)

Info & audio : http://www.anthologyrecordings.com/release.asp?album=z0S3NzFJ0Dw

Info : http://treepeoplechronicles.blogspot.com/2009/05/human-voices-reissue-released-by.html

& http://treepeoplechronicles.blogspot.com/2007/02/story-of-human-voices-second-tree.html

Article : http://localcut.wweek.com/2008/01/02/the-tree-people-thomas-from-human-voices/

Homepage Stephen Cohen : http://home.earthlink.net/~threehandstephen/ & http://www.myspace.com/threehandstephen

Foxy Digitalis website:

The Tree People "Human Voices"

Guerssen

This is a welcome 25th anniversary reissue of this Oregon trio’s rare, cassette-only sophomore effort. Dreamy, mellow folk tunes paved the way for the current new folk movement and unique touches like the echoed vocals on “Grandfather” and the tinkling bells on “Rain, Rain” make this something special. Jeff Stier’s flute and recorder establishes a warm, floating vibe throughout the mostly instrumental album, and the liner notes from main composer Stephen Cohen are both historical and informative. The Spanish air to Cohen’s guitar on the lengthy “Things Fall Apart” is both hesitant and inviting, and draws the listener in to Stier’s recorder/flute flourishes, transporting the listener to an otherworldly plane, part gypsy dance, part ominous bullfight. (Note: The bonus track, “Sketches,” also benefits from this earthy, European vibe and is generously dedicated to the band’s part-time drummer, Denis Mochary, who played on it and several other tracks and who passed away in Japan several years ago.)

“Thomas” is a live favorite that’s part Simon & Garfunkle, part Peter, Paul & Mary and 100% fun – the harmonies are particularly well-arranged, weaving wonderfully around Stier’s recorders. This is one for those rainy day dreamaways where you find your mind wandering off to lonely strolls through the park, or navel gazing under the old apple tree out back. And if you can’t get up and do the jolly jig to “Dance,” then your get up and go has got up and gone and it’s time to return to your armchair traveling…back to the kinder, gentler times of 1984 to climb up and build a tree house to hang out with The Tree People and mellow out to “Human Voices.”
Jeff Penczak (11 August, 2009)

The review below is definitely entertaining and positive despite Casey's allergic reaction to flutes. One correction- the words to the song Human Voices are:

in the morning when you're still sleeping

when you have those crazy nightmares

I swear I hear, within the bird song

human voices joining along in a laughing song

(so that's why people print out the words on albums! I guess we will print the words on the new album when it is ready!)

The Tree People Human Voices

(Guerssen)

BY CASEY JARMAN, Willamette Week
[July 8th, 2009]

[FLUTE FOXES] Within the first 30 seconds of the Tree People’s reissued sophomore album, Human Voices, the psych-folk trio tests an aughties listener’s threshold for both the weird and the tender: “In the morning when you’re still sleeping/ When you have those crazy nightmares/ I swear I’m here within the birdsong/ Human voices joining along in our loving song.” These trippy lines are beautifully delivered—spooky three-part harmonies paired with unpredictable chord and tempo changes rattling out from a finger-picked guitar. But when the flute swoops in like an excitable raven, cynicism and years of anti-Renaissance Fair conditioning creep into one’s opinion.

About half of Human Voices is instrumental, with Stephen Cohen’s voice and acoustic guitar canoodling with Jeff Stier’s expertly played flutes and organic percussion. And while the wordless compositions—anchored by Stephen’s brother Jeremy on bass—are coolly melodic, it’s a side of the recently rebuilt trio that is going to be tough for modern audiences to contextualize. Oregon was a gentler place in 1984, it would seem. Still, the Tree People’s lyrically driven songs are both accessible and modern. The haunting “Grandfather” evokes Lou Reed more than Donovan; disc highlight “Thomas” is a Simon and Garfunkel-esque story song, and the earnest “That’s Entertainment” is both relatable and thrillingly told.

Picking up a Human Voices isn’t quite like discovering Nick Drake or John Fahey—musical spirits who seem more natural now than they ever did when they were in their prime songwriting years. Instead, one has to meet Treepeople halfway between now and then. But Human Voices, like the trio’s fascinating 1979 self-titled debut, provides another excellent reason to do so.

"Human Voices" vinyl edition now released by Guerssen Records

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:23:00 +0000

The vinyl edition of "Human Voices" has now been released by Guerssen Records. They did a wonderful job with the vinyl edition and it is amazing to see this recording, which we did so long ago (in 1984), get new life! Who could guess in 1984 that vinyl would come back in in the 21st century, and that both our 1979 and 1984 albums would be reissued as CDs , downloads and vinyl records?

TREE PEOPLE

Title.
Human voices

Format. LP
Label. GUERSSEN

Description. Watch out for this rarity. You know the Tree People, late 70s predecessors of the ongoing new folk movement in the USA. You know their 1979 debut album and you know it's a masterpiece….. but oh well, did you know about their second album??? Surely not, especially because it was a cassette only release at the time with a very short print.
<
Luckily enough, the Tree People guys kept the mastertapes of these recordings and we're proud to be making this wonderful music available now.
After the CD version released last month, here's the vinyl also with splendid sound quality.

The music here is equally as good, if not better, than the self- titled debut and a real must for any folk and psych- folk lover. Acoustic guitars, subtile percussions, wonderful flute work and some warm vocals, but overall a real big dose of quality and originality that makes the Tree People music be absolutely ahead of its time and therefore so much admired today. A real beauty!

Comes with an insert including liners by the band's leader Stephen Cohen, as well as some pictures.

Ref. GUESS055

	grandfather
	human voices
	opus II
	thomas

"Human Voices" downloads now available at Anthology Recordings

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Download "Human Voices" by the Tree People at Anthology Recordings

Stephen Cohen - guitar, voice
Jeff Stier - percussion, recorder, flute, orchestra bell, voice
Rob McIntosh - voice
Laurie Brown - voice
Denis Mochary - drums
Jeremy Cohen - bass guitar

Origin: Oregon, USA, 1984

Released: 1984/Private Cassette, 2009/Guerssen Records

Recorded at Recording Arts Center, Eugene, Oregon in 1984 by Don Ross.

Remixed at Dead Aunt Thelma Studio, Portland, Oregon, 2007 by Dean Baskerville.

All compositions and lyrics composed by Stephen Cohen, except “Opus II”, “Things fall apart” “Rain, Rain” and “Sketches”, composed by Stephen Cohen and Jeff Stier, except vocal harmonies in “Human Voices” arranged by Rob McIntosh.

Late 70s predecessors of the ongoing New Folk movement in the USA, this is the second of the albums they released. Originally issued as a private cassette only edition of 300 copies only, first time ever reissue.

It features an unreleased track, “Sketches”, found on the same original master tape of “Human Voices”. It was a track done on commission for the soundtrack of a Los Angeles television show.

The Tree People "Human Voices

Stephen Cohen website

Guerssen Records website

"Human Voices" reissue released by Guerssen Records

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:41:00 +0000

THE TREE PEOPLE

Title.
Human voices

Format. CD
Label. GUERSSEN

Description. Watch out for this rarity. You know the Tree People, late 70s predecessors of the ongoing new folk movement in the USA. You know their 1979 debut album and you know it's a masterpiece….. but oh well, did you know about their second album??? Surely not, especially because it was a cassette only release at the time with a very short print.

Luckily enough, the Tree People guys kept the mastertapes of these recordings and we're proud to be making this wonderful music available now. Vinyl version will come later, here's the CD with splendid sound quality. The music here is equally as good, if not better, than the self- titled debut and a real must for any folk and psych- folk lover. Acoustic guitars, subtile percussions, wonderful flute work and some warm vocals, but overall a real big dose of quality and originality that makes the Tree People music be absolutely ahead of its time and therefore so much admired today. A real beauty!
The CD comes with a booklet including liners by the band's leader Stephen Cohen, as well as some pictures.

Ref. GUESSCD027

	grandfather
	human voices
	opus II
	thomas

The Tree People at the Matrix in Chehalis, Washington

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:56:00 +0000

The Tree People performed a two set concert at the Matrix
Coffeehouse on April 4th, 2009. Here are some photos that Jeff took as we arrived in Chehalis, Washington at sundown. You can see the outside of the Matrix below.
Inside it was a musical oasis. That evening was really what music is all about for the Tree People: a spacious, warm, comfortable room with great sound, a good sound person, nice people running the place, and an
audience that was with us
all the way. It really doesn't get any better than that!

Download "The Tree People" now at Anthology Recordings

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Guerssen Records, who will be handling all our past and future recordings, has placed The Tree People on the Anthology Recordings site for downloading. And you can still order the vinyl reissue of The Tree People at Guerssen, as well as CD and vinyl records of the second (from 1984) and the third (which we are working on now!) Tree People albums when Guerssen releases them later this year.

Here is what Anthology Recordings has to say about The Tree People:

Artist : The Tree People : The Tree People

Stephen Cohen - guitar, lead vocals
Jeff Stier - percussion, recorder, orchestra bells, background vocals
Rachel Laderman - flute
James Thornbury - bass, background vocals, glassfinger guitar

Origin: Eugene, Oregon
Released: 1979/Private, 2006/Tiliqua Records, 2008/Guerssen Records

Guerssen Records

Originally recorded at a studio in the woods outside of Eugene, Oregon in 1979, the self-titled album "The Tree People" is a fantastic piece of hippie acid-folk. This album features free-hand percussion, eerie flute melodies, and bare hand guitar playing with Cohen's strong vocals completing the portrait painted through melody. The soothing and mellow "Pot Of Gold" and "The Pineapple Song", the almost heathen sounding "Space Heater", and half reggae, half backwoods sound of "Sliding" make for a highly diverse album that is a joy to listen to. It keeps you wondering what you're going to hear next.

Stephen and Jeff decided to bring The Tree People back together in 2008, including third member Rich Hinrichesen on double bass, and are once more touring as a live act.

the Tree People Centrum Creative Residency

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:54:00 +0000

The Tree People, Stephen, Jeff, and Rich, did a Creative Residency at Centrum, an arts
organization at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington in for a week in September of 2008. These Centrum Creative Artist Residencies, which attract artists from all over the world, are perfect for artists to create in a quiet, inspirational setting. Nothing is required or expected from the artists at these residencies, so artists have the opportunity to concentrate on nothing else but their art.

Fort Worden, featured in the movie An Officer and a Gentleman, was created to protect the west coast from attack in the early 20th century (you can now walk on and inside the numerous gun turrets on the grounds and imagine the soldiers on watch), but now is home to a state park, art and educational organizations (such as Centrum), and several college outposts. Musicians now enter the gun turrets to experience the deep and resounding echoes with musical instruments instead of weapons.

We stayed in a wonderful 3 bedroom house on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula and did nothing but play music all week. You can see Rich with his double bass and his stool (which he brings wherever he goes), Jeff with his artist badge that his young daughter made for him especially for the residency, Stephen and Jeff clowning around with a instrument made from a found object that Stephen painted at a previous Centrum residency that he did in 2002 (the other Tree People liked the look of the instrument, but saw no real use for it except as a possible fictional weapon), some photos of the house, the grounds and view from the house, photos of Stephen, Rich and Jeff, and a photo of Jeff's instruments in the house.

After 4 days of rehearsing, refining, and arranging new pieces, we went into Synergy Studio,
a studio on the Centrum grounds, with engineer Neville Pearsall, for two days and recorded a good part (8 pieces) of the music that will be on our our third and new Tree People album.
(We will record a few more pieces of music and mix the final results with engineer Dean Baskerville at Dead Aunt Thelma's Studio in Portland later this year, and then send the completed product to Guerssen Records of Spain, who will release it later in 2009).
On the last night of our residency we went into Port Townsend and did an evening performance for a nice listening audience at the Upstage, a really nice venue.
We would like to thank Lisa and the rest of the staff at Centrum for helping to make this fantastic residency possible, we would like to thank Neville at Synergy Sound for providing a warm, welcoming, and professional atmosphere at the studio, and we would like to thank Mark and his staff at the Upstage for the excellent sound and the warm, welcoming, and professional atmosphere there as well.

This residency will always be remembered by our Tree People trio!

Guerssen Records of Spain to release old and new Tree People albums in 2009!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:56:00 +0000

  We cannot thank Johan and Tiliqua Records of Japan enough
for the beautiful job they did with The Tree People reissue
CD in 2006. Johan's belief in the album and the resulting
positive attention that the album received helped to inspire
the resurrection of the Tree People as a performing and
recording group.
But it didn't look like Tiliqua Records was going to get to
the Human Voices (our album from 1984) reissue for some time,
if at all, so we felt it was time to go with Guerssen, a
wonderful company in Spain, who did the vinyl reissue of The
Tree People album earlier this year. Guerssen's catalog is a
perfect fit for the Tree People, and I am looking forward to
working with Antoni and the rest of the Guerssen staff on our
next two releases. Guerssen will be reissuing vinyl and CD
editions of Human Voices in early 2009, and will also be
releasing our third and new album (which we are well on the
way to completing!) later in 2009. The Tree People story
continues!

Guerssen Records of Spain vinyl reissue of "The Tree People"

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Guerssen Records of Spain has just released the vinyl reissue of our first album, from 1979, The Tree People. This reissue includes an insert that includes photos and artwork that have never been published until now. We are very happy with the work Antoni and his staff at Guerssen Records has done with this. They will also be doing the vinyl and CD reissues of Human Voices, our 1984 album, in early 2009, as well as the vinyl and CD reissues of our new album (which very close to being completed!) later in 2009, and we are looking forward it!
Here is the listing from the Guerssen Records web site:

LP TREE PEOPLE "The Tree People"
Same titled album by Oregon group Tree People has finally reached its deserved status after the excellent CD reissue released by Japanese label Tiliqua a couple years ago. '' Tree People'' is no other than a fantastic piece of hippie acid folk that clearly anticipates today's '' Freak Folk'' movement.

Very clean production, with an Eastern flavour noticeable in many passages and using acoustic guitars, varied percussions and flutes, while the strong vocals of Stephen Cohen finalize the picture. Remastered sound from masters, has insert with rare photos.

The Tree People live!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:03:00 +0000

The Tree People, with our current lineup of Stephen Cohen on acoustic guitar and voice; Jeff Stier on recorders, flute, orchestra bells, hand drums and percussion; and Rich Hinrichsen on double bass, are rehearsing regularly and performing live again! We love playing with our new member, double bass player Rich! We are performing material from our first two albums as well as an album's worth of new material. We will update this post regularly with any upcoming scheduled Tree People performances or events.
The Tree People will be recording a live concert at the beautiful Big Red Studio in Corbett, Oregon (15- 2o minutes east of Portland near the Columbia Gorge) on Sunday, July 27th from 2 to 4 PM for a small audience of invited guests.
The Tree People will be then be in concert at the Mud Bay Coffee House in Olympia, Washington on August 10th at 3 PM
Tree People guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and composer Stephen Cohen will be performing all three days at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in Pennsylvania on August 15th, 16th and 17th with his Talk Talk Band and solo as well. When Stephen returns from Philadelphia, The Tree People will perform on Sunday, August 24 at the Arts in Nature Festival at Camp Long in West Seattle.
In September the Tree People will be doing a creative residency at Centrum at Fort Worden, not far from Port Townsend, Washington from September 19th to September 26th. We will be doing nothing but playing music that week, and will be recording more new material at the Synergy Studio on the Centrum grounds, as well as coming into Port Townsend on Wednesday, September 24th to perform live at the Upstage.
We plan to add many more performances and festivals to our schedule in years to come. Please let us know if you know of any festivals that you think the Tree People should consider. We are also interested in doing intimate performances at house concerts. If you have a house with a large living room or patio that could seat 20 to 75 people, and you would like to host a Tree People concert, or if you have a friend who might be interested in hosting such a concert in the Pacific Northwest, California, the Eastern United States, (or for that matter, anywhere in the world!) please let us know (contact Stephen at 503-772-9790 or threehandstephen@earthlink.net and we will make it happen!

Denis Mochary, Tree People drummer on "Human Voices" album

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:47:00 +0000

Denis Mochary (center) Tree People drummer on Human Voices (1984)

As we wait for Tiliqua Records of Japan to do the CD reissue of Human Voices and for Guerssen Records of Spain to do the vinyl reissue of Human Voices, our thoughts are with Denis Mochary, a drummer who played with the Tree People for a time, and played beautiful, sensitive drum parts on a set of drums shaped like singing trumpets on the songs Thomas, Rain, Rain and Opus II on Human Voices. He also played a soulful, creative part on Sketches, a piece we recorded at the Human Voices sessions but did not include in the original cassette. We will be including Sketches as the last track in the Human Voices reissues and would like to dedicate that piece to Denis. We are moved and honored that we got to know him during that brief time!

I wondered from time to time where Denis was and what he was doing after he left Eugene to return to the East Coast. Sadly, it turns out he passed away in Japan several years ago from kidney cancer. I found out about his death just a few months back when I got an e-mail from his younger brother, who found out about Denis' stint with The Tree People from his daughter, who was googling her uncle and found our Tree People sites. His brother wrote: "He lived in Japan for several years, married to a Japanese gal. He was happy with his life there……and seemed to have found the spiritual component he was always seeking. At least, I like to think of him that way. Anyway, it is a very small world, and I am excited to see that the music you made together lives on in its own way."

Jeff of the Tree People added some thoughts about Denis:

When I think of Denis, I recall kindness and humor. He had that tough guy mug and a big heart. I've got a few photos of a concert we did at one of Eugene's parks. The photos show us on a slightly raised stage with a big, blue Oregon summer sky behind us. Denis is kind of hidden behind those strange horn shaped drums of his - no doubt tapping out some subtle and perfect rhythm. He still lingers in my memory, at least. Jeff Stier

Stephen Cohen's solo guitar piece "No More School" from "The Tree People" on the Numero Group's "Wayfaring Strangers- Guitar Soli" CD

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:44:00 +0000

Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli

My solo acoustic guitar piece, "No More School", from "The Tree People" album was included in a wonderful collection of solo acoustic guitar music from the 1960's and 1970's released by the Numero Group of Chicago this year. I am very happy to be included, and I would like this album, which has some beautiful solo guitar pieces by some very good players, even if my piece from the Tree People album wasn't on it. One of the other guitarists on the album, Richard Crandell, who has recently released some very special albums playing mbira (thumb piano) on the Tzadik label, was in Eugene (and still is in Eugene) at the same time we were- we knew Richard and we did a show with Richard Crandell and Bill Bartels in a park in Eugene in the the 1980's- you can see a poster from that show in a previous post on this blog, "The Story of Human Voices, the second Tree People album". But back to the Numero Group album- it contains extensive liner notes on the history of what they call "primitive solo acoustic guitar" along with notes on each artist. If you like solo acoustic guitar, or better yet if you like music, I would recommend "Wayfaring Strangers- Guitar Soli". Here is what the Numero Group had to say about my piece in their extensive liner notes:

Label: Numero Group
Released: January 8, 2008

Stephen Cohen
No More School

“I always have played with my bare hands, and never have used a pick.”

The Newport Folk Festival converted endless hordes to the religion of folk music, and not the least among them was Stephen Cohen, who has spent a lifetime writing songs and living thoughtfully. A native Rhode Islander, he had better access than most to the annual festival, and he drank in every ounce of bent Americana that George Wein and Albert Grossman thought fit for the program.

The acoustic guitar had become the rank and file’s instrument, unrivalled at the time to play and compose with. And although Cohen had basic music training for the trombone, his approach to guitar was idiosyncratic from the beginning, though he sought no formal education for it. His natural inclination was fingerstyle, and because there was no one to lead him in any other direction, he went.

On Cohen’s 1979 debut The Tree People, he played a Gibson B25, acquired as a young man and strapped to his back as he rambled about the country for the lion’s share of the 1970s. The guitar featured one crucial alteration: its factory-standard metal bridge had been expertly replaced with a permanent wooden one. After settling in Eugene, Oregon, Cohen formed an acoustic ensemble also known as The Tree People that focused on instrumental composition and improvisation. They borrowed heavily from the concepts of both American Primitives and British Traditionalists on their two self-produced albums, but “No More School” is clearly an ode to the former, a flurry of fingers and thumb picking and strumming all over the drop D tuning. Issued in a one-time pressing of 1000 copies, the album pierced more than a few ears, allowing the group to become something of a go-to opener for Fahey and Pentangle whenever they rambled through Oregon.

(a note on the notes: we opened for the John Renborn Group, which had many of the original Pentangle members, not the Pentangle in the 1980's in Eugene. Jeff remembers John Renborn exclaming, in a heavy English accent "Tree People!" as we came off the stage after our set.

The Tree People a pick in Toronto

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:10:00 +0000

A weekly dig through the creates for the stuff you really need to hear By Tim Perlich

2008/01/16 Now Magazine, Toronto

Tree for all

Whether you call it freak folk, real people psych or new weird American music, the gently trippy self-titled debut from Oregon’s Tree People – recorded in 79 though it sounds like 69 – has risen to the top of the heap of the genre’s collectible artifacts. And once you hear the eerie flute, wistful strumming and entrancing hand percussion on the magnificently packaged reissue from Tiliqua Records, you’ll quickly understand why this fragile masterwork is so revered by connoisseurs of backwoods hippie hijinks. Fans of Espers, MV & EE and Voice of the Seven Woods should investigate.

The Tree People live at the White Eagle in Portland, Dec. 14, 2007 (photos by Chris Leck)

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 01:09:00 +0000

photos by Chris Leck

  There was a wonderful full house listening audience for
the Tree People at the White Eagle in Portland on December
14th, 2007. Several audience members told us after the
show that they had our original vinyl Tree People album.
We started our set with me and Jeff doing Sliding, then
Stranger and Rain, Rain. Our brilliant new double bass
player Rich then joined us on the stage and proved himself,
as he has done in our rehearsals and at our performance the
week before in Seattle, to be a perfect addition to the group.
A new instrumental piece we did that night had no title, so
we asked the audience for their ideas,and they came up with
several good ones during and after the set. We will probably
go with Sunday, the name of an audience member's daughter, for
that piece. We did many songs from the first two Tree People
recordings, and two highlights for me were Pot of Gold (with
its long pauses punctuated each time by a return in unison by
all 3 musicians) from the first, and Grandfather (which is always
a deeply emotional piece for me) from the second. Lyrics which
I wrote so many years ago took on new meanings in performance.
We closed with what I feel is perhaps our best ever performance
of Space Heater, where an extended hold on an open chord in the
middle part (which happily surprised me as much as it did Jeff
and Rich) accentuated the convergence and groove of guitar,
hand drums and percussion, and double bass).
  Northwest rock/roots icon Jon Koonce opened the evening with
an acoustic solo set, and after the Tree People's extended set,
my son Abe's great Americana, alt-rock band Maggie's Choice had
people dancing (some very spirited and creative dancers appeared
on the floor!) late into the night.
  We are looking forward to many more Tree People performances
over the next few years, but I think I will always remember
this one.

Music Editor Amy McCullough's column about The Tree People this week in Willamette Week

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:19:00 +0000

Here Comes Your Fan: Out of the Woods

December 12th, 2007 [7:04AM] Posted by: AMY MCCULLOUGH | 3 Comments

About a month ago, I received an email that made me think ’90s punk-grunge outfit the Treepeople (featuring Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch) was reuniting. And, based solely on that band’s dirtied-up, angsty cover of the Smiths’ “Bigmouth Strikes Again”—not to mention my immense BTS fanhood—I was pretty excited. Little did I know I’d learn an underground history lesson in Northwest psych folk instead.

See, Martsch’s Treepeople weren’t the first. Back in 1979, a man named Stephen Cohen went into “a studio in the woods near Eugene” (now-defunct Rockin’ A Ranch) and recorded a self-titled album under the Tree People name—an album one fan laid down 150 bucks for at Portland music store Exiled Records. “It didn’t last for very long,” Exiled owner Scott Simmons recalls. Cohen, who continued to play after the Tree People called it quits in 1985, says of the album’s 2006 Japanese reissue: “It is a nice feeling to do something, have it sit for years, and then be around to see it appreciated.” But to some, that original was already sonic gold: “People into psychedelic folk definitely know about it,” says Simmons.

Here in Portland, plenty of music fans are into psychedelic folk, and—whether those fans know it or not—they could lump the Tree People’s spooky, hypnotic forest folk in with that of legendary faves like Texan duo Charalambides or British psych-folkstress Vashti Bunyan. All share a key aesthetic: a sound that’s one with nature, whether it be evoked by cryptic lyrics, sylvan flute, hand percussion or experimental forays into trancelike string noise.

So why did the Tree People vanish? Cohen’s then-young children made touring a non-option, and original bandmate Jeff Stier (recorders, flute, hand drums) eventually moved to Washington, D.C., for work. When the kind-voiced Cohen started hearing from “collectors [and] music fans who all had somehow discovered our first vinyl album,” he contacted Stier only to find that he was moving back to Oregon. “The enthusiasm for our older recorded output [played] a big part in inspiring us to play again,” says Cohen.

The reincarnated band—which is already working on fresh material with new double-bassist Rich Hinrichsen—played a “small, warm-up performance” this past Saturday at a coffee shop in Seattle. “It was great to get our feet wet again,” says Cohen. Simmons’ response when told the Tree People are playing Portland this week? “Oh, weird.” Yup, and pretty awesome, too.

The Tree People play Friday, Dec. 14, with Jon Koonce and Maggie’s Choice at the White Eagle. 9:30 pm. $6. 21+. Photo: The Tree People (circa 1979): Stephen Cohen (far left), Jeff Stier (center) and guest pianist Soria Meadow.

3 Responses to “Here Comes Your Fan: Out of the Woods”

Nicole Campbell
says:
I heartily agree that Stephen’s success is well deserved. Our family LOVES his music and listen to it all the time. I hear they say that each overnight success takes about 20 years - just a couple of go rounds and BAM! Stephen’s commitment to the craft is key.
Posted @ December 12th, 2007 at 8:29 pm (1 day, 16 hours ago) | Flag this Comment | permalink
Oryx Cohen
says:
Hey, I guess this is keeping this in the family as one of Stephen’s sons. What a great article! I highly recommend going to the concert on Friday and I’m sorry I can’t make it. It should be noted that the family connection continues, as Maggie’s Choice is playing that night featuring my brother and Stephen’s other son, Abe Cohen. It should be an awesome night. Sing a song for me!!!
Posted @ December 12th, 2007 at 11:41 am (2 days ago) | Flag this Comment | permalink
Jeremy Cohen
says:
I think it’s great that my brother has become an “overnight success” now that he has been playing music for over forty years.

He is very deserving of listening to (as he always been) and I wish him continued success.
Posted @ December 12th, 2007 at 10:51 am (2 days, 1 hour ago) | Flag this Comment | permalink

The Tree People live! (in performance) with a new member on double bass

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:15:00 +0000

The Tree People is a live performance group once again! We have added a wonderful double bass player from Seattle, Rich Hinrichsen, to our lineup. He brings new energy to the proceedings, using a palette of deep, melodic, and interesting sounds on his double bass to fit in nicely with our music.
The Tree People performed as a group for the first time in more than 22 years at a small venue, The Hotwire Coffehouse, in Seattle on December 8, 2007. The lineup was myself on guitar and voice, Jeff on recorders, flute, hand drums, orchestra bells and percussion and Rich (who helped set this performance up) on double bass. It was a good way to get our performing feet wet once again. There was a listening audience of about 50 people in attendance. We did songs and pieces from the first two Tree People recordings, as well as some new material that may work its way into a third Tree People recording one day. It was an amazing experience that went even better than expected, and we are excited and ready for a performance this Friday night at the White Eagle here in Portland. I will post photos from the Portland performance soon after it happens.

not one, not two, but three new Tree People reissues scheduled for early 2008!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:56:00 +0000

We are very happy to announce, not one, not two, but three new Tree People reissues scheduled for early 2008!
We are so pleased that Tiliqua Records of Tokyo, Japan, who did such a wonderful job on The Tree People reissue CD, is planning to reissue the second Tree People recording, Human Voices, from 1984, as both a CD and limited edition vinyl record in early 2008. You can read more about the original creation and the recent remixing of Human Voices in past posts.
And two other companies will be releasing Tree People music, The Numero Group of Chicago and Guerssen Records of Spain. The Numero Group, voted best reissue company in the United States, will be including No More School, a solo guitar piece from The Tree People, in Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli, a collection of privately released fingerstyle guitar jams, scheduled for release in January 2008. Guerssen Records of Catalonia, Spain, who specializes in vinyl reissues, will be releasing a limited edition vinyl reissue of The Tree People in early 2008. These deals were possible because I have always kept the rights to the music in any deal I have done. Both deals have Johan from Tiliqua Records' blessing and encouragement because each of these great small companies has its own special market, which can only help in gaining interest in The Tree People in new places.

Years after first album, Tree People rehearsals start anew

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:57:00 +0000

Poster of Stephen and Jeff, from early Tree People days, on the inside of Tiliqua Records "The Tree People" reissue CD

Some 30 years after our first rehearsals, Jeff (who now lives down the road in Lake Oswego from my house in Portland) and I have started rehearsing as The Tree People again, and, just as we did then, with plans to bring in Rachel (who now lives 100 miles away in Olympia) and a few guest Tree People in later. We have been starting with some of the original material from the Tree People albums we recorded in 1979 and 1984, and I have some new material for The Tree People which we will take apart and put back together in Tree People fashion soon. All of the original material takes on a life of its own each time we play it. It reminds us that the original albums documented a point in time for each piece, and that if we had recorded the same songs at another point in time those versions would be true, but new, with the improvised parts different on any different day.
The rehearsals, now as then, feature not a lot of talking, but concentrated playing and intense listening. Jeff still has a that great sense of melody and rhythm, that great ear, and that great ability to find just the right instrument or tone for each musical moment, using recorders, flute, hand drums, orchestra bells, cymbals and other percussion. And as we play I realize that there is still no one out there doing anything quite like Jeff is doing, and no one out there doing anything quite like we are doing as The Tree People.
I have so many years of performing, recording, and writing and composing behind me since the first albums. I have a better guitar and so much more experience in playing it. I recorded The Tree People albums with a road-tested, beat up old Gibson B25 acoustic and now I play a concert hall quality Martin acoustic with a deeper, brighter, richer tone. But in the end these Tree People reissues have reminded me it is not what kind of guitar you have, it is the life comes through it, and I am so grateful for the experience of playing music, then, now, and again and again.
I feel some good things coming, some new experiences for The Tree People, some new music, some festivals and concerts down the road. I can't wait to see what happens next!

The story of Human Voices, the second Tree People recording

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:33:00 +0000

If you are a new guest to this blog, welcome! You can find the story of the reissue of The Tree People by going to the archives and I will continue to update any new developments of that story in future posts. But now the story moves on to the second Tree People recording, Human Voices:

Jeff and I continued to perform as The Tree People after the 1979 album was history and Rachel had finished school and put Eugene, Oregon in her rear view mirror. We performed mostly in Eugene with a variety of guest artists over the next 5 years. Our flute player was gone, so Jeff, who already was playing recorder and percussion, and has always had the ability to learn new things quickly, learned to play the flute in short order.

We performed at the WOW Hall in Eugene many times over those years, in live radio concerts, as headliners and as opening acts. We opened for John Fahey, who said he would love to have us on his record label, Tacoma, but he didn't have the label anymore. After the performance I found John Fahey and Jeff in a back room having a spirited converstation, not about music or the music business, but about an obscure Catholic philosopher that they both had read. That exchange summed up our music business luck and sense at the time- we were more interested and knew more about philosophy than the business of music, and in retrospect I think that might be a good thing. We also opened for the John Renborn Group, which was a big thrill because we were both big fans of The Pentangle, Renborn's innovative British folk group from the sixties, and his new group had many of the same wonderful musicians back from the Pentangle.

We had a few women singers who sat in with us over that period: first Janne Underriner, who is now a linguist and director of the The Northwest Indian Language Institute at the University of Oregon, and later, for a short spell a woman named Victoria, whom I had met in art school at the university.

Janne added a quiet dignity and beauty to the musical proceedings. During the time Janne sang with us a man from Los Angeles, who had just moved to a beautiful house on the MacKensie River, saw us at The Home Fried Truck Stop (see the archives for more about The Home Fried Truck Stop, Eugene's long ago place for music), and became our publicist and unofficial agent for a short time. He looked and spoke well and had big ideas and plans for us, but, as happens so many times in the music business, nothing much came of it. Years later I was passing through Corvallis, Oregon and needed to mail some music materials that day. I saw a man on a cane who was obviously a burn victim- you could see it on his face and he was missing some fingers. When I asked him for directions to the post office he recognized me and told me who he was and how his house on the McKensie had burned down with him in it- it turns out there is more to that story, but it is probably best to get back to the Tree People.

Victoria also played violin, recorder and just about anything else. I remember a summer performance at the music stage at The Saturday Market in Eugene where she sat in with us: there was a warm breeze, blue skies, and nice people everywhere. On one particular song,
"A Woman Whose Face Was Found," we gave Victoria the vocals. She was either able to copy my off beat singing style almost exactly or just sang that way too- I never found out the answer because she soon moved back to San Diego.

Unfortunately we have no recorded history of Janne or Victoria's brief stints with the Tree People. We also did some performances with a high school classical piano prodigy named Soria Meadow (pictured above to the left), whose mother, a fan of the Tree People, wanted to see if her daughter could branch out into some improvised music. We composed a piece for Soria with guitar, piano, percussion and flute, but never recorded it. Once we booked a concert at a theater in Corvallis, and I drove the 40 miles with Jeff, Soria and her mother, only to find a nearly empty concert hall because whatever publicity that had been arranged either hadn't gotton out or hadn't worked. So we played a long, heartfelt set for whatever few people were there and drove back to Eugene. The thing I remember most about that evening was a conversation with Jeff and Soria and her mother on the late night drive back- words about life, meaning and purpose filled the car like music.

We started performing a lot, especially at some local festivals, with Denis Mochary (pictured above), a drummer. He added rhythm, color and depth to the music and played on a very interesting looking drum set that was curved and had drums coming out at you like trumpets. He also was reading some of the same novels that Jeff and I happened to be reading at the time, including "Things Fall Apart", by Chinua Achebe. We decided to call an instrumental that me and Jeff wrote "Things Fall Apart", an instrumental where things do fall apart and then come together again.

As 1984 approached, we felt it was time to do a second recording. I had written two songs, "Thomas", and "Grandfather", which always struck an emotional chord with our listeners in performance (I recorded another version of "Thomas" years later on a solo recording and won several national awards with that song, including an award at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas in 2000), and we had several instrumental pieces, such as "Things Fall Apart", that we knew were ready to record, plus a piece called "Rain, Rain, " which we felt put all the elements of what we were doing together. I also had written a song called "If That's Entertainment", which was totally different from the Windham Hill (a California music label) new age kind of things that were big in acoustic music circles in those days (a Tree People fan once described our music as "new age with an edge") . Although some of our listeners at the time thought "If That's Entertainment" was too negative and intense, we knew we wanted to include it in the recording.

We went in to The Recording Arts Center, the best studio in Eugene at that time (it no longer exists), with engineer Don Ross (a wonderful engineer who now runs his own studio, Don Ross Productions, in Eugene). The recording featured myself on acoustic guitar and voice, Jeff on recorders, flute, bells and percussion, Denis on drums and a few guest musicians. Rob McIntosh and Laurie Brown, a local and regional folk duo at the time, added a beautiful vocal arrangement to the song, "Human Voices", (Rob and Laurie, a married couple, were starting to make a big musical splash in the Pacific Northwest but a few years later they divorced and Laurie moved to Seattle. I don't know where either of them are now, but it seems like every city I go to has at least one folk couple in the spirit of Rob and Laurie). My brother Jeremy, a longtime professional bass player in Berkeley, California, added bass parts to "Grandfather" and "Thomas".

We put our hearts, minds and souls into Human Voices, but we didn't know what we were doing when it was done. Vinyl was on the way out then, and CDs has not yet arrived, so we made a limited edition cassette of only 300 copies. We had no real connections in the music business and we really had no idea of what to do to get the recording out to people, so other than some local radio play and press, and local sales of most of the 300, we did nothing. Denis, who also worked as a carpenter, moved back East soon after the recording. A few years later Jeff moved to Washington, D.C. and the story of The Tree People seemed over. The 2" track tapes sat in my basement for 12 years and moved with me to Portland in 1996 and sat in the basement here for another 11 years. But now, with the successful reissue of the first Tree People album, Tiliqua records of Japan will be reissuing Human Voices later this year as a CD and in limited edition vinyl, and those 2" track tapes are being put to use!

The Remixing of Human Voices:

It has been a nice process remixing Human Voices, with Jeff, my fellow Tree Person, who co-produced and worked on the original mix with me in 1984 (Jeff and I are pictured above at Dead Aunt Thelma's Studio in Portland. I am holding Flat Stanley, a cut out character who joined us for my nephew Jonathan's school project in Maryland). What we thought might be the master tape of Human Voices turned out to be a 1/4" tape with a few unfinished pieces and one finished piece called Sketches. As I now remember, at the same time we were recording the rest of the material for Human Voices, we did Sketches on commission from Jack Good, a producer from England who I had met in Santa Fe, New Mexico when I lived there before coming to Eugene (I worked as an extra in a movie, called Catch My Soul that he produced in Santa Fe- that experience and the life of Jack Good are stories in themselves). He was going to use Sketches as part of a soundtrack for a television show he was producing in Los Angeles. I don't know if he ever did use it, but after listening to Sketches Jeff insisted that we had to include it as a bonus track to Human Voices, and after listening to it some more I couldn't agree more, so it will be included as a bonus track at the end of the reissue recording, where it fits perfectly.
The 2" tapes (pictured below) were baked (a process in reissues that prevents the tapes from being too brittle) at Dead Aunt Thelma's Studio in Portland. The music was then transferred to Pro Tools on the computer there and we were ready to go. We were lucky to have two wonderful engineers involved: Don Ross, the original engineer in 1984, recorded the music clearly and left detailed track sheets (pictured below as well) to help us; and, as always, it has been great working with my Portland engineer Dean Baskerville. And with Jeff on board again as co-producer it was a perfect situation. We wanted to keep the remix as close as possible to the original, while using the modern technology and wisdom we have now to make it sound just like we always wanted it to sound, and I think we succeeded in that goal.

Serendipity: the story of a signature of a Tree Person

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:30:00 +0000

Jackpot Records here in Portland bought some of my 7," 45 rpm singles (released by Ethbo Music of London in 2001 with two songs from my real life and fiction CD from 2000) the other year and asked me to sign them. Tiliqua Records of Tokyo now has a representative, Piotr, living in Portland. Piotr will be working with us and Tiliqua on the artwork and layout for the Human Voices reissue and is also helping get the first Tree People reissue CD into some of the local stores here. Soon after moving to Portland from Japan, Piotr had seen one of those singles at Jackpot and bought one. When I met with him recently, he commented on how cool it was that I signed the record Tree Person in Japanese. I had no idea what he was talking about: I just sign things with my usual signature that has become a small scrall which doesn't look much like English anymore but has no known relation to Japanese. But he insisted it said Tree Person in Japanese, and you can see why.

From a recent e-mail from Piotr: "And finally, as promised, I've attached a JPEG file of a scan of the signature from the single I got at Jackpot, with the Japanese letters below and their English meanings. The signature looks so much like handwritten cursive Japanese, I was convinced!"

Two inch track tapes-Human Voices waiting in basement

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 03:47:00 +0000

Human Voices Hand Written Track Sheets 1984

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Cohen) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 02:45:00 +0000