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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    As per usual, gatefold CD wallet comes with groovy artwork courtesy of Ed Woltil. Includes unlimited streaming of Shadow Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Shadow Play via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
__________________________________ Chasing Angels ©2022 Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) & Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ July to June same old tune never played to win Sang my song what went wrong? Where do I begin... Here I go Chasing shadows of myself Here I go Chasing angels Precious blame same old game running on the spot Screams and shouts from roundabouts we never could get off Here we go Chasing shadows of ourselves Here we go We’re chasing angels So we begin to swim against the tide knee deep in nostalgia We’ll be up to our necks in it in no time with our dotted T’s and crossed eyes memories hypnotize Old friends pull colours dull to a mesmerizing grey I muddle through and just like you I get in my own way Here we go Chasing shadows of ourselves Here we go We’re chasing angels __________________________________
2.
Kickstart 04:51
__________________________________ Kickstart ©2022 Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) & Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ When I’ve almost given up and the will to fight still isn’t quite enough and Plan Z just isn’t working. Is enough ever enough when the going’s gone but I’m not getting tough. On the ropes, knockout is lurking. I need a kickstart, don’t let me fall apart. Give me the chance, I need a soul transplant. Grant me a change of heart. If I could fake it then I might make it. Oh, but I just can’t take it ‘Cause if this is livin’ then I just might give in. There’s still room left on my list between chances missed and problems that don’t exist for one more breakdown in progress. ‘Cause I’m not quite finished yet with this one man patched-up symphony of regret. There’s still time for me to regress. I need a kickstart, give me your whole heart. I’m stuck in orbit out here in the void, show me a little spark. If I’m not quite myself but I’m nobody else I need a little help and I think it’s high time that you throw me a lifeline. Stranded in a deep, dark hole Isolation now is takin’ its toll Fingers of a fist so cold Tighten their grip down upon my soul. I need a kickstart, I just can’t play the part. I’ve tried and I just can’t do it on my own, this is my flare in the dark. Looking for light above show me some sign of love It’s down to push or shove But this fog’s not lifting, and this pain’s not shifting and if this is livin’ then I just might give in. If you start to thinkin’ that I’m almost sinkin’ then I think it’s high time that you throw me a lifeline. __________________________________
3.
__________________________________ Life on a Trampoline ©2022 Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) & Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Ups and downs smiles and frowns fluffy horizon views going underground Higher now new sights and sounds full of the joys of spring ‘til you come back down Sunny-faced people raining on down wondering what it all means Life on a trampoline Urge to soar stuck on the floor you want to take on the world with your mousy roar You snipped the cord now you're unmoored Reaching up for the stars is its own reward Up on high wire with heavenly choir lacking in self-esteem Life on a trampoline Here comes another last chance Tried saving the last dance for you Caught the elastic of my big-boy pants Now we’re stuck in a free fall for two (What you are, you say you are, you get to fall in love without a safety net) As hard as you push it’s never enough You never quite make the scene Life on a trampoline Here comes another fat chance Had the world in our hands but it slipped through On the way up it’s all romance but when gravity calls your fall comes due It’s a scream Life on a trampoline. __________________________________
4.
Ultramarine 04:51
__________________________________ Ultramarine ©2022 Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) & Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I see where the wind blows but I have never seen the wind. I know what my heart knows, that it can break but it can never bend. Ultramarine Thoroughly green and completely blue Whatever can we do for Ultramarine she's coming clean, not coming through. We never really knew you. Somehow overnight you're no longer black and white and I see that I can't hold you I can't pin you down I can't hold you I can't pin you down. Time's an endless river crossing the desert in an hourglass. You were someone else now you're someone else now you're future's past. Ultramarine Thoroughly green and completely blue Whatever can we do for Ultramarine she's coming clean, not coming through. We never really knew you. Somehow overnight you're no longer black and white and I see that I can't hold you I can't pin you down I can't hold you I can't pin you down. __________________________________
5.
__________________________________ The Way You Love Him ©2022 Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) & Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ If I cut my hair and I wore nice clothes had a royal air and a regal nose would there be a chance that you would let me in? If I made you laugh, if I made more sense, if I made you graphs of my pounds and pence do you think you could love me just the way you love him? If I could be taller, If I could be good, If I could get a credit line. I would if I could, if you would say the chances are that I could make you mine. If I had degrees, if I had a clue or a little respect from those who do would I catch your eye? Would I fuel that spark within? The way that you love him. If I could be smarter, If I could be suave, If I could stand the test of time. I would if I could but all I have is love I’d give it all to make you mine. If I changed the world or changed my ways If I brought you tea on silver trays would it fill your cup right up to the brim? If I knew my role, stayed in the wings If I sold my soul and I bought you things Would you ever love me? Could you ever love me? If we close our eyes and for just once pretend— The way that you love him. __________________________________
6.
__________________________________ One Day Never ©2022 Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) & Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ One day we will get away from the pain and the struggle and heartache but if one day never comes, you and I still share each rising sun. One day we will understand all the stray puzzle pieces will fall into our hands the big picture will be clear, until then it’s you and me, my dear. Souls who stay bent upon days already spent sacrifice the element of surprise. I prefer to spend tonight in the light of your eyes reflecting the moonrise as it echoes the hiding sun as advertised in the songs and sonnets we devise to invite another sun to rise. I prefer to spend tonight in the light of your eyes reflecting the moonrise as it echoes the hiding sun as advertised in the songs and sonnets we devise to invite another rising still so surprising sun. __________________________________
7.
__________________________________ Vulgar Tongue ©2022 Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) & Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ We rage, we churn We never learn We’re in deep, we’re in deep. The beds we make The vows we break Spin in deep, spin in deep. Armed to the teeth with nothing much underneath Primed for the kill from afar. With vulgar tongue you cheer the damage done This is who we are. We’re hooked, we’re led We’re gold spoon fed Dig in deep, dig in deep. The prayers we howl will fail us now We’re in deep, we’re in deep. [Love the lie and live the lie Rise to lie then lay low.] Armed with fear, your favorite sloganeer sneers at your life from afar and with vulgar tongue cheers the damage done This is who we are who we are who we are. This is who we are. This is who we are. [Love the lie and live the lie Rise to lie then lay low.] All hail King Liar and his post-truth choir with the hijacked flags and the books on fire. __________________________________
8.
__________________________________ On the Way to My Appointment With Death ©2022 Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) & Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ On the way to my appointment with Death I picked up my paycheck and spent a week in a tent and I stopped to raise a daughter or two with my wife—that was the best then came the accident and I thought I saw Him smiling and checking His watch as it swung at the end of its fob hypnotizing me but then I came to and remembered all the things that I had still left to do so I jumped into a cab and I made it just in time to piano recitals and family reunions and mornings at the zoo Then I came to a mountain and wondered if I’d found Him as I gazed all around to distant horizons but my phone began to ring excuse me while I get this it’s my daughter, she says she’s moving to Wisconsin Yes, of course I’ll be there I just can’t wait to see you on the way to my appointment with Death. On the way to my appointment with Death. I'm really very sorry and I hope it’s not too late but I’m afraid I have to cancel, I just need another month, one week, one day… I’m on the way… I’m on the way… __________________________________
9.
Lifeboat 03:32
__________________________________ Lifeboat ©2022 Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) & Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Perfect storm at the center of my universe, I couldn't stop it if I wanted to Waves came crashing as if they'd all rehearsed And the winds whispered secrets as they blew And the clouds all parted to let the sunshine in with a curtsy and a bow And it made me wonder where the hell you'd been and where would you be going now? Well, the calm before the storm is a good time for some thinking But the weatherman he let me down again Third time's a charm (unless of course you're sinking) We all need a lifeboat now and then Saved again please don't ask me how Cue remorse and solemn vow And it made me wonder where the hell we’ve been and where should we be going now? Who on earth knows where my mind goes? When we sing it feels just like I am all the ages I have ever been Woke up dreaming Living in slow motion Staring through the wreckage at the view No more scheming just a cork upon the ocean going where the tide takes me to Born again please don't ask me how wounded horse or sacred cow And it made me wonder where the hell I've been and where would I be going now? __________________________________
10.
Shadow Wall 04:47
__________________________________ Shadow Wall ©2022 Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) & Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ From another lifetime echoes through the shadow wall I throw out a lifeline Can I reach you after all? Loving you as I do, I miss you but I can feel you coming through. I can feel you near me, can you hear me? I’ve been trying to get a message through. Nothing here can free me, no one can see me half as clearly as you do. Chances that I’m taking through the mist a distant path. Choices that I’m making Well, I suppose they make you laugh. Speak to me on the breeze, I’m listening for you whispering through the leaves. I can feel you near me, can you hear me? I’ve been trying to get a message through. Nothing here can free me, no one can see me half as clearly as you do. Hear it, spin me far away Spirit in me here today. Loving you as I do, I miss you but I can feel you coming through. I can feel you near me, can you hear me? I’ve been trying to get a message through. Nothing here can free me, no one can see me half as clearly as you do. Souls along the timeline, reach you through the shadow wall. __________________________________
11.
On Your Side 02:49
__________________________________ On Your Side ©2022 Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) & Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Give me a sign, give me a season and I’ll be on your side. Throw me a line, any old reason why and I’ll be satisfied that it’s up to me, I’m the one you need. Turn to me on any Monday, I’ll clear my schedule for you. Count on me Tuesday through Sunday for any little thing you ask me to do. Heart’s on the ropes, future’s uncertain but I am on your side. Dust off your hopes, though you are hurtin’ now you'll soon be fortified if it's up to me, I'm the one you need. Don’t pin your hopes on a maybe, promises dangling on high. No lofty promises, baby, just call for me and to your side I will fly. Count on me Tuesday through Sunday for any little thing you ask me to do. Give me a sign, give me a season and I’ll be on your side. Any old time, any old reason why and I’ll be satisfied that it’s up to me, I’m the one you need. __________________________________
12.
Make Amends 03:23
__________________________________ Make Amends ©2022 Steve Robinson (BMI/Across The Water Music) & Ed Woltil (ASCAP/Schmoopleton Heights Music) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Another year to slip behind us Another fence to mend A simple song here to remind us You and I should make amends The world spins madly on without us On that we can depend But if we have our wits about us You and I will make amends We don’t have to say we’re sorry to break this spell I know we’d like to think that there’s no hurry but we both know that there’s just no way to tell… Though hurtful words were tossed between us I can’t remember them Let’s leave the whole sad mess behind us love is real and not pretend You and I should make amends You and I should make amends. __________________________________

about

Replete with musings on depression, death and fears of looming fascism, cheerfully counter-balanced by odes to the joys of musical kinship, committed relationships and interpersonal encouragement, "Shadow Play" is the long-awaited follow up to the acclaimed 2015 Robinson/Woltil album,"Cycle".

Cycle was released to a bounty of favourable reviews; No Depression calling the pair’s orchoustic pop opus “a gloriously synergistic merging of talents”; Powerpopaholic referring to it as “simply beautiful and very highly recommended”; with Absolute Powerpop adding "Tampa Bay's premier folk-poppers team up for one of 2015's best, a graceful and melodic collection of tunes that bring the pastoral side of XTC to mind”. Ultimately, the album’s assortment of critical hurrahs helped it end up on numerous ‘Best of The Year’ lists.

Largely recorded at their respective homes in North Carolina and Florida, this little 12-track beauty also sees the return of XTC guitar hero, Dave Gregory, for a couple of delicious cameos.

credits

released October 21, 2022

All vocals and instruments by Steve Robinson & Ed Woltil except:
Dave Gregory - Electric Guitars (Tracks 3 & 4)
Christopher Bryan Thompson - Drums (Track 4)
Emma Robinson - Background Vocals (Tracks 3 & 4)
Chaz Darling - Drums (Track 11)

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Steve Robinson & Ed Woltil Hendersonville, North Carolina

Ex-Roger McGuinn sideman and award-winning
Ditchflowers singer-songwriter team up to concoct
baroque folk-pop masterwork.

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