The songs on this album are near to Cynthia's heart because they have been part of her journey as a singer. Many of these songs have been performed in concerts from the very beginning and have never been recorded. She speaks of homesickness, doubt and faith. She is, as always, honest in content and delivery as she allows her faith to shine through

The songs on this album are near to Cynthia's heart because they have been part of her journey as a singer. Many of these songs have been performed in concerts from the very beginning and have never been recorded. She speaks of homesickness, doubt and faith. She is, as always, honest in content and delivery as she allows her faith to shine through the music.

In Cynthia’s words, from the liner notes:

“It was Mama’s piano. Old. Spinet. Hardly ever completely in tune, yet the most heavenly thing in our house...except for Mama. We played it all the time. And many Sunday nights after church services people would gather in the parsonage around the piano and sing and sing.

The piano had never been reworked or adjusted in any way when I was growing up, except for an occasional tuning. The felts to this day are the original ones. They are so packed down with all of that energetic playing that they are as hard as the hammers on which they are attached. Mama’s piano now has a distinct honky-tonk register even though it was gospel songs that beat the felts flat making a thudding sound like a Dr. Pepper bottle being set down too hard on a picnic table in Comfort, Texas.

When we came to record this series of songs, we thought about renting a good piano because the one in the studio was old, and worn and sounded more like temple blocks than a piano; but as I sat down and ran my fingers over the yellowed keys, I was suddenly back in Yoakum in the front room and Mama was standing behind me with her hands on my shoulders. I miss her. I miss the times we had playing, singing and I am glad that we found a piano that can stir up all those precious memories.

This instrument—way past its prime, served me in a profoundly simple way as I sang out all these episodes that came right out of my life”.