Ancestors’ Eyes has a family theme throughout the album and is a musical look at some of the people who have influenced my journey - a lover, a mother, a father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather. The title track is the perfect centrepiece, capturing a startling discovery about my own ancestor.
Not long after moving to Canada, I read a book about the legend of Prince Henry Sinclair. This Scottish adventurer travelled with an Italian navigator named Antonio Zeno, and a party of two hundred men from the Orkney Islands to Guysborough, Nova Scotia in 1398 - 90 years before Columbus came to the shores of North America. From Nova Scotia, they explored the land and waterways traveling as far as Massachusetts. It is understood that they came in peace and made no claims upon the lands of the Mi’kmaq people with whom they lived. Indeed, the legends of these indigenous people recount their harmonious relations with the visiting Earl of Orkney. It may be that their peaceful approach to the new land and its people contributed to them being overlooked by the pages of history. I was fascinated by this story, perhaps because of my own journey across the Atlantic some 600 years later and wanted to write a song about the legend. The song "Prince Henry”, co-written with Kristi Magraw, was released on a limited edition EP called “In The Blood”, along with an an earlier demo version of Ancestors' Eyes.
That recording was circulated amongst the Sinclair Clan and eventually made it overseas to the UK where it reached Niven Sinclair. Niven had devoted a lot of effort publicizing Prince Henry Sinclair's story and was so moved by the song that he phoned me. After discussing the Sinclair story, Niven drew attention to my own surname, Leask, and mentioned that there were a lot of Leasks on the Orkney Islands. He offered to search my own ancestry through his contacts. I was absolutely flabbergasted when Niven faxed me evidence to show that a Thomas Leask was very close to Prince Henry and in all likelihood sailed with him to the new world. Niven concluded his fax by saying, "There's a reason you wrote this song, for what is born in the bone is not lost in the blood." It sent shivers down my spine and this experience of discovery inspired the song "Ancestors' Eyes.”
There are some fine musicians featured on the record including Troy McLaggan, guitar; Mark Kelso, drums; Jon Goldsmith, piano and B3 organ; Todd Lumley, accordion; Suzie Vinnick, background vocals; Collin Barrett, bass; Loretto Reid, tin whistle and John Johnson on sax. It was engineered and mixed by the late, great Michael Banton-Jones who was nominated for a JUNO for his work on the tracks “Halfway to Heaven” and “Take Me In.”
We had fun working on the cover design using the image from a 100 year old portrait of my wife’s great-grandfather and, with designer Todd Lumley's creative genius, managed to pull together what I think is a pretty dramatic looking cover. You can listen to the record here.
