Release the Medicine by Sylvia Bagge

these views could be described as "old-school", "organic", and "let it all hang out." Release the Medicine is a seed, cool and resting in the ground, and is simultaneously phat with energy that is always on the verge of opening into the sunlight.

Release the Medicine stirs deep in that good old soup once again, and enthusiastically encourages an instant expression of that stiring.

All tracks but one on Release the Medicine were recorded using analog equipment (16 track/1" reel to reel) by recording engineer Myles Boisen in Oakland. The remaining track, muskoka river, was recorded by former Grateful Dead Sound Engineer, Betty Cantor-Jackson, at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco.

Most tracks feature sylvia only on guitar/vocals or guitar/vocals/cello. Myles Boisen plays bass on 4 tracks, Jason Miller plays guitar on 2 tracks, and Carla Fay and Hallie Hammer provide background vocals on the track release the medicine.

sylvia is a believer. in addition to that, she is a deadhead, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and hospice worker living in oakland, california.

sylvia's lyrics are central to her creative expression, but she is an interesting guitarist as well, with a unique style of rhythm. she also does arrangements of her favorite rock and roll tunes on cello, such as in Terrapin Station, the Hunter/Garcia tune that appears on release the medicine.

Sylvia also demonstrates skill in crafting mellow songs with fingerstyle guitar. She writes poetry that gets to know you as you get to know it, often shapeshifting its colors and textures, suddenly shouting loudly when you thought you had heard a whisper the last time.

Like sylvia, Release the Medicine is just plum deep.

15 ABLUMS THAT HAVE HISTORICALLY MAINTAINED SYLVIA'S SANITY (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

1. Teaser and the Firecat, Cat Stevens (1971)

2. Planet Waves, Dylan (1974)

3. Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws, Bruce Cockburn (1979)

4. Patterns, Linda Rich (early 70's/intervarsity records-"i'd like to know if its true is there a God and is God you" gave me permission to ask my own questions)

5. Blows Against the Empire, Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship (1971-i will continue to uncover this album's philosophical, musical, political and spiritual genius one little bite at a time)

6. Janis Ian, Self-titled (1967-contains the censored tune, society's child, and the one that gave my 15 year old choas some definition, "the tangles of my mind")

7. Highway 61 Revisited, Dylan (1965)

8. The 2nd Chapter of Acts, In the Volume of the Book (1975-from a time when Christian rock was devotional, the track "i can't get near you" demonstrated singing that comes completely from the heart)

9. Friends Sountrack, Elton John (1971)

10. Blues for Allah, Grateful Dead (1975)

11. AKA Graffiti Man, John Trudell (1992)

12. Electric Ladyland, Jimi Hendrix (1968)

13. All Things Must Pass, George Harrison (released the day after my 5th birthday, November 27,1970-put Krishna at the top of the charts with My Sweet Lord)

14. Living in the Material World, George Harrison, 1973 ("remember now, be here now")

15. Hot Tuna, Live at the New Orleans House, Berkeley, 1969

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