Dear Companion is Espers

Espers (band)

Espers is a psych folk band from Philadelphia that is part of the emerging indie folk scene. They formed in 2002 as a trio of singer-songwriter Greg Weeks, Meg Baird and Brooke Sietinsons but later expanded to a sextet including Otto Hauser, Helena Espvall and Chris Smith...

 vocalist Meg Baird

Meg Baird

Meg Baird is an American musician originally from New Jersey and currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best known as a founding member and lead female vocalist for the Philadelphia folk rock band Espers. In 2007, Baird released her first solo LP Dear Companion on Drag City...

's first solo album. It was released in 2007 to critical praise. The album contains three traditional folk songs, four covers of more recent songs, and two original songs written by Baird. The album is lightly orchestrated traditional folk music, without Espers' psychedelic and prog influences, dense orchestration, and dark atmosphere. Dear Companion was recorded at the same time as the Espers album II

II (Espers album)

II is the third album from the band Espers. It was their first to be released on Drag City. The song "Children of Stone" was later covered by Marianne Faithfull on her 2008 album Easy Come, Easy Go.-Track listing:#"Dead Queen" – 8:13...

, at Baird's home in Philadelphia. Two of the traditional songs ("Willie o Winsbury

Willie o Winsbury

Willie O Winsbury is Child Ballad #100, existing in several variants. It is a traditional Scottish ballad that dates from at least 1775, and is known under a number of different names, including Lord Thomas of Winesberry.-Synopsis:...

" and "Barbry Ellen") also appeared on Leaves From Off the Tree, an album by Baird, Espers bandmate Helena Espvall, and Sharron Kraus

Sharron Kraus

Sharron Kraus is an English singer, songwriter and musician with strong ties to the US. Kraus was born in New York but grew up in Leicester, England...

 that came out the year before. Two versions of the title song open and close the album, the second one acapella.

Track listing

1. "Dear Companion" (Traditional) – 3:44
2. "River Song" (Chris Thompson)– 2:31
3. "The Cruelty of Barbary Ellen" (Traditional)– 6:26
4. "Do What You Gotta Do" (Jimmy Webb
   Jimmy Webb
   Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
   
   )– 2:48
5. "Riverhouse in Tinicum" (Original) – 4:01
6. "The Waltze of the Tennis Players" (Fraser & DeBolt
   Fraser & DeBolt
   Fraser & DeBolt were a Canadian folk duo, active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Its members were Allan Fraser and Daisy DeBolt .-Career:Allan Fraser and Daisy DeBolt met at a workshop at the 1968 Mariposa Folk Festival...
   
   )– 3:05
7. "Maiden in the Moor Lay" (Original) – 2:26
8. "Sweet William and Fair Ellen"(Traditional) – 5:13
9. "All I Ever Wanted" (New Riders of the Purple Sage
   New Riders of the Purple Sage
   New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco, California in 1969, and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. Their best known song is "Panama Red"...
   
   )– 3:20
10. "Willie O' Winsbury" (Traditional) – 6:09
11. "Dear Companion" – 2:27