Tripping Up the Stairs is a 1986 album by Spirit of the West

Spirit of the West

Spirit of the West are a Canadian folk rock band, who were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which made them one of Canada's most successful alternative rock acts in the 1990s.-Early years:The band began...

. It was their first album for Stony Plain Records

Stony Plain Records

Stony Plain Records is a major Canadian independent record label, which specializes in roots music genres such as country, folk and blues. The label was the recipient of a 2003 Western Canadian Music Award for "Independent Record Label/Distributor of the Year"....

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"The Crawl" is an enduring fan favourite at the band's concerts.

J. Knutson

J. Knutson

Jay Knutson is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. He is normally credited with the initial J. rather than his full first name.Knutson was one of the founding members of Spirit of the West, and subsequently performed both as a solo artist and as a supporting musician for Connie Kaldor, Ferron,...

 left the band after this album. He was replaced by Hugh McMillan

Hugh McMillan (musician)

Hugh McMillan is a Canadian folk/jazz/rock musician.McMillan is a member of the folk rock band Spirit of the West, and is a multi-instrumentalist who has played guitars, bass, banjo, trombone, mandolins, Chapman stick, piano, and keyboards on the band's albums...

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The band recorded at least one other song with producer Paul Hyde

Paul Hyde

Paul Hyde is a British-born Canadian musician and record producer .Born in Yorkshire, Hyde came to Canada as a teenager.- Hyde in the Payola$, Phase One :...

, "Think About It", which has never appeared on any album or single. However, a live performance video of the song aired in occasional rotation on MuchMusic

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

 throughout the decade and into the 1990s.

Track listing

Lyrics and music are credited to the band members: John Mann

John Mann (musician)

John F. Mann is a Canadian rock musician and actor.-Music:He is the lead vocalist for the folk rock band Spirit of the West...

, Geoffrey Kelly

Geoffrey Kelly

Geoffrey Kelly is a Canadian rock musician.He plays guitars, flutes and bodhran for the folk rock band Spirit of the West, for whom he is also the lead vocalist on some songs. He and John Mann are the band's primary songwriters.Kelly is also a full time member of The Paperboys, and released a solo...

 and J. Knutson. As with all of the band's early folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 albums, several songs are arranged around traditional Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 jig

Jig

The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...

s and reels

Reel (dance)

The reel is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type. In Scottish country dancing, the reel is one of the four traditional dances, the others being the jig, the strathspey and the waltz, and is also the name of a dance figure ....

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1. "An Honest Gamble" – 4:32 (Jig: "Tripping Up the Stairs")
2. "Our Station" – 3:34
3. "Peacetime" – 4:10
4. "Room Without a View (Stella)" – 4:00
5. "The Crawl" – 4:00
6. "Homelands" – 3:57 (Jigs: "The Kesh", "The Blackthorn Stick")
7. "The Mists of Crofton" – 3:00
8. "Till the Cows Come Home" – 2:56
9. "When Rivers Rise" – 3:56
10. "Be Right" – 5:15 (Reel: "Pigeon on the Gate")