In the Maze
Music by Matthew C. Rolland / Mandolin + Acoustic Guitar - Matt Rolland / Rhythm Acoustic Guitar - Rebekah Rolland / Fiddle - Ben Plotnick / Upright bass - Thøger Lund

In The Maze

Penny Brown
Lyrics from “Brown Penny” by William Butler Yeats | Music by Rebekah S. Rolland / Acoustic guitars - Matt & Rebekah Rolland / String arrangement + Violin + Viola - Ben Plotnick / Cello - Kaitlyn Raitz / Piano - Steff Koeppen / Upright bass - Thoger Lund / Percussion - Arthur Vint / Harmony Vocals - Rebekah Rolland

I whispered, “I am still young” /  And then I am old enough / Wherefore, I threw a penny / To find out if I might love / Go and love, go and love, go and love / If the lady be young and fair / Penny brown penny brown penny / I am looped in the loops of your hair / Oh, love is a crooked thing / There is nobody wise enough / To find out all that is in it / For they would be thinking of love / ‘Til the stars had run away, run away / And the shadows had eaten the moon / Penny brown penny brown penny / One cannot begin it too soon / I whispered I am still young / And then I am old enough / Wherefore, I threw a penny / To find out if I might love.

Penny Brown

You’ll Never Be the Sun
Lyrics by Long Donal Macdonagh / Music by Rebekah S. Rolland / Acoustic guitar + vocals - Rebekah Rolland / Mandolin + Electric Guitar + Violin - Matt Rolland / Upright Bass - Thoger Lund

Vs. 1 You'll never be the sun burning in the sky / And you won't be the moon above us on a moonlit night / And you won't be the stars in heaven, though they shine so bright / But even on the deepest ocean you will be the light / Vs. 2 And you may not always shine as you go barefoot over stones/ We might be so long together or we might walk alone / And you won't find that love comes easy, but love is always right / So even when the dark clouds gather, you will be the light // Bridge // And if you lose that  part inside when love turns round on you / Leaving the past behind is knowing that you'll do like you always do / Holding you blind, keeping you true // Outro You'll never be the sun 3x / But even on the deepest ocean / You will be the light 3x

You'll Never Be The Sun

Someday I’ll Take You Home 
Music & Lyrics by Rebekah S. Rolland / Acoustic + electric guitars - Matt Rolland / Upright bass - Thoger Lund / Percussion - Arthur Vint / Harmony Vocals - Rebekah Rolland

Vs. 1 I remember all the time / You were not afraid of anything / And daylight finds you where you are / So it’s okay to get lost for awhile // Chorus 1 // In a parking lot, it’s free on Sunday / Play that song again it’s my new favorite / We could run away, but I won’t say it / Good night, babe, someday I’ll take you home // Vs. 2 And they say it won’t be long / Clouds are caving in and then it’s winter / And it’s summer where you are / You send shells in cards and I send letters // Chorus 2 // Ringing on the line and I can’t sleep / I play that song again it takes me back there / But it’s still raining and I’m still awake so / Goodnight, babe, someday I’ll take you home // Vs. 3 It’s snowing all along the hills / Usually the crowds come for the weekend / Guess we have it to ourselves / We’ll come back when we won’t catch a chill // Chorus 3 // And we’ll remember how the day was quiet / We were frozen there beneath the sunset / Holding to the words we would not say yet / Goodnight, babe, someday I’ll take you home

Someday I'll Take You Home

From the album, "New Eyes", available July 15, 2022.

RISO is:
Rebekah Rolland - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Matt Rolland - Harmony Vocals, Acoustic / Electric, Violin

With:
Thoger Lund - Upright Bass
lyrics

LYRICS
Early light like summer ghosts
Stealing softly through my mind
Stuccoed walls in seamless motion
Shadows of a day gone by
When the day is easy
We count the faces in the clay
Count the days between us
Consider reasons we could stay

Morning
Wake up to the wind outside your door
I wanted to hold you
I wanted to pull you a little closer to me

Turn your eyes and shut the door
When were we alone before?
All the seasons and the days
All the things that keep us waiting
It’s like running through the sand
Spilling out of broken glass
Running through your hands
Hold it there to make it last

Morning
Wake up to the wind outside your door
I wanted to hold you
I wanted to pull you a little closer to me

Morning
Wake up to the wind outside your door
I wanted to hold you
I wanted to pull you a little closer to me

Faces in the moon tonight
Catch 'em while they’re still in flight
Passing skies like skipping stones
Turn your eyes and then it’s gone
Lighter than the air
Closer when the day is done
Spinning to the edge
Hold me closer ‘til the morning
credits
released May 19, 2022
Music & Lyrics by Rebekah Sandoval Rolland © 2022 De Folk Publishing/BMI Administered by Modern Works Publishing/“A” Side Music LLC

Produced by Matt Rolland and Rebekah Rolland
Recorded by Peter Dalton Ronstadt at Jim Brady Recording Studios (Tucson, AZ)
Additional tracking by Steven Tracy at St. Cecilia Studios and Matt Rolland at CATALYST Arts Space
Mixing and Mastering by Philip Shaw Bova
Album Design and Photography by Aubreigh Brunschwig

New Eyes

Closer

Geometric Slide
Music and Lyrics by Rebekah S. Rolland / Acoustic guitar + vocals - Rebekah Rolland / Mandolin + Electric Guitar + Violin - Matt Rolland / Upright bass - Thoger Lund / Piano - Steff Koeppen / Percussion -  Arthur Vint  

Vs. 1 All the pretty girls in all their patchwork skirts / Laughing and loving and feeling what it’s worth / The glow of the night above us as we settle into sound / Just spinning round and round and / You’d think we’d found our way tonight / The geometric slide, the geometric slide / Vs. 2 And all the unattached are sitting in a line / Like faces on a canvas, the kind with moving eyes / Just spinning round and round and round and / You’d think that they’re too scared to try / The geometric slide, the geometric slide / Vs. 3 And all the ceiling fans, they shiver and they glide / Your chin is in your hands and you’re looking past the skylight / Just spinning round and round and round and / You’d think that maybe you were high / On the geometric slide, the geometric slide / Vs. 4 All the bows and ribbons hung up with golden twine / The air is soft and viscous, and I’m sinking into twilight / Just spinning round and round and round and / You’d think  that I was born to fly / The geometric slide, the geometric slide / Vs. 5 Hold on to me, baby, build a web around me/ It’s all just light and color now, in everything surrounding / When we hold on to each other, I feel our hearts colliding / A thousand tiny pieces, it’s all shiny and inviting / Shooting through the air, in our shoes and in our hair / Spinning round and round and round 3x /  I think we’ll go on until we die / The geometric slide

Geometric Slide

For New Eyes, Arizona folk music powerhouses Matt Rolland and Rebekah Sandoval Rolland have come full circle. Their band, RISO, is the culmination of a musical lifetime spent together – and the album is a document of the ebb and flow of the last decade of their lives as students, musicians, and, more recently, parents.
 
Rolland and Bekah bring very different influences to the table despite their shared culture, and the interplay is on full display on New Eyes. Rolland’s history as a contest fiddle player in the Texas and bluegrass styles shows itself in nimble, quick melodic lines. Sandoval’s fascination with old-time music comes out in speech-driven, “crooked” rhythms and unexpected phrasing. Rolland introduced Sandoval to pop influences like the Shins and Iron and Wine; Sandoval fell in love with another band they listened to two decades ago, Crooked Still, and that affair has continued unbroken. From the Latin word for “smile” or “laughter,” RISO synthesizes that push and pull. It embraces an old-time aesthetic that seems to emanate from the very bones of the earth yet incorporates pop flourishes and sometimes complex arrangements to get the message across.
 
The album feels like the natural growth of an old tradition, flourishing into something new. Sandoval’s voice has a heartbreaking clarity and grace, traveling seamlessly between filigrees of a dreamy springtime delicacy and crescendos of strength. There is an innocence to it that makes the weight of her words hit all the stronger. Rolland’s sure hand gives rise to it, responding to every nuance and cradling the sound with sometimes surprising textures – like a 60s psychedelic guitar jangle or French horn coming through the acoustic pop. His original instrumental tunes buoy the album forward, melding influences from Celtic, old-time, and bluegrass traditions.
 
The songs will break your heart and fix it again. From the wistful “Geometric Slide” to the jaunty “Caterpillar Prince,” from the ominous and smoky “Always Running” to the budding of desire in “Closer,” these are songs of innocence and of experience (to borrow from Blake).
 
The album was engineered by Tucson stalwarts Petie Ronstadt and Steven Lee Tracy and mixed by Philip Shaw Bova (Father John Misty, Lake Street Dive, Feist).

RISO

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