The Sargasso Season is a series of songs written on the guzheng, a traditional Chinese zither, that explore the themes of transoceanic journeys to the Pacific NorthWest Coast of Turtle Island/North America. 

My Chinese ancestors traveled at the turn of the 20th century to a place they knew as Gold Mountain, or "Gam Saan" in Cantonese. They worked for railroad companies, ran general stores, and laundries. Their children (my grandparents) belonged to some of the earliest Chinese Canadians who were born in this land, and raised against a backdrop of against discriminatory laws, and systems of segregation and oppression.

Willow

Saltwater Pond

Deep Gazing

The Canyon

Pass by hoping to hear 
Your voice on the wind
I catch myself singing
Wonder what the words mean
Like “Springtime in the Rockies” 
In a singsong Cantonese
That sounds like comfort in times like these

Tape deck strains in the sun 
Where the grass grows shorter
Put hard work in the earth
 ‘til it grows straighter
A pair of good boots
And a thermos of strong tea
That tastes like comfort in times like these

Follow the sun like a prairie
Yellow crocuses in bloom
Open wide the doors and go

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Written by Erica Dee Mah

Erica Dee Mah - guzheng, vocals
Darcy McCord - cello
Jordy Walker - percussion, bass
Alana Martinson - violin, vocals
Toby Moisey - alto flute

Produced, mixed and engineered by Jordy Walker at Stackwall Sound, Whitehorse, YT
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova at Bova Lab Studio, Ottawa, ON
Cover photography by Erik Pinkerton

This album was created on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. This recording was made possible thanks to the support of the Yukon Government.

Copyright Erica Dee Mah, SOCAN, 2024 © all rights reserved

Crocuses

Out of work, take your leave
Can’t got back across the sea
Carry your weight, unbend your knees
Follow me to Wild Horse Creek

Shake the pine tree
Scratch at the dirt for a bite to eat
Never find a girl to marry me
On the trail to Wild Horse Creek

Wind and rain like a swarm of bees
Walk past a sign that you can’t read
Oh promise you won’t bury me
On the trail to Wild Horse Creek

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Written by Erica Dee Mah

Erica Dee Mah - guzheng, vocals
Darcy McCord - cello, vocals

Produced, mixed and engineered by Jordy Walker at Stackwall Sound, Whitehorse, YT
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova at Bova Lab Studio, Ottawa, ON
Cover photography by Erik Pinkerton

This album was created on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. This recording was made possible thanks to the support of the Yukon Government.

Copyright Erica Dee Mah, SOCAN, 2024 © all rights reserved

Wild Horse Creek - Horse Racing

Inch by inch, and stone by stone
Build a garden for a home

Sweep out the pinecones
Wave to the neighbours
Dig a pond for the lilies
Surrounded by water

Row by row, we watch it grow
To a garden bright and full

Scrap plans for the freeway
These parts are worth saving
Bamboo flowers rarely
From both sides of the ocean

Street by street, we feel the defeat
Put bars on the shop windows
We’ve still got the garden
We’ve still got the garden
Madonna is watching 
Over the Saltwater City

------------------------
Written by Erica Dee Mah

Erica Dee Mah - guzheng, vocals
Darcy McCord - cello
Jordy Walker - percussion, bass
Alana Martinson - violin
Toby Moisey - alto flute

Produced, mixed and engineered by Jordy Walker at Stackwall Sound, Whitehorse, YT
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova at Bova Lab Studio, Ottawa, ON

Cover photography by Erik Pinkerton

This album was created on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. This recording was made possible thanks to the support of the Yukon Government.

Copyright Erica Dee Mah, SOCAN, 2024 © all rights reserved

The Garden

A bowl full of fruit
Eat the ripe ones first
Promise to outlive the green ones
Store them all up, they’ll keep another day

A strong wind blows
And we’re patternless
The canopy falls to the ground
I like it when your do your favourite things when I’m around

Put on your good coat
The one with the pockets
Stand close to the fire
Watching the kindling burn

Put on your good coat
The one with the buttons
Stand close to the fire
Watching the kindling burn

Let the smoke in your hair stay there
Like a noseprint on the window when we first moved in
Press flowers in a book to give our daughter at summer’s end

Count the rings on a stump
To feel a little less sad
It’s just a few inches after all
Pick out something new in the morning chorus at dawn

Put on your good coat…

Watch how the needles start to explode
Your memory eases to the highs and lows
Part of the pieces, part of the pieces, part of the pieces

------------------------
Written by Erica Dee Mah

Erica Dee Mah - guzheng, vocals
Darcy McCord - cello, vocals
Jordy Walker - percussion, bass
Alana Martinson - violin
Toby Moisey - alto flute

Produced, mixed and engineered by Jordy Walker at Stackwall Sound, Whitehorse, YT
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova at Bova Lab Studio, Ottawa, ON
Cover photography by Erik Pinkerton

This album was created on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. This recording was made possible thanks to the support of the Yukon Government.

Copyright Erica Dee Mah, SOCAN, 2024 © all rights reserved

Morning Chorus

Hold your papers close
Try to lose your own shadow
Try on the name of a ghost
Both feet in the ‘morrow

All that you have is folded
Into manila
All that you have is folded
Your secrets won’t kill ya

Bitter first, sweet later
Try to please your mother

Hold your papers close
Try to lose your own shadow
Empty the things that you know
Make room for tomorrow

All that you have is folded
Into manila
All that you have is folded
Your secrets won’t kill ya

Bitter first, sweet later
Try to please your mother

----------------------
Written by Erica Dee Mah
Erica Dee Mah - guzheng, vocals
Darcy McCord - cello
Jordy Walker - percussion, bass
Alana Martinson - violin
Toby Moisey - alto flute

Produced, mixed and engineered by Jordy Walker at Stackwall Sound, Whitehorse, YT
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova at Bova Lab Studio, Ottawa, ON
Cover photography by Erik Pinkerton

This album was created on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. This recording was made possible thanks to the support of the Yukon Government.

Copyright Erica Dee Mah, SOCAN, 2024 © all rights reserved

Morning Chorus

Erica Dee Mah

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