Dear Companion started from a generous invitation towards Meg Baird (one of the clear-toned songwriters of Philadelphian sextet Espers) to create a solo release for Philadelphia’s Tequila Sunrise label. Although a beautifully conceived 7” single came out of this initial design, the entire long play record was never made available. Wichita (and Drag City in the US) are very happy to be releasing this deeply personal record that very nearly never existed for public consumption.
Made up of a mix of her own original material, cover versions and a selection of traditional numbers, Dear Companion is a collection of songs that are very close to Meg’s heart. “I tucked into this collection of songs as much personal coding and shapes as I could without weighing down the branches too much. I really love these songs and take them very seriously and was just trying to do a really good job with everything I had available at that time. I wanted to make something new and worthwhile, all the while harboring a feeling that all songs have already been written.”
A final word from Meg on Dear Companion – “All along, it was my hope that this recording would show a lot of people in my life that I care about them very deeply. The initial intension was to keep this a simple record, but up close not very much is simple, and that really is