Program Notes

I grew up in Galveston County, Texas and have always been enamored with the folklore of Galveston Island, particularly its ghost stories. The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history occurred there in 1900: a hurricane resulting in the incalculable loss of ~8,000-12,000 lives. Today, Galveston has a seawall to prevent colossal flooding and a borderline nationalistic pride that its residents can withstand anything. Coastal erosion and sea level rise from the Gulf of Mexico (not America) threaten to swallow the island whole, but Galvestonians insist that if they can survive the Great Storm (1900) and Ike (2008), they can survive anything...

This work-in-progress song cycle consists entirely of primary sources from the storm, thus far including (1) an eight-year-old's written testimony, (2) a hymn sung yearly in honor of the deceased children and nuns of St. Mary's Orphanage, and (3) a song written by legendary black evangelist Sin- Killer Griffin while serving as a chaplain to convicts in Texas prisons. The “bonus track” is arrangement of the song “Galveston” written by Jim Webb and popularized by Glen Campbell.