Freedom & the Dream Penguin is the name of the album - it’s a bunch of songs and tunes by me, Colin Harper. The Field Mouse Conspiracy is the willing and able collective I assembled to make a record of them. Yes, it’s a band, but it’s an odd kind of band: 50 members, one vision, and no plans for any live performance bar a launch party at Common Grounds, a Belfast fair trade café, in May 2008 - which was, I must admit, so much fun we might even do it again sometime!

The album comes in a delightful digital designed by Mark Case with 24 page booklet of photos, lyrics, song by song notes, explanatory essay and suchlike. Abridged versions of some of the text can be found elsewhere here on the site. The cover comes from a beautiful children‘s book, My Penguin Osbert, published by Walker Books, and captures the spirit of the whole thing in one simple image. As for the music, check out samples of every track on www.cdbaby.com, here on this very page, and on MySpace - a much better idea than me trying to describe it!

Among the key collaborators are a number of recording artists in their own right: venerable folk-rock legends Judy Dyble (ex-Fairport Convention) and Alison O’Donnell (ex-Mellow Candle); Celtic soulsters Paul Casey and Sarah McQuaid; alt-rock vaudevillian Peter Wilson (aka Duke Special); white R&B/gospel diva Susie Young; Northern Irish ‘Americana’ troubadours Brian Houston and Janet Holmes; ‘rock god’ in waiting Joe Echo; and Irish trad icon Tina McSherry (ex-Tamalin).

Among the players are Woodstock veteran Henry McCullough on lead guitar (ex-Grease Band, Wings), Van Morrison sidemen Liam Bradley (drums), Brian Connor (piano) and Linley Hamilton (trumpet), and Irish trad fiddle messiah Martin Hayes. And some string quartets…

‘Exciteable’ Dave Mullan is the maestro behind the website. So hats off to Dave, look around the site and thanks for visiting!

Colin Harper