THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604040159
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: John Harper
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Pat Garber wanted to give her parents something special for their 50th wedding anniversary.
So for two months last winter she ensconced herself in a tiny recording studio on Ocracoke Island.
Working with producer Gary Mitchell, the 45-year-old laid down tracks of 10 original ``songs of the earth, the sea and the heart.''
A few weeks ago, Garber presented her first album, ``Dream Sailing,'' to her parents.
``My father is thrilled,'' says Garber, whose parents, Don and Mary Garber, live in Richmond. ``It's something he's always wanted me to do.''
The acoustic album's lead track is a gentle song called ``The Gift.'' Garber writes of a father who ``has strength and kindness,'' and a mother whose arms are ``a fortress where I can always run.''
Her sentiments are a rarity in what has become the decade of dysfunctional families.
An Ocracoke resident since 1991, Garber is a environmental anthropologist by trade. She is also the author of the book ``Ocracoke Wild: A Naturalist's Year on an Outer Banks Island.'' Her passion for the earth fuels one of the album's best songs, ``The Bluebird of Happiness.''
While most of the songs on the album center on Garber's quiet life on the island, she does go global on two tracks: ``The Massacre of Beijing'' and ``Elegy for an Irishman.'' The latter was written in 1971.
``I had just returned from Belfast,'' she says. ``There was a lot going on. I had to write something down.''
Garber also does a little soul cleansing on ``Dream Sailing.'' A song called ``Happy Endings,'' written 12 years ago, is a variation of the man/woman quest for harmony.
``I wrote that when I was going through a divorce,'' she says. ``It shows endings can be happy, eventually.''
Garber sings with sparse accompaniment on the album.
Producer Mitchell provides solid support with some tasty lead guitar licks, as well as close-harmony vocals. ``He's a better guitar player than I am,'' says Garber, laughing.
Mitchell, by the way, just completed work on his group, Molasses Creek's, third album. ``Wild Heart'' will be released in June. A fine fiddle player named Bill Hicks plays on both Garber's album and the new Molasses Creek record.
Garber is already thinking about the follow-up to ``Dream Sailing.''
``A children's album is a possibility,'' says Garber, who spent five years teaching music on the Havasupai reservation in Arizona before moving to Ocracoke.
``I'm really just a storyteller,'' she says. ``My friends have been encouraging me to play my songs live. That may happen. It takes me a while to get up my nerve.'' MEMO: ``Dream Sailing'' is available only on cassette at several stores on
Ocracoke and Hatteras islands. To order directly from Garber, call (919)
928-6765.
John Harper covers entertainment for The Carolina Coast. Send comments
and questions to him at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C. 27959.
ILLUSTRATION: THE GIFT
When I was just a child, The skies were always blue
The sun it always seemed to shine, The world was ever new.
My father's strength and kindness I could always lean upon;
My mother's arms a fortress safe Where I could always run.
And there was
Bright Sunshine, Green meadows, Gardens in bloom
A childhood of happiness with my family at home.
Winter nights around the fire, Summer picnics on the lawn,
Roses on the table, And horses in the barn.
Making toys in the workshop, Baking cookies at the stove,
Trimming out the Christmas tree - All the memories of love.
Bright sunshine, Green meadows, Gardens in bloom
Always remind me, Mom and Pop, of you.
But life's lessons must be learned As days turn into years.
The clouds must form and rain must fall And joy must mix with
tears.
But even through the roughest times
You both were always there
You taught me to stand straight and strong And walk on without
fear.
You taught me
Bright sunshine, Green meadows, Gardens in bloom
Wait for you somewhere though your dreams lie in ruins.
The road I travel now Often leads me far from home;
Through sunshine and in shadows, With friends or all alone.
But no matter how the road may twist, no matter where it leads,
I always carry with me now The gift you gave to me;
Bright sunshine, Green meadows, Gardens in bloom
Always are with me now when I think of you.
Bright sunshine, Green meadows, Gardens in bloom
For these and everything else, Mom and Pop, I thank you.
Bright sunshine, Green meadows, Gardens in bloom
Always remind me of how much I love you.
by CNB