"Brian Lillie is a guy who knows how to have fun. This 1998 release should have been reviewed sooner but it got stuck in my car's CD player. Stuck, metaphorically speaking, because I kept taking it with me on trips to the store, to work, and on vacation. This is an immensely fun disc from a singer-songwriter with a great voice and a huge sense of humor. Straddling country, folk, and roots rock, Lillie evokes the likes of Loudon Wainwright III and Steve Goodman, while the Squirrels serve up delicious yet spare orchestrations behind Lillie's voice and guitar."
- ACOUSTIC GUITAR Magazine, April 1999

"Rowboats is such a fine record: one that crawls inside, rooting itself in the very place where music encounters the human spirit. It speaks in empathy from Lillie's experience & perspective, to your own. It is impossible to remain removed."

"This double album is full of the kind of folkified ditties that make you alternately want to get up and dance and sit down and cry, and in the end they play with your emotions just enough to make you love life."

"The most impressive part of Brian Lillie's performance is the pleasant smoothness of his vocals. He's not a deliberately affected singer, just a natural one who happens to possess a good bit of charm, sincerity and pleasant tonality in his voice. Over the course of a long recording (fifteen full-length, 3 nugget-length songs), and through a variety of styles all country and folk based at their core, his voice carries enough natural charm to sustain the recording, even if the songs weren't strong; fortunately, the songs are just fine, so the end result is a very satisfying recording which is both fun and sincere."

"On his second release, Ann Arbor singer-songwriter Brian Lillie has assembled an outstanding group of musicians to add color and depth to his songs-- Matt Combs' fiddling is especially gorgeous throughout...Lillie is a talented songwriter, never tire or syrupy. 'Hazel's Last Christmas', recorded live with just Lillie on guitar is quite pretty, but it also demonstrates how much the Squirrel Mountain Orchestra expands Lillie's work."

"Wonderful blend of folk and rock elements by this young singer/songwriter. A perfect example for all acoustic american folk'n'rock."

We here at Squirrel Mountain Industries are happy to report, however, that we have successfully battled this "slump" curse by recording a delightful collection of pesky little ditties. If this had been released in the 'Vinyl Age' (4000 B.C - 1991 A.D.), it would be presented as a "double album", which meant that the artists in question were either so juiced creatively that they recorded a double-length collection (see "Blonde on Blonde" by Bob Dylan), or they were so mad at their record label that they put out the equivalent of an aural rent part (See "Self Portrait" by the aforementioned Mr. Dylan) In our case, we just plain needed more room to rock. Hello Cleveland!

On behalf of the entire Squirrel Mountain family, we hope you enjoy yourself in our little neck of the woods. Please leave your campsite the way you found it and - HEY you kids, get off the bass player! I mean it! Don't make me come over there! Excuse me, I gotta go pound some heads....

Brian Lillie
Spring 1997

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Artistic & Technical Credits

ROWBOATS was recorded by...
The amazing Geoff STreadwick at 40 Oz. Sound, Ann Arbor, MI, April-June 1997

 "Hazel's Last Christmas" was recorded...
live at The Gypsy Cafe, Ann Arbor, MI on April 25, 1997, by Kevin Meisel

 "Thimbleful of Oats" was recorded...
in the kitchen and backyard of "Bob Wojahn's Home for Wayward Bachelors".

 The album was produced by Mr. Lillie, Mr. Streadwick, and the Squirrels.
It was mixed by Mr. Streadwick and Mr. Lillie
It was mastered by Chris Gooseman at Solid Sound, Ann Arbor, MI

 Layout, design and cover by Al Smith
Interior photography by Garin Horner
Back cover painting by Julie Lavagnino

 The Squirrel Mountain Orchestra is:
Abby Alwin, Rich Griffith, Brian Lillie, Al Smith, Brian Smith

Without the musical talents of the following adjunct Squirrel Mountaineers, this album never could have happened. I am grateful for their contributions:
Matt Combs, Amrita Abinaya, John Koupal, Acala Devi, Prem Vatul, Jeff Plankenhorn, K.c. Groves, Ben Wilson, Jim Roll, Kevin Meisel, Rollie Tussing III, Bob Wojahn, Janna Dunaj, Devi, Uma, & Greg Hillegas.

Waking Up in Traffic