Photos by Randy M. Cauthron

Host Martin Arthur claimed that Saturday night's CD release for local, award-winning singer/songwriter Chad Elliott was the most attended house concert in the brief history of the series. The audience sat in chairs, stood in corners and viewed from Arthur's stairway as Elliott debuted several new songs from, "Swiftsure," a home-produced album with 10 original songs. The production was much more experimental than usual. It makes use of everything from an electronic keyboard drum loop through a megaphone to an old steel guitar that is rumored to be from Ernest Tubb's band. The CD's title comes from the name of a ship that set off from England with the Mayflower. Although smaller and faster than the Mayflower, the Swiftsure never made it across the ocean because the crew, under such harsh conditions, sabotaged the voyage by making the boat leak so it had to turn around. "I had several ancestors on the Mayflower, one being my ninth-great-uncle, William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Colony, but sometimes I wonder if I might have been on the other boat," Elliott joked. Elliott played most of the show by himself (right), but was joined for a few numbers by his friends and co-owners from Shaky Tree Coffee (above). In addition to a CD release concert, it was also a bit of a farewell for Elliott who is moving to Des Moines to be close to his son.