Big Canoe Records

I love your CD and particularly enjoyed [the song about] Meriwether Lewis. How poignant and beautiful. [Bob Dyer's] voice works perfectly on this piece. And my wife and I are great fans of folk music and the hammered dulcimer. I think this is one piece you should never neglect performing at Lewis and Clark events because it so catches the emotion of how we think of Lewis in his final days. The blending of your own words with those from documents of the time added a special element to the song. Congratulations on a wonderful piece and a great album.

— Gary E. Moulton
(Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of American History,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE,
and Editor of the definitive edition of the journals of Lewis and Clark)

"Most Perfect Harmony" is awesome and quite an undertaking! — the string band, the amazing book, the liveliness of the music is all so enjoyable&. It should be sold everywhere!

— Jazzou Jones
(Musical Director, Delta Queen Steamboat)

Mr. Denny's introduction [to the CD booklet included with this album] seems to me to be just right -- concise, informative and gracefully written. Your inclusion of the journal entries is invaluable in making a slice seem like the whole of the journey up the Missouri. The whole collection of information and music works so well together. The most haunting music, to my mind, is the Indian flute music for "Black Moccasin" which seems to conjure up the immense spaces of landscape. And I got a kick out of the prairie dog song; the musical send-up comes through. I am also taken with Bob Dyer's "Going Up the River", a totally successful marriage of words and music. And, not so incidentally, I am impressed with Win Grace's French in "C'est L'Aviron". Getting all those vowels bunched together with the right pronunciation and in rhythm is a feat!

The whole of the presentation gives me a picture of the trip I haven't ever had and it makes learning about it a real pleasure. Thank you for all the work and talent this shows.

— James Shirky,
(Professor Emeritus, Stephens College, Roanoke, VA.)

The Discovery String Band "is an honest-to-goodness Midwestern supergroup."

— Margaret Nelson,
musician

Your CD is #1 on my Top 50 for the Sunday Morning Coffeehouse for 2003. The&package, research and incredible songwriting surrounding that research makes it my #1 pick for 2003 releases.

— Steve Jarrett,
Host, Sunday Morning Coffeehouse, KOPN Radio, Columbia, MO

"Most Perfect Harmony" is a unique, strong and creative historical interpretation...[of music related to] the Lewis and Clark expedition. The recording's mix of traditional and historical songs and tunes helps put blood in the veins of this most important chapter of American history. Cathy Barton, Dave Para, Paul and Win Grace, and Bob Dyer are at their creative best.

— John Keller
(review submitted to the CD Baby Web Site for "Most Perfect Harmony")

"Normally, a review would select a few outstanding selections to highlight, but, in this case, it is difficult to do. Each is significant in its own way.

Each communicates these artists' attempt to turn their research into a musical message. The selections range from energetic dance tunes to the humorous, to touching ballads, to insightful attempts to get inside the heads of various members of the Corps of Discovery. The variety is about what you would expect from these gifted artists."

—Mac McKeever
(St. Louis Folk Fire magazine, Vol. 11, No. 1, January-February 2004)