Restless Souls Newest Album release 'Walking on Water'

New REMIXED, REMASTERED, REPACKAGED Album IS HERE!

Song Commentaries

Jerry Best (lead vocals), David Adams (bass), Jimmy Jackson (guitars & lap steel), Ken Margolis (keyboards), Ed James (guitars & ukulele), Gary "Killer" Andrijasovich (drums), Matt Shaw (harmonica), Pleasure Point Horns: Jim Hannibal and Dan Young.

1. Hit The Road

Join us on a classic surfing road trip from Santa Cruz heading south. One of the coolest things we remember as young surfers was the freedom and sense of adventure that came from hopping into one of our friend’s cars, having scraped together whatever change we had, heading down Highway 101 in search of the mythical surf spots all up and down the California Coast and Baja. This song is inspired by those feelings of excitement and joy of a surf adventure with good friends.

2. Water DancerS

This song shares our experiences of the life force of the ocean and the awe that we feel towards the sea. Those of us who feel the power of the ocean, its life giving energy, its challenges and its dangers, have a special bond with this unique liquid manifestation and know its rewards and its hazards like no one else. The exhilaration of catching a wave, or maybe it is the wave catching us, skimming along the surface of the water is like no other experience on the planet! And if we should slip, we surrender to it as it guides us through the depths – we are the water dancers.

3. Walking On Water

This song illustrates the magic and mystery of the ocean and everything in and around it that has helped to open our minds to life’s possibilities. The title is an aquatic metaphor for many of life's achievements, including surfing. Surfing is like walking on water, and at its best it can create a feeling of effortless freedom and being able to fly over water. Open your heart and set your mind free.

4. The Lodge

This song is about our mountain retreat without walls up the Old Mill Road in the Santa Cruz mountains. There we spent many summer nights carrying on and singing among the redwoods, fueled by Rex beer and Red Mountain wine. The Redwoods and the mountains, along with the ocean, together create the special place that is Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz. It has been such a fabulous place for all of us to grow up, hang out, and have a great time – all the while figuring out who we were and how to enjoy life.

5. Aunt Clara’s Cabin

Our friend Kenny lived with his Aunt Clara in a small Capitola cabin where we would hang out after surfing and talk story and make plans for the next adventure. It wasn’t everywhere that you could hang out and totally be yourselves and let your “freak flag fly”. Aunt Clara, who was like a bohemian godmother, was willing to let us do that – for better or for worse – to let us say what we thought or to be as silly as we wanted to be. This was a place that helped us all head in the direction of who we would become.

6. When The War Came Home

This song was a long, long time coming. We wrote this song about our own experiences during the Vietnam War years, but it could be about any time or any war, when family and friends are separated, with loved ones going off to war, and then all the tumultuous emotions and fears surrounding their hopeful return. All over the country young men and women were - and are - being asked to put their lives on the line, to leave their loved ones and our shores for wars that many have doubts about. All of us who grew up some kind of war – many of our friends went, and some didn’t come back. Those who did return were forever changed. One day we were kids surfing and hanging out together at the beach, and by the next summer many had gone off to war. We didn’t know how it would be when the war came home.

7. That Night

The mystery of night and chasing our wildest dreams before dawn. The night air, the ocean scent, the sounds of the night creatures all create a dream-like atmosphere that stretch our imagination and invite us to take chances and live large. Hopefully, this song will ignite those feelings and experiences in all of us.

8. Cross Steppin’

Accomplished surfers are able to successfully “cross-step” (putting one foot over the other as you move forward or backward) on the surfboard while riding an unpredictable wave. Cross-stepping while riding a swirling wave can become a graceful dance of form and function. Those not so confident have to shuffle their feet if they want to move back and forth on the board. All surfers respect the technique of crossstepping, and know how hard it can be to execute in some conditions. Shuffling certainly doesn't cut it! This song captures the feeling of cross stepping and surfing a wave that is crashing and surrounding you--another life metaphor for walking he walk.

9. Time Of Your Life

Remembering that time when summer lasted much longer and was filled with carefree fun, living and learning. Everyone experiences at least one special time in their lives when things happened for the first time and they had the “time of their lives.” It often includes many new experiences, the making of new friends, and the discovery of who we are. This song invites us to relive that wonderful period.

10. Too Much / Enough

Sometimes it’s not clear when too much is enough. Hopefully when you’ve had enough it’s not too much. At times, when we’ve just had enough – whatever it might be – work, play, food and drink, the politics of injustice, friendships, and passion. This song lets it all out and says I’ve had enough, I’m good for now so let’s move on and ENJOY!

11. This Bay

An Island style ballad celebrating the ocean and the sanctuary it provides. This song is an ode to the beauty and serenity of the unique and precious ocean environment we are privileged to live by and all of the planet’s ocean bays.

All songs written by David Adams, Jerry Best and Bill Bortin with Jimmy Jackson (Water Dancers, When War Came Home & Too Much).
This Bay written by Jerry Best, Ed James, Bill Bortin.

Recording Studios / Engineers
Live basic tracks recorded at:
Wind River Studio, recorded by David “DJ” Higdon.
Ken Maybe Studio, recorded by Jason Starr.
Junior Pilot Recording Company, recorded, mixed and produced by Jimmy Jackson.
Additional recording at Killer’s Kloset Studio, recorded and mixed by Gary Andrijasevich.
Mastering by David Higdon.
Remixed and Produced by David Adams and Gary Andrijasevich.

Musicians
Jerry Best lead vocals & guitar, David Adams bass & vocals,
Jimmy Jackson guitars & lap steel, Ken Margolis keyboards & vocals, Ed James guitars & ukulele, Gary "Killer" Andrijasevich drums & percussion, Jim Norris drums, Steve Pefley drums, Stanley Meidinger fiddle & ukulele, Yoseph Feinberg cello, Matt Shaw harmonica, Jim Hannibal saxophone, Dan Young trumpet, Brian Knox trombone, Terry Hardin percussion.

Additional Vocals - Lisa Taylor, Ashley Lloyd Thompson, Lisa Marie Thompson and Bill Bortin.

Thanks to our musician friends who collaborated with us in the development of the music.
The Spell - Johnny McCullough, Killer and Terry.
Michael Johnson, Jack Bowers, Gary Thomas