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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    3 CD box set with 40 songs about Olympia WA plus a detailed 80 page book with the history behind the songs and a plethora of great photos. With over 100 Olympa musicians. Stunning!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Olympia - A True Story via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Pulling off this piece was the biggest stretch of any song on the album. I went kind of nuts when I wrote this, the main sections are in 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4 time. The middle is in 6/4, 7/4, 8/4, 9/4, and 10/4. Why? Why not?
Last winter I tried to imagine The True Olympians playing this complicated business and it seemed like it could be a trifle fussy for us.
I called up my old friend, Jim of Seattle, who had previously beautifully scored “Everything In The World Is Returning To A State Of Nature” for my 1+1=?album. Jim was excited to do it, but unlike “Everything” he wanted to do it with real strings, not fake computer instruments. “Why not” said I and went in search of string players while Jim developed the score. A couple of attempts later, the stalwart Julie Bennet pulled a quintet together for us with some help from Jim’s sister (and Artesian Rumble member), Mary Griffin.
The session day came and one of the string players didn’t make it – no problem – the first violin just overdubbed the second violin’s part to the rest of the tracks. Jim took the pile home to Seattle and started tidying it up. A week or so later he sent the string tracks back along with his piano track. It was now time for Julie Bennet to come and overdub drums – she was fabulous. I asked Holly Graham to come sing the verses. Holly is a long-time Olympian with many excellent records - she did a wonderful job. I did my vocal and the last thing to do was to assemble the unison chorus to sing the rest. Piece of cake. Their giant beautiful wandering vocal chord at the end was completely unplanned, 100% spontaneous.
Cordilleran ice sheet. Retrieved from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordilleran_ice_sheet

lyrics

Long ago, long before people
There was the land and there was the sea
No inland sound, Puget or other
That would all change
That would all change
The Cordilleran Ice Sheet, two million years ago
Mile-high ice and a million square miles
Twenty-thousand years ago made its last journey
Its furthest point south was Olympia

Its furthest point south was Olympia
At the former Baskin-Robbins at the corner of Custer and Capitol Way
there used to be a Chevron station
Worked there when I was sixteen,
Ivan Lindgren's Chevron Station
Pumping gas and checking oil and even checking air

The ice sheet carved the Puget Sound out between Cascades and Olympics
The Cascades are volcanic
In 1980, St. Helens blew its top
The Olympics aren't volcanic mountains, rather an accretionary wedge
These outline the drainage basin that empties into Puget Sound
The Puget Sound has several inlets
Including Henderson and Budd and Eld
Budd's our main industrial bay
Olympia at its southern end

Our downtown is built on dredgings
Capitol Lake built by design
Held back by the 5th Avenue dam
The lake is filling up with tons of silt

To the southwest we see the Black Hills
The second tallest is Capitol Peak
2,659 feet
The view of the Sound now obscured by the trees
But you might see Tahoma, perhaps Mount Olympus
And if you're lucky, perhaps Baker, too.
You're probably not going to see Mount St. Helens
Since 1980, it's quite a bit shorter

Water to the Deschutes River
Through the Gifford Pinchot Forest
Plus some more from Percival Creek
Where we hope the salmon will be spawning
Next stop is Capitol Lake
They'll probably take the dam down
Restore it as an estuary
Olympia was once a forest
Don't forget our artesian wells
It's the Water - that's what everyone says
There's still a fountain downtown
But you can't buy Olympia Beer
Welcome to Olympia
Welcome to Olympia
Welcome to Olympia!

credits

from Olympia - A True Story, released October 14, 2022
Tom Dyer + Jim Owen (Jim of Seattle) - Piano and Arrangement; Julie Bennett - Drums and Percussion; Heather Dunn - Cello; Lisa Dyvig - Viola; Rebecca Gage - Violin; Holly Graham - Lead Vocal; Joyce Hancock - Bass

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Tom Dyer and The True Olympians Olympia, Washington

The True Olympians were formed shortly after Tom Dyer moved back to his hometown Olympia in 2006. Their focus is primarily recording, though they do play yer occasional live show. Current members: Tom - vox, guitar etc,, Gene Tveden- bass, b-vox, Joe Cason - keys, b-vox, Lisa Ceazan- vocals, and Jeff Parkhurst - drums, b-vox. Jeff is the band's 4th drummer. ... more

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