This album took five years to make and only four nights to record.

While mourning the tragedy of Sept. 11, I experienced a deep sense of mistrust as to how our government would proceed in the world and at home. From the possible roads to take, they chose the wrong one. Instead of a meaningful response, our leaders chose revenge with imperial ambitions while slashing our freedom in America. For the sake of future generations, we cannot keep a clear vision of hope for our children by perpetual warmaking and stripping our Constitutional rights.

Life is what is in front of you. Use the tools you have. As my old man said, ‘Speak up and tell the truth when something is wrong.’ In a short period of time, songs had found me. I was on the street singing at rallies and demonstrations on bad sounds systems or no sound systems. We shivered by City Hall and the Federal Building. I often coughed and couldn’t feel my hands. Or I fought back a cold. But we stood together in greater and greater numbers. The echo lifted my voice and guitar up to the stony heights where William Penn looked over the city. Here, I found community with those who had stood for peace and justice for a long, long time.

This record is dedicated to the Brandywine Peace Community. They have resisted war and weapons since 1977 with a tireless campaign focusing on Lockheed Martin, the world’s foremost weapons manufacturer and war profiteer. For my dear friends who have made a lifetime of peacemaking, this record is for you. Thanks to everyone for sharing in and inspiring the music. And thank you for your faith.

It took a long time to get here. We recorded the album live, guitar and voice together. So what you hear is what you get. It wasn’t exactly a shoestring budget – it was more of a bare foot one. Could have called the album Six Bucks Against the War. So we didn’t get more than two takes at a song. Being live, there might be micropitch slips in the vocals or the nanosecond of errant fingerpicking time. As for my Martin D1 guitar, I am naming her Pace (pah-chay) which is Italian for "peace." Several times, she nearly succumbed to the rain with complaints of warping and fret buzz. Or she wouldn’t tune. But she stayed true and told the truth.

I portrayed these days of our history and the war. I opened with a pledge to resist war and concluded with a celebration of peacemaking. I used traditional storytelling to explore the depths of the human cost of war. I employed humor to expose the absurdity of the path our government has chosen. I wrote these songs because everywhere I have traveled since 9/11, people have inspired me. They all voice a need for hope and unity. They want to hear a reality not expressed in the media. My compositions are narratives of recovering our humanity through song.

A lie will not sustain this country or the world. Nor will fear, hatred, and violence. Falseness is doomed for implosion. You can build an empire on it, not a civilization. The poets still speak of love. Old minstrels like me still sing about it. I am not delusional enough to think that one record can make a difference–but I am sane enough to try.

Peace in our Time,

tom mullian
the Armenian Outlaw
cinco de mayo, 2006
somewhere in Media