We began recording it way back in February, returning to Presshouse studio in the middle of the stunning Devon countryside.

Next musician to add his very distinctive mark was banjoist Leon Hunt, a fellow Bathonian along with Ed. We'd been lucky enough to collaborate with him before (check out his ace solo album Miles Apart and his band, the Daily Planet…). True to form, he put some awesome 5-string Gibson Mastertone on two tracks, which tickled us pink.

Whilst driving all over the States and Ontario in April and June, we'd been listening to Sarah's iPod..(what a brilliant gadget). One of the albums we'd particularly enjoyed was Careless Love by Madeleine Peyroux. It gave us the idea of having a sliver of Hammond organ on our CD…Leon mentioned to Ed that another Bath muso, Andy Davis, owned a tasty B3. He kindly agreed to play on an instrumental folk record. Those of you familiar with Stackridge and the Corgis will know him as a singer/songwriter; he also played on John Lennon's Imagine, toured with Goldfrapp and is one third of the Three Caballeros, a West Country institution.

Where would music be without bottom end? And who else could we ask but the staggering Mr Ewen Vernal to play double bass? So in between his many gigs and hanging out in Holland, he graciously spent a couple of September evenings making our record sound tons better.

Meanwhile we'd made contact with the gorgeous Andrea Davies who had created all the artwork for both Flatfish and Rubai. From the other side of the world in Sydney, she worked her magic and posted us the beautiful visuals which clever Guy Jackson turned into the sumptuous cover.

Sarah has been practising yoga over the past couple of years. She was originally going to call her jig Sun Salute, but decided upon another position in the end. The noises you can hear after Ewen's solo are a chorus of whales, some tube trains going through a tunnel, and the ebow. So now you know. Brian found the piping reel on a CD by the Cape Breton band Beolach.

We asked Ryan, the composer what it was all about and he tells us: "'the girls'  is a nick-name for my pipes and the same day I wrote that tune I played a dance in Boisdale where my bass drone got smashed.  That is what what happened to 'the girls in Boisdale' , and so the tune was named."

Gone Fishing
Gone Fishing - Sarah Allen
Shuffle - Damien O'Kane

Whilst slaving away doing tedious chores such as visa applications and the myriad of things which go on behind the scenes, Sarah dreamt that she'd escaped to a tranquil stream and this tune popped out. Leon said it was a swine to play on the 5-string banjo. He makes it sound easy, the swine. Brian had heard Damien play Shuffle up in Newcastle but couldn't remember how it went. So Mr O'Kane played it into the answerphone whilst we were in the studio, and ten minutes later we recorded it.

Mouse Jigs
Son Ar Rost - Herri Leon
Jig for John #1 - Liz Knowles
The Mouse in the Kitchen - Colin Farrell

How lovely to hear John Joe play the mandolin again. And thanks to the magnifique Monsieur Jean-Michel Veillon for helping us with the Breton March. Liz Knowles played John's Jig (she named it for John Whelan, the button accordion player) at Martyrs' bar in Chicago with Denis Cahill and Jackie Moran last September when we were there. It struck a chord, or rather a melody, immediately. And we had to play Colin's Farrell's jig, it would have been rude not to. Maybe we should have tried to get him over to play fiddle again. We don't think he'd appreciate the fact it's in E major though…

We found the Breton tune on Kornog's CD "Premiere" (recorded live in Minneapolis, Nov. 83). We asked our favourite flute player, Jean Michel Veillon, for a little more background and this is what he told us. Thanks, Jean Michel!

Son ar Rost was composed a while ago by Herri Leon, one of the forerunners of the Breton music revival. Son ar Rost - literally "the roast tune"- is the title for this certain type of tune traditionally played for the meat course at weddings.

Herri Leon (photo below) was very much involved into the Bagad (*) music. He was a prolific composer, who got his inspiration from the Breton tradition (there are much older tunes named Son ar Rost) but also from the Scottish piping music (he even created a college of piping - in Porspoder near Brest, on the northwestern coast of Brittany - called Skolaj Beg an Treiz). Which explains why he composed many tunes of the same type than this 6/8 march, which became a sort of model for the following composers (**) Unfortunately Herri died accidentally in 1962 - still very young-, ran over by a horse and cart. He is still honoured today, often mentioned by his breton nickname "Ar Big" (the Magpie). His family still lives in Brittany.

(*) a Bagad is the breton version of a pipe-band, originally created in the 50's, including not only scottish pipes, but also different types of bombardes and more recently different types of drums and a different tuning for the pipes' drones)
(**) You can hear another beautiful march of the same type on "Archetype" CD (breton fiddlers ensemble) called "Kerreg Beg an Treiz" (the rocks of Beg an Treiz), composed by Donatien Laurent. And also another of his compositions on the last Kornog CD : "Al Letanant Schmidt o kimiadiñ ar 5ved kumpagnunez" , apparently referring to the Aljeria war, where many Bretons were sent.

As you may figure from the title, Brian's waltz was composed for the delightful Kate Rusby. Souter Creek comes from the equally vivid musical imagination of top Scottish fiddler Aidan O'Rourke. Aidan tells us: Souter Creek is the fictitious name which geologist/writer/folklorist Hugh Miller used for his hometown of Cromarty when he included it in his novels. It's also the best pizza restaurant in the Highlands run by a co-operative which includes my friend Don Coutts. Well worth a visit if you're anywhere near Cromarty.

Asturian Way
Peter Street - Sarah Allen / Brian Finnegan
The Drunken Acrobat - Colin Farrell
The Asturian Way - Brian Finnegan

Peter Street was written in the studio by Sarah and Brian while JJ and Ed were working on something else. It's dedicated to our friends who live on Peter Street, Doc and Elaine. The Drunken Acrobat is Colin Farrell, and is by Colin Farrell. Asturian Way is to celebrate the great times we've had over the past couple of years in that splendid part of the world – in the north of Spain.

Wrong Foot Forward
Wrong Foot Forward - Sarah Allen / Brian Finnegan
Apollo Bay Reef - Brian Finnegan
The Cats of Camazen - Brendan King

Probably the oldest track. First tune a dual effort by our dear flautists who have both had disappointments on the dance floor. Apollo Bay is a place we've stopped at a couple of times along the Great Ocean Road in Australia, memorable for its arrabiata sauce which was too spicy to eat. Cats of Camazen is by piper Brendan Ring. He says he likes our version… phew!

Padraig's
Thank You Sean - Padraig Rynne
Fechin Inn - Brian Finnegan

A composition by the wild man of the anglo concertina himself. Whether he had envisioned a dubbed-up version of it is another matter. The Fechin Inn is a very very nice hotel in Taos, New Mexico. We had the good fortune to stay there. Brian took full advantage of the hot tub and composed this tune while sitting under the starlit sky, naked apart from his penny whistle.

Road to Errogie
Tir Rafartaigh - Michael Rooney
The Road to Errogie - Adam Sutherland

We got Michael's melody via Catriona. Tir Rafartaigh is the name of the the townland where he lives. Everyone learnt Adam's funky reel when he came up with it. Leon's banjo break beggars belief. How's that for alliteration?

On One Beautiful Day
On One Beautiful Day (Eräänä Kauniina Päivänä) - Esko Järvelä

Brian bought a CD by a Finnish band called Frigg. We couldn't really call it that. This charming melody was on it. The bells, the bells….