Deborah Crooks

About The Department of the West (Dec 6, 2019)
Most of these songs were written over the past three years but they’re really about my reckoning with personal and family history to date in the Western US. I’m a California…

Audio preview of the penultimate track on The Department of the West, “River Stones” re: mountains and rivers, rock cycles and life cycles. Recorded and mixed by Maryam Qudus at Tiny Telephone, San Francisco Mastered by Piper Payne at Infrasonic…

Track 10 "River Stones"
I grew up near a creek and spent many afternoons searching for the smoothest rocks to try to skip across the water. I had no idea how long it had taken those stones to become so…

Now's the time to grab your tickets via Brown Paper Tickets https://bpt.me/4426048 and join Gayle and I for a night of original Americana songwriting. We're both playing with excellent bands and I'm celebrating the release of The Department of the…

Track #9: "The Other Side"

When I returned to California more than 20 years ago I wasn't sure it would be permanent. I hopscotched around the Bay for more than a decade between bouts of travel, trying to decide, moving…

Track 8 on Department of the West: “Long Roads”

In the wake of the #Metoo movement I’ve felt both more empowered ...and outraged. This song reflects on my own long road to piping up and using my voice as a…

Thanks ⁦‪Don Campau‬⁩ for including “All Signs” from The Department of the West on the last episode of No Pigeonholes #radio  - European Edition - November 2019 program 1. Don has been producing the all genres, independent, underground and…

Track 7 “My New Sweet” was written after inadvertently bitter muffins were served at a gathering of wise women ...and enjoyed. Perhaps more so than if they'd been sweetened. Talk ensued about how preferences change over time... I went home…