The Book of Sorren

This album came about almost by accident. We were already in the process of writing songs for the album which would come to be known as Footfalls, but the idea for Footfalls had not yet even occurred to us.  During the autumn of 2025, Dan and I, along with our brother Paul, met in Dubuque, Iowa, the birthplace of our great grandfather. I did not even know that he was born there, but fortunately, people in our family know things like this. I even learned that he built wagon wheels. So, having learned this, Dan realized that we would essentially be retracing the footsteps of our own birth, our own heritage. We decided to use the trip to walk the same streets, and to absorb the essence of the place that we had never visited. We did not imagine that we would use the experience to form an album, but that is exactly what happened. Each aspect of the trip formed an impression. Dan and I are both retired now, so when an impression is formed we follow it to see where it leads. The song titles are based on some of the impressions we felt. I was not prepared for the beauty of this city. It is built along the Mississippi River Valley, and there are cliffs and bluffs all along the shore. We hiked in the area known as The Mines of Spain. What could this possibly mean, we wondered?

The earliest known inhabitants of the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area during historical times were the Mesquakie. Their village was located at the mouth of Catfish Creek, just south of where the Julien Dubuque Monument now stands. From this site, the Mesquakie carried on a fur trade with French voyagers. They also worked the lead mines for many decades, dating back to before the Revolutionary War. There is also evidence of prehistoric Native American cultures, some dating back as much as 8,000 years. Mounds, village sites, rock shelters, trading post sites, and campsites dot the landscape.

Julien Dubuque is credited as being the first European to settle on what is now Iowa soil in 1788. In 1796, Dubuque received a land grant from the Governor of Spain, who had resided in New Orleans at the time. The grant gave permission to Julien Dubuque to work the land, which was owned by Spain, and specified the 189-square mile area to be named as “Mines of Spain.” Dubuque eventually married Potosa, daughter of the Mesquakie Indian Chief, Peosta. Dubuque died March 24,1810.

After learning this bit of trivia, we were eager to visit the Hotel Julien, which we did, for a dram of fine whiskey. This experience was responsible for another song. We walked along the old town and stopped for a few beers and a dram, and this too became an impression. But, in the end, what did we actually learn, and what impressions were the most lasting? In truth, we all come from some place, and whether or not we remember that place, our forefathers were there before us, and we are the lasting legacy of the thoughts and dreams of many people we have never known.