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But Caliban is also the Tempest duo's "pure folk project", or more pointedly a heart-warming gathering of acoustic singsongs, featuring both originals and traditionals, rendered close, quiet and deeply rooted in history. "We'd been doing quite a number of shows throughout the last year in and around the San Francisco area and have built up a bit of demand for it. It started off because we're working musicians and wanted to play more intimate settings, simply for a sense of diversity. We've ended up playing festivals where Tempest headlines, and Caliban play on a secondary stage, but so far Caliban has been more of a local project. So for the album, we took the songs our fanbase said they wanted to hear on record, and recorded it in the same sort of intimate, relaxed setting as our performances, trying to stick to an intimate live feel as opposed to a big production. It's more of a down-home folk album than anything progressive rock. A traditional folk music album. It's more of a pure setting, versus the rock environment we have with Tempest."

Standout tracks include two traditional pieces 'Bold John Barleycorn' and 'The Journeyman', bluegrass-tinted Billy Connoly tune 'Oh No', plus a Richard Thompson composition called 'Beeswing', which Lief figures is his favorite on the record. "I'm particularly fond of that one because it really came off naturally, easy and relaxed. A lot of this is first takers, and I felt on that one, for some reason, I was able to relate the story with the right amount of passion." Mullen also figures prominently on borrowed viola.

Also integral to the record was Tempest producer Robert Berry (recording took place at Soundtek Studios in Campbell, California), who efficiently harnessed the band's energy, meeting effortlessly the particular production and mixing demands of acoustic instruments, as well as adding a bit of bass, guitar and keyboards.