Jefferson's Tree of Liberty

In 2003, Paul Kantner published a book of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship lyrics, entitled Lyrica: Paul Kantner's Theory of Everything.[14] In the book, a new album is mentioned as "es posible?", entitled "The Cuba Project: Flores de la Noche." Marty Balin had been pushing for a classic style Jefferson Starship album, but Kantner and manager Michael Gaiman pushed for the idea of recording older protest songs in Cuba. A song list and Gaiman's notes were published along with the Lyrica book, which included 21 songs selected by Kantner, Balin and Gaiman.[14] Manager Michael Gaiman had visited the University of Havana to set up recording for the band, but the United States Department of State wouldn't allow the venture.[17] The next plan was to record in Amsterdam, but the financing could not be put together and the project was left in limbo as the band continued to tour.

In 2007 Marty Balin began to tour less with the band, turning a majority of his time to taking care of his disabled daughter.[18] Prairie Prince decided to leave after being with the band since 1992. Diana Mangano also left around the same time and was replaced by vocalist Cathy Richardson. Once Richardson joined the band, Gaiman and Kantner decided the time was right to record the album,[17] partly to have an album ready in time for the 2008 US presidential elections.[10] The album would be recorded in California. As the band's personnel continued to change, it was uncertain who would participate in the new album. At the time studio sessions began, the band consisted of Paul Kantner, Slick Aguilar, Chris Smith, Cathy Richardson, Donny Baldwin, and David Freiberg. The band made the decision that the album would be mostly acoustic, so band member Slick Aguilar did not contribute on most of the songs included. Although Donny Baldwin now handled the drums on tour, Prairie Prince returned for the studio sessions. Marty Balin was to have recorded lead vocals for a cover of Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" but his art touring schedule conflicted with studio sessions and he could not attend.[11] Instead, manager Gaiman took the track "Maybe for You" that had appeared on the German version of Windows of Heaven and substituted it for Marty's contribution. Richardson and David Freiberg recorded vocals for other songs that had been planned for Balin. Jack Casady appears on "Maybe for You" but did not participate in the recording of the album. Kantner and Grace Slick's daughter China attempted to convince Slick to sing again, but she did not want to return to performing.[17] Gaiman convinced Slick to let the band use a previously unreleased recording from 1970[17][19] and Slick's vocals appear on the hidden track at the end of the album.[20] Previous Jefferson Starship vocalists Diana Mangano and Darby Gould also contributed vocals to the album.

The final cut of the album includes about half of the songs originally planned. Other material included on the album include songs that Jefferson Starship has been performing since 1992 but had not committed to an album previously, including "Frenario" and World Entertainment War's "In a Crisis." Also included are several songs that Kantner had learned from The Weavers, adding his own lyrical twists to them, "Wasn't That a Time", "Follow the Drinking Gourd", "Santy Anno", and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine."[11] "Santy Anno" had been planned for a solo project entitled On the Threshold of Fire.[14] Kantner folded several songs he had been writing together to create his new version of "On the Threshold of Fire."[20] "Cowboy on the Run", a song from Freiberg's previous band, Quicksilver Messenger Service is also included. "The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" was not intended for the album until Darby Gould on the first day of mixing wanted to redo her vocals for "Genesis Hall." Gaiman instead suggested that she record another song, but it would have to be a cappella. They settled on covering Sandy Denny's version of "The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood."[11] In a nod to the band's past the album features a small image of the cover art to the 1974 Jefferson Starship album Dragon Fly on its rear cover.

• Paul Kantner – vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, banjo, glass harmonica, 'George Harrison' lead guitar, 12-string electric guitar
• David Freiberg – vocals, acoustic guitar, washboard guitar
• Cathy Richardson – vocals, harmonica, acoustic guitar
• Chris Smith – piano, bass, squeezebox, drone, pennywhistle, string synthesizer
• Slick Aguilar – tremolo and 'Soldano' electric guitar on "Genesis Hall", lead guitar on "Maybe for You"
• Prairie Prince – drums, snare, kick, bodhran
• Donny Baldwin – drums (supporting tour)
• Darby Gould – vocals on "Genesis Hall", "In a Crisis", and "The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood"
• Diana Mangano – vocals on "Royal Canal" and "Commandante Carlos Fonseca"
• Marty Balin – acoustic guitar and vocals on "Maybe for You"

• David Grisman – mandolin on "Frenario" and "Pastures of Plenty"
• Grace Slick – vocals on "Surprise Surprise" (uncredited)

• David LaFlamme – violin on "Wasn't That a Time"
• Michael Gaiman – flat-picked acoustic guitar on "Wasn't That a Time"
• Michael Eisenstein – acoustic guitar on "Wasn't That a Time"
• Barry Sless – pedal steel guitar on "Cowboy on the Run" and "In a Crisis"
• The Wailin' Cowgirls (Cathy Richardson, Linda Imperial) – vocals on "Cowboy on the Run"
• Jack Casady – bass on "Maybe for You"
• T Lavitz – keyboards on "Maybe for You"
• The I-Jays (Paul Kantner, David Freiberg, Darby Gould) – vocals on "Imagine Redemption"
• Alexander Kantner – electric bass guitar on "On the Threshold of Fire"
• Paul Lamb – French horn on "On the Threshold of Fire"
• Jack Traylor – vocals on "Surprise Surprise" (uncredited)

• Michael Gaiman – manager, producer, mixer, art & booklet design, layout & direction, liner notes
• David Freiberg – producer, mixer, additional recording, liner notes
• Paul Kantner – producer, mixer, liner notes
• Paul Lamb – engineer, mixer
• Cathy Richardson – additional recording
• John Ovnik – additional recording
• "Surprise Surprise" recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco, October 27, 1970[19]
• "Maybe for You" recorded at Coast Recorders in San Francisco, 1998[14]
• Recorded at Renegade Studios in San Rafael, March 16–30 and May 14–18, 2008[13]
• Additional recording at FreeMountain studios and in Chicago
• Paul Stubblebine – mastering
• Rebecca Baltutis, Jesse Obstbaum – art & booklet design, layout & direction
• Mike Thut – photography