This “Found Song” comes by way of Chelsea Wolfe. If she had written herself into the prescription, I would have had her sing it with me…
Here is what she gave me to work with:
“A song about the sea, recorded with piano and voice, with cigarette smoke, breathing and creaking of piano bench present in the recording.”
I did everything, including faking the french horn with my mouth, Bobby McFerrin style.
My latest “Found Song” post comes from Ruebi Lynn. Here is her song prescription:
“a song about forgiveness with a slightly out of tune mountain dulcimer, jingle bells and an accordion set half inside of the giant camera obscura and half outside in the muddy water of the sutro baths where the seagulls scavenge and the whales pass by with huge indifference. oh, and a choir of lip syncers.”
This was one of the first prescriptions I received. I drove out to ocean beach and wrote it with my dulcimer in the car, then strolled on the beach with my accordion playing the air and scaring the birds.
I played strummed and bowed dulcimer, accordion and jingle bells. Noelle Cahill provided the underwater choir.
Here is a version of Silent Night I recorded for my mother this year for Christmas at the suggestion of an old friend. It features Heidi Alexander on vocals, Rusty Miller on piano, Jamin “Sudsy” Barton on saw and bass clarinet, Jeffrey Luck Lucas on cello, James Finch Sr. and Alex Finch on barroom vocals, and myself on electric guitar, spoken word and upright bass. Hope you enjoy.
Phonetic representation of the French phrase from "Into that Darkness"
A collection of scraps relating to “Into that Darkness”
A rubbing from the headstone of Francisca Granados, upon whose grave I recorded the banjo track.
A depiction of Mission Dolores, where the graveyard is located.
This is the first completed “Found Song”, Into that Darkness… It is from a prescription by Christian Kiefer that reads as follows:
Graveyard
Dark
Black metal
Vikings
Gang vocal
glockenspiel
cello
banjo
electric guitar
percussion of your choosing, but not a drum kit
Must include this line:
“Go you into that darkness, my friend.”"
I recorded the Banjo for the first movement while sitting on the grave of Francisca Granados, who died in 1858 and is buried in the Mission Dolores cemetery, a few blocks from my house. After fleshing out the first movement with glockenspiel, electric guitar, wood blocks and Jeffrey Luck Lucas on the cello, I went to Sacramento and recorded the vocals and apocalyptic second movement with my oldest musical friends: Chris Fernandez and Aaron Holt on guitars, Ryan Avalos on bass and Doug Finley on floor tom. It was the first time we had all played together in 15 years.