Coyote Too

I'd promised @badbadgirlx that I'd record a bedtime story for her. I'm not certain if this is what she expected, but it was fun to do. It's one of my favorite short stories by Charles de Lint. It's sad, but very sweet. Like most of his stories, there is magic it in, both traditional and emotional, and music weaves through the story (de Lint himself is a fiddle player). So after I recorded it, I felt it needed a soundtrack of sorts. I was in a hurry and didn't do the best job I could have (I usually use SoundTrack Pro, and I couldn't seem to find how to fade individual pieces in GarageBand, but hopefully it captured some of the mood I was looking for).

The story is called Timeskip. It's from a wonderful collection of stories called Dreams Underfoot. If you haven't read de Lint, I highly recommend this book as a starting point. Purchase links to all the books and music referenced here are provided on the right.

Timeskip.mp3 (40MB, 27min)

The background songs, in order, are:

• Evergreen, on Becky Tracy's album, "Evergreen"
• The Black Isle, on Becky Tracy's album, "Evergreen"
• Ballygow / The Bus Stop / MacDonald's, on Nightingale's album, "Sometimes When the Moon is High"
• Arizona/Farewell Train/Arizona, on Becky Tracy's album, "Evergreen"
• Bourrées from Saint Bonnet Près Riom, on Becky Tracy's album, "Evergreen"
• Tippy Get Your Hair Cut / Ricky's White Face / Florence Kelly's, on Nightingale's album, "Sometimes When the Moon is High"
• Evergreen, on Becky Tracy's album, "Evergreen"
• The Black Isle, on Becky Tracy's album, "Evergreen"

Evergreen, The Black Isle and most of the other songs on "Evergreen" are composed by Keith Murphy, who I feel is one of the best composers and arrangers of this type of music in the world. You can find more information on Becky & Keith (including CD sales and a music book) at their web site Black Isle Music. I first met them through fiddle and guitar lessons they teach at Meadowlark Music Camp every year.

Nightingale includes Becky, Keith and Jeremiah McLaine. They have a new album "Jolie" coming out shortly, please support them! Nightingale's tunes range from traditional to their own compositions, to those of other modern musicians. This is a very vibrant music scene with an incredible amount of energy. (Amusingly, I was on the opposite coast one year, commuting back and forth to Seattle, and discovered that one of the doc writers I was working with was the composer of "Bus Stop." It's a small world.)