The 5 Favorite Albums of Fantasy Author Bradley Beaulieu

Bradley P. Beaulieu is the epic fantasy author of The Winds of Khalakovo and The Straits of Galahesh, from Night Shade Books. Find out more at www.quillings.com.

When John asked me to stop by and talk about my favorite music, it was fairly open ended. I could interpret it in any way I wanted. What was he thinking? Leaving the details up to the writer?

Well, I thought about it for a while, trying to keep the options in check, and thought that it might be most interesting to talk about the music I've stumbled upon (and liked!) in the past few years. Because let's face it, if I start talking about Soundgarden or The Smashing Pumpkins, bands I loved and still love, chances are you've heard about them already, and if you'd wanted them, well, you would've gone out and (carefully steering my vision away from file sharing) bought them.

The trend today is to buy single songs, and I'm slowly coming around to that, but I'm still old school. I largely buy whole albums, thinking if an artist isn't good enough to put a dozen decent songs together, I don't want to bother. So I'm going to focus on albums I've liked on the whole that have been release in the past two or three years. But! As a nod to the new wave (please ignore music pun) I'll call out the bonus tracks: those songs I think are worth buying on their own even if you don't grab the whole album.

Also, a quick disclaimer: I don't love every single song on these albums. There are in fact a few stinkers. There always are. But on the whole, I think they're pretty good.

5. Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Let's face it, the Silversun Pickups are the next generation's Smashing Pumpkins. That said, I love their sound. The grungy guitars, Brian Aubert's sometimes soft, sometimes hard vocals, Nikki Monninger's sweet, counterpoint backups. This is great driving music for me, the kind where you open up the windows and crank the volume and sing along.

You'll notice I've skipped their 2012 release, Neck of the Woods. Why? Because I hate that they moved away from their trademark sound, which I LOVE, and tried to become something they're not. I've heard reports that the new album is worth listening to if I'd only give it a chance, but for now I've only bought the tracks I (sort of) like.

Bonus Track: Growing Old Is Getting Old

4. The xx - xx

Know what I miss? Some of that originality that cropped up so much in the punk and new wave music back in the 80s. That's what this band was for me when I came across them, something new. And I don't mean they're part of the 80s revival. They're no sister-band to the Killers or Franz Ferdinand. They're an experimental new group that make some bold choices with their songs. They're distinctive, catchy, moody. Well worth giving a try.

They have a few videos that I really enjoyed:

One for Islands: The xx - Islands
And another for Crystalised: The xx - Crystalised

Bonus Track: Crystalised

3. Florence + The Machine - Lungs

Note that their slightly newer album, Ceremonials, is also quite good, but I slightly prefer Lungs (perhaps because I heard it first and fell in love with their sound while listening to that first album). This is is a strong band overall, but there's no doubt that they live and die by their lead singer, Florence Welch. What great command she has. What range. I get a bit annoyed when people say that a singer's voice is an instrument, because mostly it's not true, but with Florence, it absolutely applies.

Bonus Track: Cosmic Love

2. Foster the People - Torches

The lead singer and front man for this band, Mark Foster, used to work on jingles to pay the bills while he pursued his music career in Hollywood. It shows in his music. And I mean that in a good way. Their songs are catchy and inventive. They use eletronica heavily, but they also use live percussion, especially while on tour. I love the way Foster mixes odd sounds into the music to enhance the experience. Each song defied my expectations in different ways. All in all, a very solid debut from an exciting new band.

If you end up liking them (or if you already do) be sure to check out the concert they performed as part of the Live on Letterman Series

Bonus Track: Pumped Up Kicks (though it was a near tie with Call It What You Want and Houdini)

1. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Remember when I said there were a few stinkers on these albums? Well, not on this one. Every song is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. And this is a brilliant band. Wonderful gritty vocals, inventive melodies, bright instrumentation. And the lyrics! I defy you to name a band in the past decade with more heartfelt, emotional lyrics. I defy you! Ok, I admit, their trademark, evocative delivery is part of the story here, but isn't that always true? They're the whole package. A wonderful band from which I look forward to buying many, many albums over the years.

Bonus Track: White Blank Page

5 Favorite Musical Artists of Author Nina D'Aleo

Nina D’Aleo wrote her first book at age seven (a fantasy adventure about a girl named Tina and her flying horse). Due to most of the book being written with a feather dipped in water, no one else has ever read ‘Tina and White Beauty’. Many more dream worlds and illegible books followed. Nina blames early exposure to Middle-earth and Narnia for her general inability to stick to reality. She also blames her parents. And her brother.

Nina has completed degrees in creative writing and psychology. She currently lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her husband, George, their two sons, Josef and Daniel, and two cats Mr Foofy and Gypsy. She spends most of her days playing with toys, saying things like 'share', 'play gentle', and 'let’s eat our veggies' and hearing things like 'no', 'no way' and 'NEVER!'. She is also working on more books – including the next book in the Last City series.

Read a sample of THE LAST CITY here: http://momentumbooks.

Find out more about Nina at: www.ninadaleo.com

This list was incredibly difficult to write (but cool to think about). I’m one of those people
(which could possibly be everyone else as well) who likes a really wide variety of music. So
here is a random grab of five musical artists that have provided the soundtrack to my writing
and to my life so far…

1.  Elton John

Love the guy, hate the guy – whatever – play an Elton song and then play something else,
anything else, afterwards and it won’t sound as good as it would have if you hadn’t just
listened to Elton. I think this is called being Awesome. I’ve read a few – but not many –
writers like this – they’re so good that they ruin your reading life for ages afterwards…

2.  Michael Jackson

MJ’s music is in a league of its own. I grew up listening to his songs and dancing to his songs
and being inspired by them. I could write a book about Michael’s music, but instead I’ll just
say more Awesome.

3.  Boyz II Men

These guys are the most successful R & B group of all time and their songs always remind
me strongly of my teenage years, and while the memories are filled with awkward and angst,
they’re also a channel for a lot of emotion – so if I want to tap into some raw feelings and
remember what it was like to be a person instead of a zombie cyborg (I have two toddlers)
then it’s Boyz II Men.

4.  Nick Skitz

I listen to a lot of dance music and in particular Nick Skitz’s compilations. I come from a
dancing background and still find dancing (for exercise) to be both therapeutic and great for
working up creative energy. (I use the term ‘dancing’ very loosely – as mostly I just jump
around in an uncoordinated fashion and pretend to know Karate)

5.  Mozart

The original. Mozart’s music traverses time and space to touch directly on the creative spirit.
More Awesome.

 

5 Favorite Musical Artists of Songwriter Jonah Knight

Jonah Knight plays Paranormal Modern Folk. His songs about ghosts & monsters, steampunk & super heroes have helped him gain a following among mid-Atlantic convention goers.  He is scheduled to be the Musical Guest of Honor at the inaugural Pine Hill Steampunk Festival as well
as Madicon 2013.  He was recently contracted by Mercury Retrograde Press http://www.

mercuryretrogradepress.com/ to write many songs based on their novels beginning in 2013 and running through the end of 2014.  He is currently working on his sixth album, Another Creepy Christmas, a collection of creepy holiday songs to be released in October 2012. Find out more about Jonah and listen to his music at www.jonahofthesea.com

I’m not sure how honest it is for me to say that I have five favorite musical artists. There are so
many bands that have shaped every direction I’ve turned. My decisions. My moves across the
country. My family and friends. So these are not my favorites. These are five bands that have
shaped my growth as a musician, songwriter, and performer. The more I write, the more
conventions I play, the more I see the legacy of these five.

1. Public Enemy

As a suburban, middle school, white kid, Public Enemy was the end and the beginning. Yeah, I
bought an Africa medallion from a friend and wore it with no irony. Chuck D’s pure vocal power
was built upon social awareness and an all-consuming desire to grab you by the neck and shake
some common sense into you. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back and Fear Of A
Black Planet should make the current crop of whack rhyme writers embarrassed to show their
faces at open mics. And no other band in the world is credited with forcibly establishing a holiday
like they did by getting Arizona to recognize Martin Luther King day. Remember when they
threatened to assassinate the Arizona state legislature in By The Time I Get To Arizona?

2. Counting Crows

I had been living grunge for a year or so when the album August And Everything After sent me
back to my dorm room. To bed. I spent, I think, about a week going back to my room and
stretching out on my bunk in the middle of the day, listening to this album over and over.
Generally, I don’t connect to poetry. I’d rather my songs be stories and not simply nicely rhymed
couplets. But this album is the definitive example of lyrics as poetry. I still use it as my measuring
stick for emotional honesty and vivid detail. Anna Begins is a classic.

3. The Kahoots

Never heard of these guys, have you? After graduating from the University of South Dakota, I
spent two years bumming around around Martha’s Vineyard. The Kahoots are the king band of
Cape Cod and the islands. They’ve got a tinge of that Boston-alt-indie sound inside quirky, quick
songs, but what really stayed with me was not all the fun. They taught me to constantly be
putting out new music. Ten years ago they were cranking out albums with 15-20 songs every
year. By the close of 2012 I will have released my sixth album in three years in part because
being around people that prolific is inspiring. Thanks, Kahoots. Have a Lazywinter Bash.

4. Great Big Sea

Out of the Canadian alt. Celtic scene came the insanely energetic Great Big Sea. I discovered
them while downloading music for free on one of those bad sites maybe six years ago. I was
looking for some songs about the ocean and boats and stuff and these guys blew me away. I
deleted all of their bootlegs and bought, to date, five of their albums. I am a huge fan of
non-traditional instruments in “rockin” music and these guys pull out new world sounds on each
album. Following the way they experiment has given me the confidence to pull in new sounds for
each of my albums. Try Run Runaway.

5. Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter might be my songwriting hero. Here’s a solo folkish guy from the midwest that started
off writing good songs about big empty spaces and evolved into a great writer of songs about,
heck, everything. When I was wondering if anyone cared about my songs about ghosts, he was
releasing songs like The Temptation Of Adam, a story of love in a World War III bomb shelter.

5 Favorite Musical Artists of Author Chris F. Holm

Chris F. Holm was born in Syracuse, New York, the grandson of a cop who passed along his passion for crime fiction. His work has appeared in such publications as Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2011. He’s been an Anthony Award nominee, a Derringer Award finalist, and a Spinetingler Award winner. His first novel, DEAD HARVEST (Angry Robot Books, February 2012), is a supernatural thriller that recasts the battle between heaven and hell as Golden Era crime pulp. Its sequel, THE WRONG GOODBYE, comes out in September.  Find out more about Chris at chrisfholm.com and follow him on Twitter @chrisfholm


My Top Five Artists of All Time. The topic every music-nerd loves and dreads in equal measure. I mean sure, we love to analyze, to dissect, to batch and bin and label and list. But it's one thing to list your Top Five First-Wave Punk Singles ("Alternative Ulster," "Sheena is a Punk Rocker," "White Riot," "Ever Fallen in Love," "Watching the Detectives"), or the Best Five Songs to Feature A Slide-Whistle (uh, "Groove is in the Heart" and presumably four others). Those are playful. Reductive. Low-pressure. But it's something else entirely to pin the sum total of your musical tastes to five artists. It's like thinking back over a lifetime of glorious meals and narrowing it down to the five best bites of food you've ever tasted. Even a Top Five Albums list would be easier; even flawed artists make perfect albums on occasion (both Exile on Main Street and Exile in Guyville come to mind) and some musicians bang out one-off strokes of genius before fading into creative obscurity (Loveless or Endtroducing, for example), but marrying yourself to five artists' whole catalogs is far trickier. I mean, do you go with your gut or take the desert-island route, picking a well-rounded list of stuff you could spend a lifetime listening to and not get bored? Do you consider only current faves, or does that first artist that ever grabbed you (Michael Jackson; hold the jokes) still hold sway? Do you stop vamping and just get to the effing list already?

Yeah, probably that last one. So, without further ado...

1. Nick Drake

Over the course of his 26 years on this earth, Nick Drake quite simply wrote the prettiest songs ever recorded. Hearing him for the first time was a revelation. I'm someone who gets obsessed with songs easily; when I find one that grabs me, I'll play it on repeat for hours, sometimes days. Drake's "Northern Sky" no doubt set the record, though -- when I discovered it, I must've listened to nothing else for weeks. And his final record, Pink Moon, is (at a mere 28 minutes) pretty much the pinnacle of what one man and a guitar can do.

2. Morphine

The mid-'90s were all about gimmick-instrumentation. Alt-rock with a piano! (Ben Folds Five.) With a trumpet! (Cake.) With a violin! (Dambuilders.) And none on paper sounded gimmickier than Morphine, what with their two-string slide bass and baritone sax. But Mark Sandman's stunning songwriting -- by turns funny, creepy, and heartbreaking -- elevated them well above gimmickry, and by his death in '99, they'd recorded five spectacular records, three of them stone classics. Morphine is a slow drink of whiskey, a sultry dame half-glimpsed across a smoky bar; is it any wonder this noir-geek fell in love with them?

3. A Tribe Called Quest

I'm a huge fan of hip hop, but even folks who aren't love Tribe. Pop on The Low End Theory and people dance, it's as simple as that. And Midnight Marauders may well be even better. I've been listening to Tribe since '91, and they still never fail to make me smile. If that ain't worth a top five spot, I don't know what is.

4. Carl Newman/The New Pornographers/Neko Case

Yeah, okay, I'm cheating, lumping Neko Case in with Newman and the NPs. Sure, she's a member of the band, but their brainy, ebullient power-pop is all Newman's doing (a fact his may-as-well-be-NPs solo output reinforces), and pretty far afield from Case's haunting alt-country. Thing is, though, Newman's solo stuff led me to the NPs, who in turn led me to Case, and they're so intertwined in my mind, I couldn't pick between them. Both (er, all three, even though Newman and the NPs are interchangeable) are amazing. Both are goosebump inducing. And both are on my list because I say so.

5. Elvis Costello

Sorry, Dylan -- Costello's got my vote for best songwriter of all time. He's also my first pick for the artist whose catalog I'd choose were I stranded on a desert island. His stuff runs the gamut from punk to folk to jazz to God-knows-what, most of it damned good, and he's crazy prolific, so I'd have plenty to listen to. Though truth be told, I'd mostly just listen to My Aim is True on repeat. It is, in my humble opinion, a perfect record.

5 Favorite Musical Artists of Author Myke Cole

As a secu­rity con­tractor, gov­ern­ment civilian and mil­i­tary officer, Myke Cole’s career has run the gamut from Coun­tert­er­rorism to Cyber War­fare to Fed­eral Law Enforce­ment. He’s done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deep­water Horizon oil spill.  All that con­flict can wear a guy out. Thank good­ness for fan­tasy novels, comic books, late night games of Dun­geons and Dragons and lots of angst fueled writing.  His military fantasy novel, Control Point is available now through Ace.  Find out more about Myke at mykecole.com

Picking 5 top musical acts is really tough for me. My tastes are super broad and I work overtime to keep up on what's happening in music all around the world. The problem is that the US has been dominant in the global music market, exporting American tastes to other countries to the point where many of them have laws requiring local radio to set aside airtime for local artists. Now, I'm a big fan of the fantastic music we produce here in the US, but there's a lot of great stuff out there in other countries (and other languages) that you can miss out on. To counter this, I CONSTANTLY listen to netradio (through iTunes mostly, where I surf the channels in the radio section) and I am always flipping channels between US based and international stations. For some reason, I find I prefer French stations, which play a good mix of American music, French artists and North African and Arab musicians.

Another thing to point out: When I write, I almost exclusively listen to movie soundtracks. They put me in a cinematic mood without distracting me with lyrics. They also help drown out the sound of the public places where I prefer writing (libraries, coffee shops). 

But it appears, John Anealio, that at an early age your human heart was plucked (still beating) from your breast and replaced with a shiny black lump of coal. Thus, you are forcing me to PICK 5 ACTS.

Fiiiiiiiine:

 

1.  Elbow (in English)

 

I picked this band because of the name, but they've got a haunting, rich sound and tracks that range from upbeat to contemplative. 

 

2.  Julian Casablancas (in English)

 

Retro tone, but cutting edge enough to be interesting. Irreverent and witty, WAY better than anything he did in The Strokes. 

 

3.  Natacha Atlas (in Arabic)

 

I discovered her on the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN soundtrack, but it turns out she's a singer in her own right and one of the best voices I've heard in the French/Arabic mix you hear most often coming from Moroccan/Algerian expats living in Europe. 

 

4.  O-Hum (in Persian)

 

The only thing better than gritty roots rock is gritty roots rock performed by Iranian refugees living in the Netherlands. 

 

5.  A.R. Rahman (in Hindi)

 

Most folks are familiar with his more popular stuff (he did a song with The Pussycat Dolls), but I am more interested in his traditional music. That said, you pretty much can't go wrong with him.

 

 

There are, of course, at least 100 other acts I could mention if you hadn't press-ganged me so evilly into picking 5, but these should get you started. Fair warning: do NOT attempt to write to any of these. You will be so distracted that you won't get anything done.

5 Favorite Musical Artists of Author Paul S. Kemp

By day, Paul S. Kemp works for The Man.  Woe!  But by night, he spins sword and sorcery and space opera tales that people seem to like.  Huzzah!  He’s the creator of Erevis Cale and Egil and Nix. He writes about thieves, priests, and Jedi, dark swords, and lightsabers.  He drinks scotch, smokes cigars, and lives in Michigan with his wife and three wonderful children.  Find out more at paulskemp.com


5.  Kate Nash and Lily Allen

I'm putting Kate Nash and Lily Allen together here, and both are fairly new to me.  But as a result of their profane up-tempo, painfully honest tracks, I now have crushes on all women with British accents.

4.  Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder

First, Vedder can sing just about anything and make it sound awesome. Second, my brother-in-law did a fantasy baseball camp with the Chicago Cubs a few years ago and Vedder was a participant in the camp too, shagging flies, taking batting practice, what have you.  One day, after the baseball drills, all of the fantasy campers, including Vedder, went to a Karaoke bar, where Vedder sang U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name."  My brother-in-law got it on his camera phone.  So, Eddie Vedder can sing like he sings, likes the Cubbies, can swing a bat, and goes out with the regular fellas for beers, where he puts on a Karaoke show for them. Since learning all of this, Eddie Vedder has held the title of "The Coolest Musician Paul Kemp has ever heard of."

3.  Pink Floyd

Unique, mind-bending sound and albums that are stories.  "Time" is one of the best songs of all time.  Also, there is no dark side of the moon, really.

2.  Soundgarden

Because BadMotorFinger, that's why.  Because One Eye Open, that's why.  Because Outshined, that's why.  Because Chris Cornell can bring it, is what I'm saying.

And our big winner is,

1.  Led Zeppelin

Because Led Zeppelin One is blues turned into hard rock.  Because Led Zeppelin Two is blues turned into hard rock, but now with added Tolkien.  Because the Battle of Evermore.  Because Robert Plant has as wide a vocal range as any male rock singer I've ever heard.  And because "Lyin'.  Cheatin'.  Hurtin'.  That's all you seem to do."     

5 Favorite Musical Artists of Author Karin Lowachee

Karin was born in South America, grew up in Canada, and worked in the Arctic. Her first novel WARCHILD won the 2001 Warner Aspect First Novel Contest. Both WARCHILD (2002) and her third novel CAGEBIRD (2005) were finalists for the Philip K. Dick Award. CAGEBIRD won the Prix Aurora Award in 2006 for Best Long-Form Work in English and the Spectrum Award also in 2006. Her second novel BURNDIVE debuted at #7 on the Locus Bestseller List. Her books have been translated into French, Hebrew, and Japanese, and her short stories have appeared in anthologies edited by Julie Czerneda, Nalo Hopkinson, and John Joseph Adams. Her current fantasy novel, THE GASLIGHT DOGS, was published through Orbit Books USA.  Learn more about Karin at www.karinlowachee.com and follow her on Twitter and GoodReads.


These are 5 musical artists that I consider to be on permanent rotation in my life. I might listen to them more some weeks then not at all for other weeks, but they're artists that will never fall out of favor with me. I think I've grown into them and will grow along with them. (A full "never fall out of favor with me" list of musical artists would be longer than just 5, but here you get 5.)

In no particular order:

1. John Mayer

I got into his music pretty late, considering his career is about a decade long now. It's only been in the past 2 or 3 years that I've really given his music a go and I love it. You can really hear a progression -- even a lay person like me -- and I like that in artists, that growth in their art. I especially love the music he did with the Trio. I prefer his more bluesy songs (I love blues music, it gets me in my soul area), but I'm now addicted to his latest album "Born and Raised", which is definitely more Dylan/Young in sound. I've seen him live a few times now and enjoy those performances sometimes more than his studio recordings. He's truly a virtuoso guitarist and it's amazing to see him play. His album "Continuum" (and "Born and Raised") are desert island albums for me. "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room", "In Your Atmosphere", and "Covered in Rain" are 3 of my all time favorite songs. Find them and give them a listen -- I think you'll hear why.

2. Keith Urban

If Mayer's music appeals to a more bluesy/melancholy/laid back side of me, Keith Urban's music is pure energy and pep. He's a master melody writer, also a virtuoso guitar player, and I'll admit I got into him after seeing him perform with Mayer on Crossroads. There's such an honest joy in Urban's music, a hopefulness in his songs, and even the sad songs have such spot-on melodies that you somehow still feel uplifted (or at least cathartic) after listening. I've seen him live a couple times and he's got to be one of the best stage performers in the business. He puts his all into it (over 2 hour long shows). When people say they don't like country music, I tell them they haven't been Urbanized. On Youtube check out "Stupid Boy" (live).

3. Eminem

Talk about honesty. He scours your eardrums with it. As a wordsmith, I completely appreciate and admire how Eminem plays on words and concepts through his rap. I think he's a musical genius, and part of that genius is in how he both undercut and elevated the genre of rap music in his own way. His "personas" are as varied as any actor and how he melds that with his music in order to tell his story is fascinating and entertaining. From the scathing aggression in "White America" to a empowering "Not Afraid" off his album "Recovery".

4. Jeff Buckley

What else can be said about Jeff Buckley that hasn't already been said, honestly. Just if you've never heard his music, you need to find it right now. I had a Moment the first time I heard "Grace" and "Last Goodbye" ... then eventually his version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". That album is definitely one of my favorites of all time and it never, ever gets old.

5. Bjork

Her music can be both beautiful and odd, ethereal and gutterral. There isn't another artist on the planet quite like Bjork. Some of my favorite songs by her are "Violently Happy", "Army of Me", and "All is Full of Love". But this paragraph would be extremely long if I listed all the songs I love from her. She has this primordial quality, especially in her earlier work, where you feel her music truly must have existed when the continents were just breaking apart. Her unique vocals probably have something to do with that. Nobody sounds like Bjork.

And because I want to cheat, here is a Fast 5 for anyone interested to look them up: 1. David Usher, 2. Matthew Good, 3. Jason Mraz, 4. Massive Attack, 5. Ryan Adams.

The 5 Favorite Musical Artists of Author Robert Jackson Bennett

Robert Jackson Bennett resides in Austin, Texas with his wife and son. He enjoys smoking meats, digging big holes in the ground, classical music, and big, empty country. Winner of a Shirley Jackson Award and an Edgar Award, he is the author of the novels Mr. Shivers, The Company Man, The Troupe, and, in 2013, American Elsewhere. Find out more about the author at www.robertjacksonbennett.com.


I’ve always associated music with stories. I was trained as a musician from when I was a kid until my late teens, and my favorite thing to do with any piece I was practicing was pair it with a book or story I was reading: I’d try and synthesize the piece into a soundtrack for the movie of the story, figuring out which beats in the song matched the action of the story, and this made the eventual performance of the piece a lot more engaging for me – it was like I was contributing to the story itself.

As such, it’s probably no surprise that I eventually ditched music and chose to mainline my drug of choice.

However, music is still a huge part of my inspiration and writing process. I’ve never managed to be a person who can listen to music casually – I tend to focus on a handful of pieces and listen to them over and over again, taking them apart in my head and trying to figure out their atmosphere, their pace, their structure. I don’t acquire “wallpaper music” for myself, and I actually don’t enjoy live shows unless I’m familiar with the music, or if it’s a particularly heightened experience (I tend to prefer theater arrangements than clubs and bars, probably because it’s just how I was brought up). So this is a help to my writing as much as it is a hindrance to my tastes.

Anyways, probably as a part of all this, my musical tastes are pretty bizarre. Recently I’ve been rocking out to:

1.  Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

I have an appreciation of Nick Cave himself, but it’s his work with Warren Ellis that really gets my attention. Their music, which is chiefly produced for movies, is so unorthodox, spare, and atmospheric that they immediately summon up incredible imagery for me. At the same time, their pieces are layered with such emotional vulnerability that, even though the music itself might not be dramatic or bombastic, there are tidal waves of feelings churning underneath it. Cave and Ellis capture what I think of as real, everyday emotional breakthroughs, little moments of the sublime or crushing despair paved over with soft, cyclical melodies. I’d recommend White Lunar to anyone looking for a taste of something weird, eclectic, and oddly moving – “Cheata” is a great “Will I like this?” track. (And CHECK OUT that facial hair!)

2.  Townes Van Zandt

I’ll go ahead and follow them up with Townes Van Zandt. The two types of music are quite connected: Van Zandt also specializes in stripped-down melancholy and songs of barren country. Despite the cowboy hat and boots and the subject matter of his songs, he’s a far cry from what you think of as Country: Van Zandt embodies the bluesy, fatalistic singer-songwriter, singing about death and love, quiet hopes and quiet despair. He lived that life a little too well, too: a manic-depressive who’d had all his childhood memories erased by electroshock therapy, Van Zandt started out a bright young man with the world at his fingertips and quickly set about burning himself up, turning to heroin, alcohol, and dabbling in more-than-halfhearted suicide attempts. (He once fell off a balcony just to see what it’d be like, and, during a chat with Steve Earle, he once casually put a round in a revolver, spun the cylinder, put the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger a few times.) Van Zandt said early on he wouldn’t live to see 50, but he proved himself wrong, barely, dying at 52. He conceptualized the role of an artist as someone who had to get too close to the fire to be able to take it back to everyone else, and you can hear it in his music – I’d suggest “Rake” for anyone who wants a taste. (And check out this video where his music brings a weather-beaten blacksmith to tears.) Another mythical song writer I love is...

3.  Tom Waits

Of course. Anyone who knows me knows that. Tom Waits was the first non-classical music I ever really got into. I like Tom Waits a little too much, actually, and am conscious that I need to expand my listening habits beyond him – but, really, he’s so prolific, so innovative, and so unlike anything else out there (even after forty years) that there’s plenty of water in that well. Tom himself doesn’t care much for his pre-1980 music, where he tried to embody the down-on-his-luck 50’s beatnik, but I think there’s as much value in that era of his as the cabaret-singing, mythic, primeval blues-ghoul he became afterwards (even if there’s not as much innovation in his earlier stuff). Some people find his voice a stumbling block, but I never have – I like knowing my artists have lived a little, which is what his voice so effectively conveys. I’d suggest “Time” for anyone who’s unsure.

4.  Dmitri Shostakovich

Shostakovich was my Morrissey during my high school years: when I got home from school, mooning over some crush or the cruelty of the world, I’d lie down on my bed, crank up Symphony No. 10, and stare at the ceiling and brood. Yeah, I was that kind of kid. But though Shostakovich is considered a master of the symphony, heir to Mahler, blah, blah, blah, what I really love him for is his quartets, which are intimate, crystalline little pieces of musical origami, blends of fear and neuroses and destructive hope spun in glass and silver. Shostakovich lived in fear under the Soviet rule – he was too Western, too willing to express his individual rules – so he got very used to speaking about big fears in quiet, complicated ways. Check out the Lento movement of his 7th Quartet, which was written for his late wife. It’s written in Phrygian mode, something most modern music is completely unfamiliar with, a music mode predominantly used by the ancient Greeks in mourning (or so I was told in school). I used to say that Shostakovich was my favorite composer, but then I started getting into...

5.  Maurice Ravel 

Ravel is tough to nail down for me. His music is hyper, hyper-complicated, featuring ridiculously labyrinthine, shimmering melodies that swoop and swirl constantly. It’s flighty, fanciful, moody stuff, frequently romantic but sometimes stark and dour. Basically, I like Ravel because there’s no wrong time for Ravel. If I’m driving into work, cleaning the house, writing, reading, or just sitting and listening to music, Ravel adds a level of mystery and magic to nearly any aspect of everyday life, like it’s music floating through some window hanging in the air outside of which is a completely different world. I wish I could write books to match Ravel’s music – I flat out stuck “Le Gibet” from “Gaspard de la Nuit” in The Troupe – but his music doesn’t work like stories, or most music. It’s not structured like a narrative, with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s haunting, elusive, and atmospheric. That’s part of why it’s so unique, I think. It’s a mystery, just like the man who wrote it, whom I, along with many historians, have never really been able to figure out.

The 5 Favorite Musical Artists of Fantasy Author Teresa Frohock

Raised in a small town, Teresa Frohock learned to escape to other worlds through the fiction collection of her local library. Although Teresa has been reading fantasy and science fiction since she was twelve, her fascination with the grotesque extends back into childhood. Whenever she went to a carnival, she was the first one at the tent that housed the freak-show. She wanted to see the two-headed (chicken, snake, fetus, fill-in-the-blank) and was always disappointed when it wasn't alive—it seemed like such a rip-off.

Teresa was raised in North Carolina, lived in Virginia and South Carolina before returning to
the Piedmont, where she currently resides with her husband and daughter. Teresa has long been
accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying.

Miserere: An Autumn Tale is her debut novel.

My very first record player (yeah, I’m that old, get over it) was a little portable 45 rpm player.
I played Elton John, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Don McLean’s American Pie until
I memorized the lyrics to all the songs, much to my parents’ despair. (NOTE: While I have
sustained a love of music throughout my life, I am utterly and completely talentless when it
comes to singing or playing a musical instrument.)

By the time I was ten or eleven, I graduated to a combo LP/radio stereo with DUAL
SPEAKERS. This was a big deal in the 70s, because this new stereo could play LPs.

Yeah. I’m that old. Get over it.

Music carried me away. I could imagine any story to the songs. I spent my childhood feeling
numb and afraid, but the music carried me over to a realm where I was powerful. Here are my
five favorite artists:

1. Janis Joplin

I adored Janis Joplin for her voice, her power, her sexuality, for her ability to shoot the world the finger and be herself. She embodied a tough woman; one that ran with wolves, not as an outlier, but as the leader of the pack. Janis took that powerhouse voice of hers, jumped on the stage and she sang the blues with Big Brother and the Holding Company roaring behind her like a hurricane.

Janis was my goddess. Off-stage, she may have been an insecure young woman lost in a haze
of drugs, but when she sang, all that fell away and she became a woman in full control of her
power. Janis sang the blues with such emotion, she tore a piece of my heart every time I heard
her.

Then one day, the pack dragged her down, because even wolf goddesses die, and she died hard,
did our Janis, died like she lived. I love her still.

2. Rolling Stones

“Jumping Jack Flash” makes a brief appearance in Miserere and “Jumping Jack Flash” will be back in Dolorosa. “Sympathy for the Devil” inspired my imagination and I wore the grooves white on the vinyl playing those songs. The Rolling Stones turned me on to Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Holly, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Ry Cooder, and the blues, the blues, the blues. The Stones put an edge on the blues, put an edge all their own. Which leads me to …

3. Aerosmith

I remember the first time I heard the opening bars of “Dream On,” I had shiver go through me. My ear was pressed to grandmother’s ancient radio and I was listening to the local AM radio station WLOE. I listened to that radio every day until I found out the name of that band. Aerosmith’s first album was just raw energy but it was Get Your Wings that hooked me good. It was another spin on the blues but Aerosmith didn’t have the Stones’ polish in those early days. I loved them all the more for it. Their renditions of “Train Kept A’Rollin” and “Walkin’ the Dog” remain two of my favorites. I loved seeing them return to those blues roots with Honkin’ on Bobo and though it’s more polished than their early works, I consider it one of their finest albums.

4. Fleetwood Mac

I adored “Gold Dust Woman” and “Tango in the Night”, my two favorite Fleetwood Mac songs. Fleetwood Mac’s music ran the gamut from playful to magical. Where Janis taught me to be tough, Stevie Nicks said I could be gentle too. I named my daughter Rhiannon. If that doesn’t say it all, nothing does. Rock on—ancient queen …

5. Loreena McKennitt & Dead Can Dance

Yeah, I know, that’s two and it’s cheating.

Get over it.

I love McKennitt’s ethereal voice and her enchanting music. “The Mystic’s Dream” was
Lucian’s song while I wrote Miserere. However, McKennitt’s music lacked the power I needed
for The Garden. These are a rough bunch of guys—I didn’t need harps, I needed drums and the
kind of music that roiled up from guts. I tried everything from Nine Inch Nails to male choral
arrangements trying to find just the right mood music for writing this novel. My friend Vaughn
Roycroft suggested Dead Can Dance. I sampled a few tunes and found the music raw and
thunderous, which is just perfect for The Garden.

Although the blues will always remain as my favorite, I’ll listen to almost any kind of music
nowadays. I appreciate John allowing me to share my favorite artists with you.

The Top 6 Songs of Fantasy Author Stina Leicht

Stina Leicht’s debut novel Of Blood and Honey, a historical Fantasy with an Irish Crime edge set in 1970s Northern Ireland, was released by Night Shade books in February 2011. The sequel, And Blue Skies from Pain hits bookstores on March 6th, 2012. She also has a flash fiction piece in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s surreal anthology Last Drink Bird Head.
 

There’s a Story Attached

What makes a song popular is similar to what makes a story popular: our ability to relate to it. It’s magical. We listen to music and either remember what was happening at the time it was first heard, or hear the lyrics and twist their meaning to fit our own lives. That’s an illusion, of course -- this thought that the songwriter/singer is living through exactly what we are. In reality, that's not what the song is really about. It's not even about the singer. It's about the songwriter. But that doesn’t matter. As Peter Koestenbaum once said, "Creativity is harnessing universality and making it flow through your eyes." And so it goes.

Ever since I was a kid I enjoyed doing the same thing but with imaginary characters -- my own and those of other authors. Here are some examples.

 

1. The Church - Under the Milky Way 

The Church is one of my favorite bands. I listened to them a lot during a time when I was going through a major transition in my life. As a result, I can't hear Under the Milky Way and not think of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid." Think of the lyrics "I think about the loveless fascination, under the milky way tonight." and "Wish I knew what you were looking for. Might have known what you would find." and "It leads you here, despite your destination. Under the milky way tonight." I can see the mermaid sitting on a rock on the night before her prince marries someone else -- the night before she dies and vanishes into nothing but sea-foam. I feel her longing and the tragedy of dying and never having her love returned. And that's why I did the collage.

2. The Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man

Liam Kelly (Of Blood and Honey) loves the Rolling Stones almost as much as he loves The Clash which is funny since I was always a Beatles girl. While writing The Fey and the Fallen novels I had a great time discovering all sorts of music that I hadn't paid much attention to through Liam’s ears. From the very beginning, Street Fighting Man was the soundtrack to that first chapter set in Londonderry/Derry. "Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy. Cause summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy. But what can a poor boy do? Except to sign for a rock n roll band? 'Cause in sleepy London town there's just no place for a street fighting man." and "Hey! think the time is right for a palace revolution. But where I live the game to play is compromise solution" and "Hey! said my name is called disturbance. I’ll shout and scream, I'll kill the king, I'll rail at all his servants." it’s a perfect fit for background to a street riot because... it’s about a street riot. The riot in question is actually in Birmingham not Londonderry/Derry, but there you are. Anyway, I can’t tell you how many times I re-listened to ‘70s music over the past three years and suddenly understood the obvious. Another song for that chapter was Anarchy in the UK. “Is this the MPLA or is this the UDA or Is this the IRA? I thought it was the UK, Or just another country -- another council tenancy.” Even The Police were singing about The Troubles. “I don't want to spend the rest of my life, looking at the barrel of an Armalite. I don't want to spend the rest of my days, keeping out of trouble like the soldiers say. I don't ever want to play the part of a statistic on a government chart. I don't want to spend my time in hell, looking at the walls of a prison cell.” and “And they're only going to change this place by killing everybody in the human race.” (From Invisible Sun) Like most American kids, I didn’t have an f-ing clue what most of the British bands were singing about.



3. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Another of those moments of discovering the obvious: “So, so you think you can tell? Heaven from Hell? Blue Skies from pain?” and “--A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?” and “Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?” and “--Cold comfort for change? Did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?” When I found out they called the chain-link fenced sections in Long Kesh ‘cages’ that song gave me my theme for And Blue Skies from Pain -- not just the title.



4. Kate Bush - This Woman’s Work

I’ll need to be vague for those who haven’t read OB&H. Those of you who have read it will know right away who this song is for the moment you hear/read the lyrics. It’s a powerful song. (Kate Bush totally kicks ass.) When I wrote *that* scene this song was on repeat the whole way. It still makes me cry. I can’t help thinking we’ve all got Kate to blame for how well that came out because... damn is she a great songwriter.


5. Loreena McKennitt - The Highwayman

Once in a while I have one of those moments when I think anyone but another writer would think I’m a total nut case. I’m a firm believer in the concept that writers work with their subconscious -- just like all artists. The characters we make up are one part ourselves and one part a million other people we’ve known or briefly met. But sometimes I really wonder about myself, I admit it. One day I was listening to a soundtrack I’d thrown together for a character named Nels. (He’ll appear in my next set of novels.) This song popped up in the song rotation and clear as a bell Nels mutters in the back of my brain, “I fucking hate that song.” I stopped what I was doing at once and asked, “That sounds like a story. Why do you hate that song?” And sure enough Nels says, “I wasn’t going back to pick her up and ride off into the sunset. I was riding back to break up with her before they killed her. I fucking hate that song. Please stop playing it.” Yeah. Sometimes I’m not so much the closet romantic.


6. Kate Bush - Heads We're Dancing

I can’t go into too much detail on this one because it ties so closely to my newest project, but I’ll point to a relevant line “A picture of you, a picture of you in uniform, standing with your head held high. Hot down to the floor. But it couldn't be you. It couldn't be you. It's a picture of Hitler.” In this case, since my fantasy world is set in a 1780s-ish time, we’re not talking about a literal Hitler. (Neither is Kate, I’m sure.) Anyway, I’ll leave that a mystery because I’m evil that way.

The 5 Favorite Musical Artists of Fantasy Author Peter Orullian

PETER ORULLIAN has worked in marketing at Xbox for nearly a decade, where he has lead the Games, Music and Entertainment marketing strategy for Xbox LIVE, and the expansion of that service to new platforms. He has also toured internationally as a featured vocalist at major music festivals; and won the Private Eye Best Male Vocalist Award. He has published several short stories. And in 2011, his first novel, The Unremembered, the first volume in a new epic fantasy series, was published by Tor Books. He lives in Seattle. You can visit him at www.orullian.com.



So, John’s asked me to list five favorite artists. He knows, as a music maven himself, what a chore this actually is. You can tackle it in the “desert island” question sort of way. You can talk about what’s in your CD player or on your iPOD now sort of way. You can discuss artists that have most impacted your own sense of music, particularly if you’re a musician.

I think what I’m going to do is sort of an amalgam of all this. And maybe more. See, my tastes are truly diverse. No lip service there. I listen to pretty much everything quite actively. I don’t, myself, put country music into the CD changer, but I have people in my life who do, so I get a fair dose of it—and there’s plenty to applaud.

But having said all that, I have favorites for personal reasons that kind of straddle all these list motifs. So, I’ll attempt to talk about them somewhat intelligently. I should say that even this list of mine is not stack-ranked.

And one invitation. You could read this and just go on your way. But if you’re unfamiliar with any of the songs/links I’ve included, consider taking a little more time with this post and listening to the music. You’ll get a peek inside my mind. And I think you’ll come away with some cool new favs.

So, here we go:

1. Dream Theater

This is a band comprised of Berklee and Juilliard graduates, and a singer who studied classical voice technique. None of which is something you might expect of a metal band. To be fair, they’re progressive metal. To me, this means that their compositions and orchestrations are considered. While they can jam and rock with the best of them, they’re able to employ real music understanding to convey the emotion and story they want to relate. Awesome!

I did an article recently on Dream Theater which you can read here if you’re interested. To boil it down, there are some key things that matter to me a great deal, and which DT delivers in spades. Great vocals is first among them. I spent many years studying voice. I know the difference. I’m a bit of a snob about it, I’ll admit. And while I can enjoy what I call a vocal “stylist”—someone like Eddie Vedder or Steven Tyler—I don’t consider them great “vocalists” or “singers.” Someday soon, I’ll do a whole post about this. For now, suffice it to say that James Labrie has real technique, real power, and great timber in his voice. I wrote about him here.

The band supporting the voice is also nothing short of phenomenal. They play tunes in odd-time that feel natural and comfortable, using the meter to compliment the emotion. I’ve lately really been digging “Outcry” from their latest album—Epic! Oh, and you should take a moment and listen to this, “This Is the Life.”


And you know, they write epic tunes. I don’t mean long. Yes, they do that, too. But songs that stir the blood, raise the hair on the back of the neck, and make you want to fight for a good cause.

They build real dynamics into their music. If Mozart and Beethoven and Bach and all those cats were around today, they wouldn’t be at the symphony or opera house. They’d be at a Dream Theater show. Listen to Metropolis Part 1, the whole song is a Tour de force, but if you just want to hear the instrumental fireworks, check out about 4:35 to 8:12!

I still remember the day Images and Words released. I put in the CD and drove my Jeep around endlessly, replaying the CD multiple times. Rather life-changing. It all begin with “Pull me Under.”

2. Frank Sinatra
 
Here’s the thing about Frank: his phrasing. Sinatra’s feeling was that a song was a conversation with his audience. This helps explain how the man sang the same standards that the singers of his generation—hell, even now with guys like Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr.—all sang, but he did it better. Why? Because he delivered the lyrics with unpredictability. He found vocal rhythms for the melodies that you couldn’t anticipate, but that always felt absolutely right. And his genius went further, in that every time he sang the same song, he did it differently.

Some singers try to affect this. They mostly fail.

Sinatra had decent range and power. He absolutely had class and style, too. There was a bit of bad boy in him, where it was suggested he had mafia ties—being Italian and all. But it was his class that always came through. You get the feeling that if he told you something, or made you a promise, he was going to make good on it. Contemporaries of his—guys like Dean Martin and Don Rickles—attest to this. It wasn’t situational with him, the way it is with most music stars today.

The man did V-disc recordings—done during WW II to boost troop morale. When you listen to him talk about it, you hear sincerity. I like Sinatra because of these things, just as I like him for his unparalleled music phrasing.

Some folks will want to point out his failings. Yeah, sure, we all have them. But on balance, this guy is leagues above our generation’s “flavor-of-the-week” pop stars. I remember his closing remarks when he was roasted by Dean Martin and a number of the stars of that era. The entire roast is hysterical. But pick up at about the seven minute mark of this, and you’ll hear a little of what I’m talking about. And a couple of favorite Sinatra tunes of mine: “Come Fly with Me” and “Fly Me to the Moon.”

3. Sevendust

This band has not achieved the level of success I think they deserve. I need to say that up front. If you’re not into metal at all, you probably don’t know them. But a few things I like about the group: bone-crushing rhythms, a soulful lead-singer, AMAZING backup vocals by their drummer, who I must name—Morgan Jay Rose (more on this later).

I found out about this band when they released their album Animosity. You should all go right now and listen to “Live Again” or “Beautiful.” These few tunes are a good intro to Sevendust.

I’ve seen the band live a few times. The first was an absolute surprise. They were opening for a band, and to be honest, I don’t even remember the headliner—7D blew me away! Singer Lajon Witherspoon just nailed his parts, lending both melody and soul to the hard-driving arrangements.

The last thing I’ll say is that as I think about the music magic system in my fantasy series, I don’t think about sopranos or tenors or mandola players doing sweet or soaring or haunting vocals. Yeah, sometimes those things’ll happen. But most of it has edge. It has anger, bitterness, desperation, urgency, and a coarseness that gives it its power. To hear a bit of how I might often be hearing it, check out time marker 3:04 in “Damaged.” This is Morgan absolutely going to town! Now, to be fair, my music magic system has a host of expressions and outlets and manifestations beyond what is echoed in “Damaged.” But one of the central expressions is much like you hear in this section. So, there you go. Suffer!

4. Thomas Newman and Chip Davis

Okay, I’m cheating. I could have just listed six, but conflating these two makes some kind of sense. I’ll actually start with Chip Davis.

Davis is the founder of Mannheim Steamroller. You likely know them mostly for the bestselling Christmas albums. In fact, I think they are THE bestselling Christmas albums ever. White Christmas is the bestselling single—thanks in large part to Bing Crosby, who very nearly made my list. But Mannheim began with their Fresh Aire albums, of which there are now eight.

So, a few things. In the Christmas music realm, Steamroller has some absolutely magical moments. Even if you don’t like Christmas or Christmas music, listen to this rendering of Silent Night. Pure awesome!

Now, while I’ve admitted this before, I’ll say it again here. As a lad, I would put on the Fresh Aire stuff and write in what can only be described as a creative fugue. I’d listen to something like “Chocolate Fudge” or “The Sky” or (and my oh MY does this ROCK) “The Fifth Door,” and I’d just allow myself to be transported and write what the music suggested to me. But my all-time favorite Steamroller tune, and perhaps my favorite song of all time, is “Red Wine.” This last song is reminiscent of Greensleeves, which is another favorite. But “Red Wine” spurs so many images and emotions. I could talk for hours about it. I’ll spare you.

In any event, Chip Davis is, in my mind, a legendary American music composer. He’s also a real decent guy. I love it when those two things reside in the same human.

Now, Thomas Newman! I first became aware of him when I saw Shawshank Redemption. I was an instant fan. His understated score to that film left me speechless. I mean, whether you’ve seen the movie or not, check out this song: “Brooks Was Here.” If you seen the movie, it has a great deal more emotional energy. But even without the context, this is brilliant songwriting. Since (while I love pounding, driving metal) this tune takes its time, unwinding and leading you down a dusty road toward some revelation. I don’t always buy sound tracks. I bought this one.

I mean, listen to the title theme, “Shawshank Redemption.” Can’t you hear a little Wagner in there? And yet more?

But here’s the thing, Newman has done a ton of other things, and much of it well before Shawshank. Credits include: Revenge of the Nerds, The Lost Boys, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Player. And then after Shawshank: The War, Phenomenon, American Beauty, The Green Mile, Pay It Forward, Road to Perdition, Finding Nemo, Cinderlla Man, Jarhead, The Help. And the upcoming Bond film Skyfall. And this is ten percent of his work, folks.

I’ve talked before about the notion of hope that lies at the center of Shawshank, both in the film and in King’s amazing novella, which I read years before the movie. But you can hear it come to life in “So Was Red & End Titles.” I love this music. Newman is another national treasure. And it doesn’t hurt that Morgan Freeman is in this movie—he’s a top five for me, actor-wise.

5. Queensryche

Geoff Tate is one of the best rock singers. Ever. I largely moved to Seattle to train with the same guy that trained Geoff. David Kyle was his name. Voice trainer to Tate, Lane Staley (of Alice in Chains), Ann and Nancy Wilson (of Heart), and a host of others I won’t bother to name just now. We all called him Maestro. I have over 500 hours of tapes of him teaching me. Pure gold. And not because of the craft, though that is absolutely top drawer. No, it’s because the man taught me (and every other student) how to be a better person. All kinds of sappy, that. But it’s also the absolute truth. RIP, Maestro.


And Geoff? Well, when I first heard him sing, Queensryche had already put out a few albums. The CD Empire is when I discovered the band. I immediately went back and listened to Mindcrime, and Rage for Order. Oh my. Epiphanies ran rampant through my brain. Here was a guy who had taken classical technique and gone past Bruce Dickensen and Rob Halford and the rest.

Effortlessly soaring vocals. I mean, listen to this “Suite Sister Mary” or “Eyes of a Stranger.” Or consider how far ahead of their time they were in 1986 with this industrial metal sound “Gonna Get Close to You” or “Screaming in Digital” or a real favorite of mine “Neue Regel.” This is all before Trent Resnor and NIN.

It was pretty amazing that their album Empire was nominated for a Grammy, and that they were asked to play perhaps their best-known song “Silent Lucidity” at the Grammys. But probably my favorite song from that album is “Is There Anybody Listening.”

Their follow-on album Promised Land had a few amazing songs you really should hear: “Promised Land,” and this MUST hear tune, “Someone Else.”

Again, I could go on and on. But if you want an even better sense of why Tate is one of our time’s best singers, check out the article I did on him. He changed the way I think about voice. And he led me to David. I’ve a lot to thank him for.

So there you go. Jeez, so many that I’ve left out—both great songs from those I’ve included, and bands/artists I just didn’t have space to include. I mean, I didn’t get to talk about Disturbed, Nat King Cole, Cole Porter, Journey, Wagner, Miles Davis, Alice in Chains, Sting, Gregorian Chants, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Trans Siberian Orchestra . . . you get the idea. Oh, and Two Steps from Hell. On this last group listen to “Heart of Courage!” Really, you won’t be sorry. EPIC!

John, we may need to do a part two sometime soon. This was just too damn much fun!!

Apologies to all the music and artists and bands I didn’t have space to mention. But these things always obviate way more than they’re able to cover, don’t they.

I’m kind of loath to end the post, because I know as soon as I do I’ll come up with things I should have said, mentioned, etc. And I’ll regret it. So, perhaps we’ll find a way to continue.

But I hope you’ve enjoyed this little musical journey. I know I have.

Your Rock Lord,Peter Orullian