Track Info & Stories
Imagine that you are walking in a forest just after sunset,
and you stumble across a mythic party in a faerie glen.
The music is irresistible, the wine is flowing, and the glade
is full of faeries and satyrs and centaurs and dryads, all laughing
and dancing and having a wonderful time. A friendly satyr notices
you, takes your hand, and draws you into the dance.
You are swept away by the music and the swirling magic
around you, and time passes… and then you find that you can’t leave.
Fortunately, you don’t mind… why would you ever want to leave??
We don’t get much snow here in the Seattle area —
but one February, we awoke one day to find it snowing hard.
It was a heavy, wet snow; rather than individual snowflakes,
huge soggy wads of snow the size of a quarter were falling from
the sky, and making “ploof, ploof… ploof” noises when they landed.
We got about 5″ of dense, soggy snow in about an hour; the weight
of it brought down many branches and a few trees.
Even so, it sure was pretty!
(Like the snowstorm that inspired it, this piece is dark-grey,
wet, and yet still graceful – and also, like the snowstorm, pretty brief.)
Cello: Betsy Tinney
Guitar: S.J. Tucker
Lillith is just the best dog.
Technically, she isn’t my dog; she belongs to my daughter-in-law,
Sabrina, which makes her my granddogger. Lillith is a pit bull rescue
who loves everyone (she would probably fail as a guard dog, unless she
were to knock the thief over while trying to lick his face). One of her
favorite activities is zooming cheerfully around our yard at high speed,
pausing occasionally to Inspect Something Important On The Ground.
This piece was written for Lillith, her cheerful approach to life, and,
of course, her “zoomies”.
And maybe you can tell from the music: Lillith really is just the best dog.
Cello & shaker egg: Betsy Tinney
Bodhrán: Brenda Sutton
Cajon programming: Jeff Bohnhoff
Elephants are self-aware and highly intelligent,
and are fully capable of wondering about things —
for example, what it might be like to fly.
This piece is a musical interpretation of what might float
through an elephant’s mind while watching a bird take flight.
“A Wish for Wings” painting by Cade Tinney
This started out as a solo improvisation — just cello over
a walking bassline. Then my friend Mary sent me some delightful
jazzy piano that transformed it into a slinky, intimate little improv duet —
and I thought the piece was complete. But then, Jeff, my sound engineer
(a brilliant guitarist) quietly slipped some tasty electric guitar into
the mix — and suddenly this piece was clad in a long, sophisticated
evening gown (in a leopard print, of course), and was ready for a
night out on he town. And now I can’t imagine her any other way…
Cello: Betsy Tinney
Piano: Dr. Mary Crowell
Electric Guitar: Jeff Bohnhoff
The Dragon Who Fell In Love with the Moon: Artwork by Cade Tinney
There once was a sea dragon who fell in love with the Moon,
and the Moon loved him back – but they were separated by distance
and impossibility.
On calm, clear nights, the Moon would reach out to the dragon across
the great expanse of the sea, her silvery light paving a glittering path
to her heart. The dragon would take wing toward her, and as he flew,
he and the Moon would sing to each other, their voices weaving
sweetly together above the rippling waves.
But they were separated by distance and impossibility, so eventually
the Dragon would sink back to rest upon the surging sea, still gazing up
at his love’s shining face — exhausted, but nonetheless filled with joy.
For he was in love with the Moon, and he knew the Moon loved him back.
(For Becky, who asked me to write “something dark and epic,
with dragons in.”)
Wyverns in the Winery is a whimsical improvisation between
yours truly (Betsy Tinney, cello) and the incomparable Geli Wuerzner
(five-string violin/viola), with guest appearances by a few friendly
local wyverns and some excellent local wine.
The delightful cover art for this album was originally created for this
song by my youngest, Cade Tinney, who whipped it up amazingly
fast (especially considering that neither the wyverns nor the wine
were present to help with the task).
credits
Cello: Betsy Tinney
Viola/violin: Geli Wuerzner
This is a duo improvisation between Betsy Tinney (me, cello)
and S.J. Tucker (guitar & vocals). This piece flowed out of us
spontaneously, without any preceding discussion or planning.
(Even Sooj’s vocals/lyrics were improvised – she says the words
just popped into her mind while we were playing.)
lyrics
Sweet is the sound of the unexpected
Sweet sighs the wind in the winter trees
Sweet is the song that is yet unscripted
Turning the world when you play with me
credits
Lyrics by S.J Tucker
Cello: Betsy Tinney
Guitar & vocals: S.J. Tucker
This track is based on a recent experience I had with emergency eye
surgery. (I’m fine now.) One day, I noticed flashes in my right peripheral
vision: brilliant yellow-white sparkles that blinked on and off when I moved
my eye. I also suddenly developed floaters in my right eye: several diaphanous
smoky-grey ribbons that wafted gracefully about between me and the outside
world. All these vision changes were kind of pretty, if one didn’t think too hard
about the clinical implications (flashes and floaters can signal a retinal tear,
which if untreated can quickly progress to retinal detachment and blindness).
My ophthalmologist, Dr Basset, confirmed that there was indeed a tear in my
retina, and that laser surgery was immediately required. He routinely performs
such surgeries in his office, so I trustingly put my face into his laser cannon’s
face bracket, and tried not to flinch while a series of 49 agonizingly-bright laser
bursts “riveted” down the edges of the tear.
Behind My Eyelids is a musical painting of this experience. It begins with what
I normally see behind closed eyelids: dark, slowly swirling colors with
occasional brighter spots. Then the flashes appear on the far right: a glitter of
tiny bronze bells. The floaters, represented by two swirling cello melodies, and
the 49 pizzicato laser bursts (which really do sound like the laser bursts felt,
though not nearly as loud) follow soon after. When the surgery is complete, the
floaters swirl quietly on for a little while, and then disappear.
While I can’t recommend eye surgery as an ideal source of artistic inspiration,
I’m grateful for inspiration wherever I find it. (I am also grateful that my vision
is still fine. Thanks, Dr Bassett!)
I wrote this after watching our Maine Coon cat Mali (pronounced
“Molly”) in hot pursuit of an (understandably panicked) moth, which
led her on a mad chase through the house, always staying just too high
for her to reach.
Finally, she leapt onto the kitchen table (which she knows is forbidden),
swatted the moth out of the air with one great spatulate paw, and then
promptly ate it before it could recover.
Chomp.
Cello, Bodhrán programming: Betsy Tinney
Shaker egg & zills: S.J. Tucker
Song of the Hart was commissioned by my friend Wayne,
who asked me to write him something dark, wild and beautiful.
By way of inspiration, he sent me several gorgeous images of a
stag standing wild, alert and magnificent, its antlered head held high;
he also wrote of the pounding heart of the stag, the rush of its breath,
and its power and courage.In addition to being a musical stew inspired by the above images and
ideas, this piece incorporates two specific motifs based on actual field
recordings. First is the call of the hunting horn, which echoes through
the forest and throughout the piece. Later, hidden deep in the piece
(from 4:07 to 4:33) is the staccato roar of a red stag, as it might sound
if the stag had a voice like a cello.
For Wayne, of course. <3
…so, you ask, who is Darcy? Darcy is the talented & mysterious
drummer who plays kit on this song (and, technically, is a feature of
Logic, the software program I use to mix my music). I spent most
of an afternoon using Logic to explain what I wanted, drum-wise,
for the various parts of this song — and to my delight, Darcy
cooperated willingly (unlike the last e-drummer I tried). Darcy is still
a virtual stranger, of course; but after several happy hours of making
music together, I confess I’ve developed a tiny musical crush on them.
(That is, if one can have a crush on a software feature…)
credits
Cello: Betsy Tinney
Electric Guitar: Jeff Bohnhoff
Drum programming: Betsy Tinney & Jeff Bohnhoff
Drum: The mysterious Darcy
