A Warm Hearth, In Musical Form

Faun Fables at Don Quixote, Felton, CA, 11/3/11

For me, it has been one of those surreal, tough weeks, the kind of week a person can have no more than twice in a lifetime.  Some people turn to alcohol and other recreational drugs in such times.  Some turn to loved ones.  Some turn to music.  I choose the latter two every time.  In this case, even after hours of driving in the parking lot conditions of rainy afternoon rush hour, I still found the energy to do the additional driving required to reach the venue in the drizzly darkness of benighted Felton, home of the now vacant Waldron mansion and just the right amount of Redwood trees.

Jeanine and I got there before the band did, and found the venue mostly deserted.  A few people hovered around the fringes of the main room, but as I figured, a rainy Thursday night in a sleepy mountain town isn’t likely to be the setting for a packed gig.  We passed the time by having a quiet little dinner.

Nils and Dawn, the core duo of Faun Fables, eventually showed up, after having dealt with a lot of the same traffic woes I had faced earlier.  There was no opening act, so in due course, they began their set, beginning with a series of new, autobiographical songs written by Dawn, interwoven with a couple of related older songs from “Family Album”, namely A Mother and a Piano, and Preview.  This got me thinking about what a gift these songs will prove to be for the pair’s young children – a family history in song form.  At this point in my life, I am more aware than ever that family history, like everything else, eventually fades into obscurity if not sufficiently documented.  The historians won’t be around forever.  How great would it be to simply listen to songs, adding to them over the years, and perhaps convincing each succeeding generation to add their own songs to an ever growing personal discography?  Some of the new Faun Fables songs are still in their infancy, with Dawn having to reference lyrics and lots of unspoken communication flashing between the pair.  The small audience responded enthusiastically.  There were 11 or 12 people attendance, a fact which, when added to the music stands holding lyrics, at times made the show seem more like an intimate rehearsal.  Dawn mentioned that she has only gotten to about age 15 in this song cycle, so I imagine that soon there will be new chapters added.

Hollow in the Home, live in Madison, Wisconsin, 10/9/10, uploaded by Johnnyyen909:

 

After a short break, they came back with a more seasoned batch of songs, including a pair of songs based on the legend of the Pied Piper, a traditional song called Captain Coulston (with a melody that sounded so familiar to me that I later asked Nils about it – it was long ago performed by Steeleye Span, being in fact the first song by them that Nils had heard), Housekeeper and Hollow in the Home from “Light in the Vaster Dark”, an as yet unrecorded song written by Nils called Invitation, and a couple of others.  They were all great, but I especially loved Invitation, which like Bells for Ura from “Light in the Vaster Dark”, was written in preparation for the birth of the couple’s second child.  The imagery and intention of the song struck me as being perfect, but then again I’m always a sucker for songs inspired by the natural world.  For most of the second set, Dawn switched to percussion (floor tom and metal cylinder).  As usual, her voice was powerful and emotive, and Nils’ performance on guitar, bass, and flute was both playful and perfect. 

Invitation, from the same gig as the first clip:

 

Once upon a time, I would see Faun Fables perform multiple times in the space of a year.  Watching these YouTube videos, I'm amazed that a song that they were performing a year ago is new to me.  Either I've got to pay more attention or they have to play more local gigs.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the song about a Swedish werewolf, which was written for an upcoming Swedish compilation CD accompanying a book about werewolves.  I forgot to ask about the specifics, but I’m betting it will be published by the Swedish label, Malort Forlag, who has already published one such CD to accompany their reprint of “Le Diable Amoureux” (The Devil In Love), a 1772 occult novel by Jacques Cazotte. 

They’re playing tonight at the New Parish in Oakland, with Little Teeth and Foxtails Brigade, plus Bleeding Knees Club from Australia.   Go.

 

Comments

[Conundrummusic]

waiting for their next East Coast tour. I miss those guys.