Killer Tofu Records

A. Song of the Magpie
Augusten Burroughs asked me to write a song for the 2008 audio version of his book 'A Wolf at the Table'. Since the book was a memoir about Augusten's troubled childhood relationship with his father, I didn't feel I had the authority to write about this very personal experience. But I still relished the opportunity, so I resolved to dive in headfirst and to try to read the book in a single day and write the song immediately afterward. My hope was that whatever feelings it conjured up for me would linger long enough to translate into music and my own words. Luckily the plunge paid off, and the result was a song where, like Augusten's books, I pretty much put my heart right out there on my sleeve.

B. Where the Wind Blows
This song was written in 2008 and was recorded during the “White Water, White Bloom” sessions. I’d spent a good deal of time working on the song, but never could quite get it to a place where I was happy with it. Once in the studio however, producer Mike Mogis suggested we start from scratch and build the song live as a group. It was a fun experience, because while I’m more of a puzzler and like to spend time really arranging all of the little details, Mogis tends to like things loose and spontaneous, which gave us permission to just let go and let the song happen…