It was about 8 years ago, that I opened the window of my 4th floor Madison road apartment, picked up my guitar, and began plucking away at a 5/4 meter chord progression. I had just watched The Messenger ( the story of Joan of Arc) and was inspired to write about this amazing story. The next day I reviewed what I'd written, and decided that I wanted to learn more about Joan of Arc. So I went to one of my favorite places, half price books, and bought 2 books on Joan, or should I say Jehanne, or better yet, Jehanette. The first was a brief history called Joan of Arc ( A Life), by Mary Gordon, and the second was Joan of Arc, in her own words (Compiled and Translated by Williard Trask).
I read the Mary Gordon book on a plane ride to Paris, very apropos. It was informative, but like all biographies (not autobiographies), it was a "story". It was entertaining, and gave me what I was looking for at the time; escapism and entertainment.
Jump ahead 8 years, and here I sit, with my computer in my lap, 4 cats roaming around, it's 2:30am, and I've just spent the last 2 hours reading the entire 2nd book I bought all those years ago, Joan-In her own words. My mind is officially blown!
My second album, Little Boys and Black Dogs, is no different from the films about Joan that I've seen. It's a self indulgent, concept record, chocked full of my own interpretations, inflections, and personal feelings. The opening song, Sunshine Girl, is about the moment in the movie,The Messenger, where Joan finds a sword in a field where she's playing. In reality, she finds a sword buried beneath an alter in the church of Saint Cathrine. The "voices" told her she would find it there, and that it would have 5 crosses on it. Sure enough, when she looked beneath the alter, she found a sword, completely covered in rust. When the rust was wiped away, there were the 5 crosses, etched into it. So epic.
On a musical note, I decided to swap the guitar for an analog arpeggiated synth, and trust me, live, you'll thank me for it.
Turnsole