1. "Aurora"

  the goddess of the dawn returns as an angry hypersonic aircraft... (Lyrics)

“The Aurora hypersonic aircraft is terrifying in its power, they say...its presence is announced by sonic booms that are distinctive in their signature and that shake the bodies of humans who hear them. An angry being intent on manifesting herself in the corporeal world might take whatever form she could, maybe even an aircraft...the call sign people have overheard on military frequencies is‘ Dark Star’. One transmission was, ‘ Dark Star Sierra formation’. I thought ‘ Dark Star Sierra’ sounded more poetic than just calling out for ‘ Dark Star’. I know I didn’t complete the transmission...”

6. "Gaoth Barra n'dTonn"

  a lament...homesick for the lovely landscape of Gaoth Barra in Donegal, sung in Irish immediately after "one of our submarines"...

"I placed 'gaoth barra n'dtonn' right after 'submarines' because I imagined someone serving aboard the doomed sub singing a lament for the homeland he'll never see again."

2. "Don Dorcha's Revel"

  given a choice of lords of the dance, we choose Don Dorcha... (Lyrics)

“Like so many I saw ‘ Riverdance’ and ‘Lord of the Dance’ come in quick succession, and I was inspired, not by Michael Flatley’s megalo-hero, but by his nemesis Don Dorcha played by Daire Nolan. I watched as the good guys and the bad guys had their respective parties, and I figured I’d rather go to Don Dorcha’s party. It was a lot more interesting and so was Don Dorcha!”

7. "Blood Sugar"

  Deirdre in exile... (Lyrics)

“In Irish myth, Deirdre is exiled to a lonely island with only her nurse and her tutor for company. I felt all women could connect with her using our memories of being teenagers.”

3. "Io"

  a seeker encounters a poet god, the man in red... (Lyrics)

“In one of the Greek tragedies Io climbs a mountain where Zeus and Hermes are. She wants their help because she’s been transformed into a cow, and she says, ‘I am Io the maiden, with horns upon my head’. I combine this scene with a dream I had many years ago about encountering a god of poetry, a god of inspiration.”

8. "Arboretum"

  a shape-shifting journey... (Lyrics)

“This is a shape-shifting journey to the experience of a fish. The secluded pond in the San Francisco Arboretum in Golden Gate park is a beautiful quiet place and on the particular day when I visited and began writing this poem, there was a solitary fish there, and his coloring and his majesty and his personality really captivated me. “

4. "Black Rock Desert Rain"

  dedicated to Jessica Melton, who helped name it along with her mom, Pam... (Lyrics)

“I’ve been playing this tune in my live shows for quite some years now. There was a time when it didn’t have a name, and I mentioned that before I played it in a particular show, and after I was done a student of mine, Jessica Melton, came up to me and said that she and her mom believed I should call it ‘ Desert Rain’. For another few years that was its name until I connected it in my mind with the characters and the headspace of the Burning Man festival, and then I added ‘ Black Rock’ to the title. But it is still dedicated to Jessica and her mom, Pam.”

9. "Pelen Tan"

  the reconstructionist Druid deepest blue light-globe... (Lyrics)

“A pelen tan (fire globe) is a modern tool for some flavors of Druidry. It is a globe made of cobalt blue glass and it’s meant to contain a black candle. When you light it, it symbolizes the Otherworld. Some believe several of them should be hung in trees to mark the grove for a meeting of Druids. I have three of my own and they are some of my most prized possessions.”

5. "One of Our Submarines"

  the venerable tune by Thomas Dolby

“ ‘ One of Our Submarines’ is by Thomas Dolby whom I admire greatly and I’ve had such a blast recording his tune and playing it live. That song and the traditional Irish one, ‘Gaoth Barra nd’Tonn’, have become connected in my mind because I envision a situation where, on board the vessel that’s run aground, a sailor from County Donegal comes to the realization that he will never see home again and he sings a lament with his final breaths of air. And on the shore back home, a woman comes out to the water’s edge to sing it, sympathetically because on some level she knows she won’t see him again.”

10. "The Song of Coinchend Cennfada"

  Long Head of Dog Heads, the war chieftain and queen of the saga of Art McConn... (Lyrics)

Hear the entire song at MP3.com by clicking here.

“Coinchend Cennfada was a warrior queen in the saga of Art McConn. She ruled over the Dog Head tribe, and her name means ‘ long head of dog heads’. She is portrayed as a villain in the saga, but I’ve written a song from her point of view as Art McConn approaches, emblematic of the end of the old ways.”