G ood music is usually the result of many different influences, and what you're most likely to remember is what doesn't fall into neat, predetermined categories. With two exceptions, all the material in "Naked Under the Moon" is original.

Choose the links below to find out more about each track on the CD.

0. Escape Velocity
1. Half a Piece - Whiter Shade of Pale
2. Leda
3. Wisteria
4. Singin' in the Country
5. Madman Samba
6. Dark Rain
7. Earth Dances
8. Valentine Suite
9. Sixth Sense

It was for that same concert that we got the idea of combining Linda's composition Half a Piece with Procol Harum's legendary 1967 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale to create a mini-suite in which a rather austere Renaissance feel gives way to the sumptuousness and floridity of of the Baroque style. Long live Bach Rock! (Or, as we prefer to call it, Bach 'n' Roll ...)
TOP OF PAGE

As its name suggests, Leda was inspired by the story in Greek mythology of the amorous encounter between a young woman and Zeus, in the guise of a swan. We like to think of it as a musical evocation of wild, Pagan abandon: as Linda said, while we were listening to it one evening, "It makes me want to run out and dance [naked under the moon]." And that's where the inspiration came from for the title "Naked Under the Moon".
TOP OF PAGE

Wisteria is Linda's patented antidote to the frenzy of "Leda" (and her mother's favorite piece).
TOP OF PAGE

Singin' in the Country (also called "Living in the Country") was written by Pete Seeger as a kind of duet, in which he accompanies his own guitar playing by whistling the catchy little obbligato that in our arrangement is given to the harpsichord. Apart from the unorthodox instrumentation, our version emphasizes the almost calypso-like lilt of the rhythm.
TOP OF PAGE

Madman Samba isn't really a samba, but then "Deep River Blues" isn't really a blues, is it?
TOP OF PAGE

Linda wrote Dark Rain when she was just starting to step away from the classically influenced style she'd been working in to that point. For this recording, she used a vintage Guild F-30 steel string guitar (made in 1965) that's perfectly suited to both the slippery smoothness and that gutsy, raspy bluesy feel that lies at the heart of the piece.
TOP OF PAGE

There's less to the title Earth Dances than meets the eye -- it just sounded good. But the three movements, as their titles suggest, can be thought of as evoking the feeling of the quiet countryside in the warm months ("Pastorale"), the revelry of a harvest festival ("Bacchanale") and the mischief-making of Hallowe'en ("Devils") -- all themes connected in some way to the world of nature and the cycle of seasons.
TOP OF PAGE

Officially, Valentine Suite is Guitar Suite No. 1, by Michael Kac (there's a Guitar Suite No. 2 as well, but that's being saved for the next CD!) The nickname comes from the fact that the second movement was originally written for Linda as a Valentine's Day present many years ago. The suite was conceived originally as a piece for solo guitar, but we created a second version for two guitars (first and second movements) and guitar and harpsichord (third movement) so that we could play it together.
TOP OF PAGE

Both of us love Brazilian music, whose influence can be clearly heard in Sixth Sense. It was Craig's idea to put this piece at the very end, as a kind of goodnight kiss after a first date. Not so passionate as to be unseemly, but a definite declaration of intent ...
TOP OF PAGE