Passages Of The Labyrinth
(based on the labyrinth of walls that we build around ourselves)

ENTER THE LABYRINTH

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When I was a two-year-old, I had a severe fear of being sucked down the drain at the local swimming pool. I suppose it was my second experience with irrational fear (phobias... my first phobia was of the Boogieman). The fear of being pulled in by the draining water's whirlpool led to other fears. As my phobia grew, the drain became home to alligators... and electric eels soon guarded the perimeter.

But, I loved the pool. I really loved the deep-end. Would I let irrational fear rule my life? I thought "not". Instead, I developed superpowers:

  1. the ability to *ZAP* the electricity out of the eels
  2. the strength to strangle the 'gators
  3. and, the wisdom to know that by swimming with the current of the water's vortex, I could accelerate to safety.

The next year, we moved to a new town... and the phobia faded away. Thirty years passed before I gave any thought to the emotions created by the deep-end of that swimming pool. Then, through a series of very bizarre circumstances, it bubbled to the surface of my psyche.

During a musical recording session... in that very same neighborhood of Philadelphia (Roxborough)... a spontaneous jam started coming from out of nowhere. A mystical rhythm formed from the sound of an acoustic guitar and congas. Lyrics started flowing into the air, "The water's slowly spinning round and round. Heading, heading ever... forever down. I hope I don't get sucked quite "right in."

An American Gallic Folk n' Reggae song was born. The concept of the Labyrinth started catching on in the local village. Friends and relatives started contributing ideas and musical talents.

Soon, a website came to life... with sound and multimedia. And, the children started requesting the song as part of their bedtime ritual. It wasn't long before they became *part* of the song, too.

Each night a new set of fears is addressed and conquered. The children tell of their inner demons... and we all help knock them down. A few examples include:

  1. alligators
  2. a loud rock band with terrible voices 720k .avi
  3. red bottoms (what happens when you get a spanking) turn into fire361k .avi

And, that is how this Folk Song was born. Though the form of the song is ever changing, the heart remains the same -- "if you try... try to use your mind's eye, you can make the walls come tumbling down... all around."

Here is an example of one of the bedtime renditions: 8.7M mpeg4
(This mpeg4 .avi has a 720x480 screen size and "CD" quality sound.)

The New Demo Download

4M .avi
6.6M mpeg4

Now, we're having fun. A Why not see where the passages will take us next? One thought was to cut a demo in the studio... and sort-of like what Bob Dylan did with The Band or Jimi Hendrix -- let others help give it a new life.

When it came to making the demo, we didn't want to loose the feeling of "being in a labyrinth." So, we took the studio on the road. All the performances in the video are live.

Track List:

Random Passages into the Labyrinth

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