Larkin Grimm recorded at Old Soul Studios by Kenny Siegal, mixed by Bryce Goggin at Trout Recordings.  Recorded live to 2 inch tape and mixed to tape.  Featuring Jesse Sparhawk, Clara Engel, Nina Violet, Tony Visconti, Otto Hauser, Caley Monohan-Ward.  

01 Paradise And So Many Colors

When Tony Visconti decided to add the wooden flute at the beginning of this track, it was such a stroke of genius and beauty.  The two harps playing back and forth and improvising live together gave the track a unique and otherworldy beauty together, and when Tony's bass came in, I suddenly remembered I was recording with David Bowie's producer and bass player.  It just has that magic sound.  I can listen to this one over and over.  It was written for my former producer Michael Gira, who promised me the stars and ended up destroying my world.

02 Flash And Thunder Came To Earth

I wrote this song after a bike accident when my life flashed before my eyes and I realized I was ready to die if that was my fate.  I had been so depressed I didn't care.  My heart was broken.  I was sleeping on the floor in a room I rented for $200 a month, alone except for the company of my faithful dog, Jakeleg.   We recorded several versions over the years trying to get it right.  I believe in the song.  I think it's one of my best compositions because it brought me out of my sadness and into a spiritual place.  It's also dedicated to my hero Dolly Parton.

03 Without A Body Or A Numb And Useless Mind

My Sufi friend Anael introduced me to the poetry of Hafez, the classic Iranian poet, while we were at a Sufi camp on a mountain in Switzerland.  I wasn't pleased with the translation we were reading so I wrote my own version.  This is a loose, loose translation of the poem The Burglar, half Hafez and half me.  Jesse Sparhawk's harp skills really shine on this track.  Caley made the mandolin sound like another creature.  I played the classical guitar, Otto drummed like a sneaky criminal breaking in to steal your Christmas.

05 Be A Great Burglar

I wrote this track for my friend Haley O'Connor on a walk through the park. We were both working damn hard to stay sane in the face of chaos. It stayed in the back of my mind for about 5 years before I finally recorded it or even performed it.  Some of the best songs grow slowly like that.  This recording is almost completely live, recorded to 2 inch tape at Old Soul.  Tony Visconti played the guitar solo and made it sound classic.  Jesse Sparhawk held down the soul harp and I think those synth sounds came from Caley Monohan-Ward as well as the violin.  Nina Violet played viola.  Shooby-doop girls are Clara Engel, Nina Violet and myself.

04 The Road Is Paved With Leaves

Pool of Milk is about trying to access that childlike state of mind to escape this place.

07 Lying In A Pool Of Milk 1

In the meadow below a mountain in Switzerland, surrounded by cows ringing their handmade bells, I found a treasure trove of tiny sharp-capped fairy mushrooms with my Austrian friend Hannes.  We each ate about thirty of them, and lay in the grass talking to the tiny little aphids and beetles crawling over the leaves.  "Let us into your head," said the insects.  "We want to clean you!"  I said "Ok.  Come on in.  I've got this lover I'm trying to forget.  Can you clean him out of my mind for me?"  And they did!  On this track Caley plays the violin wind and Jesse is the harp bugs.  I played guitar and Otto drummed.  It's a simple composition, played live and recorded to 2 inch tape by Kenny Siegal.  Mixed live to tape by Bryce Goggin as well, which is a magic process requiring more than two hands.  

08 Hello Pool Of Tears

When you meet someone on the Astral Plane, then realize you need to disassociate from your Astral Body, where does the soul go next?

Recorded at Old Soul and at Trout Recordings.  I played the electric guitar through pedals as well as the classical guitar.  Otto Hauser drummed and Caley Monohan-Ward sawed on the fiddle.

09 I Am Not Real 1

With Norberto Lobo, Olivia and Ida in a Swedish Kitchen, 2008.

Larkin Grimm

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