The Soundtrack of Bear Naked

Every story or novel I write has its own unique feel to it. In the case of my upcoming YA novel, Country Girls, it was the main character’s voice. She dominates the action and she narrates as well. I found her voice actually changed my writing style, for that book at least.

I have started listening to music while I write recently. It helps drown out the distractions. It doesn’t really matter what the music is. It’s just background noise anyway.

Then I started planning Bear Naked. For some reason this novel required a very specific soundtrack. I found myself listening to more folk music, especially a couple of smaller bands that I know. My favorite local band, and one of my favorite bands period, was top of the list of tracks I have been listening to. Thankful Dirt is the duo of Molly and Darren Matthews (pictured below).

A local indie/folk band. I listened to their album almost incessantly while writing Bear Naked.
A local indie/folk band. I listened to their album almost incessantly while writing Bear Naked.

One of my favorite bands back in the mid-nineties was Tempest. They are a celtic rock band from Norway. When I conceived the character of Uncle Darren, I knew he too would be a Tempest fan. I also knew I had to dig out some of my old Tempest to listen to while writing. There was one album in particular that I listened to frequently while working on this novel, Turn of the Wheel. The folk ballad Bonden og Krakka is even in the novel itself.

There were other albums and artists that I listened to. Overall the soundtrack has a distinctly folk feel to it. Here is a list of the artist and albums I regularly listened to while writing Bear Naked.

  1. Thankful Dirt by Thankful Dirt
  2.  Turn of the Wheel by Tempest
  3.  Boxes and Bags by Coyote Grace
  4.  Cross of Changes by Enigma
  5.  Touch by Sarah McLaughlin
  6.  Under the Pink by Tori Amos

The first three albums are folk rock. They are smaller bands that I have seen in person. The first album and the last three all take me back to the mid to late nineties. At that time I was active in the local Renaissance fairs and festivals. This is the life I envision Amanda and her Uncle Darren living.

I listened to other CD’s at times, depending on my mood and inclination. But this list is the music I choose most often and the stuff that put me in the mood of this book. I am working on Bear Naked Volume Two: Wolf Camp currently and it is interesting how this list is changing and evolving. I will post a list for that work when the time comes.

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