Traditional songs from Hopeless Maine

What do people sing on Hopeless Maine, when the fog swirls ominously around the windows? What do they sing to children too frightened to sleep? Or for that matter at the Founders Day when residents gather together to look mournfully at the inedible flora and fauna their ancestors found on arrival here?

There are of course many traditional songs. here are some collected by author and filkloreist Sheila North, on the subject of The Night Potato.

 

You can find more Sheila North here – https://sheilanorth.wordpress.com/

Here’s a tentacular cover Tom did for Sheila’s short stories…

 

Utterly Hopeless Music

Quite some years ago, musician and composer Johnny Benson approached Tom at The Steampunk’s World Fair in New Jersey and they talked about the possibility of a soundtrack for Hopeless Maine.

We of course said yes. The result is a lovely, haunting and atmospheric body of music. The titles are…

Hopeless Maine,  Salamandra, Pallad rock (the orphanage), Ribbons in her Hair, Of Woods and Witches and Just Off Shore.

It’s a soundtrack for Personal Demons – book one, or the second bit of The Gathering, after The Blind Fisherman, depending on which version you have.

You can find Utterly Hopeless on itunes, and if you poke about the internet, its on other music sites as well.

https://itunes.apple.com/gt/album/utterly-hopeless-ep/id760207227?l=en