An ear for the environment
New album
connects poetry
with guitar
BY ALYSSA EVANS
I
t all started in 2002 when author
Robert Michael Pyle turned his
radio on to listen to a local station.
What he heard was a Friday night
show curated by Krist Novoselic,
a founding member of Nirvana, for
Coast Community Radio. That eve-
ning, Novoselic played a variety of
vinyl records.
But one part of the show stood out
to Pyle in particular. During his show,
Novoselic read a piece from poet Walt
Whitman alongside a guitar piece by
John Fahey, a well-known slide guitar
player.
Pyle was hooked.
The connection
Later, when Pyle and Novoselic met
in person, Pyle suggested the two collab-
orate. Pyle wanted
to create something
similar to the poetry
Where to
and guitar combina-
fi nd it
tion Novoselic had
“Butterfl y
broadcasted.
Launches
“Soon, we had
from Spar
a song about a tsu-
Pole” is avail-
nami and others
able through
about a lahar, geol-
online
ogy and birds. Those
streaming
kinds of things,”
services. CDs
Novoselic said. “And
and vinyl
then it got to a point
records can
where we had 11
be ordered
songs.”
through but-
Pyle and Novoselic
terfl ylaunch.
had created the music
com.
for what would later
Performanc-
become their album
es of some
“Butterfl y Launches
songs are on
from Spar Pole.”
youtube.com.
Ray Prestegard,
who Novoselic plays
with in the band Giants
in the Trees, joined the duo a few years ago.
All three are featured on the album.
“Ray can play just about any music
under the sun,” Pyle said. “He helped us
with writing and coming up with more
string parts.”
8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
The cover of ‘Butterfl y Launches from Spar Pole’ features silkscreen and butterfl y prints from
prospective book covers made by album contributor Robert Michael Pyle’s late wife Thea Linnaea Pyle.
The album features poems written and
curated by Pyle, alongside instrumental
songs written by Novoselic. Much of the
songs’ instrumental parts are inspired by
Fahey, Novoselic said.
“I play fi nger-style guitar as much as
possible,” Novoselic said. “That kind of
style of Americana is really abstract.”
In each song, Pyle reads the lyrics while
Novoselic and Prestegard play instruments
such as guitars, mandolin, violin and piano.
“In other collaborations where poets
are working with musicians, the music is
often jazz, and in the background,” Pyle
said. “That is not the case here at all. These
are songs. They’re lyrics, I just recite them
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