Once upon a time, I played in garage bands in New Jersey and Boston. It was probably the most fun I ever had. Then my interests went in other directions–writing poetry and fiction particularly, which took all my attention for a couple of decades. Then, egged on by my son Andrew, I dusted off my old guitars, and we decided to form a new band, Penelope’s Thrill. Now songwriting claims as much of my time as poetry.
The Penelope’s Thrill debut album, Twilight on Tunnel Road, won the Alternative Album of the Year Award from Madison Area Music Association in 2022. Read more and listen to the album on the Penelope’s Thrill website.
Here is a song I wrote to feature the fabulous violinist Wendy Lynn Staats:
And here is a song I wrote featuring a solo for Tuba! (possibly the only rock song with a true tuba solo!) Big thanks to Ben Jaeger on tuba:
This song was inspired by the Coronavirus lockdown–but it’s very upbeat actually:
To listen to more Penelope’s Thrill songs, visit the Penelope’s Thrill website, or our Spotify page! Or use this link to find Penelope’s Thrill on Apple Music, iTunes, SoundCloud, or any other streaming service.
(On the Penelope’s Thrill SoundCloud page or Bandcamp page, you can click on individual songs to see the lyrics and performance notes)
Click on this link for a music video–a song I wrote featuring the Kazakh dombra and electric guitar.
