The Ariana Sessions is now available from the following music services:
Streaming:
Stream The Ariana Sessions Volume 1 on Apple Music (from your device)
Stream The Ariana Sessions Volume 2 on Apple Music (from your device)
Stream The Ariana Sessions Volume 1 on Spotify
Stream The Ariana Sessions Volume 2 on Spotify
Stream The Ariana Sessions from YouTube
Purchase and Download
Buy The Ariana Sessions Volume 1 on iTunes (from your desktop)
Buy The Ariana Sessions Volume 2 on iTunes (from your desktop)
Buy The Ariana Sessions Volume 1 on Amazon
Buy The Ariana Sessions Volume 2 on Amazon
Buy The Ariana Sessions Volume 1 from Google Play
Buy The Ariana Sessions Volume 2 from Google Play
Q: Who is Ariana?
A: Ariana is a character from a half finished short story I wrote in college. The protagonist Mark didn’t even know he had a cousin. There of course had been rumors in the family for years about Grandpa Al’s first son. But they say he disappeared at age 12 and was never seen again. At the beginning of the story, Mark is a junior in high school and his life is in a rutt until his cousin Ariana whom he’s never met before shows up at his door one day, demands he get in her car, and whisks him away out of his doldrums to a world of myth and magic where his un-named uncle is well and alive. I never finished the story, but I’ve always been fond of Ariana. One day years after I abandoned the story I met a real girl named Ariana and she was so much like the character in my story it was weird. The album is a tribute to that fire you will find in anyone born in early December, and to that creative energy you will surely have if you stare long enough at the 9 of clubs.
Q: Whats up with all the funny track names?
A: I write so much music that I gave up trying to name all my tracks. In order to personally keep track of my creations, I invented a calendar. All the six letter words beginning with PA are time stamps on my personal calendar. The first 2 letters denote the month. The second 2 letters denote the week, and the third 2 letters denote the day. Every track on this album was composed during PA month. There are 12 months in my personal year, but each month is 84 days long. One 84 day month = 12 Days in my personal week times 7 weeks in my personal month. The weeks are straight forward. They are the names of the musical scale. The first 12 days of the month is Do week. The next 12 days are Re week. The next 12 days are Mi week. Fa, So, La, Ti … I ordered the tracks in the album in chronological order to when I composed them, so you will notice that the first 12 tracks of volume 1 all have the letters Do in them. The next 17 tracks have the letters Re. I was ambitious during Re week and sometimes wrote more than one track a day. The next 11 tracks were composed during Mi week. The 12th track of Mi week is track 1 on Volume 2. As to what the other letters stand for, I’d rather not reveal that to the public, but I will tell you in person if you ask. I will tell you what the PA stands for though. PA is for Patience. Every track on this album was composed during Patience month, so every track begins with the letters PA. Patience month, I have found is excellent for finishing epic projects like this album.
Q: What about the other names like Yellow Electric Star?
A: My publisher was dissatisfied with my personal naming scheme and requested that I add more descriptive names. Instead of wracking my brains to invent better song names, I just added a different series of time stamps. All the names like Yellow Crystal Seed, and Red Cosmic Serpent come from the Mayan Tzolkin Calendar. I won’t write an essay about the Tzolkin as there are plenty of digital resources on the subject, but basically it is a calendar with 260 days. Each day has a name like Yellow Crystal Seed. My concept for the album was to write one song a day for 260 days to cover every “Kin” in the calendar. I made it to 78 before running out of juice. Patience month is followed by Liliana month in my personal calendar. Liliana month is all about visual art. The day Patience month ended, so did my ability to compose that sort of music.
Q: Why are your albums priced so high?
A: Like you, I was a little dismayed when I saw my albums were selling for $20 a volume. I assumed they would sell for $10 like most every other digital album, but since each volume is roughly 2 hours long, my distribution partners felt it necessary to charge more. But don’t fret, because you can listen to it for free from any of the streaming links above, and if you especially like one of the songs, it’s only a buck. But fly with me if you will into the not so distant past, and you may remember when CDs did cost $20 a pop, and you will see that $40 is still a fair price for 4 hours of music.