Aurillian Tales (released on June 07, 2020)

Front Cover		Reverse Cover

Some of you might wonder about the title for this collection of songs.  In addition to being a musician and composer, I am also a writer.  I started writing poetry my sophomore year of college.  After graduation, I traveled quite a bit before starting my search for a job. In March of 1979, a friend of mine and I were traveling through Europe.  One afternoon while touring southern France, we visited an old castle in Nice—one in which Picasso lived.  During his stay of one year or so, he produced many famous and many not-so-famous paintings, sketches, and sculptures.  The castle is now a museum and many of his works are displayed there.  One series of images depicts assorted mythical creatures standing along a beach with a pale blue sky and a bright sun in the background.  In several of these paintings there was a centaur and woman.  It was these images that were the seeds from which my first short story was born. After forty years of writing short stories, I finally found a publisher interested in putting some of my short stories into print.  So on November 05, 2019—my first publication of fiction was released by She Writes Press.  It is a collection of seven stories titled "Seven Sides of Self". The third story ("Microwave Man") is the first to make mention of a fictional planet called Aurillia.  The fifth story ("Of The Green And Of The Gold") takes the main character, Jarka Moosha, to Aurillia.  It is in that story an otherwise perfect Aurillian society is examined—perfect except for one small detail.  The book is available via barnesandnoble.com and indiebound.org. To listen to any of the songs in this collection, click on the song titles below.  Alternatively, you can listen to high quality versions of the tunes posted on a HearNow Web site.  If you like what you hear and wish to purchase a hard copy of the CD or MP3 versions of the individual songs, click here.  Do enjoy!  And thanks for listening!

Click here to listen to "Aurillian Tales" on Pandora.

1.	Aurillian Sea (inspired by the golden-green seas of Planet Aurillia)
2.	Someday (today's the day my GOD will bring) (vocals supplied by Michelle Lockey) Click here to read the lyrics to "Someday."
3.	Little Girl, Far Away (a song for Karen Joy and Ma Sophia)
4.	Fourth Of July (a song for my Dad and his day) (vocals supplied by Susane Asher) (song co-written and Haken Continuum parts supplied by Sally Sparks) (parts of this song were recorded at Sally's studio in Arden, NC) (percussion parts supplied by Kara Sweetwater) Click here to read the lyrics to "Fourth Of July."
5.	Tell Me Something (Casla's Lament)
6.	All Night Long (Celestial Fun) (my heart so wants to go up skyward to the show) (vocals and additional lyrics supplied by Emily Carlson) (percussion parts supplied by Kara Sweetwater) (written on the porch at "The Lodge," High Rock Lake, NC) Click here to read the lyrics to "All Night Long."
7.	Serenacy and Joy (one part serenity, one part legacy, one part joy) (written by Robin Benjamins and Nancy Joie Wilkie) (performed, recorded, and mixed by Robin Benjamins)
8.	Which Way To Go (I'm telling you now so you'll know) (vocals supplied by Susane Asher) (additional vocalizations supplied by Tim Hildebrandt, BMI) (vocalizations recorded at the 2013 Swannanoa Gathering, Asheville, NC) (written on the porch at "The Lodge," High Rock Lake, NC)
9.	Aurillian Dream (a farewell to Planet Aurillia)
	Return to top of page.