Music for Chasing Squirrels (2022)by Vic DillahaySquirrel!
“Beautiful and soothing… The guitar melody is awesome.”Allison Abbo Simon Lowe (AbboMusic)
About the Album
My primary function as a human is, of course, to take my dog Charlie for walks to hunt squirrels. This seems a bit pointless to me, as on the few occasions he's caught up to one he has just given it a push with his nose to make it run faster. But Charles assures me this is part of the game and that the world will end should any squirrels go unchased.
Albums like this are what I do with my time off from this world-saving quest. Please enjoy, ideally while obsessively checking the trees for any sign of those furry-tailed scoundrels.
Vic Dillahay
Credits
- Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Fretless Bass, Bass VI, Programming, and Keyboards: Vic Dillahay
- Cover Photo "Charlie Bear at Foote Lagoon, 2022" By: Victor Carlton Dillahay
- Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered By: audiosalvage
Tracks
- Mrs. Harvey's (3:19)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05153
Mrs. Harvey's Bakery is an historic building on 11th Avenue in Longmont. I wrote this back in 2010 after driving by it a dozen or more times while moving my recording gear from CMIC to my new place off Pratt Street.
- Nines (3:28)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05154
Graphite Addiction recorded an alternate swinging version of this and "Mental Morphology". This is my take on the funkier original, trying (and failing) to play bass like Tim Carmichael and drums like Pete Ehrmann.
- Cibeles (3:21)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05155
A quick one in Phrygian/Phrygian Dominant. Named for the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, since Phrygia's goddess is Cybele.
- Blues for Phrygia (3:54)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05156
I was in a Phrygian kind of mood, so here's a 16 bar blues in Phrygian. Sort of. It's in 4/4 but there's a sort of prelude section in 6/8, because if you're going to write a blues it might as well also be a jazz waltz.
- Dearest (2:37)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05157
I found this melody sketched on a Colorado Music Instruction Center payment reminder card from the early 2000s with the word "Dearest" written in script beside it. Given that context, I don't know if I intended it as a declaration of love or as a reminder to settle a delinquent account. I like to think the finished tune works in either case.
- Fossil Creek Tunnel (4:06)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05158
Fort Collins has an excellent system of bike paths. When I moved to the south side of town in 2012, I was thrilled to learn that the Fossil Creek Path would soon be finished allowing me to ride a loop around town. All that remained was a single, soon to be completed tunnel under a railroad track. It was finally finished a few weeks before I moved away in 2019. I got to use it once, so wrote this to commemorate the occasion.
- For C and D (3:27)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05159
Definitely one for us jazz nerds. I was trying to make triad pairs sound natural, so this entire melody is alternating C major and D minor triads doing their best impression of the Great American Songbook.
- Near Majority (3:17)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05160
8 bars of this melody are from way back in 1999. I wrote it for an assignment at CU Denver and intentionally tried to make it as difficult to sightread as possible to trip up my professor as he played it in front of the class. It was a jerk move, so as a bit of penance 21 years later I finished and recorded it here. I hope it's the ugliest thing I ever release.
- Somewhere West of Wichita (4:09)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05161
This companion piece to "Somewhere East of Omaha" from "Music to Squeak By" shares its odd little 5 note rhythmic quirk. Mainly it's included to feature my lovely Collings baritone.
- Actually, Actually (3:09)© 2022 Victor Carlton Dillahay US‑DHM‑22‑05162
I am trying to break my habit of prefacing every differing opinion with "actually". Actually, actually as a filler word is rather obnoxious. The former manager of Fort Collins Coffeehouse, Hayley, called me out on this bad habit one day after I informed her that "actually, my Irish cream latte is quite delicious". I happened to be writing the chords to the B section of this tune at the time so this seemed an appropriate title.
Technical Data
- Label: Curious Automata
- Catalog Number: 220531A (Digital and CD)
- Catalog Number: 220531B (Lathe Cut Vinyl)
- Released: February 22nd, 2022
- Format: CD, Digital, and Vinyl
- Total Tracks: 10
- Duration: 34:53
- UPC (Digital): 756839548342
- UPC (CD): 885007891185
