A Fine Companion

A Fine Companion is an album of newly-composed settings of troubadour songs and texts, written in a dream-pop/shoegaze/psychedelic rock style for an amplified combination of medieval and new instruments.

The texts of this project were chosen by Charles Mueller (composer) and the ensemble, with a focus on troubadour lyrics that expand or refute the standard tropes of chivalrous love by choosing poems from a feminine perspective, and by delving into the metaphysical and spiritual subsets of the genre. The unbridled sensuality of the arrangements create space for a raw experience that inspires a visceral reaction in the listener. Mueller has used pre-existing troubadour music as a melodic and modal prompt on a number of pieces, with direct quotations organically morphing as if in an inspired game of telephone.

Tracy Cowart

voice, harps, hurdy-gurdy, percussion

Jim Hopkins

synthesizers, Rhodes, harmonium

Cameron LeCrone

drum set

Ben Matus

voice, recorders, dulcian, hümmelchen, ukelele

Charles Mueller

composer, guitar, bass guitar, glockenspiel

Sian Ricketts

voice, douçaines, recorders

Composed by Charles Mueller.
Produced by Tracy Cowart, Charles Mueller, and Sian Ricketts.
Engineered by Charles Mueller.
Mastered by Mike Tierney.
Recorded at Tiny Panther Recording, Mount Vernon NY, March 2022.
Published by BMI.
Photography by Anja Schutz.
Cover art and design by Haeg Design.
© 2023 • BSTV-0195 • brightshiny.ninja •

Niccolo Seligmann

vielles, viola a chiavi, psaltery, gittern, viola da gamba, percussion

Ellie Sutherland

voice