I’ve been a big Anne Rice fan since I was in my teens. And through the years I’ve read whatever she put out there. There is no denying that in every book she makes, the characters are always the focal point. Yes the stories are wonderful but to add to that, there is this great humanity she always puts in her characters. You might say it’s ironic considering the stories always involve blood, violence and occasional taking of life. But such is life after all. The shadows always define the light and there is always sense of redemption in all her stories.

I remember  that at the same time, I discovered this wonderful music from a band based in New York called October Project. At that period I was listening to many Irish musicians and you can say it became an exclusive experience for me. And this American band took me out of my little basket and made me pay attention. It’s the rich drama that is found in every track of their albums that I really took to heart. Yes it’s a transporting kind of music. And the center of it all is  the rich heavenly contralto voice of Mary Fahl. It’s a voice like no other. Some call it ‘the kiss of a vampire’  because  at that time Interview with the Vampire became  a big hit. In fact, the band was  inspired by the book that they wrote a song Take Me As I Am:

Take me as I am

Someone you don’t know

Even in the dark You may not be sure

Take me while you can

I can see you standing in

the smoky entrance

Giving up your good intentions

I can imagine the song to be an appropriate theme for Lestat and Louis. Anne Rice love it but the song never made it to the movie version of the book. Fast forward to the present. Anne wrote a sequel to The Wolf Gift, a story about were wolves and there’s this scene where the main character Reuben hears the October Project song “Take Me As I Am'” playing where there’s no presence of any music player, thus understanding that the song could be part of the ‘haunting’ itself. And what da surprise! Mary wrote and performed a song for the audio book version. That song is called Exiles: The Wolves of Midwinter.

Exiles: The Wolves of Midwinter has that trademark of Mary Fahl’s soaring full-bodied voice that is like no other. And she sums up all the reasons why I love blogging about music. She’s a priestess of music and for me music is a communion of souls. When something is powerful to touch the soul and takes you to the depths of your guts up the height of your spiritual ecstasy, then it has done its purpose. As what she sings in the chorus: We belong to eternity!

http://maryfahl.com/

Mary Fahl(former lead singer of October Project)