"Kokopelli is a figure commonly found in petroglyphs and pottery throughout the southwest. Since the first petroglyhs were carved around 3,000 years ago, he predates even Oraibi, the oldest continuous settlement in North America.

He Is regarded as the universal symbol of fertility for all life, be it crops, hopes, dreams, or love.

Kokopelli was said to play a flute as he traveled to pronounce his arrival to the villagers and it was considered the greatest of honors to be the women he chose to be his "dreamtime companion" for his duration of time in the village as many of these women apparently bore children from these unions.

Hopi legend tells us that upon their entrance onto this, the fourth world, the Hopi people were met by an Eagle who shot an arrow into the two "mahus," insects which carried the power of heat. They immediately began playing such uplifting melodies on their flutes that they healed their own pierced bodies. The Hopi then began their separate migrations and each "mahu" would scatter seeds of fruits and vegetables onto the barren land. Over them, each played his flute to bring warmth and make the seeds grow. His name - KOKO for wood and PILAU for hump (which was the bag of seeds he always carried) - was given to him on this long journey. It is said that he draws that heat from the center of the Earth. He has come down to us as the loving spirit of fertility - of the Earth and humanity. His invisible presence is felt whenever life come forth from seed - plants or animals."

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Enchanting scenery we have found in American Southwest, once again opened up my imagination and prompted me to reach for my trusted old acoustic guitar which, luckily, I took along for the 2009 road trip. With a handy little digital field recorder, I was able to capture not only sounds of nature but also the musical ideas and sketches of songs.

It took me a while to sort through the wealth of material I brought home with me but finally I'm starting to see the arrangements that can be recorded and made into an album. This will be the 2^nd CD released under Art Sonic name (Waterworld, released in 2003, being the 1^st one). Music inspired by American Southwest, rugged beauty of the desert, tales of the Old West and freedom of an open road.

February 2012 update

Took me a long while to get back to this material (with all the time I dedicated to Dubtrak projects) but finally, in the past few weeks, I fully submerged in this project again.

It appears that I'll end up with more than one full album's worth of music. So I decided to split the material into three, somewhat logical, releases. Instead of "On a trail of ever-elusive Kokopelli" the album, there will be "On a trail of ever-elusive Kokopelli" trilogy, if you will.

At the moment, I'm focusing on the first project with a working title "Roadside Sketches". It'll feature tunes from the first part of the trip (up to and including Colorado) with a distinct neofolk feel (downtempo bluegrass? atmospheric folktronica?). The attempt here is to translate the views of big prairie skies, Rocky Mountain panoramas, peaks and valleys, streams and ghost towns into short musical pieces that hopefully evoke the feelings and recreate the sights I had in front of me.

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Here is a preview of a few tracks.