Category: Fairytale

Posted on

Lycanthrope

“Lycanthrope” composed, performed, and recorded with voice singing original poem and accompaniment on guitar, and banjo by S.R. Bender on December 24, 2015
“Werewolf” painted with gouache by S.R. Bender

Lycanthrope

Darting furtively through the mist

Cursed under lunar brightness

The valiancy of my heart

Slashed by razor teeth

Became my darkest side

Evil enclosing

My nocturnal lair

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mud tracked prints

Find me sprawled

In the dawn of twisted sheets

Like tormented trees

Gnarled from remembering

What blackened life

Is forever gone

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

But only the music

Of wind and owls

And the crackling rain

Had abided my incessant howls

Until yet another night

When gliding clouds

Reveal another full newness of moon

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

S.R. Bender, January 8, 2011

Posted on

Goblin Hot Pot

“Goblin Hot Pot” drawn by Sandy Ross Bender with crayons and colored pencils on red paper a while ago.

Dancing around a fiery cauldron bubbling with delicious goblin cuisine ingredients is in stark contrast to coping with real time global dangers that encroach upon our conciousness. Living in art and music is starlight as darkness and its inky blackness thicken and roll out the last glimmers of the day.

“Goblin Hot Pot” composed, performed, and recorded by Sandy Ross Bender with guitar, banjo, glockenspiel, and concertina on November 19, 2021.

And then there is music for the next morning…

“Beautiful Banjo Morning” composed, performed, and recorded by Sandy Ross Bender on banjo, guitar, and concertina on November 20, 2021.
Posted on

Two dancing pigs

“Two Dancing Pigs” Pastel Drawing Detail by Sanford Ross Bender

“Two Dancing Pigs” composed, performed, and recorded on one track with acoustic guitar and harmonica. Previously included on “Terrain” CD 2015 by Sanford (Sandy) Ross Bender

“Two Dancing Pigs” was improvised by playing harmonica and guitar simultaneously. Any discomfort in physically managing two instruments was alleviated through closed-eye visualization of two dancing pigs squealing with delight in each other’s company. The artwork is a detail of the pastel drawing used in my previous post, “The Listening Drum.” Looking closer allows one to see two dark pig-like shapes appear (among other creatures such as a spider, a bat, or a raven’s tail). Perhaps, rainbow colored waves are perceived as dancing while the pig duo floats and soars overhead in sea spray and thermal undulations. A colorful drawing appearing to depict a single slice in time awakens and sequentially shape-shifts to melodic rhythms of musical joy.

You can find “Two Dancing Pigs” and other pieces on Sandy Bender’s album Terrain.