I’m super excited to announce that the award-winning musician Jill Tracy will be orchestrating and performing music I wrote back in 1997 for the book trailer promoting my debut novel, Mr. Wicker. As a longtime fan of her music, I am thrilled and deeply honored that she’s agreed to be part of this project.

For the uninitiated, here’s a bit about Jill:

JILL TRACY is a San Francisco-based singer/pianist/storyteller and “musical evocateur” who has garnered multiple awards and a passionate following for her eerie and beautiful cinematic music, sophisticated lyrics, old-world glamour, and curious passion for strange tales. She has been hailed by the LA Weekly as the “cult darling of the Underworld,” and San Francisco Chronicle has named her the “femme fatale for the thinking man.” With six albums to her credit, her dark seductive music has appeared on CBS, NBC, PBS, and numerous independent and feature films. Showtime Networks chose Jill Tracy’s “Evil Night Together” as the “Final Requiem” song to promote the wildly anticipated last season of DEXTER.

Learn more about Jill Tracy and her music at her official website.

It All Started Back in 1997

Just before writing the original novelette, I composed the music and lyrics to the “Mr. Wicker Theme” under some pretty unusual circumstances (which could be the subject of a separate blog post). It was just a four-line lullaby that, in my head, fanned into a full-blown piano instrumental a la a very dark Liz Story. However, I didn’t own a piano then and my hands were too injured to play one. The basic tune has haunted me all these years and has never been realized — until now!

My Own Musical Background

Music has always been an important part of my life. I was raised a classical musician, played in numerous honor bands and orchestras, and studied jazz and musical theory/composition — all while I was still in high school. In college, I studied singing and, in particular, operatic technique. From 2000 to 2002, I wrote and sang my own music — Dark Folk for Dark Folk — as Lady Euthanasia at venues around Los Angeles and even in Dublin, Ireland.

But Now It’s 2014…

And I look forward to the Jill Tracy’s orchestration of this theme that’s so close to my heart and history. Viva the Dark Diva!