Album Notes

Close your eyes... In the musty old opry house, the rag-tag orchestra tunes up in the pit. There’s a flourish of music and the characters, led by the mysterious figure of The Conductor, emerge from the shadows, conjuring up a fantastic vision of an Old West that history never knew. Great wheeled sailing ships course the desert; werewolves prowl the night; and those with the skill to wield magick hoard their power or lose all at the turn of a card.

The Stardust County rail line runs the length and breadth of this land, linking the boomtowns and mystics of the High Meadows with the ancient strongholds of the Desert Coast, and the destinies of those who ride it. A ne’er-do-well gambler, Nigel of Ephesus, and Nimue, a drifter with a magickal glass guitar, are thrown together, then torn apart, when they stumble across a conspiracy that reaches as far as the Line itself, and farther. To stop it – and to save their own lives – two losers must become heroes – in a world where the trains are run by Destiny, and they never run on time.

Nancy Louise Freeman has been entertaining audiences with her solo act for over a decade. Her signature dry wit, offbeat ballads, and striking soprano voice have made her a fixture on the Arizona acoustic circuit, and amongst the “Sci-Fi” set across North America. Stardust County began as a collection of songs – country & western, blues, folk-rock – that gradually grew into an epic until the first full-cast performance was staged in June 2001 at the legendary Fiddler’s Dream in Phoenix. Since then it’s had numerous performances at science fiction conventions, both with a full cast and as a one-woman show.

This 2-CD set brings together a wonderfully talented cast: musicians from the Phoenix and San Francisco Bay area acoustic scene, and some of the brightest stars in the filk genre (music by and for science fiction fans). The enhanced Disk 2 includes complete story and lyrics in HTML, PDF, MSWord(TM) and ASCII formats.

Cast: Lon Austin, Nancy Freeman, Larry Warner, Maya Bohnhoff, Jennifer Ashley, Tony Fabris, Tom Tuerff, Michelle "Vixy" Dockrey, Forrest Ashley, and “Decadent” Dave Clement.

Also Featuring: Fiddler Cat Taylor (Avalon Rising); Karl Franzen (Broceliande) on harmonica; and the legendary Jeff Bohnhoff on pyrotechnic guitar, bass, and Every Other Damn Thing.

Produced by Jeff Bohnhoff at Mystic Fig Studios.