Album Notes

The twelve stories chosen for Spontaneous Combustion's first CD all have bits of wisdom in them, often presented humorously.

Tom and Sandy Farley have been telling stories both solo and tandem under the name Spontaneous Combustionsince the International Year Of The Child, 1979. They came to storytelling through improvisational theatre, giving their tandem telling almost tag team style of sharing stories and dramatizing dialog. They often tell at schools, libraries, summer camps, Quaker gatherings, corporate programs, and private parties. Tom sells children's books and recordings at Linden Tree in Los Altos, California. Sandy teaches English [ESL] at the Sequoia Adult School. Tom & Sandy are part of Southbay Storytellers and Listeners and regional and national storytelling networks.

Eric Sabelman joins them on this CD with two of his original stories which began as messages that came to him during Quaker meetings for worship. Eric is a bio-medical engineer in Palo Alto. Three more of Eric's parables can be heard on Spontaneous Combustion's second CD, "Words Go Questing."

Their recording engineer, Scott Goldberg, created and played the guitar vignettes at the end of each track. These were composed on the spot to go with each story. One time Sandy sang a series of descending notes that might represent trickling water. Scott immediately echoed her pitch and created the perfect vignette for "The Apprentice." Following "Mikku and Trees," Tom and Sandy wanted music to pick up the cadence of the final words whispered by the trees. As Scott created the song, Tom and Sandy spontaneously sang along. It is at the end of track #11. The only sample you can hear of Scott's work here is in the intro on track #1.