“Save the Day”
By Gillian Rivers
Written by Gillian Rivers; vocals, violin: Gillian Rivers; drums: Russell Simins; guitar: Michael Brandon, Sammy James Jr.; trombone: Ryan Snow; trumpet: Phil Rodriguez; piano: Dan Chen. Copyright ©2011 Gillian Rivers (BMI)
Classical violinist, string arranger, and orchestrator Gillian Rivers is from Rochester, New York. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she served as concertmaster of the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble. Rivers has also played with MGMT, Sigur Rós, Silversun Pickups, TV on the Radio, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Esopus 17 (Fall 2011)
Esopus CD #17: Fear Itself
After our readers submitted their most intense irrational fears for our fifth subscriber invitational, we invited 13 musicians to select one fear to use as inspiration for a new song for this issue’s CD. Some of the tracks convey these phobias with absolute gravity: For instance, Edinburgh-based band Meursault delivers a haunting and heartbreaking take on Wendy Cohen’s anxiety about dropping dead on the street and leaving loved ones behind (“No Knock at the Door”). But there are lighter approaches, too, like Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt’s “Spew,” a raucous number inspired by Dave Miranda’s fear of vomiting in public. Whether serious or comic, sad or buoyant, all of these wonderful songs prove that fear is as rich and potent a source of musical inspiration as any other human emotion.