EARLY SONG
(1999, official release 2004, Drag City)

EARLY SONG is the first chapter of Faun Fables. A songbook documenting the first material I performed and travelled with as a soloist in 1997. The songs are near and dear to my heart; old travelling companions that helped me get around the big, strange world. EARLY SONG’s originals were written from 1994-1998, some adapted from material I had written for bands. It was recorded in 1999 with producer Hans Wendl and Mark Orton, and one song with Dan Rathbun, but it was never offically pressed. Many thanks to Drag City for helping it see the light of day…and to Hans. – Dawn

“Eerie, Appalachian-tinged confessionals marked by spellbinding honesty. One of the most gifted singers performing today, McCarthy suggests what the next world might sound like.”

– The New Yorker, June 2000

“McCarthy’s vocals hauntingly animate EARLY SONG’s starkly spacious, near-mythic Appalachian-tinged folk tales….a unique musical vision anda brawny, bard-like imagination.”

– CMJ, Sept. 2000

“Her voice is as haunting as an abandoned coal mine, whilc it dances with the even tempo guitar that seems to pluck itself.”

– Change MusicFestival/San Francisco, Sept. 2000

Track Listing:

01. Muse
02. The Crumb 
03. Old Village Churchyard 
04. Apple Trees 
05. Only a Miner
06. Sometimes I Pray
07. Honey Baby Blues
08. Lullaby for Consciousness
09. O Death
10. Ode to Rejection
11. Bliss