Cibola by Derek Monypeny

Cibola is in some ways a continued exploration/distillation of the approach and methodology that I first introduced on The Hand As Dealt: the 15-string Indian electric banjo known as the shahi baaja again features prominently, and many of the tracks could be called "drone-based."

But I also wanted to expand further. Cibola marks the first time I have ever had drums on any of my solo records; my dear friend, the brilliant San Francisco-based percussionist and sound artist Kevin Corcoran, sent me a complete drum track and I played shahi baaja and guitar over it. The result is "Nala Gem," where we explore quasi-Southeast Asian bell tones, dynamics, and heavy wash. And I end the record with "A Tin Tear Drop," where I introduce an electric autoharp, which I play using mallets to create a multiphonic, glowing Fabrege sound-egg.

I'm already a decade into my solo "career," but over the last couple of years I have entered a new phase in what I do; I'm grateful to work with 2182 Recording Co. so you can hear it.

*DANCING ACROSS THE WATER*

Cibola.

Cities of Gold.

Mythology sold in the 16th century by the Aztecs to pathetic, sociopathic, obsessively greedy colonizing "conquistadors."

("In 1539, Italian Franciscan Marco da Nizza reached Zuni Pueblo and called it Cibola. However, when conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado finally arrived at Cíbola in 1540, he discovered that the stories were unfounded and that there were, in fact, no treasures as the friar had described — only adobe towns.")

A perfect current reference point for our hopelessly unaffordable, condo-bedazzled New Gilded Age cities.

Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, Blythe, CA. Midway between my home and my home state.

Cibola High School, Yuma, AZ, my hometown: 85% Latino/Hispanic population.

*WHAT A KILLER*

Born in the Arizona desert, a veteran of multiple explorations into the Sahara desert via Morocco and Western Sahara, and now a resident of the Mojave, Derek Monypeny sees his musical mission as adding to and expanding on what he calls the "desert continuum;" the psychedelic sirocco swirl of desert-based stringed instruments played with utter abandon by musicians the world over.