Stories Without Words

Castle Ghosts (Wave Guide)

Tim Pitts

By David Lilly

Does your hectic life leave you feeling high-strung? Uptight? Maybe even overwhelmed? Louisville's Tim Pitts can help. Light some scented candles, run a tub of hot bath water, lie back and let Pitts' Castle Ghosts CD flow through you to enhance the soothing ambiance and ease your aching mind.

No lyrics to ponder here, either. All you need to do is allow Pitts' instrumentals to tell any stories you want to hear. And it sure sounds like there are multi-tracked guitars on this disc. If it's just Pitts and one guitar, that's just as impressive as the wordless storytelling and cathartic quality of the music.

The lead track, "Flight of the Phoenix," is haunting and features some short, sprinting guitar passages as if it were the score to a woman in a flowing gown, alternately walking and running through the forest to elude something scary or harmful.

The title song is more of a pondering piece - perhaps a peaceful and thoughtful stroll through the night. "Sleepy Hollow" is appropriately titled, since it breathes with an air of apprehension. Songs like "Candle Lantern" and "Moroccan Sunrise" could find a comfortable spot on an old Al Stewart record, perhaps Time Passages or Last Days of the Century. Given Stewart's musical ability and some of the musicians he has kept company with, especially Peter White, that's a lofty salute.

If you pay attention to lyrics, a cool thing about Pitts' music is that you can play it and hold a conversation without missing that part of the music. Sometimes it sprints, sometimes it is foreboding, other times it evokes a sunrise or autumn afternoon. Overall, it is quite pleasant (and certainly not limited to the bathtub experience). To read a little more about Pitts and hear some samples, click on over to http://www.guitar9.com/castleghosts.html