We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Witch Hunt - history told in music, sound, and story - Episode I - Tituba's Journey

by Brian O'Connell

supported by
coreythegroundhog
coreythegroundhog thumbnail
/

about

Witch Hunt - history told in music, sound, and story

A rock opera podcast by Brian O'Connell

Available on most podcast streaming platforms and at: www.buzzsprout.com/1359307

The history of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials told through music and story-telling in a format recalling an old time radio drama with a modern experimental proggressive-rock twist. Witch Hunt borrows freely from original sources of information from the time of the trials such as letters, books, poems, transcriptions of the trials themselves, as well as melodies from the Puritan hymn books. The music is highly original art-rock ranging from soft ambient soundscapes to heavy power riffs with many other stops along the way. The narrator provides a story teller voice that weaves a historical thread throughout each episode. Witch Hunt is conceived, written, and produced by Brian O'Connell, who records and produces the show, playing a wide variety of instruments and voice parts.

EPISODE I - Tituba's Journey

This is the story of an Arawak woman called Tituba: how she was kidnapped by the English from South America when she was just a young girl and enslaved. Growing up on a plantation in Barbados, she absorbed multiple cultural influences from her fellow enslaved Africans and her English mistress. Her inner world becomes a confluence of Arawak, West African, and English myths and magic. We follow her as she is taken by a frustrated and angry young Puritan man named Samuel Parris to a new life in Massachusetts. They arrive first in Boston and then move to Salem Village, a small frontier community infested with jealousy and rivalry, and haunted by fear and suspicion.

All music written by Brian O'Connell except "Old Oxford Tune (Psalm 4)" adapted from the Bay Psalm Book, 1698.

Episode 1 Parts:

Part I - Witch Hunt Theme
Part II - Old Oxford Tune (Psalm 4)
Part III - Captured and Enslaved
Part IV - The Cunning Tradition
Part V - Parris, Boston, and Salem
Part VI - Witch Hunt Theme (reprise)

Variation on Old Oxford Tune (Psalm 4)
(Music adapted from The Bay Psalm Book, published in Boston in 1698)

Do you know of the coming storm?

The people gone astray

Their sins break free Satan from his chains

Stars fall, moon turns to blood

Fear, greed, and gossip rule the day

Old rivalries reborn

Blame cast upon thy neighbor’s home

The Beast is free to roam


Brian O'Connell - voice, bass guitar, fretless bass, touch guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, sintir, percussion

Mike Harmon - drums, cymbals, percussion


Recorded at Studio Vinniechops and Wachusett Recording.

History Book Sources:

"Tituba - Reluctant Witch of Salem - Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies"
by Elaine G. Breslaw, New York University Press, 1996

"The Devil's Dominion - Magic and Religion in Early New England"
by Richard Godbeer, Cambridge University Press, 1992

lyrics

Variation on Old Oxford Tune (Psalm 4)
(Music adapted from The Bay Psalm Book, published in Boston in 1698)

Do you know of the coming storm?

The people gone astray

Their sins break free Satan from his chains

Stars fall, moon turns to blood

Fear, greed, and gossip rule the day

Old rivalries reborn

Blame cast upon thy neighbor’s home

The Beast is free to roam

credits

released March 18, 2021
Written, arranged, and produced by Brian O'Connell

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Brian O'Connell image

Brian O'Connell Massachusetts

Widely known for his inventive and kinetic bass and touch guitar playing with Arukah, Uncle Sammy, Gordon Stone, Gary Backstrom, Dave Brunyak, and Dead Man's Waltz. O'Connell also has a strong compositional approach that is featured in his rock opera and original bands. His most recent solo project is a podcast-rock opera about the Salem Witch Trials called Witch Hunt. www.brianvoconnell.com ... more

contact / help

Contact Brian O'Connell

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Brian O'Connell, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Beans joins the show to discuss his album release, "ZWAARD".

listen now