My Muse, Mallorca

Bob Rosen and Mary Lyn Maiscott in Fornalutx, Mallorca, photographed by Terry Bisbee.

If you’ve listened to my song “Midnight in California,” you may have gotten a sense of the beautiful Spanish island of Mallorca (where, in the song, an expat longs for her lover in far-off Malibu). In the lyrics, I tried to conjure up the intoxicatingly fragrant jasmine, the town squares with their bars and cafés, the ubiquitous lizards and sheep, the turquoise Mediterranean Sea—the special qualities of this Balearic Island (the other Balearics are Minorca and Ibiza, the celebrated destination of ravers and rock stars). I wrote the song in a 16^th-century house in Fornalutx, a Mallorcan village in the foothills of the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range. For our delayed honeymoon, my husband and I spent the month of June 2002 in that house—a friend’s—set at the top of a steep ancient street that ended in an emerald-green, stone-fenced meadow. The house led out to a courtyard with a separate kitchen, a wonderful little structure that looked out on a small garden. There each morning we’d drink strong coffee and eat blood-red oranges bought from a man who lived nearby, in a sloping section of town reachable only by wide stone steps—built for donkeys, not cars.

Fornalutx, with its sand-colored, green-shuttered homes—the big wooden doors generally left open so as to welcome guests—also inspired me to write a short story called “Pueblo Piedra” (stone village). The story is wholly fictional, but I could not have written it without experiencing the magic of the area. I’m happy to say that “Pueblo Piedra” was recently published in The Portland Review, a literary magazine, and is now accessible on its website. I hope that you will read it and that it takes you to a place even half as entrancing as Mallorca was for me.

The CD's on Its Way. Stay Tuned!

That’s my guitar above—at least it used to be. It was stolen from the 13^th-century house my husband and I rented in a tiny Mallorcan town in the summer of 2002 (for a belated honeymoon). I’d had that guitar for many years, and although it was very inexpensive, I loved it and still miss it. At least I’ve got this picture, taken in our courtyard shortly before the theft. My latest recording, “Midnight in California,” which will be on Blue Lights, my new CD, was inspired by a British expat in Mallorca, a singer who calls herself Penny Lane. She and I were invited by an Australian couple to sing at a rooftop party one evening. Along with a few original songs, I sang the beginning of the Beatles’ “You Never Give Me Your Money,” leading into “You Can’t Do That.” My husband, Bob, who wrote the John Lennon bio Nowhere Man, pointed out that it was Paul McCartney’s birthday.

As you can see in the Snocap “store” above, “Midnight in California” and a few other tracks can be downloaded (click on the titles to listen to samples). For now that’s the only place to buy my songs, but in the near future both the CD and individual tracks will be available on CD Baby and iTunes. Soon you’ll also be able to hear the songs on “The Louie Free Show”; click here to listen live to Louie’s show (Mon.-Fri., 3-7 p.m. ET). You can also hear the songs in their entirety on my MySpace page.

Thanks for listening, and check back often for updates!