Faun Fables

“A Table Forgotten” by Faun Fables, from A Table Forgotten (Drag City):

Those who fancy their pastoral folk music with a dash of weird will likely be enchanted by the theatric musings of Faun Fables. Traces of PJ Harvey and Tom Waits can be heard in the collaborations of Dawn McCarthy and Nils Frykdahl, a lovey-dovey songwriting duo who sound as custom-tailored for each other as Benny and Joon. Like other Drag City acts such as Joanna Newsom and Bonnie “Prince” Billy (who enlisted McCarthy to sing on his album The Letting Go), Faun Fables harnesses a balladeer spirit that’s more Bert Jansch than Woody Guthrie. The group’s application of found-in-the-forest instruments such as autoharp, gamelan and flute, plus its puppet shows and dance routines, make for spellbinding performances.