Before I became a writer, my first creative love was guitar. I grew up listening to the greats of Classic Rock and Americana—and also some deep cuts from my own time.

In my first draft of Ashen Rider, I had placed epigraphs with song lyrics. Since then, I’ve learned this is a big legal no-no. Something about songs is legally less-quotable than literature and movies, I guess.

This presented a challenge to write my own diegetic poetry, which I’m so glad I did—it has solidified the identity of my fantasy.

Still, I wish to share the songs that helped to forge my debut novel (#1 will surprise you).

6. Riders on the Storm by The Doors (1971)

“Into this house we’re born. Into this world we’re thrown.”

This song on a long, stormy drive after I first moved to Indiana in 2022. I must have been coming back from the Indianapolis International Airport, because I passed an exit sign for Monrovia, Indiana…

Which gave me an idea.

This was the moment I first imagined the suspended shantytown struggling against the rising tides of the Congealed Sea. I named it after the very town I was passing through (sorry Monrovia, nothing personal).

Furthermore, the ambiance of this classic by the Doors radiates through the text—I had it on repeat during intense writing sessions.

5. A Horse with No Name by America (1971)

“In the desert, you can remember your name. ‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.”

I was turned on to America by my wonderful wife-to-be, Eden. This song often plays on our road trips and romantic getaways.

The chorus resonated with me as I writing the later parts of Ashen Rider, when I was exploring Cain’s psychology after he freed himself from Morgana’s influence.

Names are an essential component to Ashen Rider’s narrative. Cain has two given names—which one of them actually represents his agency? That’s one of the core questions I sought to ask.

This song was also responsible for the contrast between Morgana and Grahtz—two adjacent layers of the underworld. One is characterized by endless storms (The Doors), the other an arid wasteland (America).

4. A World So Full of Love by Roger Miller (1970)

“But that sunshine turned to storm, and now that’s all I feel inside. It’s enough to make me wish that I could hide and not be found…”

This song means the world to me. I first discovered the tune watching Shakey Graves (my all time favorite, no one does it like Shakey) perform a fantastic rendition, which soon led me to Miller’s original demo.

At a low point in my life, right as I began my writing journey, this song described exactly the storm roiling inside me. It made me feel seen during a time I felt entirely, and utterly, alone.

Miller’s use of imagery and the powerful metaphor of a whole “world so full of love” locked off from the narrator has seeped its way into the core theme of Ashen Rider.

3. Prairie Fire by Marty Robbins (1960)

“We’ve got to reach the river but it’s still ten miles or more, and close behind us we can hear that wind infernal roar!”

Robbins has long been the soundtrack of my fancies of adventure and grandeur. It began with his iconic tune, Big Iron, which I had discovered through my countless hours playing Fallout: New Vegas in middle school.

Prairie Fire came on by chance while I was senior in high school and my view of Country and Folk was forever changed by Robbin’s sweeping acoustic arpeggios.

I went on to share it with my close friend Zac Biel (vocalist and guitarist of Lovers Therapy) and later with Eden, resulting in tender moments of contemplation I’ll never forget.

Fast forward to my early to mid-twenties, and this song became the basis behind the Burning Plains of Grahtzildahn and Cain’s deadly march through Endless Sands.

2. Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers (1971)

“Only darkness every day, ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, and this house just ain’t no home…”

I became thoroughly obsessed with Withers while I was working on the first draft of Ashen Rider. I had every one of his 70s albums on repeat for months.

As much as I love his entire discography, nothing for me comes close to this iconic hit. The raw emotion dripping from Withers’s voice, the bold evocation of muttering “I know” over a dozen times… chef’s kiss!

The pain and worry evoked by this song is how I imagine Anastasia Cain felt when her lord hero husband went off to war, time and time again, instead of staying to help nurture their family. This (castle) just ain’t no home.

Special Mention: Headhunters by Herbie Hancock (1973)

Yes, I mean the whole album. Living in the middle of the woods with terrible copper internet, I often found myself writing and studying in the Downtown Monroe County Pubic Library while I was in undergrad.

Herbie Hancock’s genius was always the first on the playlist when I needed a groove to get me in that coveted flow state.

1. Cleanse Me by O’Brother (2011)

“Lay me in the dirt and I will grow.”

Okay, okay… perhaps not a classic hit… or even a hit. But by the time I’m 40 this band will be of those “lame” and “obscure” Dad-Rock bands my kids can’t stand.

But this song—and the album it closes—is something special. I own a limited press record of Garden Window that I cherish and burned a CD I had on repeat in the car on every bad day I had as a teenager.

I first saw O’Brother live in 2016 at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. They had old, warm light fixtures that lit up and guttered with their guttural bursts of drop-tuned guitars. One of the guitarists literally bent over backwards as he played.

This picture I took that day says it all:

This song—the whole album, Garden Window—explores the what it means to be broken down to your core components, and then to grow back stronger. It was, and still is, my anthem.

I won’t spoil exactly how that theme of O’Brother’s room rumbling debut connects to my own debut, Ashen Rider; but I will say the imagery evoked in that album is present throughout the entire book.

It’s been with me through it all….