Northern Lights
. . . the music
Northern Lights is the title of a collection of songs reflecting on the beauty and splendor of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Northern Minnesota.
The music was written to accompany the “Northern Lights” novel, and the songs are based on my experiences up on the lakes as a canoe guide. I have to admit that the music has been bubbling up within me ever since my first trip to the Boundary Waters long ago.
I hope you enjoy the music.
The songs are a reflection of what you’d see and experience on one of my favorite canoe routes up there. As you listen to the music, let it take you up the North Shore of Lake Superior, then northwest across Lake Saganaga for some stargazing along the Canadian border. In the morning, paddle south through Esther and Hansen to the eastern shores of Knife Lake and enjoy a refreshing break at Eddy Falls. Stop for the night on Jenny Lake to relax, listen to the loons, gather around a campfire, and watch the northern lights. Then sail back east to Sea Gull Lake to visit the majestic palisades, listen to a distant thunderstorm, and witness a peaceful sunset.
Three of the song from Northern Lights are posted here. All of the songs are accessible on most online streaming services. You can listen to all the songs from “Northern Lights” on my Spotify playlist.
Stargazing
From the album “Northern Lights” Copyright 2021 by Leo Solstrom
Canoeing on Jenny
From the album “Northern Lights” Copyright 2021 by Leo Solstrom
Sunset
From the album “Northern Lights” Copyright 2021 by Leo Solstrom
Purchase a CD: Northern Lights is available for purchase as a CD.
To order, please contact me by email, located at the bottom of my homepage. The Northern Lights CD and individual tracks are available for purchase at Amazon as well.
Reviews: Check out some reviews of the music (and the book too).
Songs on the CD: On My Way, Starry Starry Sky, Stargazing, Esther Lake, Waterfall, Canoeing on Jenny, Stars in the Lake, Campfire, Northern Lights, Palisades, After the Rain, Sunset.
Special Thanks: To Richard, Megan, Julie, Katherine, Steve, Miranda, and Ashley. Thank you for your gracious contributions to the music.
A few reflections about the music…
As I began writing the Northern Lights story, something else started to happen. As a songwriter and guitar player, I began to think of how some of the scenes would play out musically. As I worked through a scene in the book, slowly a tune would bubble to the surface accompanied by a simple refrain, then more verses, and eventually an entire song. After a while, I was looking at a collection of songs all about my love for the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota. My friend called them “paddling songs,” and we laughed about how they were about so many typical things you’d see up there: the loons, bears, moose, the northern lights, the stars, waterfalls, campfires, windy lakes, calm glassy lakes, sunsets on the lakes, and of course, more loons.
When I gave the main character a guitar to bring along on his adventures, that’s when the music really started to flow. It didn’t stop until I had an entire notebook full of music based on the events in the story. The songs that came to me describe the journey of the characters in the book and are inspired by a beautiful area of the Boundary Waters that I’ve paddled through many times over the years. It’s no surprise how the amazing scenery, incredible experiences, and rugged challenges of the North Woods lend themselves naturally to poetry and music of all kinds. That’s what I’ve attempted to create in the music of Northern Lights.
I have to say that I had as much fun writing the music as I did with the story itself. They fed off each other and pushed each other along to the point where I finally had to say, “Enough!” After obsessing about the story and then the music too, I have to admit that it’s all somehow become a part of who I am. When I began the writing process, I didn’t exactly know what to expect, but it’s in me now, all of it. The story and the music have become inseparable. I can’t imagine either one without the other. It’s like the three main characters in Northern Lights; they’re inseparable too. They were always meant to be together, and they’ll always be a part of me too.
So, I hope you enjoy Northern Lights (the story and the music). Maybe I should say, I hope you find as much enjoyment in reading and listening to it as I did in writing it. It’s been a challenging journey for me, but I’ve enjoyed every part of it. I’ve been inspired to make many parts of the story truly mine in my real life today. Maybe it will inspire you to do something like that too. I sincerely hope so.
Leo Solstrom