Music © 2003 by N. Bennett, S. Duncan, S. Jensen, E. McKenna, K. Rytting, D. Smith, J. Trevino.
Recording © 2003 by Naked April.

An improvisation focusing on simple, single-note picking and dynamics. Taken from the 2003 spring retreat.

Music © 2001 by N. Bennett, S. Duncan, K. Rytting, J. Trevino.
Recording © 2001 by Naked April.

Improvisation from the 2001 spring retreat. (Key moments and lyrical ideas from that retreat later appeared in the song “Steve’s Castle”.)

Music © 2002 by N. Bennett, S. Duncan, K. Rytting, J. Trevino.
Recording © 2002 by Naked April.

Our 2002 spring retreat (of sorts) was split between the basement of Andrea Rodriguez and Shane Duncan's house (where Benn Smith provided drums), and the basement of Kent and Renel Rytting's house (where Kent's groove boxes and Oberheim Echoplex provided stranger percussion, and a different vibe). This improvisation comes from those “Basement Session” recordings.

Lyrics © 2001 by S. Duncan.
Music © 2001 by N. Bennett, S. Duncan, K. Rytting, J. Trevino.
Recording © 2001 by Naked April.

Music improvised in the 2001 spring retreat; lyrics from Shane Duncan's bottomless well of lyrics (i.e. his guitar case). Someday, we'll polish up an arrangement for this one, and release a studio version.

Music & lyrics © 1993 by Nick Bennett.
Recording © 2001 by Naked April.

Lyrics © 1999 by Jen Bennett.
Music © 1997 by Nick Bennett, Kent Rytting, Shane Duncan, James Trevino.
Recording © 2001 by Keny Rytting and Nick Bennett.

Music & lyrics © 2004 by Kent Rytting, Ben Pendleton, Nick Bennett, Eric McKenna, Creighton Petrey.
Recording © 2005 by Naked April & Eric McKenna.

In-progress track from upcoming Naked April album, tentatively titled Design Flaw, and planned for release in 2006.

Flash animation © 2001 by Nick Bennett.
Music ("Solana", from Winter Storm Warning by Kent Rytting and Nick Bennett) © 1997 by Nick Bennett, Kent Rytting, Shane Duncan, James Trevino.
Recording © 2001 by Kent Rytting and Nick Bennett.

I created "Solana Transcribed" for the first annual Flash Animation Festival of the New Mexico Macromedia Users Group (it took second place in the festival judging). It took me a while to decide what I wanted as the subject of the animation. Somewhere in the middle of one of the countless conversations that begin with "What kind of music do you play?", and often include the question "What is this song about?", I was reminded of a quote often attributed to Frank Zappa (and sometimes to Laurie Anderson): "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture."

The animation comes directly from that sentiment, and the experience shared by virtually every musician I know, who has tried to learn a song from a transcription: There's always something missing.

— Nick Bennett

Flash animation © 2003 by Nick Bennett.
Music © 2002 by Naked April.
Recording © 2003 by Naked April.

From the moment I first saw White Sands National Monument, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, I was struck by the never-ending show put on by that amazing place. What is almost equally amazing is that, while some kinds of natural beauty (New Mexico sunsets, for example) resist capture on film, the opposite condition prevails at White Sands: you simply cannot take a bad picture there.

In 2002, we began our fall retreat with a trip to White Sands. A few days later, as we were improvising music, Kent Rytting gave everyone the instruction to "play that experience". The music we played in that moment (which was not re-recorded for this animation), and the photos we took on that trip a few days earlier, form the raw material for this animation.

This one took another second place award in the NMMUG Flash Animation Festival. This animation is actually just the first of several that I hope to do with White Sands as my subject.

— Nick Bennett

Music © 2003 by Kent Rytting.
Recording © 2004 by Naked April.