Experience the sounds of a ghost town - without leaving your keyboard

I want to try something a little different, and I hope you enjoy it.

Last month, I took a microphone out to Gilliland in Knox County during my visit to the ghost town, and I made some field recordings while snapping pictures. When I got home, I did some research into music that suited the frame of mind that Gilliland put me in as explored the site, trying to capture just the right moods. I then mixed the music and field recordings together, boiled it down into a stereo mix, and voila! My first attempt at an audio ghost town essay.

Click here to listen on Mixcloud if you're interested in checking it out. The entire piece runs for a little under 50 minutes. Listen at home, at work, in your car, wherever you feel the need for some minimal, contemplative music.

As a shameless plug, the Mixcloud suite also features a performance by my good friend, Laura Ainsworth. Click here to visit Laura's website or to learn about her debut album, Keep It To Yourself. You can also click here to follow Laura's Twitter feed. The mix also includes performances by Stars of the Lid, Rafael Anton Irisarri, and many more.

I hope to do more of these in the future, and unlike this blog, the "Ghost Town Essays" might not be restricted to Texas sites. There are other fascinating abandoned towns all across the Southwest, and I would also love to set foot one day in the perpetually smoldering mining ghost town of Centralia, Pennsylvania - that would make for a compelling audio project.

UK television host scheduled to visit Texas ghost town

Ben Fogle, who has done extensive work for the BBC in the past, is now working on a series for the UK's Channel 5. Titled Where the Wild Men Are with Ben Fogle, the series will track Fogle as he visits some of the most remote places on Earth and interacts with locals. One of his destinations is reportedly a ghost town in Texas, but the identity of the town is unknown to me at present.

Click here for more information on the upcoming Channel 5 series.