Through a medieval forest’s tangled vines and towering trees, you move toward your dream, down a twisting path. You cross the dragon’s lair, you cross his land, where he may appear out of nowhere breathing fire to bring you down or lending support to fly you higher. The question of which one is always present, but you keep on because the dream is who you are, and your eye is on the castle in the sky. Maybe you’ll reach it, maybe you won’t, but what matters is the quest. The quest is everything.

        Black Castles, written by Jo Vickers (aka Jo Wilburn,) was produced and given life by Dan Wilburn, an excellent engineer with gold and platinum record credits, who took pains to create the ambiance for the song. Besides the smooth bass line and the drums, Dan added the electric guitar dragon growls for a bit of attitude. Jo added the vocals and the initial acoustic rhythm. Mark Tokach added the melodic twelve-string guitar and the electric leads that give the song its flavor. Brian Foster added percussion. A.I. gets the official credit for the song cover art. It was A.I. generated, instigated by Jana Owens, and then modified Jo Wilburn.

Author’s Note:

I wrote Black Castles as an analogy for moving toward your dreams. For a peek at the story behind the song, check out the blog entry “Who Do You Trust?”

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Black Castles by JoDan Music is available on streaming platforms, on iTunes and other digital stores, and on the JoDan Music page of this website.