Years ago, I was invited to produce a song with great musicians from across the United States and write about the process. Each player would record their part in their own studio, and Grammy-winning engineer Marc Urselli would mix. We would all use a new online recording platform called eSession (now AirGigs), created by Gina Fant-Simon. O’Reilly Media editor David Battino came up with the whole idea.
The song was “Nowhere Motel.” Playing on it were:
Drummer Pat Mastelotto (XTC, King Crimson), bassist Byron House (Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris), steel guitarist Bruce Kaphan (David Byrne, Sheryl Crow), pianist Gene Rabbai (Willie Nelson, Neil Young), percussionist Tom Roady (Dixie Chicks, Ricky Skaggs), and Gina, creator of eSession, proprietor of Blue World studio (U2, Sting), and a great singer.
I wrote the song with my brother Owen and on the recording I played a little guitar and electric piano.
Shortly after the recording was done, I joined Barack Obama’s presidential campaign as a communications adviser — and disappeared for years after into consulting for political and nonprofit campaigns, and more recently writing and media commentary.
In 2023 I got to thinking maybe it was time for the Desert Mothers to have a second song. I began work on recording “Outside in the Rain” — and two years later, after more interventions by life, I finished the production. On this one, I play guitar and bass. Singing is a guest/guessed artist — performing here anonymously.
“Outside in the Rain” was released in July, 2025.
And what do you know, “Freedom, California” came along in November of the same year.
I think we may be on a roll.
— Spencer Critchley
More about me and this music:
A big influence was my experience composing and producing the soundtrack (with collaborator Marco D’Ambrosio) for the Emmy-winning PBS documentary Blink, directed by Elizabeth Thompson. Elizabeth was way ahead of her time in paying attention to white nationalist rage when most Americans thought it was fading into the past.
She was also an original in her approach to music and sound, and working with her on the music and sound design was a highlight of my life. For Blink, we wanted to evoke a combination of pain, anger, and the potential of dawning awareness, reflecting the state of mind of a who was man trying to leave a racist movement he had led, while overcoming the awful childhood that had led him there in the first place.
Among my inspirations on that project were blues, the music of India, and images of the desert. I carried those influences with me into the Desert Mothers and “Nowhere Motel,” along with lots of others.
A big one from around the same time: During the production of Blink, my day job was as director of the creative department for Thomas Dolby’s Beatnik Inc. Even though Thomas is a little younger than I am, I’d long looked up to him and was thrilled to be able to work with him. Lots of people know hits like “She Blinded Me With Science” and “Hyperactive,” but may not know how rewarding it is to go deeper into his work, as in the beautiful “Screen Kiss” or “Airwaves.” It’s always soulful, even while, as so often, he’s innovating with technology.
Before my work with Beatnik and other media companies, my brother Owen and I and our band Aceboy (“Let It Be Love”) were signed to a songwriting and artist development contract with Warner-Chappell Music. Owen and I got together again a few years ago to record “Nova Scotia’s Lonely,” which I co-wrote with Bob Rea.
I also wrote and produced music for CBC Radio and other clients. For the CBC, I did the show themes and episode music for the series Prime Time (where I was also a contributor and guest host), Radio Banned, and Metro Morning, and created music for The Entertainers and the Peabody Award-winning drama “Paris: From Oscar Wilde to Jim Morrison.”
I’ve worked in communication in other forms as well, as a journalist, political consultant, and national media commentator. There’s more on that here.