Introducing Billy Moon’s A.A. Milne in Song

Here’s a Thanksgiving treat for families: Billy Moon, a Charlottesville VA indie-folk band, has just released an album of A.A. Milne poems set to music.

My niece Adria Vaughan is the composer. She explains the new work this way:

“Watching my first child fully immerse herself in the rain gave me new appreciation for (and joy in) A. A. Milne’s poem “Happiness,” and, being a musician, I soon found myself humming it rather than simply reciting it. When I shared the song version of the poem (on ukulele) with two musician friends, they were delighted and found ways to shape the song with their instruments (guitar and fiddle) and voices.

“Soon we put more Milne poems to song and performed them in house shows. We called our band Billy Moon, after Christopher Robin’s name for himself. Our music is in a gentle, acoustic style that opens up to more upbeat folk melodies and rhythms. Combined with Milne’s imagery, this album gives an aural artifact of intricacy meeting innocence, a peaceful, artistic sound space.”

Billy Moon’s new album, titled “When We Were Very Young,” takes its name from a poetry collection by Milne.

I love it when things come full circle. My mom used to recite A.A. Milne poems to us 70 years ago. Some of them she, too, sang. At least five generations of our family have been enchanted by these poems. “Happiness,” Adria’s initial inspiration, is one of my favorites. As she sings it: I wish you hap-hap-hap, hap-hap-hap, happiness this Thanksgiving!

Also available on Spotify and Apple Music.