Below is a copy of the e-mail that I sent to 25 friends and colleagues across the country.  It was written in anticipation of their receipt of Ice Castles!, delivery Part I in a four-part, seasonal sound works hard copy sharing project:

February 16, 2011

Dear Friends,

The Ice Castles! shanty maiden whistles her entry into your winter narrative within a few short days.  She is a lovely beast that will send shivers up your vertebrae, because she knows your secret.  You will be drawn into the siren serenade that she performs for you below the ice.   Desire to grasp love of a discomforting fervor is the elixir that she shall pour down your willing throat, and like a fairy tale charm you will rest at her knee and ask for a second, chilling helping.

I have lived in three extremely different climates here in the States, the NW, South-Eastern Louisiana and the Mid-West, and remark upon the variety of ways that a change in season and location can alter mood, social culture and habit.  It is my goal to mark the passage of the four seasons during 2011 with a four-track, sound works LP, and Ice Castles! is my winter marker and LP no.1.  I had an unsuccessful trial with ice fishing last winter in the bay of Lake Monona, in Madison, WI, but never ended up fulfilling my curiosity to traverse the vast expanse of ice on either Lake Monona proper nor Lake Mendota.  I look forward to the day when I can satisfy this curiosity for walking on a large, frigid body of water, but until then I invite the Madison recipients of this LP especially, however, the invitation is additionally extended to recipients of other terrain, to listen to Ice Castles! on the open floor of an iced-over body of water, and report your observations of the experience, real or imagined, to me.  This personal report can take whichever form of expressive media you find most be-fitting to your individual experience.  These seasonal sound works are, and will continue to be, written with the characters of Longing and Desire playing the starring, thematic roles.  Be mindful of this as you listen to Ice Castles!.  I look forward to hearing your varied responses to this project of sharing, listening and sharing, again, in a changing of seasons and sentiment.

I cannot fully comprehend why I constantly desire to understand and challenge myself in climates foreign to me, but I do know that after surviving the worst each one has to offer, I form an equally inexplicable longing to return to them.  So, tell me, where in this country are fall and spring the most intolerable times of year?

Thank you for sharing your addresses with me in order that I could share with you the sounds each season plays in my heart.  I will not apologize for my sincerity, and I hope that you do not either.  The time for irony and glibness has passed.  Be sincere with me.

I appreciate you,
Tyler Mackie