Witch Hunt - history told in music, sound, and story

About Witch Hunt - history told in music, sound, and story

The history of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials told through music and story-telling in a format recalling an old time radio drama with a modern experimental prog-rock twist. Witch Hunt borrows freely from original sources of information from the time of the trials such as letters, books, poems, transcriptions of the trials themselves, as well as melodies from the Puritan hymn books. The music is highly original art-rock ranging from soft ambient soundscapes to heavy power riffs with many other stops along the way. The narrator provides a story teller voice that weaves a historical thread throughout each episode. Witch Hunt is conceived, written, and produced by Brian O'Connell, who records and produces the show, playing a wide variety of instruments and voice parts. O'Connell is a well known bassist and composer in New England who has performed with: Arukah, Dead Man's Waltz, Uncle Sammy, Gordon Stone, Gary Backstrom, Dave Brunyak, Interminable, and many others. In 2012 Brian debuted his rock opera Over The Line, a Jungian journey through modern consciousness, for a successful series of performances in Boston. Brian O'Connell - voice, 6 and 12 string guitars, fretted and fretless bass, upright bass, touch guitar, sintir, keyboards, moog synth, percussion Mike Harmon - drums, cymbals, percussion Rachel Koppelman - accordion www.brianvoconnell.com

Publisher

Brian O'Connell

Category

arts · history · music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Sept 2020

Latest episode

31 Oct 2024

Latest episodes

6 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   31 Oct 2024

   Episode 6 - A Gospel Woman

   Witch Hunt host Brian O'Connell delves into the story of Martha Corey, a defiant woman accused of witchcraft who stood her ground despite overwhelming odds.

2. 

   30 Oct 2023

   Episode 5 - Examinations

   https://www.patreon.com/Witch_HuntThe three suspected witches are now in custody in Salem Village and are publicly examined by colonial magistrates at the Meeting House. The first two suspects, local beggar woman Sarah Good and the scandalous but frail Sarah Osborn, deny being witches and blame others. The third suspect, Rev. Parris' Native American slave Tituba, begins like the others by denying the charges. However she soon changes her story and weaves a kaleidoscopic narrative full of fant...

3. 

   27 Oct 2022

   Episode 4 - Accusations

   https://www.patreon.com/Witch_HuntThe hysterical and violent fits of the young girls in Salem Village spreads from the family of Minister Samuel Parris to that of Thomas Putnam, the head household of one of the most powerful families in the village. When Elizabeth Hubbard, niece of the local doctor, begins to have fits the door is opened for legal action, as the other girls were too young to be witnesses in court. It is widely assumed that malefic witchcraft is taking place. Putnam goes with ...

4. 

   9 Mar 2021

   Episode 3 - Fits

   https://www.patreon.com/Witch_HuntDuring the extremely cold winter of 1692 an intense frustration has been building in Salem Village, a small farming community up the road from the more prosperous and worldly port city of Salem Town. Many factors are coalescing into a perfect storm: the repressive nature of the Calvinistic Puritan church, the limited prospects for girls and young women, the village resistance to the conservative and overbearing minister Samuel Parris, and a terrifying n...

5. 

   31 Oct 2020

   Episode 2 - The City on a Hill

   https://www.patreon.com/Witch_HuntSamuel Parris takes on the job as minister to Salem Village, a marginalized farming community split by rivalry and controversy. Salem Village is overshadowed by the larger and much more prosperous Salem Town, one of the two largest towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The colony is ruled by the Puritans, who have broken away from the Church of England and colonized New England in hopes of creating a model Christian society, a "City on a Hill”. Crisis evolve...

6. 

   29 Sept 2020

   Episode 1 - Tituba's Journey

   https://www.patreon.com/Witch_HuntThis is the story of an Arawak woman called Tituba: how she was kidnapped by the English from South America when she was just a young girl and enslaved. Growing up on a plantation in Barbados, she absorbed multiple cultural influences from her fellow enslaved Africans and her English mistress. Her inner world becomes a confluence of Arawak, West African, and English myths and magic. We follow her as she is taken by a frustrated and angry young Puritan man nam...

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

10 ratings

Contact Witch Hunt - history told in music, sound, and story

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.