Biography
These Trails gained recognition under a band name despite lacking conventional group structure, as an exploratory assembly of individuals instead convened around that banner to produce a single long-forgotten psych-folk-world music album that later resurfaced. Margaret Morgan and Patrick Cockett, both raised on Kaua’i, had separately pursued studies in traditional Hawaiian music; their chance encounter and shared exchange of ideas prompted them to extend those explorations through joint composition and performance. Progress led them to incorporate Dave Choy’s ARP synthesizer work alongside Uruguayan musician Carlos Pardeiro’s contributions on guitar and sitar, while percussion relied exclusively on Hawaii’s indigenous ipu gourd drum rather than a standard kit. Their output formed an enduring example of Pacific folk-rock that fused psychedelic elements with Hawaiian and global folk currents. The sole release, an eponymous collection, received private pressing and local distribution via the Sinergia label in 1973 before fading from availability after minimal initial notice. Passionate vinyl enthusiasts later uncovered stray copies, circulating word of its haunting yet luminous character and thereby cultivating an underground following. Drag City issued a re-release of the album in 2011.
Albums