One of my favorite free panel discussions during the Real Twin Peaks 2025 event was “Always Music in the Air – The Sounds of Twin Peaks.” Scott Ryan, author and editor of “Blue Rose Magazine” and Josh Eisenstadt, Director, Screenwriter and long-time Twin Peaks fan, spoke to a packed house at Boxley’s in North Bend, Washington on Friday, Feb. 21 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. This dynamic duo discussed Ryan’s new book, unsung heroes and favorite tracks from David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show.
“ALWAYS MUSIC IN THE AIR” – DISCUSSION ABOUT THE SOUNDS OF TWIN PEAKS
The second free panel during the Real Twin Peaks 2025 event focused on the music of Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
This panel was offered because Scott Ryan published a book titled, “Always Music in the Air – The Sounds of Twin Peaks,” where interviews band members who performed the songs, music editors and directors from the series, as well as uses archive interviews from the late Angelo Badalamenti and singer from the series, Julee Cruise.
Attendees to the event in Snoqualmie, Washington would have a first opportunity to purchase the book at the North Bend and Snoqualmie Trading Company locations. Scott also held a book signing on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the North Bend location.
This book takes a look at all the music that was in the air from Julee Cruise’s 1989 release Floating into the Night, through all the Twin Peaks soundtracks, the 2011 online releases, as well as the releases from the Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017. You can pre-order the book now which is due to be release nationwide in May 2025 by visiting BlueRoseMag.com.
PANEL AT BOXLEY’S IN NORTH BEND, WASHINGTON
The brainchild of Danny Kolke, Boxley’s Jazz Club has been a staple in the North Bend community for years. The venue originally opened in the location where the Iron Duck is now located. The venue was also found at the former Wildflower’s 2nd Street location that is now Pro Ski and Mountain Service.
In 2019, Kolke moved Boxley’s to their current spot at 228 W North Bend Way, adjacent to the Hartwood Cafe.The club is part of JazzClubsNW, a nonprofit organization started in 2010 that is dedicated to supporting live jazz performance and educational opportunities in the Pacific Northwest region.
During Real Twin Peaks 2024, the club hosted the Twin Peaks Quartet which played several songs from the show. The 2025 event featured a Twin Peaks Quintet that played music on Saturday, February 22 at Boxley’s.
Danny is pictured far right above next to Scott Ryan and me just before the discussion began.
An A-Frame sign was posted on the street outside the venue advertising the panel. Doors opened at 12:30 p.m. and the public was welcome to attend.
It was standing room only inside Boxley’s which was such a thrill to see from the stage. These panel discussions have become such a highlight from this event as they are all fan-created.
As the clock ticked toward 1:00 p.m., I introduced Scott and Josh to Twin Peaks fans gathered inside the jazz club.
Josh and Scott began their conversation about Twin Peaks music highlight the unsung heroes of the show. Many fans are familiar with the late, great maestro Angelo Badalamenti who composed so much music for the show and feature film. Fans also recognize the late Julee Cruise whose angelic voice has lifted spirits in good times and bad.
Josh gave a nod to Lori Eschler Frystack, the music editor for the first two seasons of Twin Peaks. I wrote a tribute article to her for the show’s 34th anniversary on April 8, 2024. Without Lori’s skills and expert knowledge, the show’s soundtrack wouldn’t be the same.
They also gave a shout out to Dean Hurley, a longtime David Lynch collaborator who operated and managed Lynch’s Asymmetrical Studio from 2005-2018. Hurley was instrumental in getting the Twin Peaks Archive released digitally online in 2011-2012. He also released released Anthology Resource Vol. 1, a collection of ambient sounds from the Showtime series in August 2017. I particularly love his “Anthology Resource Vol. 2 – Philosophy of Beyond” album which also contains a few nods to Twin Peaks‘ first season.
The third unsung artist they discussed in musician David Slusser who worked on a handful of tracks in Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, both as a music editor and mixer and as well as a composer.
Scott is a vinyl album collector who shuns streaming services. He had an idea percolating in May 2024 about the creation of a vinyl box set containing Twin Peaks music. He pitched the idea but was turned down after being told all of the music from the show was already released. This prompted Scott to write his new book cataloging all of the tracks from the show’s soundtracks and the digital releases from the Twin Peaks Archive.
“How many people knew about 75-percent of all Twin Peaks music you can’t hear?”, he asked the audience with only a handful of people raising their hands. “None of these songs are available to all of you listening to Apple Music or Spotify. So old guys like me who have these .mp3s on an external drive, when I get sucked into the drawer knob, my kids [will be] throwing that stuff out in the trashcan. And 75-percent of Angelo Badalamenti’s work will no longer exist on this planet once us old folks are gone.”
Scott’s book was plea to Warner Brothers, Paramount and the estates of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti to get the music of Twin Peaks protected.
Later in the conversation, Scott was asked about the Twin Peaks Archive being available on YouTube. He said the artists aren’t getting paid from those tracks and they could be removed instantly if a lawyer discovered them. Moreover, he was concerned about the sound quality as the original tracks many not have been used.
THE MUSIC … OR LACK THEREOF … IN TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN
Josh shared a rather interesting point about the show’s third season – much of the music was not composed for the show. They lifted or borrow tracks from other works.
“My favorite chapter in the book is The Return chapter because that’s where I learned a ton of stuff,” Ryan replied to Josh.
Scott explained Angelo Badalamenti composed maybe only three tracks for the 2017 series.
The tracked titled “The Chair” was first composed for a Broadway musical about Nikola Tesla that Lynch and Badalamenti were once considering.
When planning the Return, David Lynch and Mark Frost screened episode 2.022, the second season finale. Lynch was shocked at how much music was used throughout the episode which both Josh and Scott said is a factor why the third season was absent of a soundtrack.
The use of music was more intentional in the third season, designed to drive or complement highly emotional scenes. Great examples are when Bobby Briggs cries upon seeing Laura Palmer’s Homecoming Queen photo in Part 4. “Laura Palmer’s Theme” is played in the background as Briggs is overcome with emotion. Later in Part 16, we hear the “Twin Peaks Theme” as Agent Cooper announces to Bushnell Mullins,”I am the FBI.” The show’s main theme is the perfect accent point to Coop’s triumphant return.
Scott talked about faint music heard in the nighttime scene of Richard/Cooper driving Carrie Page to Twin Peaks in Part 18. He asked Dean Hurley about the track titled “Night” which seems like it could have been used in this scene. Instead, both Josh and Scott said there is faint music in the background of this scene that sounds like an open microphone.
REPURPOSED MUSIC IN TWIN PEAKS AND TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
David Slusser told Scott that he wrote “Deer Meadow Shuffle” originally for the scene where Special Agent Philip Jeffries first enters the FBI Office in Philadelphia. This track was repurposed for the scenes with Special Agents Chet Desmond and Sam Stanley in Deer Meadow, Washington.
Most of the music heard in the first two seasons was not specifically composed for the on-screen action. It was up to Music Editor Lori Eschler Frystack to comb through endless cassette tapes looking for tracks that may complement to episode. Scott contends that a track like “Hank’s Theme” may have been some random track that multiple directors used when Hank appeared on-screen. The only episode that had the most music composed for the on-screen action was the Mark Frost-directed episode 1.007, the show’s first season finale.
Josh shared that Frost originally wanted to play Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” during the scene were Nadine attempted suicide in episode 1.007. It was replaced with a harp version of the “Twin Peaks Theme (Falling).”
SYCAMORE TREES
Fans were invited to ask more questions about favorite tracks. The first question was about Jimmy Scott’s “Sycamore Trees” heard in the second season finale, episode 2.022.
Josh confirmed that the lyrics and the song goes way back in Lynch’s history but Scott declined to answer the exact origin. He didn’t want to spoil a certainly mystery that is carried throughout his new book. During the many interviews conducted, he learned little tidbits about the creation of this iconic song which Scott pulls together in the final chapters.
The song is briefly heard in Lynch’s 1992 film as Leland Palmer first enters the Red Room. We only hear Ron Carter’s bass but if you listen very carefully, you’ll hear faint vocals from Jimmy Scott.
JUST YOU AND I
During a rather humorous moment (granted the entire discussion was filled with some good laughs), Josh and Scott briefly performed “Just You and I.” Josh shared that song came about because Lynch saw James Marshall was sitting on his trailer steps with a guitar. He knew James had to perform a song that Badalamenti composed on the Hayward’s on-set piano.
The gentle, light lyrics create a sense of calm in the scene which was disrupted by one of the most frightening images from the show – BOB climbing over the Hayward’s sofa toward Maddie. This balance between light and dark was something Lynch would incorporate throughout the entire show.
Toward the end of the session, Twin Peaks season two prop master Jeff Moore asked about the video for Julee Cruise’s “Falling.” Scott confirmed that the video was shot on the same night as Cruise’s performance for episode 2.007. He compared Cruise’s hair from the broadcast episode and the video which appeared the same.
When asked about the track he now appreciates even more after conducting his research, Scott replied the “Accident / Farewell” theme first heard in Part 6. This track was composed specifically by Angelo Badalamenti for the third season. Dean Hurley has a lengthy explanation about its creation in Scott’s new book.
There were many more nuggets offered by Scott and Josh during this hour-long conversation. Considering Twin Peaks music was the gateway to the show for me, I’m thrilled to add this book to my own personal Bookhouse.
Thank you to Danny from Boxley’s for hosting this discussion. I also thank Jessica Self from the North Bend Downtown Foundation for the additional photos I couldn’t capture while onstage. Finally, thank you to Scott Ryan and Josh Eisenstadt for the entertaining and insightful conversation.
