Michael Musika @ Chasing The Moon 6.07.09 from Scott McDowell on Vimeo.

As the story goes, San Francisco’s Michael Musika was stranded on the side of a road in Colorado, when a coyote approached him and told him a story. That parable, we’re told, inspired him to begin playing music and, ultimately, to create his debut album, Spells. The album, an ambitious series of avant folk vignettes, is the result of two and a half years of work, and you can stream and buy it above.

Friday night, Musika’s having a record release show at the Rickshaw Stop (8:30pm, $12), where his band will include Eric Kuhn (Silian Rail), Matt Adams (Blank Tapes), Indianna Hale, Sleepy Todd, Kacey Johansing, and Emily Ritz (Honeycomb), among others. Brass Menazeri and Toshio Hirano also perform.