Highgate Wood, a rock and roll ghost story from Palimpsest Productions

Highgate Wood, the new audio drama from Palimpsest Productions, will debut across all podcast platforms and streaming services on May 18th. The eight-episode show concerns the titular fictional 1970s prog rock band and the aftermath of the tragedy that broke them apart.

The show was written by Jamieson Ridenhour and stars Hayley Heninger, Jack Ayres, Alasdair Stuart, Beth Eyre, Dan Bottomley, and Amber Devereaux. Blues-rock singer-songwriter Andrew Scotchie is featured as the voice of the band. Ridenhour and Heninger previously collaborated on the audio drama Palimpsest, which ran for five seasons, amassing a million and a half downloads and a host of critical accolades.

Highgate Wood rose to prominence in the early 1970s, propelled by the triple threat of dynamic front man Sean Underwood, wunderkind guitarist Peter Van Conklin, and keyboardist Corrine Kennedy. Dancing a line between artsy prog rock and mainstream melodics, they had a string of hit albums before suddenly disbanding in 1975 when a studio fire resulted in Corrine’s death, Peter’s descent into madness, and ultimately Sean’s suicide.

Years later, Peter’s daughter Patti finds herself haunted by the ghost of Corrine Kennedy. Fearing she may be falling down the same mad rabbit hole as her father, she sets out to find the truth of the fateful night Highgate Wood self-destructed. The eight episodes of Highgate Wood are her investigation.

Concurrent with the audio drama, a full album of music from the fictional band will be released to digital, streaming, and vinyl. The Very Best of Highgate Wood features music composed by Jamieson and Ian Ridenhour and was produced by Kari Estes (bassist for prog-metal band Atomic Guava). Information on the show and the album is available at highgatewoodband.com.