Former FRANK ZAPPA Keyboardist TOMMY MARS, best known for his work on such Zappa classics as Sheik Yerbouti, Joe's Garage and Them Or Us, has recorded music for a modern day fairytale - Willie Nickerson's Egg. Written by Norwegian guitarist Jon Larsen and released on Norway's Zonic Entertainment (a label that features exclusively dedicated Frank Zappa inspired music). Along with Tommy Mars, Willie Nickerson's Egg also features the talents of Zappa alumnus Arthur Barrow.

Willie Nickerson is a very sensitive porcupine. He works with Django-related products at Guitback, the major industry in Hambrook, but he is not entirely happy. So he starts playing the bass. This is the beginning of a classical per aspera ad astra drama: through hardships to the stars – in a rusty wreck. We get to know the Nickerson & Nylon Quartet during 30 years on the road, the psychopathtic fortune teller Maya, hungry gypsies, an evil festival director, the horrible jazz police, a record producer with extreme allergy towards the word royalties, a naked dancer, and the section 2001 of the Penal Code. Furthermore, we get a glimpse of the meaning of shrimping, how to play bass, the importance of having a mustache, and information on a gland that has never attracted much attention, the glutinus libra, no larger than a birthmark. Unnoticed, but with great precision, it conducts its daily task, which is small, but important: distinguishing between music and humor.The question still is: Does humor belong in music?

Willie Nickerson's Egg is a surrealistic audiobook with lots of music composed and performed by Tommy Mars. Produced in Arthur Barrow's Lotek Studio, Mar Vista, LA.

Available now through digital distribution (iTunes, etc.).