One of my favorite characters from my novel Exit Black is Kassie Ng, the easily-underestimated Instagram influencer sent to chronicle her adventures on the world’s first orbital hotel. It might surprise no one that her name comes partly from Cassandra of Trojan War fame–my nod, I guess, to Homer. Her last name, though, is an homage to one of my favorite songs, the They Might Be Giants classic “Ana Ng.”

While the original song is amazing and should be much better known than it is (which I suppose one could say of most TMBG songs), perhaps my favorite version of the song is this one, by the masterful banjoist Charles Butler. I noticed today that Charles Butler’s Spotify page has exactly the same number of monthly listeners as this blog has subscribers. So from a writer who could use more readers to a musician who deserves more listeners, I salute you, Charles Butler.

Enjoy!