Editor's note: Well, according to the supermarket middle aisle displays, Christmas is just around the corner. But let's pause for a final, celebratory look at the lovely, fiery reds and golds that are lighting the roadways in these last days of autumn. This story originally appeared in the autumn issue of Sound & Country, a sister Day publication. You can view the entire magazine here.

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If Bing’s singing “White Christmas” and Nat King Cole is warbling about chestnuts and an open fire, winter has decidedly arrived.

On the other hand, if Brian Wilson’s in his sandbox for “Catch a Wave,” and Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney are unbuttoning their Hawaiian shirts to slather on the suntan lotion, it must be summer.

It’s a bit harder to pin down a soundtrack for fall — which is interesting because it’s such an evocative season: the scent of woodsmoke and carved pumpkins, DayGlo foliage and crisp blue skies — and a bittersweet sense of melancholy that comes with the season.

But, as John Keats wrote in his immortal “To Autumn,” “thou hast thy music, too.”

It seemed fun to talk with a few stylistically different songwriters from our incrediby fertile musical region to see if, indeed, autumn resonates in aesthetic fashion.

Josi Davis, a songwriter/singer/multi-instrumentalist whose sophisticated tunes fuse timeless jazz-pop, R&B and classic blues, said, “I love the fall. It’s my favorite season. Perhaps because the bustle of life begins to quiet, we begin to see the silhouettes and the magnitude of what will become life once again in the spring.”

Davis said her “absolute soundtrack” for fall is George Winston’s “Autumn,” an album of gorgeous solo piano thematically divided into “September” and “October” songs.

“The ‘Autumn’ album was a huge inspiration for my writing when I first gave piano pieces a concerted effort,” she said. “It’s dynamic and emotional — just what I need to go into that place that stirs up (whichever new songs) emerge after November’s ponderings.”

Nick Johns, the guitarist/songwriter for the Norwich modern rock band Marvelous Liars, said, “I think a lot of musicians are seasonal listeners. I am, and early fall is my favorite time of year. Not to be morbid, but everything’s about to die and you’re about to lock yourself up for winter. But it’s a very beautiful process getting from summer to winter, and I absolutely have music that I listen to only in autumn.”

Johns immediately suggested David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust” as “perfect fall music” but added that The Doors’ “Waiting for the Sun” is his favorite record for this time of year.

“Think about the songs,” Johns said. “‘Wintertime Love’ or ‘Summer’s Almost Gone’ — it’s all about the seasonal change. It’s funny, The Doors were all about being from sunny southern California, but on this record Jim Morrison completely nailed the imagery of fall.”

Johns also mentioned the idea of imprinting — he always associates “Is This It” by The Strokes with autumn. “I bought that album in the fall and there’s something about listening to it and drinking a cold beer. The record’s a little depressing but it’s still fun rock ‘n’ roll, and I’ll always think of The Strokes in the fall.”

Daphne Lee Martin, a songwriter whose influences range across the whole Gulf Coast and incorporate all types of roots music and American standards, actually uses the characteristics of the season as a tool for her own writing.

She said, “In the summer, I run hard. There’s so much to do, I’m awake more hours and, with any luck, I’m accomplishing more. In the fall or winter — and maybe this is some kind of hibernation setting in — it isn’t that I’m necessarily doing less, but things are quieter. And since colder weather makes me more introspective, I kind of allow fall to be the time I go to the darker places — the ones that often end up in my songs.”

Martin said she also listens to a certain type of music to manipulate her autumnal mood. “In summer I like upbeat, drive-too-fast synthed-out goodness but when things cool off I delve into singer-songwriters like Cory Branan, Damien Rice or my absolute go-to, Tom Waits. This year, I plan to familiarize myself with more songwriters in our own blossoming community, artists like Ponybird, Ian Fitzgerald and Parsonsfield.”

Adam Wujtewicz, bassist/vocalist for the post-sludge/hypnotic-metal duo Bedroom Rehab Corporation, said seasons have a marked influence on the music they write. “I feel far more comfortable — and therefore more productive — in the fall,” he said. “Also, being in a heavier band doesn’t usually translate to ‘summer fun’ for a lot of folks. I think we’re far more effective when the sun goes down earlier and we’re in the dark.”

Wujtewicz also points to trends in the genre that dovetail nicely with the moods of the season. “I think modern metal is moving in a more melodic and even beautiful direction. To me this is really a very autumn sort of thing — finding beauty in decay and death like falling leaves or snow on the ground.”

As for what specific artists or albums the musicians would select if they were going to take a drive and do some leaf-peeping, the response was intriguing and revealing.

Davis stayed true to George Winston. “‘Autumn’ is the perfect cassette to throw in the truck and take a ride through the October foliage,” she said.

Johns, recently married, said, “If I’m going on that autumn drive with my wife, and we’re going to watch leaves, I’ve got to go with Dave Brubeck’s ‘Countdown: Time in Outer Space.’ I only listen to that in the fall and it’s ideal driving music.”

While Wujtewicz said he doesn’t particularly listen to specific albums in any particular season, he did point to Earth’s “The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull” and Mono’s “Hymn to the Immortal Wind” as “good morning albums in the fall that would add great atmosphere if you’re driving around looking at leaves.”

And Martin said her foliage-peeping soundtrack, “Playing Dead” by Doctor Gasp & the Eeks, is “ideal for gearing up to Halloween.”

Rick Koster’s Musical Travelogue1. Anathema — “We’re Here Because We’re Here”2. Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays — “As Falls Wichita So Falls Wichita Falls”3. George Winston — “Autumn”4. Frank Sinatra — “September of My Years”5. Marillion — “Afraid of Sunlight”6. Autumn Chorus — “The Village to the Vail”7. Vaughan Williams — “The Lark Ascending”8. Robert Fripp — “A Blessing of Tears”9. Peter Chilvers — “Stormwatcher”10. James Horner — Soundtrack to “The Life Before Her Eyes”