From the liner notes by Joe: "This recording took place at my home in the woods in Connecticut. My dog, Scout, a Border Terrier, came with us on a walk onto the huge rock outcropping behind the studio that I call the Temple. Scout draws a lot of attention which explains why Terrier is in the title. On the walk, in the studio, and later eating take-out pizza on the beach together, we all talked like the old friends that we are. Sharing ideas and stories, having endured the tough parts and enjoyed the best parts of doing this for so long, which might be why Tells is also part of the title, although our playing has a certain —particular to this group—kind of narrative formulation too. These things were improvised like the music, in collective agreement, casually, and also worthy of being noticed as part of the whole collective creative process."