Dawn McCarthy formed Faun Fables in 1997 as a musical project after using the same name for a series of illustrated stories. She had previously worked with different bands.
After self-releasing her first album, she started working with Nils Frykdahl and since then other people have collaborated on the Faun Fables projects.
Faun Fables made four medieval folk records, all released or re-released on Drag City Records — Early Song, Mother Twilight, Family Album and The Transit Rider.