Darwin Song Project - Stu Hanna
writes:
During the Darwin Song House week, the first things that came to mind each morning were honey and slippers.
Honey on bread was usually the first meal of the day. It provided an early boost to the energy required by a heavy days songwriting. I was under strict instruction from Debs ( my wife and musical partner in folk duo ) to eat well, and I did not want to disappoint. Additionally, I was under the impression that certain honeys could provide anti-biotic protection against any cold & flu viruses brought into the house by our Scottish and American comrades. This was a fallacy, as my dribbling nose proves....after this breakfast snack we usually all settled down, put on our slippers and started to craft away at our Darwin inspired works of art.
During the Darwin Song House week, the first things that came to mind each morning were honey and slippers.
Honey on bread was usually the first meal of the day. It provided an early boost to the energy required by a heavy days songwriting. I was under strict instruction from Debs ( my wife and musical partner in folk duo ) to eat well, and I did not want to disappoint. Additionally, I was under the impression that certain honeys could provide anti-biotic protection against any cold & flu viruses brought into the house by our Scottish and American comrades. This was a fallacy, as my dribbling nose proves....after this breakfast snack we usually all settled down, put on our slippers and started to craft away at our Darwin inspired works of art.
This was sometimes easy; on our first day in the house, Rachael McShane and I worked on a song with American Mark Erelli called 'Kingdom Come'. He had brought this to us three quarters complete, and, after a touch of tweaking and tinkering, we had a finished product within only two hours.
Sometimes it was harder; I took a poem into the house by a 19th century Norwegian poet and Darwinist entitled 'Evolution'; with Krista Detor, I used this text as inspiration for our own composition 'Mother Of My Soul'...but it just did not quite reach out to us straight away. Nevertheless, we diligently persisted with it, chipping away one line at a time for the rest of the week.Ìý Then, during the final rehearsal, Chris Wood piped up "...that's a belter song, Stu... but for Finzi's sake get rid of that first verse!", we did, and the song was complete.
And sometimes it involved a few bottles of wine.... but you'll need to ask Karine Polwart about that.
All in all it was a wonderful week of musical creation; please do come to hear our honey fuelled Darwinian compositions at this years' ...I'll be the one in the slippers.
Hear interviews from the songhouse as well as some of the newly composed songs on The Mike Harding Show this week.
Sometimes it was harder; I took a poem into the house by a 19th century Norwegian poet and Darwinist entitled 'Evolution'; with Krista Detor, I used this text as inspiration for our own composition 'Mother Of My Soul'...but it just did not quite reach out to us straight away. Nevertheless, we diligently persisted with it, chipping away one line at a time for the rest of the week.Ìý Then, during the final rehearsal, Chris Wood piped up "...that's a belter song, Stu... but for Finzi's sake get rid of that first verse!", we did, and the song was complete.
And sometimes it involved a few bottles of wine.... but you'll need to ask Karine Polwart about that.
All in all it was a wonderful week of musical creation; please do come to hear our honey fuelled Darwinian compositions at this years' ...I'll be the one in the slippers.
Hear interviews from the songhouse as well as some of the newly composed songs on The Mike Harding Show this week.
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