Category Archives: Cut to the Corps

The Sunday Sessions film featuring original music and lyric poetry from Cut to the Corps

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For those of you who thought I couldn’t possibly find another way to promote/blog/bang on about this experience any more… you were wrong! Here it is, the long awaited video from the live recording of Cut to the Corps.

If you’re new to my site and haven’t heard anything about this project yet then please do have a look at the Cut to the Corps section of Lovely Things to get the full story. There you will find more information about the project and its process, pictures, feedback and a  link to a site where you can listen to one of the tracks from the album as well as buy your own copy.

But if all that still isn’t enough for you, here’s the video of a couple of tracks that we recorded as part of The Sunday Sessions. Enjoy.

Penny for your thoughts…

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The Cut to the Corps CD & booklet has now been officially released and I would love to hear what you think if you have already heard it. So if you can spare a moment and would like to share your thoughts, simply comment in the box below.

If you haven’t yet bought a copy and would like to, simply click here to order online  or to listen to a sample track.

CUT TO THE CORPS CD & BOOKLET NOW OFFICIALLY RELEASED!

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And so the production line begins… it has been what feels like months and months in the making but the Cut to the Corps CD & booklet is now available to buy. You can either order on-line by clicking below or simply find me in person to pick up a copy.

Finally, thank you so much to everyone who has been a part of this project, it’s amazing to be able to finally share it…

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CUT TO THE CORPS OR TO ORDER YOUR COPY ONLINE NOW

The Sunday Sessions – Photographs from an evening of ‘Cut to the Corps’

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Yesterday evening saw the first in the series of the Bath Autumn Sunday Sessions, as audience members braved the several hundred steps up to my tiny little flat and piled into my bedroom where they were plied with tea and brownies before settling down for the poetry performance preview of Cut to the Corps.

I started writing this collection of poetry back in January after my boyfriend left to go and work in Ghana for two years with American Government organisation, The Peace Corps. Four months and twenty poems later, my friend Bruce and I came up with the idea of putting the whole collection to music which we would ultimately record and give to Paul, my boyfriend, when I went out to Africa to visit him in the Summer. Read more about the process here at https://wholelotalovely.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/cut-to-the-corps-lyric-poetry-in-process/

The development of this project has been a creative journey that I don’t think either myself or Bruce could have ever anticipated and it really was wonderful to share it for the first time last night, especially with such an open and appreciative audience. There are only a few photos from the evening and a whole collection of videos that I will edit and put together as soon as I can get hold of them but for now, what I do have is posted below.

We are currently in the final stages of putting together a CD of Cut to the Corps. This will include all of the original poems that we recorded plus a few bonus tracks and a printed booklet containing all of the words as well as a few photographs and some illustrations done by Paul after he heard the original collection back in the Summer.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER A COPY OF THE CUT TO THE CORPS CD AND BOOKLET

Cut to the Corps – lyric poetry in process

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I think that everyone, no matter how creative they are, has some kind of outlet. For some it’s running, others gardening, painting, reading, walking the dog but everyone has something that they do to clear their head, collect their thoughts, find a bit of order in the chaos. For me, that outlet is poetry, so naturally when my boyfriend, Paul, left to go and complete a twenty-seven month service period in Ghana with American Government Organisation, the Peace Corps… I started writing.

Paul left in early February and we had agreed that I would fly out to visit him seven months later at the end of August. Being an English/American couple, we’re no strangers to distance but this was a new challenge for us and over the next few months, I documented my side of the emotional journey by putting together a collection of poems titled Cut to the Corps.

At the end of February, my friend Bruce and I had got to talking about my poetry and the idea came about to try and put some of it to music. There were maybe only five or six poems by this point and the idea of setting them to music seemed like an interesting challenge to both of us, so a new collaboration was born.Within a few months I had written another fifteen poems and Bruce had begun writing, not just accompaniments, but full on lyric poetry that I would sing and eventually record and give to Paul when I went out to Ghana. What began as a simple idea became more and more elaborate as the two of us became more and more invested. Towards the end of the Summer, Bruce was working day and night, firstly from university, then at home and at one point from the middle of a campsite by the sea, to write the music, record the lyrics and accompaniment and send them all to me via email. I was then spending all the spare time I had, singing in the car park on my lunch breaks, humming quietly to myself on trains and staying up late into the night, trying to learn everything so that we could record it all in one go.

The final recording was done over the course of about two and a half days, split between two weekends. The first night we worked until around two or three in the morning and the last, I think we finished at about 7am. Bruce’s family were incredibly supportive, making us amazing food, creeping around quietly so that we could record, and not saying anything about the three part, high pitched harmonies that we started laying down at five o’clock in the morning on the last day.I went back to Bath after we finished recording, to pack my bags for Ghana, which meant we had about two days to do any final remote adjustments before I had to leave for the airport. During this time, Bruce somehow didn’t sleep for the entire two days and was sending me updates and alterations right up until the last minute, adding extra vocals, percussion, bass, more guitar and just generally being amazing.

This is perhaps the point to mention that Paul had absolutely no idea of the hive of activity that was happening in his name back in Britain and of course that made it all the more emotional when I presented it to him a few days later on my arrival in Ghana. I had bought him a portable cd player and a headphones splitter, as there is no electricity in his little African village, so the project was finally brought to its conclusion as the two of us lay there in the dark together, listening to the sounds of the last six months…

~

It’s fairly easy to keep a secret from someone when they’re living off the grid, in a foreign country, three thousand miles away, so quite a few people knew about our project with Cut to the Corps and since my return, I have had a number of questions about whether or not the album will be available to buy now that I am back and Paul has heard it. Below is a small sample of the recording process including a few of the final tracks but if you are interested in purchasing a full copy including a booklet of the poetry (and if I have enough requests to cover the printing costs, some original artwork done by Paul after he heard the poems for the first time) then please either come and find me or send an email to wholelotalovelypost@gmail.com

Thank you so, so much to Bruce for everything you have done and for being such a monumental part of this amazing journey, both you and this experience with always have a place in my heart, to all of the wonderful family and friends who supported me though not just the creative process but also the experiences that I originally wrote about, I couldn’t have got through them without you, and finally to Paul, for you I don’t know where to begin, perhaps for being my inspiration above everything else, and for receiving these words that I wrote for you with just so much love. You knew nothing of all this until it arrived in your arms a few weeks ago but I couldn’t have done it without you.

So, thank you… for being my reason.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER A COPY OF THE CUT TO THE CORPS CD AND BOOKLET