I was given an album last week. A concept album inspired by stories that were attached to objects that went to make a boat. A boat called ‘The Collective Spirit’.
The Lone Twin boat project is a truly inspirational endeavor made up of thousands of pieces of wood all donated with a story. Constructed from parts of 140 other boats, hockey sticks, A prosthetic foot in a clog, religious icons, Hendrix’s Guitar and many other amazing and unexpected items, I am told the boat truly is a thing of beauty that not only works, it’s on tour.
The BBC World Service recorded a great outline in their show The Strand and there is more info on the site belonging to the IF Milton Keynes International Festival with details of where you will be able to see this amazing 30 foot boat in Milton Keynes during the festival itself.
The stories in the wooden offerings that went to make the boat, inspired an equally eclectic group of musicians who were initially commissioned by ‘The Stables‘ to bring the stories alive. This album forged by musicians, poets and songwriters hangs together beautifully and combines their own stories and musings with the tales that went to make the boat.
After missing the IF:MKFest first time round in 2010 I am really looking forward to getting to experience it this year. Especially as I will be professionally involved in a number of guises. Initially I will be leading a Mobile Media Making workshop sharing skills and tips that will help participants of the festival better share their own stories. These will no doubt be tagged with #IFMKFest.
Secondly I will be participating in The cabaret of Ideas housed in the legendary Speigeltent. And throughout the festival I plan to capture audio interviews, photos and video.
If you would like more of an insight to how the festival was curated as well as more background on the album shown above and the Lone Twin Boat Project, I highly recommend spending some time listening to this conversation with two of the festival organisers.
Festival Director Monica Ferguson and Creative Producer Bill Gee:
There is more information on the Festival here: http://www.ifmiltonkeynes.org See you there!
There are a selection of samples from the album linked here.. http://www.ifmiltonkeynes.org/2012-festival-programme/2012/05/09/if-album-harbour-of-songs.html
Which track is your favourite – and why?? And how many listens of the album did it take for you to like this particular song . . .
I liked ‘House of Wood’ by Guy Chambers, Sung by Raevennan Husbandes straight away, and it’s still my favorite.. 🙂