A Musical Milestone
IMRO Feature & Release 20 October
Hi there,
I’m very excited that IMRO, the Irish Music Rights Organisation, are featuring our song “Every Moment” on their website. The song will be released next Friday, 20 October.
Venturing into New Territory
The Rayne (@therayne.music) will be going live on Instagram at 5pm on 20 October and Andrea (@patronand) and I will be joining him. I’ve never done Instagram live before. In fact, I’ve only recently opened an Instagram account (@JoeArmstrongHumanist), so it feels like diving in the deep end.
A Journey of Inspiration
A song that has its genesis 31 years ago, that came to me two weeks after I proposed to Ruth, is about to be released. I’m delighted!
Reflections on Never Discarding Creative Ideas
For me, it reinforces something I believe as a writer—never throw anything away!
Celebrating Collaborators: The Rayne and Andrea Patron
It’s particularly gratifying for me that my first song to go public was one that I wrote for Ruth. I wrote another one for her too—but it hasn’t as yet been released.
Insights on the Joy of Creative Partnership
What I like about Every Moment is that it is a collaboration. Without my songwriting collaborators, The Rayne and Andrea Patron, the song would never have seen the light of day.
Taking it from the raw inspiration of 31 years ago and working on it together with two musical professionals showed me the deep satisfaction of working with others on a creative project.
Potential Impact in Wedding Ceremonies
As a Humanist celebrant, I can see how the song could work really well during a wedding ceremony. Obviously it would depend on the celebrant to some extent and the singer, but I really can see it being sung by guests during a happy, informal wedding ceremony.
I see it in my mind: one half of the guests sing a verse, then the other side. It could be like a competition to see who can sing it better or with fuller voice. And the lyrics are so simple. And they’re repeated. It’s very easy to learn and sing.
Personal Significance of "Every Moment"
Ruth and I are married 30 years. Its sweet that our song was finished by our 30th wedding anniversary last August. While Ruth had heard earlier versions of the song, she hadn’t heard the final one before our anniversary. I had great plans for the big reveal at a fancy Michelin-starred restaurant in Kilkenny. None of which went according to plan! I tell the story in this six-minute video clip:
The Power of Archiving: Lessons from the Audio Diaries
On the subject of keeping everything and throwing nothing away, in 1994 I kept an audio diary of my three-hour daily commute to and from work, travelling from Chelmsford in Essex, England, to London, five days a week. I used to teach at St Bonaventure’s Comprehensive School in the East End of London. I used to transcribe the tapes, thinking they might be of some interest at some stage.
Rediscovering Forgotten Memories: The Attic Find
Three decades later, a bit like the song, I had forgotten all about the tapes and the transcripts until I was researching and writing my second memoir, Saved by a Woman. Then I searched for the transcriptions and couldn’t find them anywhere. I’d given up.
Then, we improved the insulation in our attic and everything up there had to be taken down. Among the vast horde of papers and files, I found old floppy discs. Some were accessible, some were not. With the help of a local computer expert, I gained access to most of the floppies and I found most of the transcripts of almost 30 years ago.
Recreating the Past: Enriching "Saved by a Woman"
They enrich my second memoir, Saved by a Woman, offering contemporaneous observations and making my daily commute come alive as I navigated to and from the East End of London.
So, my recommendation is to record stuff and never throw anything away!