I guess the last one wasn’t the last snippet from the new opera, The Boats. America. Permission to leave. Emigration. John Wayne is one funky, dude. Black beer. James Brown. Mega-snippet. How it all fits together. One combo platter, coming up.

Roger CortonWell, I guess that wasn’t the last snippet. Maybe this is the last snippet?

America

JC HarrisHey, don’t sound so thrilled with some NEW MUSIC!

RCYeah, yeah. Look, where have you been for the past month?

JCHHealth stuff.

RCIt never ends.

JCHTrue dat.

RCSo, first things first. I thought there were no more snippets.

JCHBookkeeping? (laughs) So, each of the three sons has their own aria–where they think about where they imagine themselves going to. I realized that I hadn’t included the aria for the youngest son, Cian.

RCYou remind me of when I was a kid. I wasn’t happy until I had every baseball card in […]

The last snippet from the new opera, The Boats: Tower Hill? Why is it taking so long (again)? No fun factor. Getting the band back together? Too Old To Rock & Roll. Trump Virus. The American Dream.

Roger CortonIs it possible? The last snippet?

Tower Hill

JC HarrisAnything is possible.

RCIt seems like it’s been going on…

JCHForever?

RCYou said it. I didn’t.

JCHI did say it.

RCI seem to recall at certain times we’ve done rants titled “Why is it taking so long.”

JCHI vaguely remember those. Like a bad fever.

RCSo…

JCHWell in twenty five words or less, there’s health and then there’s inspiration and then there’s the related ‘fun factor’.

RCFun factor, you say.

JCHYeah, we’ve beaten that to death. Look, when I work on ‘normal’ stuff, I’m working on stuff based on what I’m enjoying. But this opera is essentially […]

A snippet from the new opera, The Boats: I Will Try You. Dogs that won’t behave and hand clapping skills. The Smiths and How Soon Is Now. Emergency couples therapy, The Marriage Of Figaro and fishing boat captains. The inner voice revisited. La Boheme revisited. Bring on the soaring guitars.

Roger CortonPower chords.

I Will Try You

JC Harris

RCIt starts out with the hand clapping.

JCHSo it’s breakfast and Móirín and Ciarán are doing what lots of households do, having a fight whilst taking care of chores. In this case she’s calling in one of the dogs.

RCFrom the farm.

RCWell, it’s not really a farm. But yeah, the property where sheep graze. Sheep dogs. And the dog isn’t minding and it’s exasperating. So she’s clapping that pattern over and over. And that blends in with her telling off Ciarán. But his mind is off somewhere else. It’s just this background noise.

[…]

A snippet from the new opera, The Boats: Tsunami, The second wave, Verdi, La Traviata, Dying at 100 decibels, The inner voice in opera, Monty Python And The Holy Grail, I’m not dead yet, Brazil, A different kind of Botox.

Roger CortonAnd still. Another. New. Snippet.

Tsunami

JC HarrisRight you are, Rog! But wait. If you act now, you will receive. Not one! But two! Absolutely free…

RCJust pay a small shipping fee.

JCHExactly.

RCBack on planet earth, let’s talk about the piece. For a piece called ‘Tsunami’ this is fairly quiet stuff.

JCHYes. This is the first aria which directly follows the Overture. Our main character, Ciarán, sits on a bench on the cliff overlooking the town at sunrise. From there you can also see the ocean. He’s just having a think before the auction.

RCSo the tsunami is a metaphor.

JCHRight. It’s this ginormous, silent […]

Another snippet from the new opera, The Boats: Something (By the numbers). Vincent Price. The Abominable Dr. Phibes. It’s Mendelssohn. Nothing like the Butthole Surfers. Jealousy. Philip Levine. What Is Work. Spanish Albacore Boats. Waiting in line.

Roger CortonAfter our last chat I didn’t expect to hear from you for quite some time. And so. Here we are.

JC HarrisI did. And so. Here we are.

RCTalking like. We’re in. A very bad. Horror movie.

JCHStarring Vincent Prrrrrrrrice. (evil laugh)

RCI was just thinking the same thing.

JCHI can never get enough of that shit. Not to digress…

RCWhat? You?

JCH…but ya know what really makes me jealous? Is not wealth or fame or some guy with a supermodel or any of that cliché shit. It’s like when I’m on Facebook and I see some guy my age with a selfie of he and his wife outside of a movie house showing like The Theatre Of […]