"This is a most unique audiobook of studio readings of 27 poems accompanied by original music.
Pandemics prompt creative artists do unusual things to keep their spirits soaring. And this was the case for two of the original SurfPoets from the 1990s. As a result, author Lesley Choyce and musician/record producer Doug Barron created a full-length CD audiobook recording of a most unique alternative brand of spoken word poetry and music.
While no one could accuse the pair of trying to crack Top 40 music, the album, The Trouble With Everything is a highly eclectic mix of Choyce's published poetry and Barron's studio wizardry that will help to shake off the bad vibes of the past year and inspire listeners with some heartfelt words.
Adhering to social distancing protocol, Choyce recorded the vocals at his home studio at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia and Barron composed original music and mixed the tracks at Brussels Street Studios in Halifax. A number of videos produced by Barron have appeared on Youtube and track samples are offered up on Bandcamp.com but the duo felt it important to produce a traditional CD album as well, soon to be available from Pottersfield Press and Nimbus Publishing.
Choyce and Barron first began talking about creative collaboration nearly 30 years ago while surfing together on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. Their 1990s band, Lesley Choyce and the SurfPoets recorded two CDs and their videos saw airplay on MuchMusic and elsewhere internationally. But the two bandmates drifted apart until a chance encounter at Dalhousie University just before COVID-19 restrictions closed the campus and discouraged most social interactions, including creative collaborations. Nonetheless, they decided to forge ahead with their project from separate locations. This is the result of their masterful melding of word and music."