WOLCOTT – Jim Ryan, a Wolcottian, visited the Wolcott Town Office on Saturday and Craftsbury Library on Sunday last weekend to share the release of his debut book and CD project, “Whistling Up in Ghostland, Essays and Songs of Adventure, Intuition, and Awakening.”
photo by Paul Fixx
The Wolcott event, sponsored by Wolcott Arts Collaborative and the Wolcott Public Library began with Ryan describing the process of creating the multi-media project. His process of creating the book involved first writing lyrics, then collaborating with area musicians to write the songs, then writing the text.
While some of the collected essays were written some time ago, most of his work on the book happened within the last year and a half, he said.
First reading from the book, Ryan was followed by his collaborator, singer-songwriter Lizzie Mandell, who played guitar and songs written by Ryan, with music by Mandell and others.
Ryan read from a section titled, “My New Old Friend,” about the previous owner of the Wolcott farm where he now lives on East Hill. It was a touching tale of taking the elderly former owner for a visit to see the farm, which Ryan had renewed and which the former owner was grateful to see.
Mandell was ready to begin the song and heard Ryan’s text for the first time after having written the music for the lyrics he’d written. She sang the song with great emotion, bringing us all into the story Ryan had just read us.
photo by Paul Fixx
Ryan asserts the captivating stories are true. Drawing from a wide range of his personal experiences, “the essays and songs in “Whistling Up in Ghostland” are an exploration of consciousness, presence in nature, travel to the far flung and journeying deep within,” says Ryan.
“I have never considered myself a musician. My only musical claim to fame was playing the snare drum in a bagpipe band. I continue to struggle to learn how to play the guitar. But I always loved to tell stories through song lyrics. I realized over the last two decades that I had written about many of my extraordinary life experiences, not in prose, but through lyrics.”
Ryan said he’d not been able to fully process the pivotal moments in his life, which had deeply affected him until his lyrics allowed him to express what he’d been reluctant to share otherwise. “Adhering to the song verse-chorus template and imposing a rhyme scheme helped me focus my thoughts. Crafting the words to songs was my first step in processing and understanding what was happening before me, and within me.”
“As I continued my practice of writing lyrics to help process my personal awakening, I embarked on a parallel track of extensive journaling and writing and later, researching to shed light on what was unfolding. Along the way, I began to find my spirituality and better understand my true self,” he said.
The moments described in the book’s pages are accompanied by corresponding song lyrics, he wrote in the book’s introduction.
“In some instances, the lyrics have been developed fully into songs, in collaboration with seasoned singer-songwriters. Songs are sprinkled throughout these pages, with links to the audio. Many of these songs are included in the Free Now album.”
“The album we created was pure magic. It moved many listeners, friends, family, neighbors, radio station DJs, other musicians and complete strangers,” said Ryan.
‘Listeners were intrigued by the characters in the lyrics and the emotion of the music, melodies, and vocals. In some cases, they were moved to tears. They wanted to know if the stories and characters described within the songs were real. The intrigue, emotion, and interest of the listeners motivated me to write this book.”
“The convergence of emotion, nature and music, shared by like-minded souls is my sweet spot and where all the magic happens,” writes Ryan.from his Bear Swamp Farm in Wolcott.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
