A Word In Your Ear
In A Word In Your Ear (2021), 6 artists developed new personalised poems and songs for a community groups, inspired by conversations with participants from those groups that took place during intimate one-to-one performances over the phone.
The project was born from further Covid-19 restrictions earlier that year, and from the success of our telephone-based Autumn project Dial a Story, where audiences experienced a personalised, one-to-one performance over the phone. We were overwhelmed by the feedback that the performances had uplifted people and made them feel less alone, and we were inspired by the stories that they shared in response to the performances.
For A Word In Your Ear, we worked with an exciting pool of local artists, including four poets and a music duo, and paired them with distinct and inspiring community groups from across the Black Country. The artists performed one-to-one for individual members of the groups over the phone, and then used those interactions as inspiration to create brand new original poems or songs especially for their group.
The pieces explored themes of connecting with others, the digital world being a predominantly visual world, and spoonfuls of sunshine and happiness. Each final piece brought its community group together for an experience via Zoom or the phone, where they engaged with the song, poem or performance made especially for them.
Artists & Groups
Adrian Earle (poet) & Abigail King (designer/maker) – Sandwell Visually Impaired and Thimblemill Bookworms
Emma Purshouse (poet) – Willenhall Wombles
Jasmine Gardosi (poet) – Just Straight Talk (Pom Poms project)
Roy McFarlane (poet) – members from various Ideal for All groups
Ricardo Rocha (multi-instrumentalist) & Sam Fox (singer/musician) – Bearwood Community Hub and Mothership
A Word in Your Ear Podcast
Back in the early part of 2021, due to further restrictions on indoor mixing, we adapted a project from the local shop to the humble telephone. Six artists were paired with community groups to provide one-to-one performances on the telephone interspersed with conversation. These conversations then inspired 8 new works of poetry and song. The results were so good that we turned them into a podcast series with the help of poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan.
Listen to Ian in conversation with artists and community groups, and listen to the extraordinary works created by Adrian Earle, Jasmine Gardosi, Emma Purshouse, Roy McFarlane and Fox & Rocha.
Watch the trailer for A Word in Your Ear:
Listen to the A Word In Your Ear podcast episodes below:
Supporters & Podcast Development
Hosted & presented by Ian McMillan
Episode structuring by Adrian Earle
Sound engineering by Duncan Grimley
Artwork Sakab Bashir
Produced by Bobby Tiwana
A Word in Your Ear is a Black Country Stories podcast commissioned and produced by Black Country Touring.