Spoken word poet Bob Jensen has joined forces with Tony McManus to release “The Swallowtail” for Christmas.
McManus, who is touted by many critics as the greatest Celtic guitarist in the world, is originally from Scotland but now resides in Elora, Ont.
The Swallowtail is a true story. In 2015, Jensen had been thinking about all the people he missed at Christmas time as he took a frozen spruce into the house to decorate. A couple of hours later, a beautiful yellow butterfly emerged, remaining in the house for the duration of the holidays.
A dish of fruit was set out for the newly-wakened visitor and the butterfly spent many hours on some broken orange pieces, which seemed to sustain it.
“He was to me, a living metaphor for those who are lonely at Christmas,” says Jensen.
“How could I not write a poem about him?”
And, so he did.
It was originally recorded by P.E.I.’s Lennie Gallant, but Jensen wanted to release his own version with music this year. So, he recorded the poem in October with Charlottetown guitarist and producer, Chris Corrigan, who has worked with artists such as Natalie MacMaster and Rita MacNeil, whose last album he produced.
MacManus adapted a traditional keening song from the Isle of Barra for the piece and recorded the guitar part in Woodstock, N.Y. at the studios of Jerry Marotta.
Jensen and MacManus are planning to release a full CD of Christmas poetry, short stories and music in November of 2019.
The Swallowtail has been released as a holiday single to CBC, campus and community radio across Canada, as well as into some international markets.
Early indications are that it will do well, as it is being added to playlists across Canada and as far away as Europe and Hawaii. It is available for sale and live streaming on virtually all digital platforms, including Amazon, Apple Music, iTunes and Spotify.
Bob Jensen will tour his spoken word poetry in England and Australia in 2020, including one Australian festival with an average annual audience of over 80,000 people.
The Swallowtail is registered with SOCAN and meets MAPL requirements as 100 per cent Canadian. Bob Jensen’s music and poetry are published bySGO.
