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Picture This: A Blackfish Oratorio

by Bug Toast

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1.
Overture 03:09
Instrumental composition
2.
A.M. 04:55
Instrumental composition, with field recordings, found sound, and taped voices
3.
Instrumental composition (with field recordings).
4.
"Business Meeting: Vote Now" (music: Mark Andrews; lyrics: Merridawn Duckler) Chorus: No! I disagree, I have to disagree! I second that! Is there a motion? There has to be a motion. I’m abstaining! What was the motion? Is there any discussion? Can we bring this to a vote, can we vote now? We already voted on this! Wait! I have an idea I’d like to discuss. Can we vote now? What is the discussion? Sorry, I didn't remember the motion. Did everybody have a chance to speak? Do we need to table it? We tabled it last time! Let's vote! Chorus: Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….. The yea’s have it!
5.
Instrumental composition with field recordings.
6.
"Picture This (A Love Song)" (music: Christopher Shotola-Hardt; lyrics: Merridawn Duckler) I held my heart wide I kept her inside as the sea all my heart all I see from here, colors that I saw you and me from the start Picture this my muse, my whole dream Picture this Loves lives in my frame in my frame Wide-eyed before With eyes shut I make lines of you beauty rise can I look for more all I have at stake
 than the truth love, art, life 
 Picture this your face in my dream I know now Love lives in my frame In my frame In a frame Love in my frame Love in our frame
7.
Whose Blues 05:11
"Whose Blues" (music: Susanne Shotola-Hardt; lyrics: Merridawn Duckler) who’s this who forgot who was that who ran who came who talked who called who sat who borrowed who borrowed who swept who swept who noticed who noticed who stole who stole who’s this who forgot who was that who ran who came who talked who called who sat … and was silent
8.
What It Is 03:06
Instrumental composition with recorded voices.
9.
"Someone Came In" (music: Dave Andrews; lyrics: Merridawn Duckler) a woman came in, a man came in a couple came in, a homeless man came in a tour came in, a snacker came in someone returned, who came in yesterday I think there’s someone touching something in the gallery that they shouldn’t... a school group came in, a collector came in students came in and a bee flew in various Blackfishies swam in and out a man came in and played his ukulele (he stayed for 25 minutes and never said a word!) a kid from San Diego disappeared in the back I got worried and started to look for him turns out he was in the Ritual Tent ... OM leaves blew in, smokers came in...and out Santa came in, the Mayor came in a grifter came in, and that man from Kansas came in a lone person came in and stayed looking for a long time I saw the old artist yesterday, I believe he knew me he raised his head, his eyes opened wide he grabbed and held my hand he kept on shaking it he would not let go ... awkward.... a woman came in, a man came in a couple came in someone came in
10.
Aria & Chorus: "Closing Routine" (music: Christopher Shotola-Hardt; lyrics: Merridawn Duckler) the hour grows late now the sky grows dark cleaned kitchen scoured sink swept leaves walked the floor took the garbage out cleaned the glass cleared the desk wrote my notes checked the mail answered the phone turned the lights out closed the door shut the office called you to come after me here tomorrow you… will be where I am now you…will be you…will be we…will be we…will be Blackfish…will be Blackfish…will be …Here!

about

Historically, an ORATORIO is a large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices — typically a narrative on a religious theme, performed without the use of costumes, scenery, or action. Well-known examples include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, and Haydn’s The Creation.

Similar in its parts to an opera, the oratorio includes recitatives (musical declamations of narrative and dialogue parts, usually sung in the rhythm of ordinary speech, which drive the narrative forward); arias (long, accompanied songs for a solo voice, which can punctuate emotional highpoint, or offer insightful soliloquy), and choruses (multiple voices joining in to comment on pivotal events in the narrative).

"PICTURE THIS: A BLACKFISH ORATORIO" is a contemporary, progressive folk music take on this historical musical form. Blackfish Gallery artists Christopher Shotola-Hardt & Merridawn Duckler, in conjunction with Bug Toast (Shotola-Hardt’s progressive folk ensemble), present a 45-minute oratorio, setting texts against original folk, blues, jazz, and classical motifs. Their oratorio invites listeners into a day in the life of the iconic Portland gallery. Incorporating everything from First Thursday field recordings to ukulele soliloquy, and based on Duckler’s libretto gathered from 40 years of gallery sitter logs, PICTURE THIS combines a Fauvist, impressionistic score with the realpolitik of artists’ lives.

credits

released November 11, 2020

BUG TOAST
Dave Andrews (electric guitar, guizouk, mandolin, vocals)
Mark Andrews (bass, guitar, vocals)
Christopher Shotola-Hardt (guizouk, bass, vocals)
Susanne Shotola-Hardt (accordion, vocals)
Adrian Hardt (sound & sample design, ukulele)

TRACKS
1. Overture (C.Shotola-Hardt)
2. A.M. (C.Shotola-Hardt)
3. Hanging the Show (Bug Toast)
4. Business Meeting: Vote Now! (M.Andrews)
5. First Thursday (C.Shotola-Hardt)
6. Picture This (A Love Song) (C.Shotola-Hardt)
7. Whose Blues (S.Shotola-Hardt)
8. What It Is (C.Shotola-Hardt)
9. Someone Came In (D.Andrews)
10. Shimmering Reflections / Closing Routine (C.Shotola-Hardt)

The taped voices from Blackfish Gallery sitter logs were read by the following gallery artists: Rita Alves, Lynda Ater, Carol Benson, Barbara Black, Clint Brown, Lauren Carrera, Myra Clark, Greg Conyne, Jana DeMartini, Robert Dozono, Merridawn Duckler, Kane Ikeda, Michael Knutson, Palmarin Merges, Paul Missal, Monica Mitchell, Rory ONeal, Angela Passalacqua, Christopher Shotola-Hardt, Stephan Soihl, Mandy Stigant, Steve Tilden, and Judith Wyss.

"Picture This: A Blackfish Oratorio" was recorded at Nettleingham Audio (Vancouver, WA) on May 5, 2019. Engineered by Dean Baskerville. Mixed by Dean Baskerville & Bug Toast. Mastered by Dean Baskerville.
All music & arrangements are by Bug Toast, libretti by Merridawn Duckler.

COVER PAINTING: David Selleck, "No Wake Zone" (2008, oil on canvas, 40" x 40"
CD & Booklet Design: Christopher Shotola-Hardt

FUNDING: Regional Arts & Culture Council; Loren Wyss Foundation; Burdock-Burn Art Resource, Inc.; Private Donors

DEDICATION: "Picture This: A Blackfish Oratorio" is dedicated to the memory & lasting inspiration of longtime Blackfish artist David Selleck (1947 - 2017).

Copyright 2020 BMI

Visit www.bugtoastmusic.com

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Bug Toast Portland, Oregon

Bug Toast defies categorization, playing genre-bending, world-influenced, progressive folk on bouzouki, accordion, guitar, bass, violin, percussion, and sound samples, with textured instrumentation, vocal harmonies, and interesting time signatures. Blended from two musical families, Bug Toast creates richly textured, interwoven pieces with careful attention to counterpoint, voicing, and rhythms. ... more

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