What is Elsie Dee about?
Once we were past the initial question of “Who is Elsie Dee?” (...and who knew Elsie Dee was square???) it was inevitable
we come face to face with this question. So just what is this all about? The Elsie
Dee Project is all about having fun and enjoying life. Well maybe
there’s a bit more to it than that... we like to believe in the freedom of music
while we go about exploring new avenues of musical expression.
By presenting some of the most influential poetic works in history, we can perhaps spark further
interest in these great works and the lives of the people who created them. We are fortunate
enough to live in a time where communication with the world is literally at our fingertips.
As a result, our commitment to the freedom of music and the proliferation of great poetry can
extend from the artistic expression itself, to the global distribution.
To a large extent the Elsie Dee Project has become about the fans, the people who
comeback regularly to visit the site, download the songs and enjoy the music. You have to love the internet. Knowing there are fans
around the world in countries like Brazil, France, Ireland, Belgium, Japan, and of course
‘our home and native land’ Canada, has made what this is all about all the more meaningful.
The next inevitable question is how does this music come about?
The Elsie Dee Project is about experimenting
with music within a predefined set of parameters. The artists involved each take turns
composing and recording tracks of music. The primary parameter of which is that what
ever is done, it must be the ‘lowest common denominator’ (LCD... get it?). That is to
say it must be the simplest thing that can be done to enhance the outcome of the song.
Other than that, you are free to do what ever you whish while it’s your turn. As a result
of this, when a song is started no one has any idea how it will turn out as each artist
can change the direction of the composition during their turn. Once a consensus is reached
that the musical ‘bed tracks’ are complete a poet is selected as the source for the lyrics.
Preferably it’s a poet who has been dead for a considerable time (a couple hundred years is
best), although we have been known to select more recent poets when it seems appropriate
for the song. Once the poem is selected it is crafted into the song (...yes from time to time we take artistic liberties
with the texts). And “Ta-da!” the composition is complete.
We hope you enjoy the new music! These songs were created during the summer and fall of 2009 on Ile
Pariseau in Quebec, Canada. They were composed, performed, engineered and produced by The Elsie Dee Project
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