EPISODE SUMMARY

This month our SpokenWeb minisode features Kaie Kellough reading at The Words and Music Show, Nov 20, 2016. As Kellough starts to introduce his reading, a pre-recorded voice slowly mixes with his live words. Where, then, does the introduction end, and where does the reading begin?

EPISODE NOTES

Each month on alternate fortnights (that’s every second week following the monthly SpokenWeb Podcast episode) – join Hannah McGregor, and minisode host and curator Katherine McLeod for SpokenWeb’s Audio of Month mini series.

An extension of Katherine’s audio-of-the-week series at spokenweb.ca, Katherine brings her favourite audio each month to The Spokenweb Podcast – so if you love what you hear, make sure to head over to spokenweb.ca for more.

https://spokenweb.ca/news/kaie-kellough-the-words-music-show/

Producer: Katherine McLeod
Executive Producer: Stacey Copeland
Host: Hannah McGregor

00:00

Music:

[Piano Overlaid With Distorted Beat]

00:10

Hannah McGregor:

Welcome to our SpokenWeb minisodes. You know the drill. Each month on alternate fortnights—that’s every second week following the monthly SpokenWeb Podcast episode—join me, Hannah McGregor, and minisode host and curator Katherine McLeod for SpokenWeb’s Audio of the Month miniseries. We’ll share with you specially curated audio clips from deep in the SpokenWeb archives. This series is an extension of Katherine’s Audio of the Week series at spokenweb.ca with Katherine brings her favourite audio each month to the SpokenWeb Podcast. So if you love what you hear, make sure to head over to spokenweb.ca for more. Without further ado, here is Katherine McLeod with SpokenWeb’s March edition of Audio of the Month: ‘mini’ stories about how literature sounds.

01:08

Theme Music:

[Instrumental Overlapped With Feminine Vocals]

01:08

Katherine McLeod:

In this Audio of the Month, we’ll be listening to a recording of Kaie Kellough reading at The Words and Music Show in Montreal. The reading was on November 20th, 2016. Kellough’s voice has been recorded many times throughout the past 20 years of Montreal’s Words and Music Show, a monthly cabaret of spoken word, poetry, music, and dance established and organized by poet and musician Ian Ferrier. The recordings of these shows have now been digitized and cataloged by SpokenWeb researchers at Concordia University. During the digitization process, student research assistant Ali Barillaro noticed that this performance by Kellough stood out from the rest. As Kellough starts to introduce his own reading, a pre-recorded voice slowly mixes with his live words. Where, then, does the introduction end, and where does the reading begin?

02:10

Audio Recording:

[Audio, Kaie Kellough] Hello, thanks Ian for that introduction and thanks to all of the other artists tonight. It’s been a very nice night. I’m going to present something to, at, for you that is somewhat narrative, I guess. But it isn’t related to my, to my novel. It’s some, some other narratives and the narratives are related to adolescence, [Audio, a recording of a masculine voice, overlapping with Kaie speaking. It progressively gets louder and more audible] which is a peculiar time in life. And I think that they’re relevant nowadays because they’re related to adolescents in a particular place in time–

03:03

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] …gripping, steering…

03:03

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –in Alberta–

03:04

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice]…pumpjacks, a sign behind…

03:07

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –in the–

03:09

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] …I want to forget–

03:09

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –1980s.

03:10

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –high school fever–

03:12

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] In, in–

03:13

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –forever. Forget articles in _The Herald_–

03:15

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –in the moment of–

03:16

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –about black-haired teens from the reserves–

03:17

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –heavy evangelical–

03:18

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –who drank themselves to death–

03:19

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –activity–

03:20

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –in macho contests–

03:20

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –and extreme conservatism and–

03:22

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –trying to prove to themselves that they exist.

03:24

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –some of the [Stutters] ch-ch-challenges–

03:25

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] As night dripped into next day’s headlines,–

03:27

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –that arise when growing up–

03:28

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –I want to forget my stupid conviction–

03:28

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –and trying to live and become oneself–

03:31

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –that a boy had to be distilled–

03:33

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –in a climate like that–

03:35

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –into a man.

03:35

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –which–

03:35

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] That the terror of being bloodline–

03:35

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –seems to be a climate that,–

03:37

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –had to be spiked with rum.

03:37

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –that is reemerging in spite of–

03:39

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] That amber alcohol preserved–

03:41

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –all of the,–

03:41

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –the DNA–

03:41

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –all of the-,-

03:42

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –that seeped down centuries–

03:44

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –all of the,–

03:44

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –from slavery.

03:45

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –appearances–

03:46

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] That coloured this reflection on boyhood

03:46

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –to the contrary, that had, that had appeared–

03:49

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –in a far-flung suburb–

03:50

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –in the past.–

03:50

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –of empire,–

03:51

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] The idea–

03:52

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –a mighty slum,–

03:53

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –that, that–

03:53

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –a bubble, born yesterday–

03:53

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –that–

03:53

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –or a 12-pack of empties–

03:53

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –born yesterday, was finished–

03:53

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –or a bubble in a bottle,–

03:58

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –and that–

04:00

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –broken in the back seat,–

04:00

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –it was gone and, and, and done–

04:02

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] –a froth that slicked between–

04:02

Audio Recording:

[Kaie] –and suddenly a wave… [Kaie begins distorting his own voice, deliberately stuttering, repeating, and cutting out as the recording of the masculine voice continues to sound clearly] A w-w-w-w-wave of c-c-c-c-conservatism has has has has has crashed…

04:03

Audio Recording:

[Masculine Voice] — slides archived by teenage brains. Autobiography of an outsider screamed at the dragon. Nobody is [inaudible] crashed oldsmobile [inaudible] supreme…

04:14

Music:

[Piano Overlaid With Distorted Beat]

04:18

Katherine McLeod:

That was Kaie Kellough reading at The Words and Music Show in Montreal on November 20th, 2016. Head to spokenweb.ca to find out more about where this recording is from. My name’s Katherine McLeod and tune in next month for another deep dive into the sounds of the SpokenWeb archives.