artist Heart Swells

There is more than gold in the hills of Wells BC. The majority of the songs on this compilation were written during the course of two collaborative session taking place between 9:30am and 11am on July 28th and July 29th 2009. These sessions were guided by David Francey and Craig Werth and coincided with the annual Arts Wells Festival. They set up an uninhibited atmosphere of encouragement inspiring songs ranging a wide spectrum of emotion and observation. The names of the sixteen participants in this workshop were drawn in pairs from Craig's magic hat. Each duo was challenged to come back with two verses and a chorus. 

The songs generated contain the purity and joy of collaborators colliding for the first time. The melodies are intoxicating and the chord progressions each have their own unique flair. The lyrical content draws inspiration from Wells rustic setting as well as from one another. Love, death and rebirth are all explored and presented with universal appeal. 

There is an extra poignancy to this music because participants Tempest Gale and Mike Webb have since passed away. Their recordings included on this compilation take the listener to Wells during the magical time and place that these songs originated. The rest of the recordings are studio versions recapturing the excitement created in Wells. Most were recorded live off the floor in less than five takes with minimal studio augmentation. 

This unique document of time, place and cultural ecology has been preserved to exemplify a group of exceptional songs founded upon spontaneous collaboration.