To say she was absolutely ecstatic to receive the call, that she would be the one to commemorate Bermuda’s Olympic Golden Girl feat in the Tokyo Olympics in song would be an understatement.
Bermuda’s own songstress Joy T Barnum said she woke up two days after the call from the Department of Youth, Sport and Culture, with the lyrics and melody in her head.
The song was officially released on the first-ever Flora Duffy Day public holiday last week.
Ms Barnum’s song was posted on social media to coincide with the public holiday.
When contacted by Bermuda Real, she said: “I was told in casual conversation that I should expect a phone call from the Department of Culture, but I wasn’t commissioned like I was for Mary Prince. I just dream big, really.
“I woke up at 6am two days after hearing I would receive a phone call regarding a concert and had the words and melody running in my head,” said Ms Barnum.
“I grabbed my cell to record it and wrote down the lyrics in my journal. As you hear it is exactly the order I wrote it in from start to finish! Then I grabbed my computer to look up more on Flora Duffy and saw the Superleague film put together by Nils Nilsen and wrote the second verse.”
From there, it was on to the producer she worked with in Nashville prior to the global COVID pandemic – Jason Garner.
“I sent Jason the voicenotes and he sent me the piano track in four days to be able to record it.
“I recorded with Felix Todd, who has graciously been available for both National Holiday Anthems and we recorded the trombone as I heard it on its own separate track to send back to Jason. We recorded all the background and additional call and response voices as well,” she said.
From there it was on to the video production and with the kind permission of the Anglican Bishop of Bermuda, the Rt Rev Nicholas Dill, the Cathedral would become the stunning backdrop for Ms Barnum’s video.
“It made me feel confident enough to show up at Felix’s the day of the shoot and proclaim the piece needed percussion and that I would record it then and there,” said Ms Barnum.
“The amazing thing about Felix is he doesn’t laugh at me or limit me to any specific ideologies. He simply said ‘you can no longer just be a singer in my eyes, you’re a producer’.
“It takes a level of comfort for a producer/engineer to fully embrace equity and Felix does that.”
She also noted that the musicians she called “were willing and able” to participate in this project.
“Jason heard the take and watched the video clips I sent him of the sound I wanted and told me I reminded him of Bobby McFerrin which lit my soul on fire,” she added.
Overall, she said: “I just dream big, really. I always dream big. I dreamt the song.”
The video was produced by Method Media for the Department of Culture.
“I was gifted these beautiful images of Bermudian Olympic Gold Medalist Flora Duffy Triathlon by Nils Nilson Photography,” Ms Barnum wrote on her Facebook post.
“He also shot the film for Superleague that I watched in order to garner more inspiration for Gold (Bermudian).
“Thanks to Jason Garner of Jason Garner productions and felix.tod and Spiritwearcollection by Amethyst for seeing my vision and executing it!”
To order the commemorative vinyl go to: https://joytbarnum.bandcamp.com/…/gold-b-w-get-tired…
