But then ...

Bob’s life is, to a certain extent, untellable except by himself. The “But then …” Project hopes to capture how Bob has considered his life through insights offered in his poems written between 1967 – 2022; penned in Australia, travelling through the USA, working and walking in the UK, fighting for the environment on land and sea. Bob’s words are accompanied by soundscapes, musical reflections on his written reflections, and short sharp notes on the genesis of each poem weaving a narrative thread through the whole collection.

E. M. Foster argued a novelist should cling to the idea of ‘opening out’ never ‘rounding off’. Bob’s poems reveal how he opened out across nearly 60 years and how he was never constrained by the past or fear of the future. The poems are convincing because Bob allows us to see his shifts and about-turns, his ups and downs, love and loss embodied in his sharp-edged mortality. He’s in one place – geographic or intellectual – then in another, then another; as he explains “The world moves on and it’s bittersweet …”.

Bob sees life as transformative and optimistic. Something happens but then something else, best depicted when Paul knocked on his door – the ultimate transformative ‘but then’ giving us the title for the telling of his life in this collection.

About 7 years ago I blurted out to Bob that I’d like to put music to his poems. He looked me in the eye and said “Well, start with Winter Night At Liffey”, a few chords of which are the musical entrance for Volume 1 of “But then …”. That was my ‘but then’ moment, transforming what I was doing musically. My music fills the ink wells for the words he has written about the extraordinary life he lives.

Opening orchestral music is from “Winter Night At Liffey” as found on the soundtrack of “The Giants”, the internationally award-winning documentary about Bob’s life and Tasmania’s native forests www.thegiantsfilm.com

For full performance of “Winter Night At Liffey” please search Spotify or similar and for the video see www.stevecrumpmusic.com

But then … Vol. 1 is a collection of 12 poems put to music that covers the period 1973 <> 2022. All have a note written by Bob (narrated by Jane Longhurst) about the genesis of each poem, providing a chronological narrative to lead the listener through Bob’s experiences and thoughts.

But then … Vol. 1 Bonus Tracks provides the full unedited readings by Bob of the poems that were shortened to better fit and enhance the musical expressions; plus two “Elements” tracks of just piano and cello.