Transom Shows: Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill

Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill
Produced by Phyllis Fletcher

A Letter

Listen to Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill - 29:00
MP3: Streaming (96 kbps) | Download (19 mb)
REAL AUDIO: SureStream (28.8 - 64 kbps)

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About the Story

Mom, Dad, & Me
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The Letter
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"It hurts me to have left so many kids out there in this world. But believe me, at the rate that I was going, if somebody were to have to go, it was always best for the kid and the mother that I was the one to go." My father wrote me these words, and many more, from prison. Before we were reunited, he died, leaving behind 14 children with 13 different mothers. In Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill, I seek out my siblings and their mothers, and draw from their voices a portrait of the father we never knew. My dad speaks for himself in excerpts from his letters, read throughout the piece by his first-born son.

I produced Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill as an Artist-in-Residence with Jack Straw Productions, a non-profit audio production studio in Seattle. The people at Jack Straw grant each of their supported artists studio time with one of their engineers. I was fortunate to work with the experienced and talented Scott Bartlett.

Before receiving the grant, I flew to Phoenix to record my brother Eric reading our dad's letters in character. Eric isn't a formally trained actor, but his talent truly shines in his performance as our dad. Eric and I scheduled our sessions to coincide with the time he'd taken off work for Ramadan. We recorded at night, when he'd broken fast and could drink water. We didn't have time to record all of the letters, so I guessed at which passages I would want to use. We ended up capturing everything I could have wanted and more.

After receiving the grant, I travelled to DC, New Jersey, Spokane, Chicago, Sacramento, and Denver to interview the family members you hear in Sweet Phil. In Seattle I interviewed my mother and cousin, and recorded a friend to portray the coroner who performed my dad's autopsy.

When I had finished interviewing, I logged my tape and reviewed my notes to develop a narrative arc of my dad's life story. I chose my cuts, loaded them, wrote a script, and brought it all in to Jack Straw to put it together. Scott and I would edit in the studio during the day. At night I went home to choose the scoring music and make changes to the script. When we got everything we wanted into half an hour, I took it home, listened carefully, and made notes for our final edit a few weeks later.

Some people who've heard the piece have commended my bravery for exploring who my father was in such a public way. I humbly deflect that praise to my family, who graciously shared their time and memories with me.

Tech Info

I recorded my brother Eric's interview and performance with his Sharp MD-MT15 MiniDisc recorder and Sony ECM-MS907 condenser mic. I recorded all other interviews and performance with my Sharp MD-MT770-S MiniDisc and AudioTechnica AT835b condenser mic. I loaded my cuts into SAW on a PC, and voiced my narration into a Neumann U-87. Scott engineered the final product on a Power Mac G4 in ProTools version 5.1.1.

Contributors

Phyllis
Phyllis

Phyllis Fletcher, Producer

My job as a computer programmer became a casualty of Seattle's dot-com bust in 2002. In a moment of clarity, I realized that since I listened to public radio during almost all of my waking hours (and some of my non-waking ones), I should try to make producing it my new vocation. I volunteered at KUOW in Seattle during the pledge drive, and met one of their award-winning reporters, Cathy Duchamp. I landed an internship in KUOW's news room thanks to Cathy's generosity and enthusiasm. After a few months of shadowing and PA work, I produced my first news feature, about black people who use a white-sounding voice to evade racial discrimination on the phone. The news director began to give me assignments and eventually started paying me as a freelancer. I also started filing spots for National Public Radio, thanks to NPR's Next Generation Radio initiative.

Each KUOW pledge drive volunteer gets to take home a thank-you gift from a pledge drive gone by. For my gift I chose a copy of "Radio: An Illustrated Guide," by Jessica Abel and Ira Glass. I used it as an instructional manual to create the demo that won me the grant to produce Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill.

After I finished Sweet Phil, Jack Straw Productions held a lovely reception for me and some of their other supported artists. We each shared excerpts from our work and answered questions for a standing-room-only crowd. It was a rare and gratifying opportunity to play my work for a live audience. A few weeks later Sweet Phil made its broadcast debut on KUOW, and then I got the good word that Transom wanted to feature it too.

Growing up in Seattle, I knew I'd miss my school bus if I heard the Morning Edition theme on my mom's radio before I flew out the door. Today the station that was my childhood alarm clock has given me a new life. I'm grateful to my colleagues for taking a chance on me, and to Jay Allison for giving us this forum to present new work.

Scott Bartlett, Engineer

Scott Bartlett is an audio producer and engineer with Jack Straw Productions. Scott studied music and anthropology at Washington State University and the University of Edinburgh, with an emphasis on ethnomusicology and acoustics, and came into studio engineering through Smithsonian Folkways Records and Jack Straw. His studio works focus on spoken word production for radio, voice-over, theatric sound design, and anthology, as well as sound design and music engineering. He has produced The Jack Straw Writers Program for KUOW since 2001, and Artscapes for KBCS in Bellevue, WA. Scott's additional engineering credits include "Still Through You" (poetry anthology by Kent Chadwick, 2002), "The Day My Mother's Head Exploded" (radio feature by Hannah Palin, 2002), and "Run Plant Fly" (novel sound design by Ellie Belew, 2003). Scott is also an instructor, producer, and engineer for educational projects in cooperation with Seattle area schools, adult training, and special projects.

Actors

If you live in Phoenix, you may have been treated to the conga virtuosity of Eric Green (Sweet Phil) in concert halls and dance clubs. Eric holds two degrees in aviation; he makes his living as a commercial airline captain.

Tom Bostelmann (coroner) plays bassoon and basketball in Seattle. His accent occasionally betrays his Minnesota roots. Tom earns his keep as a software engineer.