Daniel Padden was recently awarded a grant from the Scottish Arts Council, to create a suite of new works based on the story of
'Dummy Jim'.
'Dummy Jim' was the name affectionately given to James Duthie, a deaf-mute gentleman from near Fraserburgh in Scotland, who cycled to the far north of Norway and back, and wrote a journal of his trip, 'I Cycled Into The Arctic Circle', published in 1951.
The One Ensemble have started work on the music inspired by this story, having just spent 9 days in the mountains creating and recording.
In addition to The One Ensemble, Daniel will be working with Sarah Kenchington, who makes and plays her own mechanical instruments.
Eventually the music will be performed near Duthie's home town, probably in November, and an album is also planned based on the recordings made.
The story of Dummy Jim was first brought to our attention by Matt Hulse, who is making a film of the story too. The music made may well feature in Matt's film, and there will hopefully be opportunities for the music and film to be performed together.
We strongly recommend you take a few minutes to look at www.dummyjim.com, which is a beautifully made website full of friendly surprises and wrong-turns.