“John Coffey” is the title of the first single and multimedia collaboration between singer/songwriter Michael S. Ryan (commonly associated with The Town Heroes) and his wife, artist Kristen Herrington. The project combines Ryan’s musical abilities with artistic talents of Herrington… and now a self-produced music video featuring a dollar store stickman and Barbie.
“It’s essentially a song I wrote for Kristen. About being there for the people you care about and doing whatever you can to make things better for them,” says Ryan.
Standard to the indie-folk format, the song features a bowed bass and lower register piano, adding “weight” to the production. The low end particularly helps the opening melody stand out from other whimsical melodic percussion riffs. Echoing ornaments add a distinct vibe to the second verse, and detailed variety in general keeps the track from becoming repetitive. The vocal harmony that kicks in for a single key line leading to the second chorus is a great touch.
The highlight from this recording is clearly Ryan’s voice. Clear and full of nuance, it oozes honesty and evokes heartfelt sincerity. The performances are strong and skilfully recorded, giving vocals and instruments comfortable room in the mix and a fitting sense of depth.
The lyrics are also well crafted, skewing verbosity in favour of clever imagery. “We used to stare at the water here but they’re blocking out or view. That concrete wall needs a wrecking ball and a demolition crew” makes for both my favourite line and rhyme. I do wish words were less constrained by the melody in favour of stronger accents in some phrases, like when rhyming “Coffey” and “Country”.
“Coffey” here refers to John Coffey, the heartwarming character from Stephen King’s “The Green Mile”. Not about the book or character, the song instead connects to the latter’s ability to take pain away from others by making it his own, arguably a fictionalised version of support in mature relationships. The song reflects on the relationship between Ryan and Herrington, who created the painting “John Coffey”. The painting completes the multimedia work; set to be the first in a series.
The artwork depicts an abstract, organic scene, rich in colour and texture, and very representative of Herrington’s style. On first look I found it evocative of the ocean and ice formations, with a colour palette slightly “cooler” than the mood of the song.
In Kristen’s own words: “This piece was created throughout the winter months–the time of year I struggle most, living in a predictably cold climate. This colour palette is indeed reflective of the snowscapes we found ourselves surrounded in, but upon closer look there are hues of soft pinks and whites. I see the contrast as representative of both [the] struggle and support I experience generally in life but mostly in my relationship with Michael.”
From its authors point of view, “John Coffey” certainly seems like a well thought-out first collaboration. I asked Kristen whether she had any false-starts in creating the complementary artwork, and her response seemed like a fitting bookend to this story:
“I actually had an entirely different piece completed for this project that I left in a cold storage room for too long. The paint froze and cracked and alas, I was left to start over again. Looking back, I love that this happened. I feel the new piece captures both my growth as an artist and the growth in my relationship. It’s deeper and more technically complicated.
I believe there is also a lesson in there about not leaving something you love out in the cold!”