00:00Hi, I'm Corinne Bailey-Rae and I'm here with Ebony.
00:11I think so much music affected me deeply when I was a child.
00:15I used to play classical violin, so I loved being in the room with orchestras.
00:20Having worked on my own part to suddenly be immersed with all the other parts
00:24and finally had something to play in that mix.
00:28I loved listening to my dad's records, so I'd go through his 45s and put them on
00:34and I felt like that he had developed his collection, you know, over his youth
00:38so you'd be able to see, it was Earth, Wind & Fire, it was Marvin Gaye, it was Stevie Wonder,
00:43it was, you know, I was able to go through it and I guess get to know those artists.
00:48So he had a pile and then I would make my own sort of separate pile of my own favourite
00:53songs
00:53and they would be songs I could go to, you know, however I was feeling,
00:57just like Bea does in the book when she discovers her Aunt Portia's record collection.
01:02I think I was inspired by being a parent and seeing my own children
01:06and also by my own aunts who are these kind of magical, mysterious creatures, you know,
01:13as you get older you get to know them and hear about their lives and their passions
01:17and the songs that they love and the records that they bought.
01:20You know, I love looking through people's record collection.
01:23But I wanted with this book to share something about music and how much I love it,
01:28to share that with children and to say to them that music can be a friend.
01:33Now that's how it was for me growing up, that music really, you know, touched my heart,
01:38it hurled me through all different kinds of emotions, you know, whether you're feeling lonely
01:42or sad or you need a moment of calm, I feel like music can be that thing that can hold
01:48you
01:48and support you.
01:49I really did want the writing to be lyrical.
01:52I thought it was a challenge to write about songs without necessarily hearing the song,
01:57you know, so for a lot of people, they might know one or two of the songs,
02:00but many children will know none of these songs.
02:02So I really thought, how do you describe songs in words?
02:06You know, you can describe a melody like going up and down a staircase,
02:10or you can describe trumpets come blaring in like parrots,
02:14or you can describe, you know, instruments that sound like raspy and slurry lions.
02:19I really enjoyed describing Aretha Franklin's voice, you know,
02:23that sometimes it was calm and it could rock you to sleep,
02:26and other times it's like the calling on of wild horses, you know,
02:30that she has this ability to switch between this very calming voice
02:34and this kind of like energizing, wild, you know, unbidden sound.
02:40So I think I enjoyed it from the point of view of being a fan of music,
02:45and wanting to talk about other people's music,
02:47and wanting to share specific songs with kids.
02:50When I first saw Porsche's magical coat,
02:52I thought that it must be based on this coat that I wear when I'm on stage,
02:57and Gillian, who's the illustrator, I met her at one of my shows.
03:01She came and she hung out with our family, and she had watched this whole show,
03:05and so it has these big sleeves, so when I do my extensions, you know,
03:10it catches the light.
03:11But I wanted to have that for Porsche, that there's something about her.
03:13She's your everyday aunt, but then she's also mysterious and magical
03:18and can open this whole world for me.
03:20When we're on tour, I'm really looking forward to reconnecting with that first album,
03:25you know, my debut album.
03:26Obviously, I tour all the time, and sometimes, you know,
03:28I'm always playing Put Your Records On, and always playing Like a Style,
03:31but there are many songs on that record that I haven't played for years and years and years,
03:35so it'll be amazing for me to kind of make a bridge from here,
03:39kind of back to that time, and remember that kind of scrappy,
03:43independent spirit that I made the record in.
03:46So I'm really looking forward to celebrating 20 years in music,
03:50and it feels like I'm honouring, you know, where I've been and where I am
03:56and then, you know, feeling really lucky with the book
03:58to be introducing the songs to, you know, to young people, new people.
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