This micro audio drama is Episode 3 of the series, One Day in Aspen Creek. I had been wanting to produce a new audio short for Christmas this year but was struggling to latch onto an idea that felt right. A short story in the public domain? A piece of poetry? An original one-off micro audio drama? I considered all of these, and I even toyed with the idea of another Greenhorn Tales Christmas special, but just after releasing Episode 2 of One Day in Aspen Creek, I got the idea for this episode that takes place on Christmas Eve in Aspen Creek. While you don't need to have heard the previous episodes to enjoy this one, it will certainly help provide some context. Merry Christmas!
Synopsis:
Kate is having a tough time getting into the Christmas spirit this year, so Tom decides to do what he can to cheer her up.
NOTE: The info below contains minor spoilers. Be sure to listen before reading on.
Credits:
"Just Another Day" was written, directed, and produced by J.D. Sutter.
The cast was:
Kate Crawford - Rose Beasley
Tom Walker - J.D. Sutter
The Carolers - Carissimi
Music:
"Beckoning" by Telecasted, courtesy YouTube Audio Library
"World of Wonder" by Christopher Green, used with permission
"Thoughtful Sunday" by Ovani Sound
"Joy to the World" performed by Carissimi
"Joy to the World (Instrumental)" by Jingle Punks, courtesy YouTube Audio Library
Behind the Making of "Just Another Day"
As I mentioned above, Episode 2 of Aspen Creek had just been released on December 10, and that evening I had the idea for this Christmas episode. I jotted down a brief outline and fired off an email to Rose Beasley, who plays Kate. I had no idea if she would be able to squeeze in a recording session on such short notice, this is the holiday season after all, and I didn't want to take the time to write the script if we couldn't get it done this year. Thankfully, Rose was available and willing to not only record the episode, but also to do a live session with me as we did for Episode 1. I am really grateful that she was able to do that because this script has some moments that were much better since we were able to react to each other's performances in real-time and have that extra level of genuineness for the characters. Thank you, Rose!
The obvious theme or idea in this episode is that sometimes life just bogs you down. Things get busy around the holidays, and rather than feeling festive, you just feel sad and overwhelmed. Kate is not the only one to ever feel that way, and while gifts don't always relieve the stress, sometimes just a simple thoughtful act of kindness, such as what Tom does here, can make all the difference to someone who is stressed out around Christmastime.
The other thing I wanted to do with this episode was to let Kate be the "star" in this one. E1 was all about Tom coping with the loss of his father and E2 was focused on the visitor to town, Brent, so I wanted this one to be about Kate. And that is why we open the episode from her point of view. We do switch to Tom's POV in Scene 2, and perhaps I shouldn't have done that but I decided to do that because I did still want to show that he is the main character of the show even if the focus was on Kate this time. Also, I was trying to keep the post-production as simple as possible for this very quick turnaround time, and adding even just a few seconds of following Kate into the shop would have increased the complexity of the sound design, even if only marginally.
Here is a little clip from the recording session with Rose as I explain the setting for Scene 1:
So once I had confirmed that Rose was available for this episode, and knowing that it was primarily going to be just Tom and Kate, I knew I wouldn't need to worry about casting other roles. But there was the issue of the carolers. I scoured the audio resources I knew of, as well as the libraries that I own, and couldn't find a suitable piece of a cappella music that would work for the carolers. I reached out to the Audio Drama Alliance group for assistance and member Dominic Treis offered to get his family together to record a piece for me to use. Several members of the Treis family comprise the chamber choir called Carissimi. These wonderful (and talented!) folks got together and recorded a few verses of "Joy to the World" on the front lawn of their home in order to capture the outdoor ambiance for the carolers and prevent any room reflections from creeping into the audio. A huge, huge thank you to them for being so willing to make this happen. You can hear a professionally recorded version of "Joy to the World" on their 2022 record titled From Above, available for purchase on their Bandcamp page in both CD and digital formats.
Bonus Tidbits
Here are a few little odds and ends about this episode:
- The song playing on the radio in Hank's Diner is an original that was written and produced by Christopher Green.
- Speaking of the diner, I didn't mention this in the notes for E1 where we're first introduced to it, but the diner is in honor of my grandpa Henry "Hank" Sutter who was a great cook and a Mess Sergeant in the National Guard.
- If Carissimi hadn't been able to record the carolers, I was considering changing the script to have Tom give Kate a music box instead. So glad the singers worked out!
- I chose the song "Joy to the World" for the carolers because I wanted something happy and uptempo to lift Kate's spirits and end the episode on a bright note.
- I consulted with British antiquarian bookseller, Tom W. Ayling, regarding some rare books information that I planned to use in scenes at Walker's Finds & Fables, some of which was used to inform the scene in this episode.
- This entire episode, from the idea to the final mix, was completed in 12 days; the quickest I have ever turned out a full audio drama.
You can see all of the episodes in this series here.
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