3:00 AM Challenge Winners
An inside look into the Vocal Curation Team's favorite stories from the 3:00 AM Challenge
B. A. Durham’s False Memories blends dream and reality in a seamless mix. As his father, afflicted by Alzheimer’s, fades away, the narrator is haunted by a dream that may be a memory, returning to him insistently. The piece is full of wonderful detail (the father touching his lip where once there was a mustache, “but now he is clean-shaven—he has been for years” — and moving in revealing the complexities of a family’s life. A worthy winner which shows the power of dreams to influence us.
In second place comes D. K. Shepard’s Midnight Train, which also finds resolution in the wake of nightmare. We loved the way the piece begins in a real setting that turns out to be a dream; we felt drawn into the authentic life of these boys as their lives were disrupted by a terrible accident; a dream wreaks damage until it heals.
And there were some positively dreamy — you’ll forgive us — runners-up. Mary K. Brackett places for the first time with Red Sky at Morning, which has a compelling, Close Encounters feel to it; leaving mystery intact. Bravo to Lily Séjor for Dreams of Fish, with its easy dialogue and nice resolution. Dominic Casey-Lee’s Heaven is Behind Closed Eyelids is a loving tribute, rich with the details of life, its narrator drawing comfort from a cockatiel: we can feel the brush of wings.
As ever, thanks and congratulations to all our Vocal creators for putting your energy into our challenges. You’re a dream come true, and we’re always grateful.
You can check out the full list of winners HERE and learn about our current challenges below:
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Travel Snaps Challenge Winners
Travel changes us — if we let its lessons in. It’s possible to wander the world, even to take pictures, with our eyes as good as closed, never opening to the new self that a new place might make of us. So many of the entries to our Travel Snaps challenge were by creators who really wanted to look at the world, and themselves, anew. They were all inspiring to read — and to see, because photography was an important part of this competition. To us, the ‘quality’ of the photographs wasn’t the point; it was that these images were yours. It was a reminder of how much more that can mean — certainly when it comes to personal essays — than widely available or AI images. We really loved seeing these snaps.
By Vocal Curation Team2 years ago in Resources
'20/20'
"Do It Again" the track that would ultimately open the Beach Boys final album on Capitol Records which was released on February 10th 1969 had originally been released as a single in August of 1968. The track was the first of many post-Pet Sounds era throwbacks to the early Beach Boys sound which would become continually more cliched and eventually lead the Beach Boys to the level of self-parody they would eventually succumb to in the 1980s while their closest contemporaries The Beatles nearing the end of their run in 1969 would go on to be viewed as the most influential band of all time. However, the song itself is not bad on its surface, and it opens with a futuristic sounding (for 1969) drumbeat captured by then-Beach Boys engineer Stephen Desper using tape delays on the drums performed by Dennis Wilson and John Guerin. The song has been re-recorded numerous times over the years on various Beach Boys-related projects most notably the 2011 re-recording at Capitol studios featuring the five surviving Beach Boys at the time backed instrumentally by various members of both the Brian Wilson Band and Mike Loves touring "Beach Boys" to promote the then upcoming Beach Boys 50th Anniversary reunion tour in 2012. The hammering and power drill sound at the end of the song was an excerpt from a track called "Workshop" that was to be a part of the uncompleted "SMiLE" album.
By Sean Callaghan7 days ago in Beat
Comments (19)
i like it
Congratulations to all the winners.
Ooh... This feels nice! 😊
nice work, pls read mine too and support
Congratulations, everyone!!
Congratulations everyone!!
👏 great job!
Fabulous effort by the winners & everyone who entered💖.
Well done to the winners and nuff-nuff respect to all who entered!
Congrats to all the winners!!
Congratulations 🎉🎉 to all the winners and vocal curation team as well. Vocal is indeed a thrilling and energetic platform to keep the creators active, busy and more imaginative.
Congratulations to you all. It is good to see so many familiar names on this list.
So many excellent stories! Well done!
Congrats to everyone! So many great stories out of this challenge!
Excellent deliveries! 🙏
Congratulations everyone! It was a fun challenge
Wow! I’m beyond thrilled! It’s an honor to place out of so many tremendous entries! Congrats to everyone else! Excited to read the other winning pieces!
Congratulations. Thank you for the compelling stories
Congrats everyone. Well deserved. ✨👏