ALL SHOULDERS TO THE WHEEL - a new anthem for Rotary

Article by Assistant Governor Group 10 District 9790 PP Stephen O’Connell

ALL SHOULDERS TO THE WHEEL - a new anthem for Rotary.

In October 2020 AG Marg Crisp approached me about the possibility of writing a song to help publicize Rotary more effectively, particularly given that 2021 represents 100 years of Rotary in Australia. I thought this was a great idea and approached Lachlan McIntyre, a member of my club, Albury Hume, about co-writing a song. Lachlan and I have done a fair bit of writing together, so the song came together reasonably easily. Having said that, writing music is a lengthy process and involves much editing and thought. Along the way, we made several demo versions in my home studio before we managed to record the final version in a professional audio studio on 15 February. We have subsequently mixed and mastered the song, as well as recording the music video in March 2021.

An important aspect of the project has been to create a video of the song. This enables the song to be more widely shared on social media and streaming platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, iTunes and Spotify. The delivery of the video was 21 April, so from beginning to delivery of the video, this has been a very lengthy process with a terrific outcome. Many hours have been spent both creatively and doing the slog work required to pull the project together.

The song is called All Shoulders to the Wheel and was publicly launched with a live performance on 20 March at the District 9790 Conference. This particular version of the song is intended to appeal to a broader, although generally younger demographic. The song has been composed in such a way that it can be recorded in many different styles e.g., rock, country, swing and choral. This version of All Shoulders to the Wheel features Mica Torre on vocals.

The song went live to streaming and retail platforms such as Spotify and iTunes on 30 June 2021. Once someone has visited their provider of choice, all they have to do is search for All Shoulders to the Wheel.

We were also fortunate to be able to play a promo clip of All Shoulders to the Wheel to then RIPE Shekhar Mehta. He was very impressed and has endorsed the song for use around the world.

DG Bruce Anderson, DGE Anne Reid, AG Marg Crisp and Rotarian Lachlan McIntyre have all been hugely supportive throughout this worthwhile project that we hope will change perceptions about Rotary. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Murray Conservatorium and David Gordon from D-Gap photos. The Murray Con provided me with time-off to write and edit the song, as well as funding for Mica to record one of the demos. Jenny O’Hara from the Murray Con also created the promo video that helped keep the project bubbling along. David took the photos that ended up in the promo video. The final video was shot by Alison Plasto from Out of Line Productions. In short, this was a community led project that we can all be proud of.

The song has been released for viewing on YouTube and can be viewed by visiting https://youtu.be/oNhUhsh-Gx4

Please share the video as widely as possible. The more views and sales we get, the wider our audience and the more income we can generate for Rotary. This is an important element of the project and we quite literally need All Shoulders to the Wheel if we are to gain the maximum benefit for Rotary.