LFC-001 is Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop
From Skadi's Symphony comes the story of a tea witch stuck in the small village of Talford and the people she meets there.
When I first opened the ZIP file containing Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop, I thought: this is it. This is a Local Files Club release.
Initially shared as an “audio zine” passed between friends and supporters, the ZIP contained a 40-minute audiodrama, a roundtable discussion episode, the soundtrack, the script, and even an illustrated zine.
I’d been kicking around the idea for Local Files Club for a few months at that point, shaping together a vision for a digital label focused on releasing short and experimental audio fiction. Part of that vision was including bonus features—like commentary tracks, soundtracks, and whatever else producers could cook up. I was talking to producers and trying to find a project to be Local Files Club’s first release. Folks liked the pitch, but no one had anything locked, loaded, and ready to go.
Until I chatted with Oliver Morris about Ms. Shipton. Oliver is one-third of Skadi’s Symphony, a team of producers here in the UK best known for the audiodrama Kane and Feels, and the writer and director behind Ms. Shipton. Oliver also composed the music for Jeff Van Dreason’s The Perfect Sentence, an excellent and experimental audiodrama/concept album hybrid that you should absolutely go listen to if you haven’t already. Jeff sent me Ms. Shipton and Oliver’s contact details and it felt like puzzle pieces shifting into place. Ms. Shipton was a Local Files Club release. All I had to do was convince Oliver.
Unfortunately for the eventual biopic, this was not a dramatic pitch and negotiation requiring late night private helicopter rides across England. But if that’s how they want to portray it, that’s fine with me.
Luckily, Oliver saw the vision for Local Files Club, and Skadi’s Symphony was willing to be the ultimate guinea pig. It’s my sincere hope that you will reward them by pre-ordering Local Files Release number one, Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop, on Bandcamp, ahead of its release on 14 November.
Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop is a lovely and cozy tale of a tea witch whose van breaks down in the English countryside. While she waits for her Hero repairman to come with replacement parts, she sets up shop, meeting several of the town’s key residents. Through five vignettes, we explore grief, companionship, queerness, and the perfect brew for healing what ails you.
Even if you were one of the lucky few to experience Ms. Shipton in zine form, the Local Files Club release is a new experience—it includes five brand new reflection episodes featuring the cast and creators, the original soundtrack (with a new bonus track), a new poem from Misery the cat written specifically for this release, as well as artwork from Rosie Shooter and Stardust Mansion and the original recording script.
If you need more convincing, you can read the full liner notes for Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop right here.
As always, Local Files Club releases are completely DRM-free, and once you buy the files, they are yours to own until file formats become irrelevant. If you’re too used to streaming and have forgotten what to do with files, check out our listening guide.