Scenes From Fatherhood

When you think singer/songwriter, you don’t really think of the kind of material that Cory does — and I think that you’re going to like it! He is sort of one of those musicians without borders, and he uses all of his influences and incorporates them beautifully — flawlessly — with great lyrics. And you’ll probably hear a little samba, a little Queen, a little Beatles, a little bluegrass, who knows?!? You would if you had the CD, which is excellently produced and a really wonderful product! Brilliant, funny, and largely influenced by the Beatles, the Gershwins, and Gustav Mahler!!!

We didn’t move fast enough because His Oyster is no longer available in any of Chisinau’s many trendy music stores. Can you send us the (signed) CD at $15 so that we won’t have to continue to endure the snickers of President Lucinschi and our other dinner guests when they demand a Cory Cullinan song and we come up with some lame excuse?

Dear Cory: Thank you very much for the copy of My Oyster, which the Arkansas Governor’s office passed along to me. I was glad to receive your work, and I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Hillary joins me in sending best wishes. Sincerely.

Thank you so much for the wonderful CD containing your song, Little Rock Don’t Break. (I enjoyed your other work, also!) Cory, your musical interpretation of the first day for the “Little Rock Nine” is outstanding. It is obvious that you have a heartfelt concern for Little Rock and Arkansas as we deal with and overcome the crisis at Central High School. Please accept my warmest and best wishes for your success – and may God bless you.

I hope he gets famous. It’s a really neat CD. Really creative guy, and a good voice. I just won’t let my wife listen to it anymore. That little hidden track at the end makes me look bad; I asked her to marry me in the car on the way home from the vet. A natural romantic! Hey, put me on your mailing list if you have one; I want your new CDs when they come out. Also, if your band comes out east, tell me when/where.

The music Cullinan writes does not fall into a traditional category. It combines elements of every kind of music… With even more variance than the Beatles put in Magical Mystery Tour… It is also further proof of Mr. Cullinan’s abnormality.

My god. You’ll be ending up in N.Y. in a few years, I’m pretty sure. Broadway will suck you up & wrap you in ribbons [ooh — sounds tickly, doesn’t it], but not yet. I love this thing (some of it reminds me of Queen – howZAT make you feel?!? — I love Queen, BTW! P.S. Kurt Weill & Berthold Brecht also come to mind. Are you channeling??? I know you’re not old enough to understand the things you write! I didn’t mean it exactly that way — I meant it more along the lines of ‘I don’t comprehend how you have the perspective you do at your age.’ Not everyone would be able to learn from the sad experiences you’ve had & be able to look at things with so much love and hope — even if they were 20 or 30 years older. I’m just being appreciative & sort of full of wonder. You certainly got the “how can you experience joy without pain?” lesson early, and you actually learned it. I’m sorry, but it’s (quite unfortunately, for the culture, I’d say) amazing. And to then write about it cogently. My my. When are you leaving for New York? I’m telling you — part of your future is waiting for you on Broadway. And maybe not all in musicals, either. Ah well — all in time all in time !…

You know, I am about to pay you the biggest compliment! I am listening to Sgt. Pepper and it is not unlike My Oyster. Now don’t let your head swell — I didn’t say it was good!!

I never heard an independent (CD) produced at this level… (It’s) a huge jigsaw puzzle… very intricate… A person like this comes along rarely.

Thanks so much for your masterpiece. You must be SOO thrilled! The spectrum you cover is fantastic. I love how personal your lyrics are and the variety of styles! Your personality is evident. I’ve had Take Some Time with you and Janette stuck in my head for the last week and a half! The story it tells, the harmony in the strings, the subtle twists in the lyrics — question — When you say “He did not hear her smile” seems to have a double meaning… hmmm! The first few times, I assumed that she didn’t smile. But then I started to wonder if he was really overly concerned all day! There’s one other word play I REALLY like! The “may” take some time towards the end of the song and the line about releasing or bruising. Really great stuff!