Few people know that renowned Irish tenor John McCormack coached writer James Joyce for the 1904 Feis Ceol singing competition, where Joyce won a bronze medal. And later that year, the two performed together in Joyce’s only professional engagement as a tenor. Through the characters of Shem the Penman and Shaun the Post — the Earwicker twins of Finnegans Wake — this film explores their relationship, the roots of Joyce’s love of music and the impact this had on his complex final novel.