A Breath of Song

Song: Hildegard's Song Music by: Barbara McAfee   Notes: Sometimes a great groove and simple harmonies is exactly what you need to explore over -- and this song is a beautiful way to listen to your own singing voice playing. Barbara McAfee joins us next week to talk about her journey toward becoming a voice mentor to many folk, developing the Full Voice program, and what that means to her. We were both reeling a bit in the wake of the apparently politically motivated shootings in Minnesota, close to Barbara, shortly before we recorded. Reflecting on the effect of listening to our own voices helped us both stabilize and ground.    Songwriter Info: Barbara lives on the wild and scenic St Croix River about an hour from Minneapolis/St Paul. She is a master voice coach, songwriter, song leader, hospice choir director, long distance swimmer, poet, and author of Full Voice. She feels so lucky to be alive on planet Earth.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Barbara for recording and/or performing permission.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:58 Start time of reprise: 00:10:14   Links: Barbara's website: www.barbaramcafee.com    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, mixolydian, 3-layer   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

The Sunday after this episode is released, June 15th, 2025, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.   190. In the Spring By Yuri Woodstock   In the spring, among the flowers Bird song rings in the morning hours Sun is up and the day is bright What a time to unleash your light!     153. Blessings Whenever You Breathe By Melanie DeMore   ​Blessings whenever you breathe ​Blessings whenever you breathe ​Blessings whenever you breathe Blessings all around   Bless your heart Your tender, tender heart Bless your heart ​Blessings whenever you breathe   138. My Thoughts Make A Difference By Chandler Yorkhall   My thoughts make a difference My feelings make a difference My words make a difference My healing makes a difference   I will not shy away from the struggle in my soul I will waste no time, for this day is growing old   What can I do for this broken world?     20. Great-Full By Ishka Shir   I am here on this planet, living my life, doing what I do, feeling grateful.   I am here, this is life, I'm grateful. ​(2x)     119. I Let Go By Te Martin   I let go I lay down I release Return again     71. Lullaby My Sweetness By Patricia Norton   Lullaby my sweetness, rock me forever; cradle me deep in an ocean of blue. Lullaby my sweetness, hold me so gentle; this is the song that I sing for you.   White birds winging above me, calling wild and calling free. White thoughts, wheeling away now; loose and alight and afloat on the sea.   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Freedom Over Fear Music by: Tembre de Carteret   Notes: Which freedoms do we get to choose? What are the places or times in your life when certain freedoms were not available? Have you ever lost freedoms because of violence or threat? Sometimes it's hard to release fears that may have helped protect us in the past -- and sometimes the feeling of letting go of fear is like standing on an ocean cliff, proclaiming again and again, "I choose freedom over fear!"   Songwriter Info: Tembre de Carteret lives in County Clare, Ireland, and has led a beautiful online singing circle called "We May Sing" since 2020. You can learn more about her and the way in which she facilitates, mentors, and builds song communities at her website, www.tembresong.com   Sharing Info: Tembre says: "This song is free to share with your circle of loved ones and singing group. I just ask you credit me and I whole heartedly welcome any recording/video you do of the song with your group, please send to me."   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:45 Start time of reprise: 00:16:35   Links: Tembre's website: http://www.tembresong.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tembre.decarteret  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tembredecarteret/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5NOOeWM2w3Og68acT2zPei  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbhgwiqOGcvICIjSsJq6iJg    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layer   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Another World Music by: Patricia Norton Lyrics by: Arundhati Roy   Notes: Hearing these words in 2020 for the first time felt like a gift of possibility. I love the deeper listening they invite. It took five years before they found a melody in my head -- and the reminder of the quote in its entirety, which is, "Another world is not only possible, she's on her way. Maybe many of us won't be here to greet her, but on a quiet day, if I listen very carefully, I can hear her breathing." Listening. That's the invitation of this melody, which stacks up into an complicated chord when sung as a round.   Songwriter Info: You can find out more about me in general here: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/about-patricia.html  Or the whole team that puts this podcast out here: https://www.abreathofsong.com/about.html    Sharing Info: Please share freely, and consider contributing to the A Breath of Song gratitude jar in reciprocity -- or write a review, leave a comment!   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:25 Start time of reprise: 00:14:00   Links: Flow Singing: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/flow-singing.html All of what I'm up to: https://www.juneberrymusic.com Kindred Voices Retreat: https://kindredvoicesretreat.com    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: In the Spring Music by: Yuri Woodstock   Notes: Yuri Woodstock describes himself as the "bossy pirate in the middle of the room" when songleading, and tells a supernatural story of his phone bringing him song advice. He also describes why he thinks his song gatherings have grown so large, why he's now living in a "housey-house" (and what he did before), how literally letting his hair down helped him "tease out the subtle mystery" of what makes him feel most like himself. Fortunately for us, that includes songleading and writing this joyous spring round. You'll learn it with me (and hopefully not mess it up with me when I go a bit wonkers at one point!) We talk about the importance of noticing when you're okay, not giving "the stank-eye" to people who miss notes, and how his brother, Jonah, helps kickstart his songs.   Songwriter Info: Yuri Woodstock is a community song leader based in Asheville, NC, who has run the now 180-member Hark! Community Choir for the past seven years. It is a non-performing, non-auditioned group that sings for joy and connection. He specializes in quick teaches of layer songs and SATB bangers that are easy to learn and fun to sing. Often Hark! feels like a singing dance party.   Sharing Info: Fully free, no donation requested   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:44 Start time of reprise: 01:02:21   Links: Yuri's website: https://www.weringlikebells.com/  Yuri's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weringlikebells/  Village Fire: http://www.villagefiresinging.org/  Jonah Woodstock: https://www.woodstockbookstock.com/  Community Choir Leadership Training – CCLT: https://www.communitychoirleadership.com/  Tebe Poem: https://www.omniglot.com/songs/bcc/tebepoem.htm  The Wild Ashville Community chorus with Susannah Park: https://www.wildashevillecommunitychorus.com/about-1  Laurence Cole: Let Things Ripen and Then Fall: https://www.laurencecole.com/album/let-things-ripen/  Shireen Amini: The Sun Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vLa23Lfe5w  Bex Lipps: Take Your Medicine: https://music.apple.com/au/album/take-your-medicine-single/1729594936  Karly Loveling: I've Got a Fire: https://karlyloveling.bandcamp.com/track/ive-got-a-fire-2  Alexa Sunshine Rose: Pool of Love: https://alexasunshinerose.bandcamp.com/track/pool-of-love  Kira Seto: https://www.instagram.com/kira.is.singing/  Heather Houston: https://www.instagram.com/heatherhoustonmusic/  “We contain multitudes.” - Walt Whitman: https://poets.org/poem/song-myself-51  “Shrinking”: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15677150/  Laurence Cole: “Notice where you are” from "Attention is the Healer": https://www.laurencecole.com/album/attention-is-the-healer/  The Strokes: "Is This It": https://music.apple.com/us/album/is-this-it/266376953  Double syrinx birds – veery or hermit thrush: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hermit_Thrush/sounds  The Bowerbirds: “Tuck the Darkness In”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeFTPj8zljQ    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Hearth Music by: Yuri Woodstock   Notes: Yuri Woodstock knows how to start and tend fires -- and this song sings the magic of smoke and spark. He's managed to make it feel dark and joyous, with a sinuous, smoky sound to remember the mystery, the dream of being alive. Next week is a conversation where Yuri brings his high energy take on community singing and how he found his way into the world through a combination of friends and mentors and skills so deeply embedded it's hard to remember how he got them. By the end I was wishing I could visit his song groups -- I may have to plan a road trip!   Songwriter Info: Yuri Woodstock is a community song leader based in Asheville, NC, who has run the now 180-member Hark! Community Choir for the past seven years. It is a non-performing, non-auditioned group that sings for joy and connection. He specializes in quick teaches of layer songs and SATB bangers that are easy to learn and fun to sing. Often Hark! feels like a singing dance party.   Sharing Info: Free to share!   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:53 Start time of reprise: 00:13:08   Links: Yuri's website: https://www.weringlikebells.com/  Yuri's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weringlikebells/    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3-layer, one layer harmonized Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

The Sunday after this episode is released, May 4th, 2025, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.   166. Breathe  Words & Music by Batya Levine   Breathe, breathe, breathe in Breathe, breathe out   Let it go, let it go, let it go Let it go, let it go   Trust in what's coming Trust in your knowing It's deeper and wider and holy   180. Pearl in the Dark Words & Music by Sarina Partridge   Part 1: I'm gonna dive deep, a little deeper Into the grit and the mud and the muck that I don't wanna see 'Cause I think there's a seed, there's a teacher There's a pearl in the dark shining!   Part 2: I will lean into this darkness, this darkness A seed is shining, there's a pearl in the dark shining!   Part 3: Ooooh, shining like a pearl Ooooh, new leaves unfurl Ooooh, a new way is possible - there's a pearl in the dark shining!   52. Ocean Wide Words & Music by Eli Marienthal   Open the ocean wide in us,  open the ocean wide. Take all the pain inside of us,  take all the pain inside.   Open the ocean wide in us, oh,  open the ocean wide. ​Take all the pain inside of us,  take all the pain inside.   126. Meditation Words & Music by Neal Jolly   The beat of the heart in the chest, The pulsing of blood in the hands, The in and the out of the breath, The here, the now, the you.   21. Song Deep in Your Bones Words & Music by Elise Witt   When you're feeling dry, there's water in the well. (4x) ​ No rain from the sky, just a tear in your eye, all alone, far from home, you roam. Feeling tired, uninspired, like you're drifting away from your heart and the part you play.   136. Breathe Deep Words & Music by Sara Stutz   All you need is a quiet moment. All you need is a quiet moment. All you need is a quiet moment, go inside. Go inside.   Breathe deep, breathe deep. Breathe deep, everything's alright.   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Where Am I Going To? Music by: Patricia Norton   Notes: I heard adrienne maree brown describe humans as "bags of water" -- humans on average are around 60% water.... like a delta, or the land around a pond or river with its banks, or a bathtub and its water pipes -- we are a way of shaping water -- we are, literally, a flow. This song was born in motion, the kind of walking where the rhythm of your steps and breath becomes the soundscape, and you can release everything else, dropping into the flow. Songwriter Info: Patricia loves to walk fast from one spring wildflower to the next -- averages out to a stroll!    Sharing Info: Please share freely, and let people know about A Breath of Song when you do.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:19 Start time of reprise: 00:11:40   Links: Flow Singing: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/flow-singing.html  All of what I'm up to: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/  Kindred Voices Retreat: https://kindredvoicesretreat.com    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round or 3 layers Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: The Riddle Song Music by: traditional   Notes: I find myself feeling like we live in a bit of a riddle right now -- how can this impossible thing be so, and what will resolve it? I literally learned this song at my mother's knee... it's one of the earliest I remember singing, and I was so delighted by the riddle form! As a young teen, it was one of the first songs I learned on guitar. I sang it to kids I babysat in college, where I learned about the Child Ballads and Cecil Sharp's collecting in southern Appalachia. I sang it with my children, with our granddaughter -- and now I get to sing it with you! There's a through-line for a song.... what songs have travelled with you your whole life? Songwriter Info: Patricia was born in Boulder, CO, and is grateful to the burgeoning folk music scene that encouraged family music, which is how she learned this song. Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:20 Start time of reprise: 00:12:08   Links: An intriguing discussion board about trad music: https://mudcat.org/ An introduction to Child Ballads: https://folkways.si.edu/playlist/child-ballads  Text of Child Ballad #46 (which The Riddle Song is believed to have come from): https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch046.htm  The Cecil Sharp collection of The Riddle Song: https://archives.vwml.org/records/CJS2/9/2688  Doc Watson's recording: https://youtu.be/fRO6egtKipg?feature=shared  Carly Simon's recording: https://youtu.be/4O_Lu_khQDM?feature=shared    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, strophic (3 verses) Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: vocal improvisation Improvised by: David Ruffin and Patricia Norton Notes: It's a first for A Breath of Song! An episode of improvisation -- David Ruffin is our guest, talking about the multiple benefits of the practice of improvisation, his teachers, leading menfolk in song circles, the particular challenges of having a big, beautiful voice, how singing together might build soil in these times... and more! We hope you join us in exploring the voice, and that our questions raise questions for you, too... Songwriter Info: David is a performing artist, community song leader and teacher with a passion for authentic expression. He loves creating space for voices to emerge fully and freely. He calls Central Vermont home, where he's grateful to be able to share his holistic approach to voice in community through lessons, workshops, community singing and performance collaborations. David's work is inspired by a diverse background including studies with Roy Hart Center voice teachers, deep dives in vocal improvisation, explorations in Voice Movement Therapy and over 20 plus years of performing arts, teaching and counseling/ministry experience. David believes singing helps us remember who we really are, what we're here to voice and, how we're, thankfully, so very bound up together in this.  Time Stamps: Start time of first improvisation: 00:04:40 Start time of second improvisation: 01:11:26 Links: David's website: www.davidruffinvoice.com David's Venmo: @David-Ruffin-Voice  Rhiannon: https://www.rhiannonmusic.com/  Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/  Wendy Tuck: And When I Rise: https://web.plumvillage.app/item/and-when-i-rise-2  Wendell Berry: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/wendell-berry  “Shaker Tune” For All That Has Been is actually Let Go and Move by Velma Frye - https://youtu.be/-q9T3iiDOXA?si=EYMoNAdnR2XcK-uG  Heidi Wilson: The Feast: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/140-the-feast-with-guest-heidi-wilson  Evan Premo: http://www.evanpremo.com/  Boston Big Sing with Milly Roberts: https://www.bostonareasingingcircles.com/origins  “Beyond the Us and Them”: https://www.patreon.com/posts/build-soil-117107668  Robin Wall Kimmerer: https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/  Singing Revolution in Estonia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_Revolution  Circlesinging in Burlington: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/special-events.html  Judi Vinar: https://www.judivinar.com/  Ethelyn Friend in the Roy Hart tradition: https://www.ethelynfriend.com/  Fauré's Requiem – recording: John Rutter with the Cambridge Singers – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXpQCRhZw2laREcCUl4Hb4IWOX9MNEQf3  Moira Smiley: https://moirasmiley.com/  Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Where the Moss Grows Music by: David Ruffin Notes: We get to sing David Ruffin's beautiful moss song in three different keys, so you can experiment with the range and how it feels in your voice in different ways -- and really feel like you know the song well by the end! So this episode is a little longer than sometimes -- but it's a great way to get a slightly longer song and harmony into your body, and still under 30 minutes. Next episode is a conversation with David, and we'll get to know this song carrier... Songwriter Info: David is a performing artist, community song leader and teacher with a passion for authentic expression. He loves creating space for voices to emerge fully and freely. He calls Central Vermont home, where he's grateful to be able to share his holistic approach to voice in community through lessons, workshops, community singing and performance collaborations. David's work is inspired by a diverse background including studies with Roy Hart Center voice teachers, deep dives in vocal improvisation, explorations in Voice Movement Therapy and over 20 plus years of performing arts, teaching and counseling/ministry experience. David believes singing helps us remember who we really are, what we're here to voice and, how we're, thankfully, so very bound up together in this.  Sharing Info: The song is free to share but David welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. Please contact him for recording and/or performing permission. Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:33 Start time of song in B-flat: 00:13:16 Start time of song in D-flat: 00:17:36 Start time of song in B: 00:23:38 Links: David's website: www.davidruffinvoice.com David's Venmo: @David-Ruffin-Voice  Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, harmonized Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: The Strength Within Music by: Jody Vyner Notes: Jody Vyner gives us a song for feeling strength, space, and breath within... and we spend 10 minutes in meditation with it, as I add parts in and out and you find what's right for you today -- stay on one part while the sound changes around you? Shift to new parts as they come? What helps you tap into your own inner strength? I'm a highly distractable meditator, but I can let myself sit inside this song and its harmonies, and when I come out the other side, it feels like the waters have cleared (most days, anyway!) Songwriter Info: Jody Vyner works as a psychotherapist and runs Singing Roots - therapeutic singing circles in and around Sussex, UK. Combining her love of singing and song writing with her deep knowledge and experience of psychotherapy, there is always a therapeutic element to her gatherings which can be leant into for a deeply nurturing experience. Her circles are about turning up just as you are and giving yourself the chance to really check in and connect with yourself and be held by the words and the harmonies shared. Jody has done many other things in this lifetime; taught French, worked with asylum seekers and refugees, trained as a doula, in antenatal teaching and support, story-telling and face painting! It is her belief that the more experiences and skills she can gather along the way, the more richness and range she can bring to her work.  Sharing Info: Jody says: "It is wonderful to know how these songs travel. If you would like to share it in your own choirs/singing groups please contact me at jody@singingroots.uk for information on how to purchase the song and parts." Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:53 Start time of reprise: 00:14:26 Links: Singing Roots website: www.singingroots.uk  Singing Roots Bandcamp: www.singingroots.bandcamp.com  Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 4 parts with first part in 3 harmonies Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

The Sunday after this episode is released, March 16th, 2025, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.   31. Voices Rising Words & Music by Lisa Doscher   ​All our voices are rising up... oh, my soul Voices sing, voices ring Sounding out, echoing! Quiet voices are rising up Wild voices are rising up Sacred voices are rising up Awakened voices are rising up Inspired voices are rising up United voices are rising up Hear our voices rising up!   49. More Waters Rising Words & Music by Saro Lynch-Thomason   1. ​There are more waters rising, this I know, this I know. There are more waters rising, this I know. There are more waters rising, they will find their way to me; there are more waters rising, this I know, this I know, there are more waters rising, this I know. 2. ...fires burning... 3. ...mountains falling... 4. I will wade through the waters... when they find their way to me; 5. I will walk through the fires... 6. I will re-build the mountains... ​7. I will wade through the water...   32. Seed Song Words & Music by Barbara McAfee   Oh the darkness has swallowed me whole, and I cannot remember the light. Oh, I feel I am losing my soul to the night, to the night.   You are a seed. This is the waiting time. You hold a dream of green that will call you to the sky.   9. Right Place, Right Time Words & Music by Samara Jade   1. I believe that I'm in the right place at the right time This wave is crashing down and it's the one for me to ride   2. Crazy world, crazy times Gonna let go of what oughtta be And hang on for the ride 3. Ebb and flow Rising, falling   140. The Feast Words & Music by Heidi Wilson   Holy Fire in the sun Water in the river, and Wind within my lungs Oh holy Earth beneath my feet All of us are offerings and also at the feast   163. Radiate Words & Music by Lisa Piccirillo   When I see me, I am standing in my light. I will be me when I'm standing in my light.   And if it's blinding, I'll keep climbing ​oh so high and just keep going toward my knowing till I find: I radiate.   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Extraordinary Magic Music by: Judy Tse Notes: Judy describes the act of witnessing beautifully -- and this song is one that feels so good to have echoing in my head as I practice holding space for other people... really being present and seeing them fully. That seems to get harder and harder as people get older and make choices we disagree with or are harmful. But wishing them well, looking for the extraordinary magic that is in them, even while being clear-sighted about behaviors -- while not always easy, it feels like a way of being I personally aspire to! Songwriter Info: Judy Tse participated in the A Breath of Song retreat in 2024! About this song, Judy says: "Being a witness to someone; really being present for a person by listening actively + not trying to fix or 'make better', is one of the greatest gifts one person can give another." Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Judy for recording and/or performing permission. (You can write Patricia at patricia@abreathofsong.com to be connected with Judy.) Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:35 Start time of reprise: 00:15:14 Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison or harmonized Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Pearl in the Dark Music by: Sarina Partridge Notes: Here's something to boost your "joy-ometer", as Sarina refers to it! We dive into infiltrating the health system with singing, stories we tell to make sense of the world, geysers of weird choices, singing to support community goals, cosmic bowling alley bumpers and more... and all that after learning a fresh song of Sarina's that helps us dive into the grit and the mud and the muck (when we choose to!)   Songwriter Info: Sarina Partridge is a musician, song-leader and educator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs, and enjoys singing with a wide variety of music projects - Eastern European and Yiddish song, old-time music, community song-leading... and everything in between. Sarina has traveled around the world to study with master folk singers, and has toured with the traveling ensemble Northern Harmony abroad and in the USA.  She has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses singing to help folks develop a sense of wonder for this wild world around us. Let's sing! Sarina performs and teaches with several music projects/ensembles (Heartwood, Nanilo) and as a solo artist and educator; teaches at music camps (Village Harmony, Songroots, Folklore Village); and leads regular community sings and workshops in and around Minneapolis.   Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Sarina for permission and rates.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:05:34 Start time of reprise: 01:30:39   Links: Sarina's website: SarinaPartridge.com Sarina's Patreon: patreon.com/sarinapartridge Sarina's Bandcamp: sarinapartridge.bandcamp.com Heartwood's UK tour in March: https://www.heartwoodtrio.com/upcoming  SongWeavers retreat: https://www.singwaldorf.org/songweavers  Village Harmony: https://www.villageharmony.org/  ABS episode with Kate Valentine: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/130-ride-the-storm-with-guest-kate-valentine  Mariah Carey: https://mariahcarey.com/ Bad Posture Club: https://badpostureclub.net/    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, 3 layer   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Let Your Voice Be Heard Music by: Sarina Partridge Notes: Getting access to Sarina Partridge's catalog of songs was a beautiful moment for me -- SO many good things -- wise, accepting, generous, warm -- the songs reflect the songwriter, for sure! Join me today singing "Let your voice be heard..." -- I love the laid-back feel combined with the invitation to speak up -- and listen to next week's episode to hear Sarina's own voice, getting an inside perspective of how an educator might approach song leading with full heart.  Songwriter Info: Sarina Partridge is a musician, song-leader and educator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs, and enjoys singing with a wide variety of music projects - Eastern European and Yiddish song, old-time music, community song-leading... and everything in between. Sarina has traveled around the world to study with master folk singers, and has toured with the traveling ensemble Northern Harmony abroad and in the USA.  She has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses singing to help folks develop a sense of wonder for this wild world around us. Let's sing! Sarina performs and teaches with several music projects/ensembles (Heartwood, Nanilo) and as a solo artist and educator; teaches at music camps (Village Harmony, Songroots, Folklore Village); and leads regular community sings and workshops in and around Minneapolis. Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Sarina for permission and rates. Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:05 Start time of reprise: 00:20:00 Links: Sarina's website: SarinaPartridge.com Sarina's Patreon: patreon.com/sarinapartridge Sarina's Bandcamp: sarinapartridge.bandcamp.com Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, harmonized melody with harmonized response Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: My Body Music by: Alexandra Sarton Notes: Singing this week brought me into my body in a joyful, appreciative way... our bodies, our existence are such miracles, and this song fully celebrates and owns this. For anyone who has ever felt ashamed of their body for any reason, this is a medicine song, a reclaiming, remembering song. Alexandra Sarton Love, who wrote it, has lived with alopecia since age 10, causing baldness. Maybe you're going through a medical treatment that makes it difficult to feel ownership of your own body? Maybe there's a relationship which leads to doubt about your body's beauty or validity? Maybe media or social gatherings has harmed your connection to your own body? Maybe you're a nursing mom? I don't know what you bring to this song... but I'm sooo glad you're bringing it!  Join me and you bring you, I'll bring me -- let's sing these words together! Songwriter Info: In 2011, Alexandra Love was inspired to assemble a 12-woman chorus to sing the harmonies she had written for her solo project, In Curses. She created a festival, The Festival of Light and Sound (April 2012), to debut this project and to bring Beautiful Chorus together for a one-time performance. The ladies practiced each week leading up to the album release. The festival was a huge success and after that night, Love decided to keep the project going. She booked tours for Beautiful Chorus around the country, hosted crystal singing bowl meditations w/ the ladies, lead vocal workshops and more. It was then that BC wrote + recorded songs, and have since become the most successful independent group of their kind. Fusing elements of electronic, choral, deep bass, hip hop and jazz, Beautiful Chorus is unlike any other. They have albums that span from wordless symphonies to full rhythmic songs, w/ sound healing frequencies and love-centered messages. They even have a wordless holiday album, a lullaby album, and a multitude of singable hymns and mantras. Beautiful Chorus is currently residing in Orlando, FL where they are developing a new live experience, hosting spiritual conversations, and preparing for their upcoming full album release, High Frequency Love Music, due out 7/26. Beautiful Chorus is currently made of Alexandra Love and four other members (Patty, Anisha, Yuki and Veronica). Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Beautiful Chorus for permission and rates. Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:31 Start time of reprise: 00:14:09 Links: Beautiful Chorus website: https://www.beautifulchorus.com/  Alexandra Love website: https://www.alexandra.love/ Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Mixolydian, unison with optional harmony Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

The Sunday after this episode is released, February 2nd, 2025, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.   135. What Would It Take Words & Music by Meg O'Dell Chittenden   What would it take to let yourself Fall, fall in love with life completely What is the place that softly calls you Home, home, back to yourself so ease-fully   All of these days are made of what we sow Gather in and then let go Beneath these waves of joy and grief and woe The sea moves deep and slow     82. Whoever You Are Words by Ana Levy-Lyons Music by Adam Podd, February 2022   Whoever you are, Whomever you love, Wherever you are on your life journey – You are welcome here.     26. There's A Light In You Words & Music by Mazal Etedgi   There's a *vision* in you, there's a *vision* in me, there's a *vision* in everybody. [2x]   Rise up. Come down. Rise up. Come down, come down, feet on the ground.     127. Willing to Receive, Willing to Release Words & Music by Lynn O'Brien   I am willing to receive whatever you've got for me. I'll take the big. I'll take the small. I'll take the unknown. I'll take it all. I am o-opening.   I am willing to release Whatever does not serve me. I'll drop the big. I'll drop the small. I'll drop the unknown. I'll drop it all, and I'll let go… of everything     115. Reciprocity by Pam Blevins Hinkle   I breathe for the trees and they breathe for me.   You and me and the tree, living in reciprocity.   Rooted in the moment and reaching for each other. Rooted in the moment and reaching for the dream.     Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: An Open Heart/Gonna Let Life Move Me Music by: Scott Grace   Notes: Learning songs in an oral tradition can be a little like playing telephone, as they take on a life of their own, responding to the people singing them, growing, evolving... I learned "Gonna Let Life Move Me" in a song circle, and loved it. Eventually, I wanted to share it with my Pocket Song singers. So I tried to find out who had written it, so I could ask their permission/blessing and send some financial exchange their way.... and it took a quite a bit of searching before I turned up Scott Grace (Kalechstein)'s original song. This one had shifted quite a bit, so I got in touch with Scott directly to ask how he felt about the changes... I quote his generous answer directly in the episode. Enjoy two songs this week, and see which one lands for you!   Songwriter Info: WARNING:  Scott Grace, who has been described as a cross between John Denver, Robin Williams and Dr. Seuss, is wanted by the authorities for creating the peace, as well as defying the law of gravity with levity. Contact with Scott is likely to be hazardous to your misery, as he has provoked outbreaks of joy in four out of five laboratory humans.  It is alleged that Scott's work has so threatened to cut into the sales of anti-depressants that pharmaceutical companies have offered him millions to retire.  Scott gives keynotes using a stolen identity, a.k.a. the Spiritual Dr. Seuss. His feel-good viruses on YouTube have infected over 2.5 million people with just four of his Seussian videos. Scott has been known to practice life coaching without a license, eluding the police by working over the phone, Zoom, or FaceTime. He fancies himself an intuitive, and smuggles wisdom and guidance over the border from beings he calls spirit guides, who are also not licensed, and who have allegedly not filed a tax return in several lifetimes. As a front, Scott does do various legal, above the board activities. He has written four books, his latest being Mindful Masculinity. Scott also has recorded nine CD's (remember CD's?) of his original music. He presents as an inspirational guest speaker and singer at churches, non-profits, schools, and corporate events. As an occasional stand-up comedian in the Bay Area, he has shared the stage with Dana Carvey and Robin Williams.  But don't be fooled. His rampage of Song Portraits, custom-made personalized song-gifts that honor people for their birthdays, anniversaries, or for no reason at all, have been killing people softly with their song since 1987. Authorities would very much like your help in apprehending Scott. Try catching him on the web at https://www.scottsongs.com, or on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/user/skalechstein   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Scott for recording and/or performing permission. Scott says, "This song is my deepest prayer from my heart of hearts."   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching, song 1: 00:04:26 Start time of teaching, song 2: 00:08:51 Start time of reprise: 00:12:16   Links: Scott's website: https://www.scottsongs.com  Scott's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/skalechstein   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3 layer or unison   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: One Foot/Lead with Love Music by: Melanie DeMore Notes: Melanie DeMore both entrances and intimidates people -- she is direct, funny, a fabulous story-teller, and fierce and broad in her love. I have to apologize to listeners for the sound quality of this interview -- we had some microphone glitches on both sides that means despite the best sound studio wizardry I could come up with, there's some distortion, and it's not the usual quality of sound. But the quality of content -- where it counts -- is top-notch. Melanie shares One Foot/Lead with Love, including the story of what sparked its creation. She talks about her family, and how the wisdom and experiences of her parents shaped the way she approaches people who hold different world views. We talk about coyotes, kids, accolades, how she takes care of herself on tour as a "4-star, card-carrying introvert". She sends us out with a charge: “Here's what you need to do, people out there: keep your head up. Keep your heart wide open. Remember to breathe, and keep doing the work. Sing on.”   Songwriter Info: Melanie DeMore is a 3 time Grammy nominated singer/composer, choral conductor, music director, and vocal activist who believes in the power of voices raised together. In her presentations, DeMore beautifully brings her participants together through her music and commentary. DeMore facilitates vocal and stick-pounding workshops for professional choirs, and community groups as well as directing numerous choral organizations across the U.S, Canada, and beyond. She is a featured presenter of SpeakOut!-The Institute for Social and Cultural Change, the Master Teaching Artist for Music at UC Berkeley/CalPerformances; works with everyone from Baptists to Buddhists, and was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. She is Music Director for Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks and will be touring with the company to South Africa. She is a charter member of Threshold Choir founded by Kate Munger, a mentor to the Jerusalem Youth Chorus and conducts song circles with an emphasis on the voice as a vessel for healing. In her own words: "A song can hold you up when there seems to be no ground beneath you."   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Melanie for recording and/or performing permission.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:56 Start time of reprise: 01:12:05   Links: Lady of Peace – written by Melanie for her mom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Clq6DHpNA  Threshold Choir: https://thresholdchoir.org/  Children's Music Network: https://childrensmusic.org/  Bessie Jones: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1BUnRZrkCS0NoTiXefkW6U  Ella Jenkins: https://ellajenkins.com/  Oakland Youth Chorus: https://www.oigc.org/oyc  Obeah Opera (South African/Toronto) – about Tituba: https://obeahopera.com/  All One Tribe collective album: https://open.spotify.com/album/1EEVSonqRIjEB0DapNIRs8  Melanie's GoFundMe for a home in Taos, NM: https://gofund.me/6be198cb  Taos pueblo – Tewa people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tewa  Bebe & Cece Winans – gospel singers: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3WNUkxJcJeliFx9KXWXMgs  John Lewis: https://civilrightstrail.com/experience/rep-john-lewis/  Margaret Nes - visual artist: https://www.ventanafineart.com/margaret-nes  Something Moving by Mary Watkins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3RTzI4-j64  Whirimako Black: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dzCFvKwiJQ4w9ViwLzs49  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melanie.demore/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butchyg3/  Melanie's email: melaniedemore(at)earthlink.net   Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, call & echo, chorus & verse, 3-part harmony on chorus   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Standing Stone Music by: Melanie DeMore   Notes: Melanie DeMore is a powerful community shaper and healer who brings warmth and creative delight to her work with people of all stripes. Standing Stone was my introduction to her songs, and like many people, I have a personal history with it. In 2019, I became a long-term sub in a middle school & high school for a beloved choral teacher who had left to tend to her dying sister. The kids were grieving and suspicious. I brought this song to them so we could make a video to send their teacher to support her. The recognition of their capacity to be a source of strength was a game changer; this song unified us. In next week's episode, Melanie talks about what supports her, what she learned from her family, and more. I hope you can join us.   Songwriter Info: Melanie DeMore is a 3-time Grammy-nominated singer/composer, choral conductor, music director, and vocal activist who believes in the power of voices raised together. In her presentations, DeMore beautifully brings her participants together through her music and commentary. DeMore facilitates vocal and stick-pounding workshops for professional choirs, and community groups as well as directing numerous choral organizations across the U.S, Canada, and beyond. She is a featured presenter of SpeakOut!-The Institute for Social and Cultural Change, the Master Teaching Artist for Music at UC Berkeley/CalPerformances; works with everyone from Baptists to Buddhists, and was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. She is Music Director for Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks and will be touring with the company to South Africa. She is a charter member of Threshold Choir founded by Kate Munger, a mentor to the Jerusalem Youth Chorus and conducts song circles with an emphasis on the voice as a vessel for healing. In her own words: “A song can hold you up when there seems to be no ground beneath you.”   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Melanie for recording and/or performing permission.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:49 Start time of reprise: 00:12:30   Links: Help Melanie find a place to call her own in Taos, New Mexico: https://gofund.me/6be198cb A great interview with Melanie about being a vocal activist: https://chorusamerica.org/article/%25E2%2580%259Ci-use-my-voice-weapon-mass-connection%25E2%2580%259D-interview-melanie-demore   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-part   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

The Sunday after this episode is released, December 29th, 2024, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.   3. Woyaya  Words & Music by Sol Amarifio (title in the Ga language of Ghana) ​Composed in 1971   We are going,  heaven knows where we are going,  but we know within.   And we will get there,  heaven knows how  we will get there,  but we know we will.   It will be hard, we know,  and the road will be muddy and rough, But we'll get there,  heaven knows how  we will get there,  but we know we will.   Wɔyaya, Wɔyaya,  Wɔyaya, Wɔyaya.     80. Go Dark Words from Wendell Berry Music ​by Kate Thomas   To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark;  go without sight, and find that the dark, too,  blooms and sings, And is traveled by dark feet,  and dark wings.     72. Unknown (Finding Home) Words & Music​ by Anni Zylstra   ​Finding home in all that is unknown. Release ​what is gone.     143. Love Stays Words & Music by Laszlo Slomovits   Change comes and goes, love stays. Change comes and goes, love stays. Life is filled with such mysterious ways. ​Change comes and goes, love stays.     29. Hope Lingers On Words & Music​ by Lissa Schneckenburger   1. My mother, when love is gone (2x), in our darkest hour, hope lingers on. My father, when peace is gone (2x), in our darkest hour, hope lingers on.   Chorus: I will not hate, and I will not fear; in our darkest hour, hope lingers here.   2. My sister, when equality's gone… My brother, with tolerance gone… ​ 3. My love, when honor is gone… My country, when justice is gone…     58. When We Are Gone Words & Music by ​Starhawk and Anne Hill   When we are gone, they will remain: wind and rock, fire and rain. They will remain, when we return; the wind will blow and the fire will burn.     Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Don't Go Putting the World on Your Shoulders Music by: Will Lawrence and Erin Bridges   Notes: December in the north is such a great time for me to dig a little deeper -- finding mini-rests, sometimes even by taking an extra breath before I go do the next thing. I love that this song reminds me to lean on other people, too... to widen my base, to remember my connections. The irony of recording this (alone, in my basement!) was not lost on me!!! So I hope you sing extra vigorously along with me, and share this song widely -- I have been loving singing it with my Flow Singers this month, and we are really feeling that "take a nap" verse, I tell you!   Songwriter Info: William Lawrence is an organizer and social movement strategist from Lansing, Michigan. He was a co-founder of Sunrise Movement. He is currently the Coordinator of the MI Rent Is Too Damn High coalition, fighting for rent control, tenants rights and social housing in the Great Lakes State. Erin Bridges was raised in Louisville, Kentucky, where she now lives with her dog and queer family in a big turquoise house. Like many southerners, she grew up with a love for shared meals, music sung in fellowship, pies made from the garden, and a close relationship to earth. Erin's work is rooted in building a world where everyone can access these simple pleasures. In 2017, she co-founded Sunrise, a youth movement that launched the Green New Deal, and more recently launched Hollerin' Up, aiming to fund people-powered teams for the long haul.   Sharing Info: Erin and Will are happy for this song to be shared far and wide, attributed to the two of them!   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:42 Start time of reprise: 00:13:29   Links: Sunrise Movement: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/about/ Sunrise Movement songbook: https://drive.google.com/file/d/120wccqh6jdV-Cb1gCZgxtuE7ELnYPUXL/view?usp=sharing which includes a beautiful acknowledgment of the complexity of oral songsharing without appropriation   Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, verse & chorus   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Gratitude Music by: Kate Munger   Notes: Recording Kate Munger's song for you was SUCH a treat for me!!! 15 members of our extended family gathered in a living room, and sang together about sinking into gratitude.... mmmm-hmmmm!!! You'll hear 5-year-old Claire proclaiming she is right here, and then the beautiful gathered sound of Beth, Peter, Will, Elyse, Edward, Carolyn, Patrick, Ruth, Tom, Rebecca, Forrest, Kathi, Claire, Seth and me. One of the most beautiful things about the whole experience was that the song itself kept reminding me to be present -- to soak into the moment.   Songwriter Info: Kate Munger has been passionate about community singing since she was 8 years old at Girl Scout Camp and has led community singing now for over 45 years. In 2000 she founded the first of now 200 Threshold Choirs around the world. Today at 74 she is retired from running the Threshold Choir and has returned to her passions of writing songs for medicinal use and singing at the bedsides of people who are dying, in coma and with folks who are incarcerated. She is a popular speaker among palliative care, choral singing and prison reform professionals and is a gracious, skillful musical host and choral director whose joy is reminding us that we are singing beings, bringing community singing back to "the community.” Kate knows that this work is deep and serious and she offers a fresh, lively, sometimes irreverent, always relevant perspective.   Sharing Info: Kate encourages the sharing of this song and its message; any donation that is generous, affordable and personally significant would be most welcome.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:45 Start time of reprise: 00:12:57   Links: Kate welcomes emails to kateamunger@gmail.com   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, mixolydian, 3-part harmony   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Over/Under Music by: Lyndsey Scott Notes: Lyndsey Scott talks about her radical trust in life, how she perceives energy, the playfulness and generosity of cyclical wisdom. She shares the origin story of this song, Over/Under, and wisdom from her co-creator, Anthony R. Rhodd about gratitude. We were recording the Thursday after the US elections -- as I listen to the focus on how to find resources and energy, I realize how depleted I felt in the moment of recording. And yet talking with Lyndsey buoyed me -- the deep attunement that she practices shines through our conversation -- I feel like I can really feel the truth of "I am the love that doesn't leave..."   Songwriter Info: Lyndsey Scott is a multimedia artist, songleader, songwriter, and ritualist committed to exploring community singing as a technology of belonging and a strategy for mutual liberation. She currently co-facilitates the yearlong cohort of emergent earth-based ceremonial study with Earthkeeper Wisdom School (Hartsburg, MO), leads song for politicized somatics practitioners in Embodying Racial Justice's yearlong program, Opening to Freedom (Millerton, NY), and teaches "Community Singing as Collective Power" at the University of Iowa School of Music's Grant Wood Fellow.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Lyndsey always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:05:15 Start time of reprise: 01:06:15   Links: Lyndsey's website: https://www.lyndseyscott.earth/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lila.gaia/  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lyndseyscott  We Do This 'Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1664-we-do-this-til-we-free-us  What It Takes to Heal by Prentice Hemphill: https://prentishemphill.com/book The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/250673/the-wild-edge-of-sorrow-by-francis-weller/  Song Carrier Toolkit by Liz Rog: https://www.centerforbelonging.earth/store/p/song-carrier-toolkit  Earthkeeper Wisdom School: https://www.earthkeeperwisdomschool.org/  Rebeccah Bennett, Root Teacher, The InPower Institute: https://inpowerinstitute.com/  The Milk-Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom: https://joannanewsom.bandcamp.com/album/the-milk-eyed-mender  Meredith Monk: https://www.meredithmonk.org/  Emma Koeppel: https://soundcloud.com/emma-koeppel  Anthony R. Rhodd: https://substack.com/@anthonyrrhodd  Woman Stands Shining (Pat McCabe): https://www.patmccabe.net/    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, unison or harmonized, call & response section   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: We Are the Door Music by: Lyndsey Scott   Notes: Best possible things happening on this recording of Lyndsey Scott's song, We Are the Door.... I get to sing with my daughter, Rebecca Csuy and we figured out how to make a marimba sound on my keyboard!!! Honestly, life is just better with a marimba sound AND a loved one to sing with. This song is a beautiful entry into change and shift and the unknown -- I get a sense of almost prairie-like expansiveness, accompanied by magic and wisdom of a seer inviting me to move in the big shadows. And like most songs, the magic really starts to happen when you sing it yourself, in your own voice, vibrating with possibility. Let Rebecca and I stand by your side and sing with you -- turn it up loud in headphones or speakers so you can really expand into it -- and then go find Lyndsey's recording and sing with her and her co-creator on this album, Michael Linder! Don't miss next week's episode, when Lyndsey and I snug up as close as you can through Zoom and talk about resources during change...   Songwriter Info: Lyndsey Scott is a multimedia artist, songleader, songwriter, and ritualist committed to exploring community singing as a technology of belonging and a strategy for mutual liberation. She currently co-facilitates the yearlong cohort of emergent earth-based ceremonial study with Earthkeeper Wisdom School (Hartsburg, MO), leads song for politicized somatics practitioners in Embodying Racial Justice's yearlong program, Opening to Freedom (Millerton, NY), and teaches "Community Singing as Collective Power" at the University of Iowa School of Music's Grant Wood Fellow.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Lyndsey always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:11 Start time of reprise: 00:17:21   Links: Lyndsey's website: https://www.lyndseyscott.earth/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lila.gaia/  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lyndseyscott    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, harmonic minor, 2-layer (plus marimba part!)   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: The Net Music by: Patricia Norton   Notes: The Hindu teacher, Sri Nisargadatta, said, "The real world is beyond our thoughts and ideas; we see it through the net of our desires... To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net. It is not hard to do so, for the net is full of holes." I began singing this song to myself in the summer of '24, reminding me that what I thought was an immutable barrier might actually be a net of holes, and if I found fluidity, I could slip right by it. As events unfolded, the song grew and took on layers of meaning for me. What if the net were my safety net, and I felt myself slipping through? Can I be at peace with recognizing that there is no safety, no guarantee -- but there is a truth grounded beyond all of my desires, and like water, I can fall down through to that. Patty gave us a beautiful visual of the freedom in that fall... this song has been a great resource to me.   Songwriter Info: Patricia is excited to be developing an in-person community program called Flow Singing in Burlington, Vermont. You can find more details about that at the Juneberry Music site. Patricia believes in singing as a resource for vibrant well-being, experiencing wholeness, courage, connection and joy along with brokenness, fear, loneliness, and despair... the whole messy catastrophe. She lives with her long-time beloved husband, Tom, in a small townhouse close to their daughter's family (the better to play with their granddaugher!) Patricia reads widely, and also spends time exploring the natural world on these Abenaki lands, knitting, and reluctantly strength-training.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in the oral tradition; please contribute to A Breath of Song as a fair exchange if you are earning money at an event using this song.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:08 Start time of reprise: 00:20:00   Links: Patricia's website: https://www.juneberrymusic.com   Nuts & Bolts: 12:8, major, 3-part with harmonies   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

The Sunday after this episode is released, November 10th, 2024, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.   64. Mourning Dove  by Wendy Luella Perkins   I awoke to the coos  of a mourning dove a mourning dove,  a mourning dove; and her sad, sweet song  drifted down from above drifted down from above,  drifted down from above​.   106. Don't Numb to This  by Abigail Bengson   Don't numb to this,  don't numb it out. Let it all flow in and out. ​You're strong enough  to feel it all, ​and keep your heart alive.   Stay soft to this,  don't numb it out. ​Let yourself breathe in and out. You're strong enough  to feel it all, and keep your heart alive. ​I said,   Don't numb to this,  don't numb it out, Let yourself breathe in and out, You're strong enough  to feel it all and it'll keep your heart alive. I said,   Don't numb to this,  don't block it out, Let it all flow in and out, You're strong enough  to feel it all, and it'll keep your heart alive.   145. Hold On  with guest Aaron Johnson By Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Jr., 1980   Hold on (sing on, love on, march on) ​just a little while longer ​Everything will be all right   10. I Trust My Roots  with guest Samara Jade    I trust my roots *to know where to go* (3x) I trust my roots *to know where to go* down, down into the earth.   Chorus: Down, down into the earth,  intertwining with all beings, I'm seeing in every direction;  going down, down into the earth, I'll send a message on the  world-wide-web of interconnection.   *to anchor me deep* *to reach what I need* *to share what I got* *to lead me to love* *to connect us as one* ("our" roots)   93. Breathe Along with Life  by Chloe Vispap-Rich   Mark out your golden lines Create your golden times Breathe along with life Away you go. Away you go, Away you go, Breathe along with life Away you go.   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Breathe Music by: Batya Levine   Notes: This was the song I needed to sing to help myself through the pre-election moment... building trust in myself to navigate whatever comes next, tap into the energy to work up to the last moment to effect the change I hope for. Batya Levine is an incredibly heart-sourced song composer, and they'll be releasing a new album in December... check out their website and get on the list to know when it appears -- it's sure to be wonderful, and "Breathe" will be on it -- and you'll know it!   Songwriter Info: Batya Levine (they/them) uses song as a tool for cultivating healing and resilience in their work as a communal song leader, shaliach tzibur (Jewish prayer leader) and cultural organizer. Batya is a co-founder and Director of Programs at Let My People Sing!, and they compose original music made of Ashkenazi yearning, queer heart-medicine, and emunah (faith). Batya is releasing their second album, Yivarechecha, in December 2024 through Rising Song Records.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Batya always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:34 Start time of reprise: 00:20:13   Links: Batya's website: https://www.batyalevine.com   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3-layer   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Heaven Above, Earth Below Music by: Becky Graber   Notes: Becky Graber let her unconscious speak during our conversation, and when I asked what she knows about herself right now, she said, "I am a breath of air on the earth" -- and then laughed a little in surprise and delight. The song she teaches also came from delighted awareness of the place of the body between heaven and earth -- plus a little tai-chi. Becky and I share a wonderfully rambly conversation about shedding old identities and making space, wanting to allow things to bloom rather than push them, and threshold times. We also take a lot of time with this three verse song, including playing with harmonies. You'll hear me making mistakes as I learn and play with harmonies -- but hopefully you won't notice it too much, because you'll be singing right along, too! The goal of this podcast is to encourage you to keep stepping into the power and beauty of your own voice, something Becky Graber has many years of experience at helping people do...   Songwriter Info: Becky Graber has lived her life professionally centered around music and storytelling, teaching and performing, and a heart-drive towards healing and coming to centered generosity. She is the founder and director of the Brattleboro (VT) Women's Chorus.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Becky for recording and/or performing permission.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:58 Start time of reprise: 01:15:20   Links: Becky's website: www.beckygraber.com Brattleboro Women's Chorus website: www.brattleborowomenschorus.org  Psychospiritual paths like psychosynthesis – Roberto Assagioli: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosynthesis  The Diamond Approach – H.M. Almaas: https://www.diamondapproach.org/  Helen Yeomans: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/156-we-got-all-the-love Natural Voices Network: https://www.naturalvoice.net/  Lisa Littlebird's library: https://thebirdsings.com/song-library/  Velma Frye: https://www.velmafryemusic.com/  Song “Take Heart, Take Part, with lyrics “Participation is gonna save the human race” – Pete Seeger quote set by Becky Reardon: https://beckyreardonmusic.com/product/take-heart-take-part/ “Spes” by Mia Makaroff – Latin & Sami: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKeikhsVynM  Gaia Music Collective in NYC: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/gaia-music-collective-44369305153  Choir! Choir! Choir!: https://choirchoirchoir.com/ Gareth Malone with “The Choir” on BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008y125  Ry Cooder “Jazz” album with red cover and black letters: https://open.spotify.com/album/3Z6RuwMcmDMgBJsZ01Ouhf  Buena Vista Social Club: https://www.buenavistasocialclub.com/  Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major (Ionian), 3 verses   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Fly Away Music by: Becky Graber   Notes: Becky Graber really captured that feeling I get sometimes when I'm so uncomfortable, I want to simply fly away... when you are seeking something that feels trustworthy, and it feels elusive. I taught this in an unusual way for A Breath of Song, using solfege to identify the very different ranges of each of the four parts... you may find that useful, or not -- let go of anything doesn't serve you! Next week, Becky and I get to dig into a conversation with both of us here in my basement workspace... newsletter subscribers will see the pairsie (what do you really call a selfie with two?) As a songleader who started a chorus that has felt like mutual nourishment for almost 30 years, Becky has a perspective on group singing that is unique, and I really enjoyed exploring this experience with her.   Songwriter Info: Becky Graber has lived her life professionally centered around music and storytelling, teaching and performing, and a heart-drive towards healing and coming to centered generosity. She is the founder and director of the Brattleboro (VT) Women's Chorus.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Becky for recording and/or performing permission.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:00 Start time of reprise: 00:16:44   Links: Becky's website: www.beckygraber.com Brattleboro Women's Chorus website: www.brattleborowomenschorus.org    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major (Ionian), 4 part layer   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Radiate Music by: Lisa Piccirillo   Notes: Going epic this week -- we learn the chorus to Lisa Piccirillo's song, Radiate, with just me and the piano...and then when we're feeling solid, blow our socks off by singing along with her huge soundtrack! If you love the song, then there are links to find it in Bandcamp, etc, just below! I particularly love the way the word "radiate" is the most intimate in the entire chorus -- it feels like a world of confidence and self-connection right there... Enjoy -- I certainly did!!   Songwriter Info: Lisa Piccirillo almost gave up on songwriting, but the muse wouldn't let her. The inspiration for her latest record came to her as a vision: the silhouette of a woman, backlit by the sun, alongside the word RADIATE. Fueled by this idea and the desire to reclaim her creative identity, Lisa devoted herself to daily songwriting sessions at sunrise and the new record was born. An unapologetically loud follow-up to her mellow and folky 2008 debut (momentum), RADIATE chronicles Lisa's vast emotional landscape with her signature blend of vulnerable songwriting and powerhouse vocals.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Lisa always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:03 Start time of reprise: 00:13:57   Links: Website: www.lisapmusic.com Linktree: https://linktr.ee/lisapiccirillo Tickets for Radiate Release Event Oct 19th 2024: https://tinyurl.com/48t8dna7 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GJmGSN3Era6CJspcpMMY4?si=PFoGHPmUTQOVLYSJv0UlNg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/lisa-piccirillo/289758509 Bandcamp: https://lisapiccirillo.bandcamp.com/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisapiccirillo YouTube: www.youtube.com/lisapmusic Facebook: www.facebook.com/lisapmusic   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

The Sunday after this episode is released, September 29th, 2024, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon. Note: Angela Gabriel has made a melody change (which she can, right? Her song!) to We Were Made for These Times -- I made a new recording for this ribbon of songs, reflecting this update. If you click here, it will go to a teaching youtube video she created (which wonderfully includes the full lyrics...) https://youtu.be/kZfD7YbZJew?feature=shared   2. Put Your Roots Down by Molly Hartwell   Put your roots down, put your feet on the ground, can you hear what she says when you listen? (2x)   ‘Cause the sound of the river, as it moves across the stone is the same sound as the blood in your body as it moves across your bones.   Are you listening? The title link goes to Molly Hartwell singing her original… but as she has given her blessing to the “telephone”  versions that have travelled around, I am still singing (more or less) the version I learned from Lisa Littlebird in 2019…   99. Turning Wheel by Lisa Littlebird   There's a wheel that is turning,  calling me into my power. There's a wheel that is turning,  calling me into my voice.   It's turning, we're learning  to stand inside our hearts. It's turning, we're learning  to stand in love.   I will not be silent.   121. Make Good Trouble by Elizabeth Melvin words inspired by John Lewis   Stand up and make good trouble Speak up and make good trouble Get up and make good trouble Rise up and make good trouble   Never, ever be afraid to make some noise, make some noise   This is the struggle, the struggle of a lifetime (Make good trouble)   86. We Were Made For These Times text by Clarissa Pinkola Estés music by Angela Gabriel   Don't lose heart, We were made for these times. (3x) Show your soul,  it shines like gold in these dark times.   Don't lose hope….   Don't give up…. The link goes to Angela's own recording… Here it is as a podcast episode.   46. We Are The Way by Christine Kick   Celebrate the difference, celebrate the distance, celebrate the love, celebrate this brand new way. We are the way. We are the way… we are the way!!!   All night and every day we bring the love, we bring the love.   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Good Friend Music by: Jan Harmon   Notes: Both harbor and freedom, connection and release, seasons and timelessness. Jan Harmon's song, written in 1985, has generous space for harmonies, and impels us singers forward, as though we were the sail catching the wind. I love the feeling of holding and letting go as I sing this song -- it helps me grieve, helps rejoice, helps me open, helps me curl up... I wonder what you will experience as you sing it with me?   Songwriter Info: Jan Harmon (1940-1993) was a published poet, a writer of short stories and biographical non-fiction, as well as a prolific composer of choral music, topical songs, ballads, rounds, musicals, and instrumental pieces. She was born in Saginaw, Michigan and lived in many places from southern California to Maine.   Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Scott at Harmon Publishing for permission and rates: sp11@harmonpublishing.com   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:02:47 Start time of reprise: 00:16:25   Links: Song info on the Harmon Publishing website (including a sheet music PDF): https://www.harmonpublishing.com/jan/music/library/good-friend   Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, minor, round   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: (O Spirit) Guide Me to Those I Need Music by: Aimée Ringle   Notes: If you've run across Aimée Ringle's work, you know her wicked musical skills, her exuberant, high-energy presence, her huge heart and desire to be of service... and you may not yet know how she grew into her voice, the questions she asks herself around how best to contribute to songcircles, her deep desire for village community, and questions about how to make that real in the here and now. We dig a little into one of the hard conversations in songcircles or any group situation where people bring varying skill levels -- how can people of varying skill levels feel welcome and find space and satisfaction as they are? We talk about what Aimée finds she needs to be able to let songs come through and more! Aimée shares the story of how O Spirit came through and we sing it both with guitar and in an up-close and personal way. It's a big episode because we let our conversation spread out, enjoying the end of summer and a sense of expansiveness. I hope you, too, find that pleasure of connection when you join us.   Songwriter Info: Aimée Ringle is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, song-leader, and storyteller. She has an invigorating teaching style that is enriched by her capable percussion and guitar skills. Aimée's work as a song-leader and storyteller have woven her into an ever widening community of cultural shifters around the country in the realms of sustainable agriculture, alternative education, community living, healing, creativity, and spiritual exploration ~ all of which are reflected in the songs she carries. As a song-leader, Aimée's work and example have become a valued part of several Ancestral skills gatherings including Winter Count, Spirit Weavers and Sharpening Stone.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Aimée for recording and/or performing permission. She says: "For now, the song is just the chorus, but I am paying attention to its evolution and leaving space for the possibility of verses, etc. But this will not be a group process and I'm not inviting unsolicited creative ideas in this process."   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:53 Start time of reprise: 01:34:28   Links: Aimée's website: www.aimeeringlemusic.com  Aimée's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AiméeRingle Aimée's O Spirit video on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8wzISTpTsh Aimée's Bandcamp: https://aimeeringle.bandcamp.com Earth Practice: https://www.instagram.com/earthpracticemusic/ Tone Home by Elijah Ray: https://soundcloud.com/entheo/tone-home?in=l29rjc61w9os/sets/the-upload-1 I'm My Own Walkman by Bobby McFerrin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8DUi9RCTiQ Samara Jade: https://www.instagram.com/samara_jade_music/ Three Wheels Turning: https://threewheelsturning.com/ "We are what we repeatedly do." Aristotle interpreted by Will Durant: https://blogs.umb.edu/quoteunquote/2012/05/08/its-a-much-more-effective-quotation-to-attribute-it-to-aristotle-rather-than-to-will-durant/ The Sharpening Stone: https://www.instagram.com/thesharpeningstone/ Laurence Cole: https://www.laurencecole.com/ Liz Rog: https://www.facebook.com/liz.rog1/ Shireen Amini: https://shireenamini.com/music Song Village: https://www.songvillage.net/ Emergent Strategy and Holding Change by Adrienne Maree Brown: https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/emergent-strategy/, https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/holding-change-2/ Billie Eilish: https://www.instagram.com/billieeilish/ Ganavya: https://www.instagram.com/ganavya    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, unison chant   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: The Ambulance Song Music by: Aimée Ringle "Ooo Love" part by: Laurence Cole   Notes: We live on a busy road, not far from a fire station -- an ambulance is not an unusual sight -- and thanks to Aimée Ringle, I have the perfect song to wish the people involved well... and now you do, too! Next week, Aimée and I talk about the tender place music is able to open up, how someone with considerable musical skills and experience finds how they, too, can be included in community singing... how we are what we repeatedly do, and what that means for Aimée. She is generous, vulnerable, clear-sighted, and willing to name her own challenges. I hope you can join us... but before that, please enjoy adding this song to your personal repertoire!   Songwriter Info: Aimée Ringle is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, song-leader, and storyteller. She has an invigorating teaching style that is enriched by her capable percussion and guitar skills. Aimée's work as a song-leader and storyteller have woven her into an ever widening community of cultural shifters around the country in the realms of sustainable agriculture, alternative education, community living, healing, creativity, and spiritual exploration ~ all of which are reflected in the songs she carries. As a song-leader, Aimée's work and example have become a valued part of several Ancestral skills gatherings including Winter Count, Spirit Weavers and Sharpening Stone.   Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Aimée for recording and/or performing permission.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:12 Start time of reprise: 00:17:38   Links: Aimée's website: www.aimeeringlemusic.com  Aimée's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AiméeRingle The Ambulance Song video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b6WxqtlIbo  Aimée's Bandcamp: https://aimeeringle.bandcamp.com Laurence Cole's website: https://www.laurencecole.com   Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Aeolian, 4-part   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: contributions at https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html, plus reviews, comments, encouragement... we float on your support.

Song: Quiet At First Music by: Eileen Webb Lyrics by: Kai Skye   Notes: How often do you get to sing with a thrush? Eileen Webb has made that possible for us... and so we get full enjoyment out of it, singing the entire song twice after learning it. The song itself, with words from Kai Skye, is a succinct reminder to drop in to that sensation of connection to all living things and how good it feels. What could be better? Recording this was unusual for me, because instead of loops on Loopy (where I just have to get it sounding right once!), it's layered tracks because of singing with the thrush... so I got to practice staying centered for the entire length of the song... not once, not twice, but three times plus a bit! It was really good for me -- so thank you for singing with me and perusing the A Breath of Song library -- I love the way my sense of responsibility to you keeps me in practice.   Songwriter Info: Eileen is a consultant and facilitator who helps tech companies build stronger relationships within and across their teams. She loves how music-making helps create deep connections in diverse groups of people, and leads the circlesinging community in Portland, Maine.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share, but please remember to share the lyrics credit to Kai Skye as well!   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:33 Start time of reprise: 00:18:11   Links: Eileen's Portland circlesinging group: https://www.meetup.com/circlesinging-portland/. Kai's art website: https://flyingedna.com/ Note: For credit purposes, his NAME is Kai Skye, his PEN NAME (also his previous name) is Brian Andreas, and the site where people can buy his arts is Flying Edna.   Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 2-3 part harmony plus some extras   Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.   Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar, or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

The Sunday after this episode is released, August 18th, 2024, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon.   84. May I Be Open by Heather Pierson May I be open to things as they are right now, because this is how things are right now. Remember the breath, remember the body, ​remember the goodness that you carry.   55. Everything Is Changing by Kaitie Ty Warren Everything is changing. Life keeps rearranging; and sometimes it feels awkward, but we cannot go backward. We cannot go backward.   34. Possibility by Lisa Forkish An end is not the end, it can be the beginning. Like a river, I flow. I am open to all the possibility.   148. Oh the Rain by Patricia Norton 1. Oh the rain, the rain it comes down, and it carries a world in its sound. Oh the rain, oh the rain, it comes down. 2. Some times I feel blue; I'm gonna take a breath or two and soften, let my heart be tender. 3. Softly, gently, let it fall as it will. Softly, gently tender, tender.   139. Bend & Rebound by Heidi Wilson Bend and rebound, bend and rebound ​Gentle strength of the willow is found   Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: We Got All The Love Music by: Helen Yeoman ​Notes: So many different things going on in this episode! First, in some ways this is a "greatest hit" of the community song world, so maybe you already know it? Helen Yeoman's confident, sweetly harmonized zipper song speaks to what can build and sustain hopefulness -- this knowledge that, in some way, we are exactly where we need to be. I am delighted to welcome onto the podcast my beloved husband of almost 35 years, Tom. He gives us the benefit of his long vocal chords to reach some low notes that are out of my range! Instead of looping this episode, I went back and edited in the alto and tenor parts -- and, oof, the pressure to perfect it, to sing exactly in tune -- I'm not sure I could ever let it go. But here you have the best I could do this week, with the alto panned left and the tenor panned right, soprano and bass in the middle. If it's a song you already know, I hope this gives you great practice; if it's new to you, welcome (and check out the shownotes for other learning options)! Fill in our sound with your voice!!! Songwriter Info: Helen is a well-loved choir leader & composer from the UK. her songs are sung all around the world - literally. She is self-taught and calls on every day events as well as global issues for her inspiration. In 2015 she won the esteemed international UK Songwriters Contest in the gospel category. She has four children and lives in Devon, England. Helen runs workshops and holidays in the UK and Europe and is coming to the USA in September 2024. ​ Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Helen for permission and rates. ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:35 Start time of reprise: 00:17:09 Links: All of Helen's music can be found at www.helenyeomans.co.uk Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major with raised 4 & 5, 4-pt harmony Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. ​ Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar, or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Joanna and I explore the idea of inviting fear to come closer and be held, through song and word. We talk about how gifts of attention can come from wounds, and therefore be mixed blessings. Joanna describes the "field" she tends in a song circle, and what craves special notice when you live and work with the same person. This was recorded shortly before the political change in the USA when Biden chose not to run for office, so you won't hear us talking about the buoyancy that can come from feeling hopeful... but we do touch on navigating grief and fear! We also talk about one of the huge gifts a group singing can give a songcarrier.... Songwriter Info: Joanna Laws Landis (she/her) is a song-carrier and grief-tender with a deep trust in the transformational healing power of welcome and compassion. Joanna was steeped in song and harmony from her early years: in church, at school and in community choirs. In her late 20s, she discovered the community singing movement and felt a deep alignment with this simple and direct pathway to connection and healing. After collecting a wide library of songs from the midwest to the pacific coast, she has been leading community song circles regularly since 2020. Joanna has recently relocated to the land of her maternal grandmother's people outside of Asheville, NC where in addition to leading singing & grief-tending, she is deepening her understanding of the body's innate wisdom for healing with Somatic Experiencing International, and is studying collective trauma integration & facilitation with Thomas Hübl. Sharing Info: You are welcome to share/teach the song in community settings, and Joanna always welcome financial support when it is available. Please contact her for recording and/or performing permission. ​ Links:  Listen on Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/joannalawslandis Email Joanna at joannalawslandis@gmail.com  Follow Joanna's Grief Tending offerings on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/o/joanna-laws-landis-amp-will-rogers-30189070512 Donations gratefully received on PayPal or Venmo @joannalawslandis Thomas Huebl trauma integration: Academy of Inner Science https://thomashuebl.com/courses/training-programs/ Robert Frost - 'Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.' https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/05/24/poem-tennis/ Bliss Is Ordinary podcast – the 4th & 5th episodes are with Laurence Cole: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1939735 Laurence Cole: https://www.laurencecole.com/ Laurence Cole and Ahlay Blakely are also hosting online grief circles:: https://www.healingattheroots.com/onlinemonthlygriefcircles The Cranberries Everyone Else is Doing it So Why Can't We? Soup: Jook…  A Chinese rice porridge with ginger and garlic & maybe chicken. Here's a Mark Bittman recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1839-jook Lianne La Havas artist – Paper Thin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug3Q9RmFywc Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, harmonic minor, 2-part​ Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: As we gather, by whom are we held? The trees, the earth, the air, the bugs, the people? And what do we bring? Hunger, courage, fear, hope, laughter? Our voices... our dreams. Joanna Laws Landis has written a song to hold the fullness of all this, and the ways in which we are not alone. Next week, join us for a songwriter conversation that explores how we show up... I'll give you a hint: Joanna says in it, "I am a new person in every moment," and talks about how she has observed “how much singing together can really knit a group together.” I hope you experience the fullness of being held... I am looking to be more aware of that myself! ​ Songwriter Info: Joanna Laws Landis (she/her) is a song-carrier and grief-tender with a deep trust in the transformational healing power of welcome and compassion. Joanna was steeped in song and harmony from her early years: in church, at school and in community choirs. In her late 20s, she discovered the community singing movement and felt a deep alignment with this simple and direct pathway to connection and healing. After collecting a wide library of songs from the midwest to the pacific coast, she has been leading community song circles regularly since 2020. Joanna has recently relocated to the land of her maternal grandmother's people outside of Asheville, NC where in addition to leading singing & grief-tending, she is deepening her understanding of the body's innate wisdom for healing with Somatic Experiencing International, and is studying collective trauma integration & facilitation with Thomas Hübl. Sharing Info: You are welcome to share/teach the song in community settings, and Joanna always welcomes financial support when it is available. Please contact her for recording and/or performing permission. Links:  Listen on Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/joannalawslandis Would love to hear from you via email: joannalawslandis@gmail.com Follow my Grief Tending offerings on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/o/joanna-laws-landis-amp-will-rogers-30189070512 Donations gratefully received on PayPal or Venmo @joannalawslandis​ Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor with an occasional major 7, 2 part song; 2nd part harmonized ​Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Blessings Whenever You Breathe Music by: Melanie DeMore ​Notes: Melanie DeMore has probably influenced your singing, whether or not you've had the chance to sing with her in person yet! This week is a chance to spend some time with one of her songs that is a breath blessing -- as we sing, you can notice the breath pouring in, and just to be sure we don't miss it, there's a tapping rhythm on the chest to help center attention. Melanie is one of my heroes in the songleading community -- and I was too intimidated to ask to share one of her songs -- but it turns out, (no surprise to those of you who know her already), she's absolutely lovely (although she did give me a talking-to about not viewing myself as a "real singer".) What finally got me over the hoop of reaching out to her? The fact that she has made an ask of the songleading community, and there's a special chance to give back to someone who has given so generously... Songwriter Info: Melanie DeMore is a 3 time Grammy nominated singer/composer, choral conductor, music director, and vocal activist who believes in the power of voices raised together. In her presentations, DeMore beautifully brings her participants together through her music and commentary. DeMore facilitates vocal and stick-pounding workshops for professional choirs, and community groups as well as directing numerous choral organizations across the U.S, Canada, and beyond. She is a featured presenter of SpeakOut!-The Institute for Social and Cultural Change, the Master Teaching Artist for Music at UC Berkeley/CalPerformances; works with everyone from Baptists to Buddhists, and was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. She is Music Director for Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks and will be touring with the company to South Africa. She is a charter member of Threshold Choir founded by Kate Munger, a mentor to the Jerusalem Youth Chorus and conducts song circles with an emphasis on the voice as a vessel for healing. In her own words: "A song can hold you up when there seems to be no ground beneath you." ​ Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Melanie for recording and/or performing permission ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:56 Start time of reprise: 00:15:43 Links: Help Melanie find a place to call her own in Taos, New Mexico: https://gofund.me/6be198cb A great interview with Melanie about being a vocal activist: https://chorusamerica.org/article/%25E2%2580%259Ci-use-my-voice-weapon-mass-connection%25E2%2580%259D-interview-melanie-demore Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Mixolydian Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar, or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

The Sunday after this episode is released, July 7th, 2024, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon. 73. Love Flows In by Roberta Kirn ​ Take a moment to quiet the mind, to settle down deep in the body. Love flows in, love flows in, love flows in. Like the waves, like the tide, like the everlasting spring, love flows in.   37. Lead With Your Heart, Friends by Ian Carrick Lead with your heart, friends, the day is unfolding; the way is clear. You already know.   38. This Is A Wave by Emily Roblyn This is a wave, I am the ocean. ​This is a wave, I am the sea.   114. All Motion Is Love by Pam Blevins Hinkle ​​All motion is love, we follow the love we are given. All motion is love, we follow, we follow the love.   59. Heart Wide Open by Lea Morris Keep your heart wide open, though the waves want to push you around. You've got to keep your heart wide open, 'til your faith brings you back to solid ground. I'm gonna keep, I'm gonna keep, I'm gonna keep my heart wide open -- although the waves want to push; although the waves want to push me around. I'm gonna keep, I'm gonna keep, I'm gonna keep my heart wide open -- until my faith brings me back; until my faith brings me back to solid ground.   Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Deeper Music by: Meg O'Dell Chittenden ​Notes: I was stymied when I came to the point in the podcast where I explain why I chose this song... because to me it simply is exactly the way I'm trying to live. It's like Meg O'Dell Chittenden went in my brain and named what was happening! Do you find songs like that -- ones that simply speak your truth so clearly that singing them feels like naming your very own core? It reassures me that I am not alone... Songwriter Info: Meg loves helping people access their innate capacity for healing, connection, and joy. She is a somatic coach, supporting individuals and couples in growth, transformation, and healing. Because she's always found the voice, and especially singing in harmony with others, to be a particularly powerful pathway for connection with ourselves and the world around us, she delights in serving as a music teacher, song leader, and vocal mentor. She hosts an annual adult and family singing retreat on the coast of Maine called SongWeavers. In addition, Meg is an Adjunct Professor for Antioch University's Graduate Program for Waldorf Teachers and for the Center for Anthroposophy's Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program. Her sources of inspiration include the small, misty mountain that overlooks her home and singing with her children, Clancy and Celia. ​ Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Meg always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:03 Start time of reprise: 00:12:16 Links:  Meg's Website: www.singwaldorf.com Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor with a major V7 chord, 4-layers Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: The Change Music by: Mary L. Cohen ​Notes: “My dad played the copper fish mold.” — aren't you curious now? Listen in as Mary Cohen and I explore family music, personal structures for improvisation, creating connections between incarcerated and not-incarcerated people, and more… We wander a bit through grief and disconnection and finding what is, in a conversation that's real and messy and touches on fear and joy, building a caring community for ourselves, our neighbors, the global world… living with regret and streaming grace to the person we were when we made a mistake; restoring connection. It's a glimpse of the rich variety of resources Mary draws on as she shapes her life… I hope to add some into mine. Songwriter Info: Mary L. Cohen, Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Iowa, is lead author of Music-Making in U.S. Prisons: Listening to Incarcerated Voices (2022). She co-founded the International Music and Justice Network: IMAJIN Caring Communities, a group of researchers from 18 countries who study music-making in prisons, and you are welcome to join by contacting Mary to get on the group email list (mary-cohen@uiowa.edu). From 2009 to 2020 she led the Oakdale Community Choir with incarcerated and non-incarcerated participants where participants have written over 150 songs, and the Oakdale Choir performed over 75 of these songs, available with the Creative Commons License. To continue working toward the choir's goals of building communities of caring through singing and songwriting, she founded the Inside Outside Songwriting Collaboration Project where partnerships between incarcerated and non-incarcerated songwriters create original songs, build relationships, and learn about transformative and generative justice. She has been a keynote for conferences in Germany, Canada, and Portugal, interviewed by the BBC3 Music Matters, and has over 40 publications in journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. She leads weekly music groups inside the Juvenile Detention Center of Linn County. ​ Sharing Info: The song is free to share, and Mary welcomes networking support and invites you to further your education and activism regarding environmental justice, restorative/transformative/generative justice, and simply acting with kindness to all you encounter. ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:05:45 Start time of reprise: 01:07:58 Links:  Oakdale Community Choir website: https://oakdalechoir.lib.uiowa.edu/ Dave Camlin's new book is Music-Making and Civic Imagination: A Holistic Philosophy. His website: https://www.davecamlin.com/civic There is a new 30 minute documentary film about the Oakdale Community Choir called "The Inside Singers." The 3 minute preview of the film is available at https://vimeo.com/169192145. Iowa PBS did a short 8'30" video story on the Oakdale Community Choir. Find it here: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-oakdale-community-choir-coralville-iowa-bfe7bd/ Andy Douglas, local Iowa City nonfiction & spiritual author wrote Redemption Songs: A Year in the Life of a Community Prison Choir about his experiences singing in the Oakdale Community Choir For people interested in abolition of the prison industrial complex, here are some good resources: Mariam Kaba's We Do This Til We Free Us University of Santa Cruz's Visualizing Abolition resources (including the Music for Abolition collection) Critical Resistance online at https://criticalresistance.org/ The book Mary wrote with Stuart Paul Duncan Music-Making in US Prisons: Listening to Incarcerated Voices To hear two versions of the Oakdale Community Choir performing "The Change" visit https://oakdalechoir.lib.uiowa.edu/original-works/ Most recent one was December 14, 2016 concert themed "Look on the Bright Side" track 13 The first version was Fall 2014 and is available under "Original works" link (scroll down a bit) along with the Fall 2016 version. The simple score of the song is available on that link too. Voice Science Works with lots of tools for voice habitation: https://www.voicescienceworks.org/ "The Real Work" (song) by Gretchen Sleicher, words by Wendell Berry https://songsforthegreatturning.net/originals/therealwork/ ​ Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, minor, round Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: May My Tears Water a Sapling Music by: Mary L. Cohen ​Notes: Mary Cohen's huge heart and willingness to do big work in the world shines through in this song, with lyrics sparked by the 2020 midwestern derecho with devastated so many trees. When we talk in next week's songwriter conversation, the depth of Mary's passion for how singing can support and feed change is evident. I hope you can join us as we explore the US prison-industrial complex and music, the role of mentorship, and how self-care can adapt. In this episode, I invite you to experiment a bit, finding musical touchstones as a way into harmonizing. In the links, you'll find several different arrangement/performances you can listen to for other harmonizing ideas, if that's up your alley. Songwriter Info: Mary L. Cohen, Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Iowa, is lead author of Music-Making in U.S. Prisons: Listening to Incarcerated Voices (2022). She co-founded the International Music and Justice Network: IMAJIN Caring Communities, a group of researchers from 18 countries who study music-making in prisons, and you are welcome to join by contacting Mary to get on the group email list (mary-cohen@uiowa.edu). From 2009 to 2020 she led the Oakdale Community Choir with incarcerated and non-incarcerated participants where participants have written over 150 songs, and the Oakdale Choir performed over 75 of these songs, available with the Creative Commons License. To continue working toward the choir's goals of building communities of caring through singing and songwriting, she founded the Inside Outside Songwriting Collaboration Project where partnerships between incarcerated and non-incarcerated songwriters create original songs, build relationships, and learn about transformative and generative justice. She has been a keynote for conferences in Germany, Canada, and Portugal, interviewed by the BBC3 Music Matters, and has over 40 publications in journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. She leads weekly music groups inside the Juvenile Detention Center of Linn County. ​ Sharing Info: The song is free to share, and Mary welcomes networking support and invites you to further your education and activism regarding environmental justice, restorative/transformative/generative justice, and simply acting with kindness to all you encounter. ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:48 Start time of reprise: 00:18:20 Links:  Oakdale Community Choir website: https://oakdalechoir.lib.uiowa.edu/ Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Major, unison with optional harmonies Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Oh the Rain Music by: Patricia Norton ​Notes: Seems like being able to let things fall is my skill-du-jour. Rain, my feelings, other people's experiences... letting it come down and softening around it. I wrote this song during a week of incessant winter rain... and sang it here during a week of hard things to feel. Both times, it helped me be where I am. Songs that help navigate life. Yup. This is how we do it.... Songwriter Info: This whole singing thing is just bringing me so much joy and growth and comfort... so grateful to all the people along the way who have helped me find my voice. ​ Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact me for recording and/or performing permission. ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:12 Start time of reprise: 00:14:37 Links:  Juneberry Music website: https://www.juneberrymusic.com Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, Mixolydian, 3-layer Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Walk On Through Music by: Samara Jade ​Notes: Samara's song sings powerfully inside me about how we accompany each other... and are accompanied by the natural world. It gives me words to say and feel when someone I care for is going through pain and there is nothing I can "do" to help... and that I am not the only source of companionship. This episode is a little unusual -- instead of just voice, I decided to play piano, including time for you to sing while I accompany you. Patty's artwork was in my mind's eye as I was singing -- I am so grateful for her accompanying vision as we create this library of songs. Songwriter Info: Samara Jade is a multi-instrumentalist folk troubadour - a writer, crafter, performer and producer of memorable soul-centered songs. Coming from a diverse musical background, Samara stitches together a unique tapestry of sounds with a sophisticated quality of musicianship distinctly her own. Born in the Hudson Valley of New York state, and shaped by the mountains and rivers of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, Samara has been a grass-roots style touring folk musician for over a decade, spreading her songs all across this country and weaving and widening the webs of community. To Samara, music is a primarily a healing and spiritual practice - with many of her songs born out of and made for her own journeys of grief, underworld spelunking, connection with the natural world & transformation - and she derives great joy and fulfillment when her songs turn out to provide good medicine for others as well. ​ Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Samara always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:30 Start time of reprise: 00:13:57 Links:  Samara's Patreon: www.patreon.com/samarajade Nuts & Bolts: Mixed meter; major, verse & chorus Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Begin Again Music by: Jean Farmer ​Notes: Jean Farmer's song was just right for me this week, as some old wounds were reopened. I was frustrated with myself -- I didn't want to have to heal again. This song helped me find the kindness and willingness to start over, connecting with this breath and the earth. Jean said I could harmonize at will -- so I give you four different ways -- a simple echo, a descant, and then a 3-part harmony with part above and below and some different sounds, and of course, the unadorned song so you can play or enjoy joining your voice with mine. I'm so glad we're singing together! Songwriter Info: Jean Farmer has experienced the joy of singing in community from her earliest days, often singing with her sisters as a child and later leading songs around the campfire. She was a registered nurse for 35 years. Since retiring from Nursing, songs have been coming through her, often in the middle of the night. This opening to welcome the songs is a spiritual practice: a path to centering, a form of self-expression, and a way to create and build community. She often sings at labyrinth walks and other contemplative gatherings in Northern California with her singing partner Robin O'Brien in a group called Notan. ​ Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups. Please credit Jean Farmer as the author. Please contact Jean for recording and or performing permission. (jeanwfarmer@gmail.com) ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:45 Start time of reprise: 00:18:57 Links:  Notan Bandcamp: https://notan.bandcamp.com/album/mother-tree Notan website: https://notan.org/ Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison with optional harmonies Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Hold On Music by: Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Jr. Composed in: 1980 ​ ​Notes: Aaron shares his close personal connection with this song: after the horrible accidental death of his father, "“It was the first inkling, the first kind of hint that this kind of grief might be bearable.” We dove into how to bring anti-oppression work right into songcircles, or any other kind of work you might do. Aaron helped me consider how I, as a white person with financial stability, could practice persistence in anti-racism work... looking for ways to move beyond the crash-and-boom cycle of support that's triggered by a disaster. How do you hold grief and joy at the same time? Aaron invites us into an exploratory "jamming out" section into the song, and talks about touch and connection as self-care. Lots to celebrate, lots to grieve... and while I was sick at the time of recording, (I don't have Aaron's robust immune system!), I'm so grateful to have had the chance to listen. Songwriter Info: Aaron Johnson (he/him) is a facilitator, public speaker, and touch specialist working to identify and interrupt barriers between people. As co-founder of both Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, Aaron takes the time to hold the stories of black people around homophobia, transphobia, internalized racism, and those that are Chronically UnderTouched. Because oppression is a part of historical and present American culture, the long-term impact of those trauma stories should be acknowledged and held as a map for our collective healing. Aaron Johnson practices and invites various methods of moving through these stories, such as the communal listening ear, sound healing, meditation, and closeness to the earth. ​ Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Aaron for permission and rates. ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:04:42 Start time of reprise: 01:13:45 Links:  Bliss is Ordinary podcast episode with Yam and Jessi: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aaron-johnson-invites-you-to-risk-something/id1614727245?i=1000641691263 Holistic Resistance podcast with Lisa Littlebird: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holistic-resistance/id1368705035 Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Jr.'s recording of Hold On : https://youtu.be/awyHHZ44YDU?feature=shared Aaron's link tree: https://linktr.ee/HolisticResistance Holistic Resistance website: https://www.holisticresistance.com/ Holistic Resistance Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holistic_resistance Grief to Action fund: https://www.grieftoaction.com/ Chronically Under Touched (CUT) project: https://www.cutproject.org/ CUT Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cut.project/ Rescue (album by Acappella Company): https://store.acappella.org/acappella/rescue/ Alillia Johnson's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alillia.sound/ and Bandcamp: https://alillia.bandcamp.com/album/fragments-2 Fivacious, Aaron's family group: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvh0HKHo5jE Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Minor, unison with opportunities to harmonize, zipper Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: I Hear Music by: Aaron Johnson ​Notes: What I love about Aaron's song is how it is quick to learn, and then can be taken in many directions -- it can stay simple, giving a chance to listen deeply to one's own voice or the voices of surrounding people. It can be explored in many ways -- growing, soft, harmonies, rhythmic intense or free -- and for this recording, I had the privilege of listening to five friends learn it for the first time, and then let themselves take risks and explore. When making a studio recording, anything that didn't ring perfectly would be taken out -- but I've left the exploration in, to encourage you to do some of your own. Your voice from your heart to your soul. Listening to what it's saying. What a beautiful practice. Songwriter Info: Aaron Johnson (he/him) is a facilitator, public speaker, and touch specialist working to identify and interrupt barriers between people. As co-founder of both Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, Aaron takes the time to hold the stories of black people around homophobia, transphobia, internalized racism, and those that are Chronically UnderTouched. Because oppression is a part of historical and present American culture, the long-term impact of those trauma stories should be acknowledged and held as a map for our collective healing. Aaron Johnson practices and invites various methods of moving through these stories, such as the communal listening ear, sound healing, meditation, and closeness to the earth. ​ Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Aaron for permission and rates. ​ Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:05:09 Start time of reprise: 00:13:20 Links:  Link tree: https://linktr.ee/HolisticResistance Grief to Action: https://www.grieftoaction.com/ The Chronically UnderTouched Project: https://www.cutproject.org/ https://bio.site/cut.project TEDx on Youtube: https://youtu.be/zi_hm0-zrgk Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison with option of adding harmonies Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me. Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!