Home Page - A Breath of Song

Published on: May 27, 2026

235. Road Trip: Minneapolis with guests Sarina Partridge and Annie Schlaefer

2:2 4:4 Belonging Grief & Fear Love Road Trip Scale: Aeolian (minor) Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Layer Song Form: Round Songwriter Conversation

Song Learning Time Stamps:

We Belong To Each Other

Start of teaching: 00:03:10

Start of reprise: 00:51:46

Grief and Love

Start of teaching: 00:11:05

Start of reprise: 00:49:36

Lyrics:

We Belong To Each Other

Words by Nikita Gill

Music by Annie Schlaefer

Every one oh every one oh every one of these people are ours,

just like we are theirs.

We belong to them and they belong to us.

Grief and Love

by Sarina Partridge

Grief moving through me

Let my body feel the waves of love and grief

Grief, grief and love

Let me feel it all,

let me feel it all

Notes: It was both an honor and illumination to meet with Sarina Partridge and Annie Schlaefer to talk about Singing Resistance (they were both in it at inception…) and learn two of the songs in the Singing Resistance Songbook – and I left feeling so much encouragement for community and relationship. Annie said, “People want to come to the streets if we’re singing together.” Sarina shared her slogan: “More song circles than gas stations!” We talked about weaving the learning from one event into the next crisis you face – the wisdom of long-standing organizers who help grass-roots eco-systems evolve. The role of singing in building community, showing people what we are FOR and welcoming them in, dispelling the belief that we are powerless and isolated, easing numbness, creating a container of beauty we can be in together during these times. And these songs – soooo beautiful!

Song 1: We Belong To Each Other

Words by: Nikita Gill

Music by: Annie Schlaefer

Songwriter Info: Annie Schlaefer (she/her), a community song-leader, has been collecting songs and facilitating song circles for 13 years in various communities (Northern Minnesota, Maine, Wisconsin) and has more recently been co-facilitating a weekly local community song circle in Minneapolis with a dear friend, Linnea Champ, for nearly 5 years. She continues to be awed by the beautiful ways that singing together brings connection and community. She learned about this style of singing in 2012 in Decorah, Iowa from a local song-leader and now mentor, Liz Rog.

Sharing Info: Annie says: "Please freely share this song in community gathering spaces. If you want to share this song and are making a bunch of money, I would appreciate some of these funds to come my way in the form of a one-time venmo donation @Annie-Schlaefer, or by joining my Patreon as a monthly subscriber. Thank you!"

Links:

Annie's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/AnnieSchlaefer

Nikita Gill: https://www.instagram.com/nikita_gill/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, round, major

Song 2: Grief and Love

Music by: Sarina Partridge

Songwriter Info: Sarina Partridge is a musician, songleader, educator, and activist in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs. Sarina sings with a wide variety of music projects: community song-leading; harmony-rich original music with folk trio Heartwood; and performing and teaching of Eastern European and Yiddish song. Sarina has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses singing as a modality to help folks develop a sense of wonder and belonging in this wild world

Sharing Info: Sarina says: "Please sing the song with your group! You can buy sheet music for it through my website (link below). If you’d like to have a tracks of the separated harmony layers, please contact me. One meaningful way to support me is to join me on patreon for whatever monthly donation amount feels right to you. I post a new song - with separated out tracks for harmony parts, lyrics, the story of the song - on patreon every other week. Thank you!"

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start of teaching: 00:11:05

Start of reprise: 00:49:36

Links:

Sarina's website: www.SarinaPartridge.com

Sarina's Patreon: www.patreon.com/sarinapartridge

Sarina's Bandcamp: www.sarinapartridge.bandcamp.com

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2; 3-layer, minor

Extra links:

Barbara McAfee ABS episode: https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/195-get-up-with-guest-barbara-mcafee

Lia Falls: https://marinemillsfolkschool.org/lia-falls/

Liz Rog: https://marinemillsfolkschool.org/liz-rog/