Notes: This song floats and pulses, carrying me as singer into a spaciousness and warmth that feels like it could be a somatic knowledge of love. That's quite a statement to make for a song, no? And yet, it makes sense -- when we sing, we engage so much of our brains -- breathing, thinking, sensing vibration and sound -- that if we allow images and responses to come into our awareness, too, those images are rich and connected with all we have ever known.. Unusually for songs I share on this podcast, this one doesn't have a strict meter -- it is more fluid and shifting -- yet it has a stable, vibrant heart center. I'll be curious to know what this experience is like for you!

Songwriter Info:  Gabrielle is passionate about music and its transformative and healing powers. She grew up singing and surrounded by music, and has sung and performed in many contexts; indie rock, choirs, musical theater, Cabaret, yoga studios, and singing circles. Gabrielle has hosted singing circles, sound ceremonies, and new moon circles. She currently lives in Seattle, and likes to catch songs while walking through the beautiful Pacific NorthWest forests.

Sharing Info: The song is free to share, please contact Gabrielle if you're planning to use it simply because it would be such a delight to know about it.

Links: 
Follow @sound__witch on Instagram to see what Gabrielle's up to,
and/or check out her other songs at soundcloud.com/a_sound_witch.

Nuts & Bolts: unmetered, major, echo

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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Singing this meditative mantra with Heather Pierson's butter-warm voice draws me right into the here and now, even when I'm dealing with tech glitches... it's powerful stuff, and I've been putting it to the test! Heather says, "Music is an invitation..." and in our conversation, she talks about the different ways that plays out during grieving, learning to sing solo, collaborating, choosing songs, giving permission. Have you ever thought about how the meditation concept of titration might apply to leading a circle? Well, we've got you covered!

Songwriter Info: Heather Pierson is a pianist, singer/songwriter, songleader, and performer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She has released 14 albums, two songbooks, and several singles of her original music ranging in style from folk to jazz to vocal chants. Since 2018, she is the co-creator with fellow songleader Bernice Martin of Heart Songs & Circle Songs, a community singing project dedicated to the cultivation of harmony, wellness, connection, joy, and peace through music and song. When she isn’t making music, Heather enjoys her meditation practice, hiking, cooking, writing, reading, and watching the birds.

Links: 
Heather's album 'Wishes of Lovingkindness', available for free or by donation at her Bandcamp: https://heatherpierson.bandcamp.com/album/wishes-of-lovingkindness
For more information about Heather's community singing project with Bernice Martin, please visit https://www.heartsongsandcirclesongs.com.
For more information about all of Heather's musical offerings, please visit: https://www.heatherpierson.com.
Heather's growing community on Patreon enjoys early and exclusive access to new songs, videos, and poetry every week. Learn more at https://www.patreon.com/HeatherPierson
​Kansas: “The Spider”
Melanie DeMore... "These songs are like medicine." Here's Melanie leading two of her medicine songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3D1U_Cmlxc
Leah Boyd/Leah Wolfsong ‎Leah Wolfsong on Apple Music
The early albums:
‎We All Have a Song by Heather Pierson on Apple Music
‎Honor The Light by Heather Pierson on Apple Music
Laurence Cole: “Attention is the healer of separation”
Gray catbird
Baked Beans recording (Alan Bean) Recording Studio | Baked Beans Recording Studio | United States
Peaceful Means (Leah Boyd & Heather Pierson) (3) Peaceful Means | Facebook
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND - Live At Fillmore East (Deluxe Edition) - Amazon.com Music
The Wood Brothers The Wood Brothers (thewoodbros.com)

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, with a lovely minor final note; unison zipper song

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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: I love the way this song pulls me into the very present moment of right now, really right now, with concrete reminders of the breath and body... and then also lightens my spirit with the rhythmic play as I sing about the goodness that I carry. Heather has found ways through steady, attentive practices to help herself heal from childhood trauma, and she carries this intentional tending with clarity and care into her music. Next week, we can settle into a songwriter conversation with Heather about all this, and more!

Songwriter Info: Heather Pierson is a pianist, singer/songwriter, songleader, and performer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She has released 14 albums, two songbooks, and several singles of her original music ranging in style from folk to jazz to vocal chants. Since 2018, she is the co-creator with fellow songleader Bernice Martin of Heart Songs & Circle Songs, a community singing project dedicated to the cultivation of harmony, wellness, connection, joy, and peace through music and song. When she isn’t making music, Heather enjoys her meditation practice, hiking, cooking, writing, reading, and watching the birds.

Links: 
'May I Be Open' is from Heather's album 'Wishes of Lovingkindness', available for free or by donation at her Bandcamp: https://heatherpierson.bandcamp.com/album/wishes-of-lovingkindness
For more information about Heather's community singing project with Bernice Martin, please visit https://www.heartsongsandcirclesongs.com.
For more information about all of Heather's musical offerings, please visit: https://www.heatherpierson.com.
Heather's growing community on Patreon enjoys early and exclusive access to new songs, videos, and poetry every week. Learn more at https://www.patreon.com/HeatherPierson

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 2-part layer song

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.

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Notes: I so completely get the need for these questions, so appealingly set by Hannah Jeffery, to notice our body's basic needs. I love singing the reminder to attend to my creature self, what Mary Oliver calls, "the soft animal of your body" -- to tune into what it loves, what it complains about, how it responds to what's going on. This time of coming into a new year, perhaps with a plethora of complex people interactions, seems a particularly appropriate time to reset and reconnect with the awareness and presence of our own creature selves.

Songwriter Info: Hannah Jeffery (She/They) is a songstress, composer, song-leader and mama living in the Upper Valley of Vermont (Abenaki land). Her creative venture, Deep Well Song, is a gathering vessel for people to come together in song, prayer and playfulness, to turn toward and embrace all that it IS to be human on Earth. The songs Hannah carries, catches and teaches are songs of the heart and soul, that touch joy, grief, gratitude, heartbreak, righteous anger, beauty, love and praise and connect us to each other, ourselves and the Beloved Mystery. Hannah leads song at the UU church in Norwich, Vermont and in the newly forming Well Song Choir. To learn more and get involved please check out their website and Patreon and be in touch!

This song is free to share but Hannah always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Links: 
www.deepwellsong.org
deepwellsong@gmail.com
www.patreon.com/deepwellsong
Hannah singing this song herself

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, unison

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.

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Notes: I learned this song from Adam at the end of the summer at a group singing weekend workshop, and immediately decided to use it for my Pocket Songs welcome song during the fall, not only because of the generous, wide-open welcome of the words, but because of the way the music backs up the message. The lift and lightness of the rhythm, and the enjoyment of slightly surprising notes (I particularly love the first "are" of the tenor line, for example), the way we move from unison into connected harmonic diversity -- these musical things help me FEEL welcoming. Sometimes I shift the words to sing it to myself, as a reminder that whoever I am, whomever I love, wherever I am on this journey, I am welcome... and when I feel genuinely accepted as I am, it is so much easier to extend that welcome and acceptance to others.

Join the A Breath of Song mailing list by clicking here. You'll 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.

Songwriter Info: Adam Podd (he/him/his) is a Vermont-bred, Brooklyn-based music director, pianist, organist, bassist, composer, and arranger. As a pianist, Adam specializes in blues, jazz, and gospel. He plays regularly around NYC with his twin brother Matt, and their jazz and blues band Mimi and the Podd Brothers. He also plays keys, bass and music directs for singer/songwriter Dan Mills. I met Adam as he co-led a workshop on Star Island, off the coast of New Hampshire. I was struck by his unassuming, gentle manner and musical generosity. He welcomes sharing of this song.
​
Links: 
learn about Adam himself: ABOUT — Adam Podd
check out the choral music Adam and his brother arrange: The Podd Brothers
to read more of the writings of Ana Levy-Lyons: Home - Ana Levy-Lyons (analevylyons.com)

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Major, 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.

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Notes: After being sick for several weeks, I was lying in bed and trying to come to terms with the fact that I still felt crummy. I was trying to listen to my body, and this is the song that came into my head. The melody is pretty closely related to a Happy Birthday song which I learned from Liz Rog, but I don't know the origin of the song, and neither did Liz at that point. If anybody happens to know it, I'd love to learn! The song can be sung just as the first part, in which case I think "needing to be known" is more satisfying to sing, but when I added the second part it suddenly made sense to me to use the word "dying." It feels to me like a song that spans caregiving from infancy to deathbed. I'm moved by what a powerful feeling it is to be heard and seen.

Songwriter Info: That would be me, so both of the websites below have stuff...

Links: 
abreathofsong.com
juneberrymusic.com

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major (Ionian), call and response with second harmonized 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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: This is song is a taste of Heather Houston's creative, connecting powers -- Episode #75 will feature an intimate conversation with Heather. After she shares another of her songs, we'll delve into why song matters, why voices matter... and a really good soup! Meanwhile, I love this song for noticing the balance of shadow and light -- to me, it's a beautiful song to sing on cusps, like dawn or dusk. Recently, as I've been healing from tick-borne illness, I've hummed it to myself as I watch the shadows and light cross my bedroom wall, encouraging my body to find its way into balance.

Songwriter Info: Heather Houston is passionate about uplifting hearts, freeing voices, transforming lives, and building strong, loving communities through the power of singing. She spreads her magic through her 20+years of international song circle leading, private vocal coaching, and her online offerings - The Art of Mindful Singing, S.H.E. Sings, Singing as Sanctuary, and Sisters in Harmony Song and Chant Leader Training. You can now join her every Monday night on Zoom for a 2-hour Sisters in Harmony Global community song circle with guest artists!

Heather recently released her second solo album, Sisters of the Moon, which features the ethereal voices of her 40-voice women’s choir Yala Lati. Her first solo album, Prayers for the Water is a ZMR Top 10 album. You can find Heather’s music and her a cappella group SIRENZ on all of the streaming platforms and for download on her website.

Links: 
Website: https://heatherhoustonmusic.com
Albums
    Download: https://heatherhoustonmusic.com/recordings/
    Streaming on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4gw79r7NGOw6WF2bytPW5a?si=E0mvdKMpQ9ObjpRnhViDYQ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherhoustonmusic
IG: HeatherHoustonMusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPr_m3bi0-TqhBFvJlD4pFA

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Dorian, 5-layer song
​
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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: This song, about settling into the unknown and experiencing that as home, is one that has been singing in my head throughout this last year of transition for me. The delight of letting my voice slide helps me physically experience the release, and the complex harmonies keep my sense of focus and unsettledness... as though I'm practicing finding that home in the middle of the unknown. I think this is a great song for becoming very aware of how your voice feels in your body as you sing, because you'll get used to the words fairly quickly -- and then you can shift the focus to the sensations as you sing. (A sneaky form of somatic meditation, but you don't need to notice that, unless you want to!)

Songwriter Info: (Snitched directly from Anni's website) Anni Zylstra (she/they) is a folk singer, basketmaker, farmer, and weaver of community based in the traditional homelands of the Oceti Sakowin and Ho-chunk in SW so-called Wisconsin. She has been teaching, writing, and collecting new and old polyphonic songs in the aural tradition for a decade. In the spirit of folk, they believe that everyone can sing, and that using our voices to make beauty together is one of most pleasurable, accessible, and world building activities people can do together. Anni's facilitation is rooted in anticapitalist values, play, a queer nature-based lens, and more than a decade of classical musical training, ethnomusicology, and community leadership. They currently farm on the West Fork of the Kickapoo River, where they grow basket willow, perennial food crops, raise ducks, host events and classes folk education style, and lead Ember, a community choir that sings Balkan, Georgian, and polyphonic English music in La Farge, WI.

Links: 
Heartland Harmony | Singing for Joy and Connection
Here is a 45-minute interview with Annie, hosted by Kate Valentine of Singing Mama's choirs, all about song writing and sharing. Meet Annie Zylstra - Choir composer extraordinaire! - YouTube
@zestinferna -- Anni on Instagram

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Dorian, harmonized paired melodies
​
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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: I love this song for the both-and-ness... both joy and grief; both broken and mending; both hurt and healing, lost-found, hidden-revealed. The song appeared in an including way, too... Lyndsey was tasked with finding or creating moments of beauty and surprise at 2017 Village Fire, and as she sat at a table with the youth, creating art and words to decorate the port-a-potties, she saw what 10-year-old Livian had written -- "Sing upon joy". Lyndsey heard it as a song, and sang the first phrase... then the folk at the table created the interlocking part together. Both music and art, both words and song, both older and younger, both-and, both-and. Next week's episode is a songwriter conversation with Lyndsey -- not only does she share one of the amazing songs from her new album, but we get to talk and explore. My heart feels wider, my brain click-ier, my spirit lighter after every interaction with Lyndsey -- I hope you can join us!

Songwriter Info: Lyndsey Scott is an artist-goofball-yintennae devoted to priestesSing the Heartland, (literal and figurative).  She weaves community singing to empower earth-based spiritual consciousness, and gathers soul circles that, through Song and sacred listening, decompose oppressive scripts that get in the way of freely living the Love we are. With jams that get you skipping easily between the sacred, sexy, and sssssilly : your inner child, exiled banshee, and wise elder are all very invited to the circle. ​

Links: 
The song is free to share but Lyndsey always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.
Everything Lyndsey! https://linktr.ee/lila.gaia
We Belong Community of Song: https://www.facebook.com/webelongcommunityofsong
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lyndseyscott
Lyndsey's album on Bandcamp: https://lyndseyscott.bandcamp.com/album/well-held

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major, 2 harmonized layers
​
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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: For most of these episodes, I pick the song many months in advance, because what with artwork & permissions, not to mention my own anxiety levels(!), it helps to have things lined up before.... which sometimes means I haven't listened to the song much until I'm ready to record. Then I wonder -- will I still love it? Will I still want to learn and spend time with it, or was it a temporary infatuation? I can tell you unequivocally, I loved coming back to this song! Katie Sontag's "Share the Journey" felt like reconnecting with a wise, deeply beloved friend who loves me back.., you know that feeling of mutual warmth and trust that you can relax into, and at the same time feel empowered and energized by? Ahhhh.

Songwriter Info: Katie Sontag writes songs that are honest and vulnerable for her own healing and transformation and seeks to inspire the same in others. Based in Eugene, OR, but working on touring the world, Katie's songs will touch your heart and leave you feeling better then when you came. Listening to her music has been described as receiving "a big hug". She is also the lead vocalist and songwriter for her band, "Katie Sontag and the Love Notes" and half of the duo, "smalltime". She is a group song leader and aspiring choral director. Her songs have been adapted for choirs in Portland, Boulder, Austin, and Big Sur.

Links: 
Website: katiesontag.com
email for contact: katharine.sontag@gmail.com
Patreon: patreon.com/katiesontag
Facebook: facebook.com/katiesontagmusickatiesontag.com
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/katiesontag
Bandcamp: https://katiesontag.bandcamp.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KatieSontag
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/17B4xx4loeNl48GXD6oyBB?si=9p7YgO6FQQ6s-WjBS1VhOg&nd=1

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major, 3-part 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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Wendy Luella Perkins sings to telemarketers, tells of her brother choosing her for his show-and-tell, and why she has a tik-tok channel. She talks about auditory memory, singing as refuge, and the reclamation of her voice. She describes the transition from singer/songwriter work into the Soulful Singing in 2002, and the challenges unique to this kind of therapeutic singing which is not professional therapy. We have the awkward conversation about money -- is it possible to make a living as a songwriter without commodifying song, which is a birthright? Patty Piotrowski has created the most appropriate beautiful art in my mind because of the generosity and openness of the bloom.

Songwriter Info: Wendy Luella Perkins has been singing and making up songs since she was a very young child. When she was three years old, her older brother, Tim, took her to school as his Show+Tell item saying, “this is my sister Wendy Lu, listen to her sing!” She's been going strong ever since. As a singer-songwriter, Unitarian Universalist community minister, and founder, in 2002 of Soulful Singing (singing meditation for all) Wendy Luella leverages the power of song to build authentic, healing and joyful communities.

A prolific writer of folk songs and meditative chants and supportive guide who helps others to create their own songs, Wendy Luella's greatest joy is to bring friends and strangers together in the transformational circle of song. Wendy Luella has produced three CDs of original music, which you can find on her website. As a response to pandemic restrictions and recognizing the need to keep on singing in community, especially in difficult times, Wendy Luella transitioned Soulful Singing to online sessions in March 2020. Soulful Singers from all over have been gathering online EVERY SINGLE DAY since then and once a week on THURSDAY evenings.
​
Everyone is welcome to join Soulful Singing via Zoom. Singing daily over the last 875+ days with wonderful folks from Kingston and around the world has encouraged Wendy Luella to share her original songs more broadly in what she calls her “Song Liberation Project” (The SLiP). She has written hundreds of songs and with The SLiP is sharing them one by one on TikTok. Wendy Luella grew up in rural Nova Scotia, and has lived in Kingston Ontario for over 25 years with her sweetheart and fellow musician, Charlie Walker. She loves waking early, walking daily, eating communally, crafting publicly, sharing deeply, gardening bountifully, laughing abundantly and of course, singing soulfully!

Links: 
Wendy Luella's website: https://www.wendyluellaperkins.com
and tiktok page: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyluellaperkins
To email Wendy Luella: info@wendyluellaperkins.com
To join Soulful Singing every day from 9:00-9:45 a.m. Eastern Time, please click here for information: Wendy Luella Perkins | SoulfulSinging
(notice you'll need to email ahead of time to receive a link for joining, so don't leave it to the very last minute!)
Album that mattered: Joni Mitchell, Blue
Songwriter Wendy Lu wishes more people would listen to: Coco Love Alcorn

Nuts & Bolts: 
​Loving-Kindness: 3:4, major, zipper.
When All Is Swirling: 2:2, minor, zipper.
We're All Connected: 4:4, major, unison.
Trust In the Power: 4:4, major, zipper.
It's Good to Have a Song or Two: 4:4, major, unison.
To Love I Do Return: 3:4, major, zipper.

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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: This is a vacation episode! I'm on vacation with my dear friend, Joy Truskowski... and what do you think we're doing together? We've been having such a good time singing, and on this episode (I think the shortest yet) you get to hear us together, singing a song I wrote just as a particularly difficult time was beginning. It helps me to not jump ahead to the future or gnash over the past -- that I can be right here, right now, and usually that's a pretty good moment. I asked the A Breath of Song listeners via the email list where they've experienced sanctuary, and they wrote the lyrics we sing... here are some of the other options that came up: in my swing, in this garden, in this choir, with this book, as I'm cooking, with this patient, with my cats, with my ponies, in my loved one's arms, in a canoe, while I'm painting, meditating.

Songwriter Info: I'm bringing you this podcast, so you've already got a sense of me! You can find more about me at the juneberrymusic website, or pertaining specifically to this podcast here at abreathofsong.com.

Links: 
Find Joy at joytru.com -- all kinds of awesome things!​
Juneberry Music -- everything I'm doing professionally, and some less-than-professionally
A Breath of Song -- lots of extras about this podcast, including a Year One art tile page, atip jar, and songwriter collaboration information

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4; Ionian (major), zipper song, unison

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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: "Singing was never an option: it's like walking, breathing, eating... it's just one of the things that you do." It's a songwriter conversation with Lea Morris, who brings us not only her song, Just As You Are, but also gives us the very earliest possible sneak peek of what she might be writing for the NVN Black Lives Matter commission she has received. You can hear me stumble through learning a new-to-me song. We talk about how a song can transform a relationship or build self-forgiveness and self-acceptance. How singing with others is actually heaven. Lea shares her personal take on appropriateness versus appropriation and encourages us to follow our joy... "let yourself have that expression." This was my first in-the-same-room interview, and what a pleasure it was!

Songwriter Info: Lea describes her sound blend of gospel, jazz, country & R&B as SoulFolk. She performs solo & with her band. Lea is one of the Black composers commissioned by the Natural Voices Network for their Black Lives Matter commissioning project, and she also writes music used by Unitarian-Universalist congregations. On our songwriter conversation (episode #60), she talks about the compositional process and shares a little of what's currently in process. Check out her website under "More" for full biographical info, and don't miss Lea's own recording of Just As You Are on the Singing Mama's youtube channel!

Links: 
Lea's website: www.thisislea.com
Lea on youtube: www.YouTube.com/thisislea
Good Morning Melodies by Lea Morris -- this link lets you buy either the songbook or the recordings of Lea's collection of acapella songs
Lea's recommendations:
Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder... here's a 1976 album review by Rolling Stone, which I thought was interesting to read, since it was from before everyone knew how this album would go on to become one of the definitive pieces of art from the 1970s. Title link to the Amazon listing.
Fleur de Lis by Richard Julian... and here's a youtube video of a single from the album, Die in New Orleans

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4; Ionian (major), harmonized with response

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Notes: This is different than most episodes, where I share a song with you that's already been captured, delineated, and made repeatable. Those songs are chosen because they help me navigate life -- heal, adapt, and grow. Today's episode is another kind of singing that helps me uncover wellness and light-heartedness... what I call for myself, "acceptance-singing" (which runs together into "acceptancing"...) It's an active practice of listening to one's own voice and finding it to be enough, right this moment, exactly as it is. Listening with curiosity to whatever appears. So when I created this episode, I made up something in the moment, imagining that you were joining me, and we were singing a duet -- and the purpose of that duet is to hear your voice play and explore and cavort around doing whatever feels good! If it sounds chaotic or uncertain or repetitive -- so be it -- love it wild and crazy!!! If it sounds constrained or pushed, love it all the more sweetly, all the more extravagantly. If it sounds absolutely fabulous and inventive and skillful -- love it peaceably without needing it to hold on to it. And when you've done it once, do it another time, with or without me -- because listening to your own voice and loving what shows up is a gift to yourself and the world.

Songwriter Info: Um... that would be you!

Links:  to find more of what I'm up to...
juneberrymusic.com

Nuts & Bolts: improvisational, acceptance singing
​
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Notes: I keep singing this to myself... so grateful that Kaitie caught this song-morsel that provides so much release. This idea that life keeps rearranging, sometimes feeling awkward -- but that's not the end -- I get to keep moving through that... for some reason I can hear this so much more easily when it's coming in a song. Kaitie isn't done with this song -- she is still listening for the harmonies -- which means you're getting it at this sweet moment of openness and exploration -- how will you harmonize it, or will you stay with the melody, singing the reassurance into your bones? The songwriter conversation that follows ranges across the Ubuntu philosophy origin and how/why it applies to choirs, caring for a group, straight talk about singing in groups when not everyone's on pitch, what we can learn from small children, musings on flexibility versus predictability ... and more!

Songwriter Info: Kaitie Ty Warren (she) is a Bay Area-based songleader, teacher, writer, cartoonist and performer. Passionate about creating joyful experiences through music, Kaitie uses simple yet luscious harmonies to build bridges within communities and bring people together in song. In early 2020, Kaitie's Living Room Choir moved online, and that fall her first child was born. Living Room Choir continued online, and in 2021 Kaitie added Simple Harmonies: Songs for Babies & Their Grown-Ups. Nowadays, Kaitie is still leading online but also exploring pandemic-conscious opportunities to sing together in person. Her dream, pandemic-willing, is to host a vibrant, in-person, intergenerational choir for babies, children and adults of all ages to sing together. ​

Links: 
To contact Kaitie directly: kaitietywarren@gmail.com
To learn more of Kaitie's songs: https://thelivingroomchoir.com/original-music/
To sing with Kaitie: thelivingroomchoir.com
Kaitie's cartoons: https://www.instagram.com/kaitietywarren/
For cartoons & things for sale: https://society6.com/kaitietywarren

Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morrisette MORISSETTE,ALANIS - Jagged Little Pill Acoustic - Amazon.com Music
Simon Webbe: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/simon-webbe/78729485
more about the Bird/Cat/Dog idea for community reengagement
Ubuntu and Bishop Desmond Tutu... here's an article about ubuntu by Desmond Tutu’s granddaughter

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major (Ionian), melody with optional harmonies
​
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​Notes: When choosing the searchable categories for this song, "Surrender," I found myself surprised by the juxtapositions -- I picked "Empower" and "Grieve", "Pain" and "Trust", "Accept" and "Flex". I realized how I find the most strength and power and freedom in myself at the moments when I surrender to how I feel, how my body is in the moment, my limitations. I love this series of questions that help me remember the possibility of surrender. Don't miss the back story to this song, told in Kaitie's own words at https://thelivingroomchoir.com/surrender/. Next week, Kaitie and I dive into a songwriter conversation, and Kaitie shares a delightful new song about the awkwardness of change and growth... and we talk about finding both continuity and fluidity in music and life, the Ubuntu philosophy, and much, much more.

Songwriter Info: Kaitie Ty Warren (she) is a Bay Area-based songleader, teacher, writer, cartoonist and performer. Passionate about creating joyful experiences through music, Kaitie uses simple yet luscious harmonies to build bridges within communities and bring people together in song. In early 2020, Kaitie's Living Room Choir moved online, and that fall her first child was born. Living Room Choir continued online, and in 2021 Kaitie added Simple Harmonies: Songs for Babies & Their Grown-Ups. Nowadays, Kaitie is still leading online but also exploring pandemic-conscious opportunities to sing together in person. Her dream, pandemic-willing, is to host a vibrant, in-person, intergenerational choir for babies, children and adults of all ages to sing together. ​

Links: 
To contact Kaitie directly: kaitietywarren@gmail.com
To learn more of Kaitie's songs: https://thelivingroomchoir.com/original-music/
To sing with Kaitie: thelivingroomchoir.com
Kaitie's cartoons: https://www.instagram.com/kaitietywarren/
For cartoons & things for sale: https://society6.com/kaitietywarren
For more about "Surrender": https://thelivingroomchoir.com/surrender/

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Minor. Layer song.
​
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Notes: My interest in Eli Marienthal's song, "Ocean Wide" comes directly from how it expands my capacity to be present with deep grief and pain -- that of my own or that of others. My fear of feeling -- fear that somehow the world will crumble if I recognize how much pain I feel -- that fear is eased by the sense of having enough space inside me -- an ocean of space, in fact -- that is wide enough, deep enough, capacious enough for every drop of pain, every howl of grief. I love that this song has so much space for the singer inside it -- do you need to just sing a melody, over and over, to soothe and center yourself? Do you want to experiment, explore, let your voice speak to you? I hope I left space in this for you to fill in your own way -- and I hope you, too, find it healing to sense that oceanic space inside you.

Songwriter Info: Since 2014, Eli has co-led one of Northern California's wilderness immersion and rite of passage organization for youth. He has wide interests -- geography, comparative lit, poetry, songwriting, spoken-word performance, theater, peacemaking, nature awareness, cross cultural respect, qi gong, leadership development and more.

Links: 
Eli's website: www.backtoearth.org

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Minor, unison

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Notes: This song by Alexa Sunshine Rose has been a huge resource for me as I’ve gone through big transitions and grief this spring. I think that’s in part because it is so direct and short -- it settles inside me without worry or fret. And then the potential complexities of possible harmonies keep me interested, as well as the way it feels inside as I sing. You might start by humming one of the drone notes… then maybe humming with the melody. Eventually, when the words start pushing inside you, wanting to come through, let them appear in your mouth. Feel how your tongue moves against your teeth, how the air moves against the roof of your mouth, the way f and v vibrate against your lips. So my invitation to you: let singing this song be a physical experience that draws you into your body -- how does it feel?

Songwriter Info: Alexa Sunshine Rose describes herself as a singer-songwriter, mother, artist and mystic who has dedicated herself and her life's work to being a clear channel for peace on earth. Her songs are prayers, which bridge worlds; the inner and outer, the mind and heart, chaos and calm. She has been touring and teaching across the West Coast and Hawaii since 2009. I met her on Zoom through the amazing songcarrier Aimée Ringle during the pandemic, and knew immediately that more of her voice in my life would only be a good thing.

Links: 
Alexa Sunshine Rose's website
One of Alexa's video recordings of I Release Control
Alexa on Bandcamp(buying her music here means more of the money actually goes to her)

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Mixolydian, Harmonized over drone

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Notes: I find I keep returning to Emily Roblyn's song after learning it many months ago... I find myself singing it when times are really sweet -- and when they're really hard. It helps me remember I don't need to try to clench the almost painfully beautiful, wonderful times, because they won't last forever no matter how hard I hold -- and it helps me trust that the difficult, heart-aching times will pass. And as I sing, I can feel my voice vibrate in my body, and it brings me into awareness of my own body. Now, I'm no sage or wise woman -- but I know that this kind of embodiment is good for my whole being, and I'm grateful for any song that gets me there! Lots of juicy harmony options, or a lovely melody that rises and falls like the waves.... you sing what feels good in you today.

Songwriter Info: Emily Roblyn is a Canadian born singer, choir leader and composer, who has made her home in Devon, UK where she has been leading choirs, workshops and singing retreats for over 18 years. She is a member of the Natural Voice Network and believes deeply in singing being a powerful tool for healing, change and connection. Her warmth and enthusiasm for sharing the blessings of singing together shines through in all her teaching, and her beautiful original songs are favorites in choirs across the UK.

Links: 
Visit Emily’s website and join her mailing list to be kept up to date with her new musical offerings. www.emilysinging.com
Or contact her directly to buy the license to teach any of her songs by emailing emroblyn@gmail.com
HearEmily herself sing this song, plus another verse here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVmM52zcCPk

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Minor, 2-layers -- one harmonized 3-ways.
​
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Notes: I asked the people who have signed up for the A Breath of Song mailing list to share words they'd like to hear in this song... and I got SO many responses!!! Narrowed down to 21 words... so we sing this song in three different ways, each time with seven different words. As you sing to uncover your own wellness, you may find a song feels better slower or faster on different days, or sung with high energy or very calmly. I explore three different options with this song -- you may find more. You'll hear my voice crack and squeak -- and you'll hear many of me at one point, because this is a great song for a crowd (and hey, sometimes it IS crowded in my mind with my own voices!) It is not simple to create a song that is easy to learn, and also is a strong container for many different emotions and recognitions. I love the way this song invites us to notice what we see in ourselves and each other, and then stretches us both up and down -- an alignment in song.

Songwriter Info: Mazal Etedgi (they/them/theirs) is a trans and Mizrahi ritualist, Drama Therapist, and herbal medicine maker living on Ohlone Land (so-called Berkeley, California).

Links:
Website: bsamimapothecary.com
Instagram: @bsamim.apothecary
Tiktok: @bsamimapothecary

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Minor (Aeolian with harmonies in 2nd go-round), zipper song

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Notes: I was so surprised when I first learned this song from Roy Willey by how difficult it was for me to actually sing these words to myself. One of the beautiful things about mantra singing -- short phrases, repeated over and over -- is that you have time to notice how it feels to sing these particular words. You have time to get distracted and come back. And if you hear yourself singing the words often enough, maybe they become less surprising? I sent the email list a description of how I think this particular melody supports -- ensounds? -- these words. (You can join the list, too, by signing up on the homepage. (Scroll a bit...))
​  Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B., wrote a book called Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day. Velma chose texts and moments from this book to create a collection of 28 songs to sing during these pauses, which is available in CD and book form on her website, www.velmafryemusic.com. I love the way this particular song invites me to look at myself anew.

Songwriter info: Velma's mother gave her the choice of washing the dishes or practicing the piano, so Velma became a musician! With six years of college music training, she was confident to diversify into singing, teaching piano and leading choral groups, performing (including 9 times on "A Prairie Home Companion"), and recording six solo CDs. As she was ripening into middle age, she wrote this song, "The Truth," using words by Macrina Wiekerkehr, for singing circles. For the past year, Velma taught piano and Song Salons weekly on zoom, and was a guest two times on Heather Houston's online singing classes. Particularly fun was a Happy Hour that Velma and Becky Reardon offered to a national audience on zoom. More to come!

Links:
Velma's website https://www.velmafryemusic.com/
Velma on facebook https://www.facebook.com/velmafryemusic
Seven Sacred Pauses https://www.facebook.com/SevenSacredPauses
Velma on youtube  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=velma+frye

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, unison or round, mixolydian flat-6 scale (sometimes called major-minor scale because the first half is major, and the second half is minor.)
​
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Take 2 has arrived!  After listening, Tembre realized I was sharing an early, unfinished version of this song, which later evolved into a version she loves and shares. Tembre said, "As I remember when Rolling River was complete for me when the extra parts/delayed harmony was created , it was a special moment, as I felt this song was complete in that moment and it is loved.  I love the simpleness of the melody, as the other parts are added, it slowly becomes something that is resonant, full and fluid. " So here we have the version of Rolling River Tembre loves and would like shared...  I'm wondering if, for those who heard the first, mistake episode, if that's like owning one of those special stamps that was printed backward?​

Notes Rounding, smoothing, softening... I love the way this song invites us to relish the tumbling flow of life and let it comfort and carry us, let it reassure us that we are enough, we are home. There's a rocking, rolling melody, which can be harmonized, and then a lovely descant, or upper line, that responds to the melody. I love the way this song lets me, (not an eager swimmer!), sense the release and acceptance of allowing the water to carry me. Next episode, a conversation with Tembre that includes cold water swimming, how she supports singers who might not be matching yet, finding time to songwrite, what makes Ireland a special place for a songleader, and more!

Songwriter info Tembre de Carteret lives in County Clare, Ireland, and has led a beautiful online singing circle called "We May Sing" during the pandemic. You can learn more about her and the way in which she facilitates, mentors, and builds song communities at her website, www.tembresong.com

Nuts & Bolts The song is in 4:4, in 2 layers, one of which is harmonized. It is Aeolian (natural minor).

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.

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Notes Lisa Littlebird shared that Samara wrote this in the Big Sur, after her first surfing lesson, and said it was a personal cure for FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). During the pandemic, I heard it differently, and it became my go-to song for letting go of what I wanted to be happening, and just riding the crazy times.

Click here to listen to (and sing along with?) Samara Jade and Acorn Kin singing Right Place, Right Time.

Songwriter Info A modern folk troubadour, Samara is dedicated to the art of listening deeply and crafting soul-centered songs that are medicine for the moment. Inspired greatly by the wild wisdom of nature and the landscape of the human psyche, her songs ride the crest of the unknown and balance between shadows and light.
Coming from a musical background as diverse as classical, jazz, folk, Broadway musical and progressive rock, Samara stitches together a unique tapestry of sounds with a quality of musicianship distinctly her own. As heart-opening as they are intellect-stimulating, A fan once coined the term "Philosopholk” to describe Samara’s tunes, and no one has ever described it better in a one-word nutshell.
Samara lived in her van, Vincent VanGo, until very recently, and is committed to sharing her song-beings around like thousands of spiraling maple helicopter seeds - which is, not coincidentally, what a samara is.

Next week, Episode #10 will feature an extended conversation with Samara in which she shares her song, "I Trust My Roots", with us.
You can also find her in all these places:

On Patreon: www.patreon.com/samarajade
On Bandcamp: https://samarajade.bandcamp.com/
On her website: www.samarajademusic.com
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samarajademusic
On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WildPamplemousse/videos

Nuts and Bolts 3-Layer song in 2:2, Ionian (major).
​
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.

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Notes I wrote this song a few months into the pandemic, at a point when I was disappointed with how I seem to know all this wisdom in my head, but have so much trouble translating it into body knowledge... I was tearful & fearful – and so frustrated with myself. Then I realized – oh, right -- this what it feels like to grow! Moving from comfortable to uncomfortable in a spiral of growth. Which started me thinking about prairie grass – the beauty of acres of grasses swaying and moving in the wind. Roots in the dirt and touching the sky... both growing up and coming down. Natural patterns that occur and recur -- including the spiral.

​Be one of the first to know as new episodes are 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. Click here.

You can learn more about me and what influences my choices and work here​.

Nuts and Bolts 4:4, Layer song, Aeolian (minor)

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.

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Notes Maggie Wheeler talks about the bravery of this last year, how campfires affected her songleading, and how singing becomes a forgiveness practice. But first and last, she shares a song of hers, Find Our Way Home, which rose out of the pandemic, and will be included on a new project she has just started working on. (I go maybe a LITTLE fan-girl-squeaky, but, hey, my first interview, and someone I deeply admire -- I think I can be forgiven!)

Extra special thanks to Patty Piotrowski, who provides beautiful art for each episode; I particularly love the sea otters in this one!

Learn more about Maggie's extensive work, and sign up for her emails (I'm definitely on the list!) so you can keep up with what's coming up at goldenbridgechoir.com

I mention a Peter Occhiogrosso interview with Maggie, in which she eloquently describes the many benefits of singing, among other things...

Maggie talked about a few artists -- if you have a local music store, of course get them there -- but here are some links, as well:

Sweet Honey in the Rock Live at Carnegie Hall

Singer-songwriter Aimée Ringle -- Human and Tender 

The South African acapella group The Soil

​Maggie Wheeler is best know in the U.S and internationally for her work as an actress in film, television and voice-over and most notably as the character of Janice on NBC’s hit series Friends. Maggie is a passionate singer, songwriter, choir director and workshop facilitator. She has been teaching her vocal workshop "Singing In The Stream" for over 30 years at retreat centers, universities, communities and schools to provide the experience of creating interpersonal harmony and internal harmony through the powerful act of creating vocal harmony. Maggie directs the 100-voice Golden Bridge Community Choir in Hollywood, an inter-generational, non-auditioned choir now going in its 16th year.
She is a prolific songwriter with a catalog of powerful and timely songs that have been sung by choirs worldwide. Maggie’s original music for choirs and communities is available on Itunes and other music platforms. To accompany her most recent CD entitled 'Walk With Me’, Maggie has created a songbook available by request through her website www.goldenbridgechoir.com Throughout this year of change Maggie hosted a weekly online community gathering called Together In Song, bringing together people from around the world to join in the healing power of singing.

Links: To learn more about Maggie’s work please visit: www.goldenbridgechoir.com and maggiewheeler.net

​Nuts and Bolts This layered and harmonized song is in 3:4, Ionian mode (major)

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 Tip Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!