Notes: Trying something different here -- lots of space for you to experiment. Jennie Pearl's song was a technique to help her be more open to listening after she had hurt someone -- a way to change her own patterned response to what to do after realizing you've caused harm. I love this song for that chance to change a pattern by intensely listening -- both to myself and the person I've hurt. So I've recorded it with lots of time and space for you discover how it sits in you. If you find you want to rush through it, try singing a harmony, or creating a melody you need to hear to help you stay with it. Eventually, I harmonize it my way and mash everything together -- may feel good to you, or you might like an earlier, more spacious moment? Enjoy listening in...

Songwriter Info: Jennie Pearl (she/her) is a facilitator, singer, and bodyworker who leads from emotion and embodiment in liberation work. She is committed to bridging the gap between racial justice/gender justice and healing work. Alongside her team at Holistic Resistance and Transintimate, she offers a myriad of programming to cultivate ongoing relationships that dream up a more anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and liberatory future.

​Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but Jennie always welcome financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Links: Jennie's Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/Jennie-Pearl-1 -- if you are sharing the song on in a situation where you receive financial compensation, or if you have resources to support Jennie's work in the world, please consider sending support.
Holistic Resistance: https://www.holisticresistance.com/about -- get inspired by what Jennie and others are dreaming!
Reach for Life! Song Playlist: https://thebirdsings.com/reach/ -- with Listen In arranged by Lisa Littlebird

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:15
Start time of reprise: 00:18:47
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layer

​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: This song by Deborah Leeds both challenges and relaxes me-- it has a little "go big or go home" energy -- "Be peace, bring light!" Doesn't feel to me like a small task in today's world! But then it has a sweet, relaxed lilt, and as I sing "this I am," there's a measure of acceptance -- I can only bring me, after all. Then there's an opening of trust -- "Life is a mystery; she carries me" -- ah, now I can "let go, let go, and do (my) part to bring light, bring light and love." Layering all those parts together means I can choose the one I want to sing -- or touch on all four.

Songwriter Info: Deborah Leeds has loved singing and harmonizing with others since she was two! Most recently and in a way that has been life-changing, she encountered Community Choir. A brief visit to Maggie Wheeler's Goldenbridge Choir in Los Angeles re-awakened her deep connection and need for songs and singing with others, and a simple and spontaneous prayer (in the form of a question posed to Maggie: "Please tell me there is someone doing this near me in Berkeley, CA") led to the discovery that Kaitie Ty Warren was forming her Living Room Choir five blocks from Deborah's home. It has been a love fest for the past seven years. Deborah has forayed into songleading, and most recently into songwriting. She is currently the Musical Assistant to the Living Room Choir. She is exuberant about the joy of singing, the absolute truth of medicine in songs, and is happily awestruck at the impact and healing that comes from singing with others. "This is one of the things that you would wish on everybody!" And so she does. And with that, shares this song. Enjoy!

​Sharing Info: Please share and enjoy this song, and please do contact Deborah to let her know that Be Peace has taken wing and found a perch in your choir or singing group! 

Links: Deborah's current website is her professional website as a Psychotherapist, and you may contact her that route, deborahleeds.com, or via her email at onedeborah@icloud.com

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:00
Start time of reprise: 00:12:48
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, 4 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.

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: After singing this song, I keep questioning myself, "What if this is true???" If all motion is love, Patricia, what does that look like, right now? If I follow love, what does that even mean? Do I know what love looks like? I'm so often in unthinking motion — what happens when that motion becomes love? Pam Blevins Hinkle is not messing around here! In the next episode, we get to talk, and hear about how she got backed into community singing through a health crisis. The changes it has precipitated. What swung into motion, and how that's leading her now. Following love. Is this any part of your life? Mm-hmmm.

Songwriter Info: Pam Blevins Hinkle–song leader, composer, arts administrator, tree-lover, and kazoo fanatic–has devoted her life to projects that blend creativity, community-building, and spirituality. With over 30 years experience leading community, college, and congregational choirs, she currently facilitates spontaneous group singing for conferences and events, co-leads SongSquad Indianapolis with her brother Adam, co-produces the annual Indy Winter Solstice Celebration, and more. Pam has received numerous awards including the Inspirational Woman Award from IUPUI and the Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Indy Arts Council. Since 2006, she has served as director of Spirit & Place, which sparks civic change through a one-of-kind, 11-day festival and through year-round initiatives that leverage the power of the arts, humanities, and religion to catalyze creativity and conversation.

​Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Pam for recording and/or performing permission

Links: 
Song Squad Indianapolis Website: songsquadindy.com
Indy Winter Solstice Celebration Website: indysolstice.com
Pam's Website: pamblevinshinkle.com

​Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:09
Start time of reprise: 00:12:45
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 3:4 Mixolydian; unison chant with optional harmonies

​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: Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the thought of death, I think I'm going to precipitate it by forgetting to breathe! And then somehow, something will help me back into the present, alive moment... and this song appeared just after one of those moments. I was absolutely delighted to record it with my son, Seth, who was visiting from Boston (you'll hear a little fangirl excitement in my voice)... and also surprised by how different it was for me to sing it with someone else rather than just my own voice on the looper! This voice music thing... it's always surprising me, delighting me, stretching me. And this particular song keeps coming back, insisting I sing it again.

Songwriter Info: In addition to hosting this podcast and an online singing program, Pocket Songs, Patricia is excited to be developing an in-person community singing program in Burlington, Vermont. You can find more details about that at the Juneberry Music site. Patricia believes in singing as a part of vibrant well-being, experiencing wholeness, courage, connection and joy along with brokenness, fear, loneliness, and despair... trusting the whole messy catastrophe! She lives with her long-time beloved, Tom, in a single bedroom apartment close to their daughter's family (the better to play with their grand.) Patricia reads widely, and also spends time exploring the natural world on these Abenaki lands, knitting, and reluctantly strength-training.

​Sharing Info: You are welcome to share this song; please contact Patricia directly for sheet music or permission to record or perform. She always appreciates hearing about how the song travels.

Links: 
Patricia's Website: https://www.juneberrymusic.com

​Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:25
Start time of reprise: 00:15:15
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4 Minor & Major, unison or 2-part layer

​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: A sweet short song like this brings me deep rewards -- the chance to drop into the joy, the preciousness, the abundance of simply being alive. For me to learn it, Jane sent me "a just rough off the looper" recording -- and it was so, so beautiful! Don't miss the links to Jane's recorded music -- her voice is like flavored butter -- smooth with an extra kick -- and the sense you get of her self that infuses her singing is generous and gentle and joystruck. My version doesn't sound nearly as good as her's to me -- and yet, it was such a pleasure to get to sing the song, and I think it'll work so you can learn the song and take it on into your own life, with your own voice. If Jane ever records it, or you get a chance to hear Jane live, maybe you can sing it along with her!

Songwriter Info: Jane Lewis is a singer-songwriter, workshop facilitator, and community music instigator. She is a strong believer in the power of music to bring people together. When not performing with her folk/roots duo Gathering Sparks, she can be found leading vocal & harmony workshops, Circle Singing, Vocal Meditation, and Women's Music Weekend retreats.

​Sharing Info: Yes — The song is free to use/share, but Jane always welcomes networking support. A financial contribution when folks are able is also appreciated!

Links: 
Jane's Website: http://www.janelewis.ca
Women's Music Weekend, facilitated by Jane: https://www.womensmusicweekend.com
Jane's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/JaneLewisMusic
Jane's duo with Eve Goldberg: Gathering Sparks YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/GatheringSparksMusic

​Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:59
Start time of reprise: 00:13:29
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Mixolydian with a twist, 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 Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​

Notes: This is a prime example of how on this podcast, there's lots of space for YOUR voice! This Is It is a deeply grooved song by Maggie Wheeler, and I did a super simple bass line -- so you could make it more complex -- a light variety of percussion sounds -- so you can add more -- the melody in one voice, so you can make it richer and rounder and groovier -- and one harmony on top, so you can add more in the middle, or even higher up. AND there's space for you to add extra calls! A Breath of Song is unique in that it's not about MY singing -- this is not for you to listen to and admire -- this is for you to sing with, to make yours. Because, as Maggie advises, "This is it. This is it! This is the place you wanna be, the song you wanna sing, the love you wanna feel.... the world is calling out to you -- this is it!" Next week, Maggie does the first ever return songwriter episode, and we get to learn where "this" is for Maggie right now... another chance to get to know a miraculous person a little better.

Songwriter Info: Maggie Wheeler is best known 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 in its 17th 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 Apple Music and other music platforms. To accompany her CD entitled 'Walk With Me’, Maggie created a songbook available by request through her website www.goldenbridgechoir.com Throughout this time of change Maggie continued the Golden Bridge Choir online producing virtual concerts and videos as well as hosting a weekly online community gathering called Together In Song, bringing together over 4000 people from around the world to join in the healing power of singing. 

​Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but Maggie always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:20
Start time of reprise: 00:13:50
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 12:8, Minor, unison with optional harmonies

​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: Kate wrote "Can I Stand Here For You" after watching an Oprah show about two injured women Iraq veterans. Juanita Wilson (who had lost her hand) saw Tammy Duckworth come in (she had lost one hand and both feet). Juanita had committed herself to “standing for” any injured female veteran. She asked Tammy "Can I stand here for you?" Then she washed Tammy's hair which still contained dust from Iraq. She used her one hand and asked an orderly to help her with his two hands. Tammy was comatose, in terrible pain and Juanita stood beside her bed for 5 days. Now Tammy is a tri-athlete and was Undersecretary of Veterans Affairs for President Barack Obama, the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 8th congressional district. And was then elected to the Senate from the State of Illinois.

Knowing the backstory behind some songs makes the songs even richer. As I'm thinking about how we can work toward easing loneliness, this example of two women connecting, then Kate allowing herself to be touched by the story, gives an example... and gives me a way to remember how to make the offering of standing by someone. Don't miss the chance to sing with Melanie DeMore once you've learned the song -- she sings lower, which may give you a chance to experiment with the high harmony if you found it too high in this podcast -- or maybe the melody will feel super comfortable in Melanie's range? Keep finding what feels good in your voice!

Songwriter Info: From Inverness CA, Kate Munger has devoted herself for over 40 years to creating non-hierarchical, collaborative models for spirited group singing, joyful community building, and deep fellowship through rounds and parts singing. Kate has written hundreds of singable, swinging, deep songs that remind us of our best inclinations and intentions, and are sung accompaniment to and medicine for our lives.

She has loved returning home to Inverness after 9 singing trips to Bali, 6 to Thailand (and the Elephant Sanctuary where singing to and with Elephants was the highlight), and one each to Russia and Spain in the past three decades. Just as the Pandemic arrived, Kate returned from a month in New Zealand with 13 singers where they offered their sung prayers to the community of Christchurch as they remembered the devastating earthquake of 2011 and healed from the horrific shooting at the Muslim Mosque in March 2019. She deeply believes that singers are the best ambassadors of peace on our planet; we show our neighbors our best selves when we travel in their land and appreciate their people, their culture, and their tragedies and show that appreciation through our singing.

In 2000 she founded the first of now 220 Threshold Choirs worldwide for choral singers who are called to sing at the bedsides of people who are dying, in a coma, newborns, children in hospital, and with folks who are grieving and who are incarcerated. In honoring its innovative mission, the Threshold Choir has re-imagined what true service can look like; healing the giver as it offers comfort, presence, and ease for the receiver. Now retired from running the business of the Threshold Choir, Kate lives, swims, works, and sings along the shores of Tomales Bay, for 16 years at the Lama Foundation in New Mexico and wherever she can.
​
Sharing Info: Please sing this with loved ones freely -- when sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Kate for permission and rates.

Links: A beautiful recording by Melanie DeMore, highly recommended by Kate: https://youtu.be/iDMFt9d5NaM
Threshold Choir: https://thresholdchoir.org/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:28
Start time of reprise: 00:15:52
​
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 Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​

Notes: Singing this song settles me so deeply, reassuringly, into my body to be able to tolerate the discomfort of big feelings. When I was browsing for links about the Bengsons to share, the video, "My Joy is Heavy", drew my eye. I started it to see what it was about -- and couldn't stop watching. This podcast episode is about a fabulous song... and if you can go see "My Joy is Heavy", it will give you so much more. Abigail and Shaun Bengson are powerful storytellers, creating stories rooted in truths of their lives... this one in pregnancy and loss. Abigail says, "Honor the poetry that exists in each of our moments of crisis... when something big cracks your life, there is a kind of poetry that spills out -- details become important or disappear; it's an amazing time outside of time."

Songwriter Info: Abigail and Shaun Bengson have this to say on their Patreon page: "We've been working to create music and community online and releasing it, joyously and of course for free for a bunch of years. Lots of folks found us initially through our songprayer The Keep Going Song, and then stayed so we could get to know each other. We've been so moved and humbled by the incredible support of the folk who come to our pages and participate through listening, commenting, singing along or writing to us with their own stories of grief, joy, loss, rage and transformation. We've always been focused on releasing everything for free, and keeping our concerts affordable for all!"
​
Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but the Bengsons always welcome financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Links: 
My Joy is Heavy on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMTBaFm5ibc https://www.bengsons.com/
Abigail singing "Don't Numb to This" https://www.facebook.com/thebengsons/videos/629432998893008
The Bengsons' Website: https://www.bengsons.com/
The Bengsons' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebengsons/?hl=en
​The Bengsons' Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebengsons
The Bengsons' Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thebengsons
The Bengsons' Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/08VxLl1rmtFqsvoAmCVaNH?si=MxhG1JamRX6q_3C3a1ulbg&utm_medium=share&utm_source=linktree&nd=1

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:55
Start time of reprise: 00:13:30
​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4 Minor (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.

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: Songs can be career counselors, harmonizing means you don't have to memorize words, if you don't like to sing alone, then singing with others can unlock your voice, how to leave space for people, how to become a found family (food is involved) -- what other ideas might VoiceExchange have to share with you? This quintet of singers improvised their way through the pandemic -- learn how they honed their ability to play even when geographically distant (and hear an example at the very end, created on the fly with Zoom faces and Jacktrip sound). Improvisation can be a weird and wonderful world -- a chance to hear the unexpected. The song they shared is a tree speaking... and what a beautiful sense of embrace it creates.

​Songwriter Info: VoiceExchange initially formed as a practice group following a 2012 Bobby McFerrin Circlesongs workshop. As singers from disparate musical influences, they came together, connecting through a shared passion for vocal improvisation, and formed a unique a cappella group that blends diverse vocal styles into spontaneous harmonious arrangements. During the challenges of the pandemic VoiceExchange began a series of sequentially recorded collaborations for leading online circles. This resulted in a library of recordings, among them, Touch the Sky and Take My Hand. VoiceExchange members are Amado Ohland, Beth Lyons, Dina Torok, Joy Truskowski and Paris Kern. They can be found leading Circlesinging events in Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts & Vermont as well as offering online and in-person workshops and providing spontaneous music to churches, temples and other community gatherings.

Amado Ohland began his semi-professional career as a jazz and blues vocalist shortly after graduating University of Maryland at College Park with a bachelor's in music composition and theory. He attended his first Circlesongs workshop in 2011, and has been leading circlesinging events since 2013 in Washington DC, Pittsburgh, and western Virginia. He has recently received a master's degree in music from Radford University. For his doctoral dissertation he is working on a participatory ethnography of circlesinging worldwide and a song cycle of pieces based on circlesinging techniques.

Born into a musical family, Beth Lyons actually can’t remember a ‘before’ time when singing-in-community wasn’t a part of her life. She currently performs improvised musicals with iMusical, the house musical improv team for Washington Improv Theater, performs and leads Circles with VoiceExchange, and leads online immersive Song Dive workshops and a Monday morning online choir named Coffee Choir. You can learn more about her offerings and sign up for her “Heads Up” notification/invite list at www.RiverChoir.org.

Dina Torok has sung in and been musical director for various a cappella groups from college through adulthood. She was a professional film and television session singer, performed in various pop/rock bands in Los Angeles, and recorded an original solo album and a piano/vocal album of show tunes. Dina found VoiceExchange and circle singing in 2015 and has been a grateful member ever since.

Joy Truskowski is a singer-songwriter and community songleader. She has performed as a solo artist in the Roanoke, VA area for 13 years. You can find her original songs on Bandcamp under the name “Joy Tru”. She started Star City Circlesinging in 2019 and has been leading circles with other co-leaders in Roanoke ever since. During the beginning of the pandemic she started contributing to VoiceExchange’s online circles. She fell in love with all of them, and they all asked her to marry them. She said, “I can’t marry you, but I’ll join your group!” And that was a fair compromise. So she officially joined in the summer of 2021.

Paris Kern started performing traditional folk music at coffeehouses and concerts when she was 16 years old. She studied classical vocal performance in college, but her heart was always in the world of pure traditional folk traditions. In 2011, for reasons unknown to her, she was internally compelled to attend Bobby McFerrin’s CIrclesongs workshop. Feeling like a fish out of water, surrounded by mostly Jazz musicians, she nonetheless was hooked by the magic of Circlesongs and the sensation that her heart was being sung back to her. She has been leading circles in Washington DC, and Baltimore and is now starting circles in Southern Vermont.

Sharing Info: VoiceExchange would love to know if you plan to teach or perform Touch the Sky or another of their songs; drop them a line at info@VoiceExchange.org. And if teaching/performing their song is a profitable business for you, please share a bit of the profit with them via their donation link at https://voiceexchange.org.

Links:
Paris mentions a Burl Ives recording, but we could only find a link for Patti Page’s version of "How Much is that Doggy in the Window?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rJo9yJxd5M
Julie Andrews: https://www.biography.com/actors/julie-andrews
Joan Baez: https://www.biography.com/musicians/joan-baez
David Crosby: https://davidcrosby.com/
Martin Carthy: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/martin-carthy-mn0000367979
"It’s a Small World After All" by Richard and Robert Sherman
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/disneyland-childrens-sing-along-chorus/its-a-small-world
"Diddle, Diddle Dumpling, My Son John" : https://allnurseryrhymes.com/diddle-dumpling/
Freddie Mercury: https://www.biography.com/musicians/freddie-mercury
Somatic Voicework: http://thevoiceworkshop.com/somatic-voicework/
Bobby McFerrin Circlesinging: https://circlesongs.com/circlesong-school-2023/
Tuvan throat singing: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210414-a-revival-of-indigenous-throat-singing
All the Way In- Rhiannon: https://www.rhiannonmusic.com/all-the-way-in-home
Motor, interlock definitions: http://songsofthemoment.com/category-rhiannon/
Take My Hand: Episode 104 on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/104-take-my-hand
Vocal River by Rhiannon: https://www.rhiannonmusic.com/vocal-river
Zuza: https://singers.com/vocal-coach/Zuza-Goncalves/
“Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66354.Flow
Tuck & Patti album 1988 Time After Time: https://www.discogs.com/release/10168223-Tuck-Patti-Time-After-Time
Star City Circlesinging: https://www.meetup.com/Star-City-Circlesinging/
Musica do Circulo Brazil: https://www.playgroundforthearts.com/musica-do-circulo
Amado on Bandcamp: https://amadomusic.bandcamp.com/album/circlesinging-on-zoom
"She’s So Unusual" by Cindy Lauper: https://www.allmusic.com/album/shes-so-unusual-mw0000194590
"The Game" by Queen: https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-game-mw0000650663
"Medicine Music" by Bobby McFerrin: https://www.allmusic.com/album/medicine-music-mw0000309576
Prince: https://www.prince.com
Eagles: https://eagles.com
Sting: https://www.sting.com
Billy Joel: https://www.billyjoel.com
Alanis Morisette: https://alanis.com
"Blue" by Joni Mitchell: https://jonimitchell.com/music/album.cfm?id=5
"Abbey Road" by The Beatles: https://www.thebeatles.com/abbey-road
Patrick Watson: https://patrickwatson.net
Great interview with Martin Carthy: https://www.innerviews.org/inner/martin-carthy.html
And here’s a link to Martin singing “The Trees they Do Grow High”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaKGeTmFqbE
"Vocabularies" by Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/albums/vocabularies/
VoiceExchange on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/circlesinging-dc/
Jacktrip Software: https://www.jacktrip.com

VoiceExchange's quiet Website: https://voiceexchange.org
Email: info@voiceexchange.org
VoiceExchange on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VoiceExchangeMusic?mibextid=LQQJ4d
VoiceExchange on Instagram: https://instagram.com/voiceexchange?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
VoiceExchange's Email: info@voiceexchange.org

Amado's Website: https://amadomusic.com/
Paris's Website: https://www.pariskern.com
Joy's Website: http://www.joytru.com
Beth's choir Website: https://www.riverchoir.org

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:10
Start time of reprise: 01:14:25
Improvisation at 1:18:55
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major, 3-part harmony, 3-layer

​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: A breakthrough in mindfulness practice for me was realizing that it's not about spending hours in blissed-out presence... it's about noticing that I'm not present and coming back, returning, again and again. I started to sing this when my mind was doing a particularly good imitation of a squirrel on amphetamines, and I needed to strengthen my ability to return! I particularly like that this song can be sung very simply, as a call & response, or have added layers of complexity -- I'm loving a bit of adaptability in my life right now.

​Songwriter Info: In addition to hosting this podcast and an online singing program, Pocket Songs, Patricia is excited to be developing an in-person community singing program in Burlington, Vermont. You can find more details about that at the Juneberry Music site. Patricia believes in singing as a part of vibrant well-being, experiencing wholeness, courage, connection and joy along with brokenness, fear, loneliness, and despair... trusting the whole messy catastrophe! She lives with her long-time beloved, Tom, in a single bedroom apartment close to their daughter's family (the better to play with their grand.) Patricia reads widely, and also spends time exploring the natural world on these Abenaki lands, knitting, and reluctantly strength-training.

Sharing Info: You are welcome to share this song; please contact Patricia directly for sheet music or permission to record or perform. She always appreciates hearing about how the song travels.

Links: 
Full Program Website: juneberrymusic.com
Patricia'sFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/juneberrymusic 
Patricia's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juneberry.music/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:06
Start time of reprise: 00:15:59
​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major & Mixolydian, Call & Response or 4-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 Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: This song of Hannah's rings so deeply true to me -- and it is reassuring to me to have heartbreak normalized. I'm not the only one who hears the news, reads the stories, looks around me, and feels heartbreak. What's beautiful and healing in Hannah's song is the turn of all that breaking into sacred -- something deserving of veneration -- something that blesses us and opens us to life in the most beautiful possible way.

​Longtime listeners (well, two years at least!) may notice I've shifted things up as we've moved into the second 100 episodes, in response to some ideas from you all. There's a clip of the song at the very beginning of the episode, and time markers for when I start teaching the song and the reprise in the shownotes. There's a little less talk at the beginning, but still the invitation to come into your body and breath and voice, which is part of this singing practice. Hope you find it ever more useful in navigating your own life, tending your own heart.... I continue to do it as my own tending, shifting work!

​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!

Sharing Info: When sharing, please name Hannah as the song catcher and acknowledge the place where the song was caught, Upper Valley of Vermont, Abenaki land. And if you can pass on the story that accompanies the songs and how they were inspired, bonus. Thanks!

Links: 
Hannah's Website: www.deepwellsong.org
Hannah's Patreon: www.patreon.com/deepwellsong

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:42
Start time of reprise: 00:18:50
​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, 4-layer

​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: I sometimes find my body feels chaotic and overloaded with visual and audio stimulation. "Settle Like A Pebble" is a song that helps me drop in -- it feels almost like a psyche rinse! As I sing it, I feel a loosening and ease – the calm of the word "settle" – I am reminded of the feel of a pebble, round in my fingers, smooth in a riverbed – then the float and lightness of “drift like a feather” – and finally, the low release of “let go” and “close your eyes and be." Laura Walker's detailed stop-action videos & original songs on her Marnie Bee Mindful youtube channel create a unique visual & audio meditation -- here's one to explore -- Space: https://youtu.be/_E_DT6qiipM

​Songwriter Info: Laura Walker started writing short songs about a year ago as a creative outlet and a way to help her remember kind self care messages to access when she needs them. She found focus in making short films to accompany the songs and to help illustrate the words and began posting on YouTube under the name Marnie Bee Mindful as a way to share the things that work for her with others who may enjoy them. “Settle Like A Pebble” is about slowing down and taking a calm moment to let go of the stresses of the day to close your eyes and allow thoughts to drift. Spending time in nature, especially near water helps Laura achieve this mindful state but the song reminds her that calm peacefulness can also be found by closing her eyes and imagining somewhere beautiful too. It’s her wish that by being extra kind and gentle to ourselves and connecting through music we can help find the strength to share and cultivate these things with those around us too. She hopes the song helps you settle into your day and soothes you a little. ​

Sharing Info: Yes the song is free to share for anyone who feels it may be help, please be kind enough to mention Laura as composer when doing so and the Marnie Bee Mindful YouTube Channel. It brings her such joy to know if a song has been of use to someone so if a song helped she'd love to hear from you! 

Links:
Laura's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marniebeemindful/
Laura's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084878260963
Laura's Website: https://marniebeemindful.com/
​Laura's YouTube: https://youtube.com/@MarnieBeeMindful 

Nuts & Bolts: ​4:4, major (Ionian), harmonized and a countermelody

​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: A confidence and energy builder in your pocket never goes amiss... it's like a chocolate chip energy bar on a hike! Cathy Baker's song snugs in with an "I've got your back and we're all good" kind of vibe that's perfect for big projects, long days, nerve-wracking performance situations, tedious meetings, phone calls with you-know-who... I loved learning from Cathy that this song was born out of a wee struggle with imposter syndrome as she took on co-leadership of a large, thriving community choir in Victoria, B.C. She and her partner, Dick Jackson, were taking on the Gettin' Higher Choir from much beloved founders Siobhan Robinsong and Denis Donnelly -- and Cathy admitted in next week's conversation to sometimes needing a bit of parking lot boost! Dick and Cathy and I enjoyed taking apart how Denis, Siobhan, Dick, and Cathy all worked together with generosity to create a transition that worked for the choir. But that's next week... for now, You've Got This!

​Songwriter Info: Cathy was once the shy middle kid of 5 siblings where singing as a family was just part of everyday life. She always loved singing, especially around campfires, on road trips, wilderness trips or anywhere outside. Always seeking harmony, she got over much of her performance shyness by bringing groups of friends together to sing. She now directs the Gettin' Higher Choir with her life partner, Dick Jackson, and she is on the leadership team for both The Ubuntu Choirs Network and the Community Choir Leadership Training (CCLT) program in Victoria, BC. Cathy is active in her local Unitarian Universalist community where Dick is the Musical Director. Together, Cathy and Dick provide musical leadership for Canadian UU camps and Canadian national UU services. They both welcome the opportunity to bring members of the Gettin' Higher Choir to "Sing When Asked To" community events. Dick was fortunate to have singing in the home with his Mom from an early age, and kept involved with singing, school band and organ, later with percussion, piano and a few stints in opera chorus. A keen observer of his excellent music leaders over the years, he is grateful to be able to make this a shared joyful vocation with Cathy.​

Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Cathy always welcome financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Links:
Gettin' Higher Choir: http://www.gettinhigherchoir.ca/

​Nuts & Bolts: ​4:4, Mixolydian, 3-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.

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: Chloë Rose Vispap-Rich has uncovered such a glorious both/and song for me. The golden beauty of clear boundaries and choice-making -- how we can delineate our lives in response to our deepest inner voice and knowing of what we need and want -- and at the same time, life is full and rich and complex, and we can release into the flow of it swirling around and through us, let ourselves be swept into the dance. Whee!!! The sweetness and gentleness of both clarity and acceptance, in a song that has light and movement. I feel so completely spoiled by getting to spend my time making this podcast.

​Songwriter Info: Chloë is a music therapist from London, England. She is part of the Natural Voice Network and leads a community singing group. Chloë likes to write and share easily accessible but moving songs. In 2020 (during the national lockdown) she wrote and produced a song book called Songs In Harmony , a collection of 10 songs in 2 and 3 part harmony. They are short songs with themes such as connection, going with the flow, absence, love and dreams. Breathe Along With Life is about simultaneously taking control of the path of your life whilst also going with the flow.​

Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Chloë for recording and/or performing permission at thesingingheartchoir@gmail.com

​Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 2-part -- melody and 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 (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: I love the way this song takes me into completely different scope of time -- geologic, massive, unimaginable -- and therefore inescapably present. "Ïn the Land of Oden" has a murky history, both for lyrics and melody… it was recorded in the 1960s by many different folk artists, including Peter and Gordon, Barry McGuire and the New Christy Minstrels, and the Townsmen… but is credited to different composers on each recording. And they are all slightly different than the version I learned from Adam Podd (check out episode #82!). This particular melody has stayed with me, though, and it resonated in me with a Buddhist story Jack Kornfield tells about something lasting for 1000 kalpas – and each kalpa is as long as it takes for a bird dragging a silk scarf across a mountain to wear it away. In a Grimm’s Fairy Tale, recorded in 1812, the Shepherd’s Boy responds to the king’s third question about eternity with a description very similar to this, although the mountain is made of diamond and is in the land of Pomerania! So for this moment, welcome to fairy-tale time.
​
Sharing Info: As far as I know, this song is free to share.

Links: 
Grimm's Fairy Tale: http://www.pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/story139.pdf

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Mixolydian, 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.

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: 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 Gratitude 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.

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: 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.

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: You get to hear Kate and I in deep conversation -- complete with creaky chair, and me messing up as Kate teaches me her beautiful song, Go Dark. Do you ever have the experience of being solid on a part, as long as the leader is singing it, but then when they leave to teach another part, you lose it? You'll hear me doing just that! :) We talk about building a bank of nourishing words for hard times -- and Kate shares a story about something that shook her certainty and ease with life, and how that made her vow not to judge people. She observes how giving time and a safe place to make mistakes makes it possible for most people to learn to sing, like almost all people learn to drive eventually. And then there's the handpan, and learning Arabic, and... I guess you'll just need to listen in!

Songwriter Info: Kate Thomas is a singer, song leader, songwriter and instrumentalist (guitar, piano and handpan) and has been leading singing groups in Sheffield for over 20 years. She has produced two songbooks, 'Honey and Salt' (from which 'Be Yourself' and 'Scattered Seeds'. If you are interested in contacting her about these resources, her email is honeyandsalt65@gmail.com. 

Links: 
Wendell Berry – Farming (counterpointpress.com) (Kate mentioned "Soul Food", but I think this ends up being the book with the poem in it.)
Barbara Brown Taylor – Learning to Walk in the Dark
Wanting Memories - Sweet Honey in the Rock
Handpan playing -- Kate suggests thishandpan duo, Mea
Raffi
The Singing Kettle
Tapestry – Carole King -- I'm pretty sure you can find the album, so here's an article that quotes many artists talking about the influence of the album on them... Talking about 'Tapestry': Musicians discuss the influence of Carole King's masterpiece - NJArts.net
Karine Polwart – Scottish Songbook, The Lost Words: Spell Songs -- and here's a bonus interview with Karine about the Spellsongs project
Youtube recordings of Kate’s songs -- here's her channel, where you can find all 10: Kate Thomas - YouTube
   And here are just a few links for specific songs:
  We Were Seeds: Kate's bold setting of the Dinos Christianopoulos quote, "They thought they could bury us; they did not know we were seeds.
  A Thousand Ways (with handpan! -- a beautiful meditation)
Kate's profile and choirs: Member profile - Natural Voice Network
Information about Honey and Salt (and Scattered Seeds is searchable there, too): Honey and Salt - Natural Voice Network

Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, major, 2-parts here, (SATB in the Honey & Salt book) or works beautifully unison, too
​
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: Heather says, “I love so easily," and “What’s next? And I just open up…” and “Silence is a part of the singing.” Trust me, this is a person you'd like to get to know a little better -- how can we all access that kind of love and openness? In our conversation, Heather and I dig into how she actually works with singers privately and in groups, finding the heart voice, ways back in when you've dropped your chanting/meditation practice, why to love humming... and more, including, of course, her favorite soup! Heather shares this beautiful song which warms up the voice and invites us into physical awareness and connection with a released sound.... and her love of the act of singing is contagious.

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
​
Kitka (Balkan music) – women's vocal ensemble in Oakland Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble
Heather’s songleader training starting in Jan Sisters in Harmony Song Leader Training – Heather Houston Music
Paul Simon Rhythm of the Saints – here’s the title track: The Rhythm of the Saints - YouTube
Sound of Great Horned Owls -- What does a Great Horned Owl sound like? 
Lyndsey Scott -- Well Held | Lyndsey Scott (bandcamp.com) (as well as A Breath of Song episodes #69 & 70)
Samantha Keller and Tamar Fogel -- here with Heather as the trio Dis Moi: Dis Moi – Between Us – Heather Houston Music
the first song Heather wrote -- Lumin Solare Fiat - Heather Houston (Sirenz) - YouTube
Sirenz -- the four voice group of Heather, Samantha, Molly Hartwell and Sage Mendez: Sirenz – Heather Houston Music

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Mixolydian, chant
​
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: I love that after I sing this a few times, I begin to feel more fluid inside -- as though everything under my skin is softening into a tidal pulse of flow. It's a beautiful song to sing with a drone... the words "the mind", or the "in" from "flows in" join the drone note -- a way of subverting any annoying repeated note into becoming accompaniment for your singing. This podcast isn't about me producing a polished recording -- it's about you singing, you playing, and you having a new song that you can invite into your life... and knowing that hundreds of other people are singing this song, too. Maybe they're on the melody, or the harmony, or maybe they're experimenting like I did today? And when they finish singing, everyone may feel different than when they started to sing... a little more settled, a little more flow, a little more love?

Songwriter Info: Roberta Kirn is a song leader, percussionist, and dancer who has been living, working, and raising a family on the island of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts since 1989. She is the founder of BeWellSing and The Song Exchange Project, through which she brings singing in community to as many people as she can. Inspired by the teaching of Dr Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Roberta has been leading community singing for over 25 years. She believes, and has experienced, that singing together brings us into deeper connection with ourselves and each other. Raising our voices, having a communal experience of rhythm, melody, and harmony is a deeply healing experience that can be shared across age, gender, race, class, and culture.

Links: 
Roberta's Website: https://www.bewellsing.com

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, 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.

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

Notes: I've shared this song with my pocket song singers online group, meaning I was live-looping it... and the layers are intricate! The different lines interweave closely, creating a dense, beautiful texture. Lyndsey and I enjoy our conversation -- hear her talk about dropping root to choose what to do in the morning and set an intention, about how grief can be a healer, and wealth of teachers and mentors she draws on. Learn which voices still niggle at her, even with all the wisdom she has steeped herself in, and how she includes and cares for those parts, too. When we recorded this, I was in a particularly fragile place, feeling a little unmoored -- I felt better after this time spent talking and singing... more connected, more hopeful. As usual, I left with more questions than I started with... but it feels like a big door has opened and is welcoming me through. Following the links will keep me learning for a good long time!

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: Are you ready??? Lyndsey had so many resources to share, so this is the longest set of links yet!

Let's start with links for Lyndsey and As I Relax:
The song is free to share but Lyndsey always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.
​Lyndsey's website: lyndseyscott.earth
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

And now links to things that came up during the conversation -- starting with some of the quotations.

“He who sings, prays twice.” ― St. Augustine
“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” ― E. B. White
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman

Orland Bishop: Orland Bishop (presswarehouse.com)
adrienne maree brown: adrienne maree brown – 'The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.' – camus…documenting my liberation
San Francisco mural by Susan O’Malley: SusanOMalley_Mural_2009-2048x1536.jpg (2048×1536) (rootdivision.org)
​Starhawk, “The Fifth Sacred Thing” The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk « Starhawk's Website
Marianne Williamson: Marianne Williamson – #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author
A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume: Foundation For Inner Peace: 8601421955508: Amazon.com: Books
Shireen Amini: Shireen Amini Music Medicine and Shireen Amini
Shelley Tochluk: Living in the Tension & Workshop Series (shellytochluk.com)
Emerald Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/jm/podcast/how-trance-states-shape-the-world/id1465445746?i=1000512752303
Chubby Cree: https://www.instagram.com/p/CbTonaZJL2d/
Laurence Cole: Can’t Do It Wrong / My Life Is So Cuckoo — Laurence Cole
Love Poems from God, translated by Daniel Ladinsky: Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (Compass) - Stillness Speaks
Grace Lee Boggs: Grace Lee Boggs - Wikipedia
Malidoma Somé and grief ritual: Dr. Malidoma Somé, Phd. | The Legacy of Elder Malidoma Somé
Sibomfu Somé and grief ritual: http://www.sobonfu.com/  Embracing Grief | Sobonfu Somé
Enneagrams – here’s one summary set: Integrative Enneagram Solutions (integrative9.com)
Aretha movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkKOIQwTiKE
Characteristics of White Supremacy by Tema Okun: Microsoft Word - Okun - white sup culture.doc (whitesupremacyculture.info)
Francis Weller/ five gates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBfagOEkMi4   Home (francisweller.net)
Liz Rog/Center for Belonging:  https://www.centerforbelonging.earth/
Earthkeeper Wisdom School: https://www.earthkeeperwisdomschool.com/
Grief to Action: https://www.holisticresistance.com/grief
Influential album: MC HAMMER - Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em - Amazon.com Music
Lynn O'Brien: https://www.lynnobrien.love/
Artist Lyndsey wishes more people listened to: Briony Greenhill. Album: https://www.brionygreenhill.com/crossing-the-ocean

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Minor; 4 layers, one echoed/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!

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

Notes: This poignant song by Wendy Luella Perkins comes from early on in the pandemic -- a time of fear and grieving -- yet also, in the early mornings, the streets were so unusually quiet in the cities that birdsong was clearly audible.  You'll be able to hear the echo of a dove call in the melody, which I teach with extra care so you can feel comfortable and relaxed singing it. This song helps me notice what I'm hearing around me -- and when I notice the sounds around me, I drop into the present micro-second, where all is well. In the next episode, there's a songwriter conversation with Wendy Luella, which includes not one, not two, but four songs that can be personal assistants as we heal, adapt, and grow.

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
andtiktok page: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyluellaperkins
To email Wendy Luella: info@wendyluellaperkins.com

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