Song: My Body
Music by: Alexandra Sarton

Notes: Singing this week brought me into my body in a joyful, appreciative way... our bodies, our existence are such miracles, and this song fully celebrates and owns this. For anyone who has ever felt ashamed of their body for any reason, this is a medicine song, a reclaiming, remembering song. Alexandra Sarton Love, who wrote it, has lived with alopecia since age 10, causing baldness. Maybe you're going through a medical treatment that makes it difficult to feel ownership of your own body? Maybe there's a relationship which leads to doubt about your body's beauty or validity? Maybe media or social gatherings has harmed your connection to your own body? Maybe you're a nursing mom? I don't know what you bring to this song... but I'm sooo glad you're bringing it!  Join me and you bring you, I'll bring me -- let's sing these words together!

Songwriter Info: In 2011, Alexandra Love was inspired to assemble a 12-woman chorus to sing the harmonies she had written for her solo project, In Curses. She created a festival, The Festival of Light and Sound (April 2012), to debut this project and to bring Beautiful Chorus together for a one-time performance. The ladies practiced each week leading up to the album release. The festival was a huge success and after that night, Love decided to keep the project going. She booked tours for Beautiful Chorus around the country, hosted crystal singing bowl meditations w/ the ladies, lead vocal workshops and more. It was then that BC wrote + recorded songs, and have since become the most successful independent group of their kind. Fusing elements of electronic, choral, deep bass, hip hop and jazz, Beautiful Chorus is unlike any other. They have albums that span from wordless symphonies to full rhythmic songs, w/ sound healing frequencies and love-centered messages. They even have a wordless holiday album, a lullaby album, and a multitude of singable hymns and mantras. Beautiful Chorus is currently residing in Orlando, FL where they are developing a new live experience, hosting spiritual conversations, and preparing for their upcoming full album release, High Frequency Love Music, due out 7/26. Beautiful Chorus is currently made of Alexandra Love and four other members (Patty, Anisha, Yuki and Veronica).

Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Beautiful Chorus for permission and rates.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:31
Start time of reprise: 00:14:09

Links:
Beautiful Chorus website: https://www.beautifulchorus.com/ 
Alexandra Love website: https://www.alexandra.love/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Mixolydian, unison with optional harmony

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Song: Fear (Come to Me)
Music by: Joanna Laws Landis

Notes: Joanna and I explore the idea of inviting fear to come closer and be held, through song and word. We talk about how gifts of attention can come from wounds, and therefore be mixed blessings. Joanna describes the "field" she tends in a song circle, and what craves special notice when you live and work with the same person. This was recorded shortly before the political change in the USA when Biden chose not to run for office, so you won't hear us talking about the buoyancy that can come from feeling hopeful... but we do touch on navigating grief and fear! We also talk about one of the huge gifts a group singing can give a songcarrier....

Songwriter Info: Joanna Laws Landis (she/her) is a song-carrier and grief-tender with a deep trust in the transformational healing power of welcome and compassion. Joanna was steeped in song and harmony from her early years: in church, at school and in community choirs. In her late 20s, she discovered the community singing movement and felt a deep alignment with this simple and direct pathway to connection and healing. After collecting a wide library of songs from the midwest to the pacific coast, she has been leading community song circles regularly since 2020. Joanna has recently relocated to the land of her maternal grandmother’s people outside of Asheville, NC where in addition to leading singing & grief-tending, she is deepening her understanding of the body’s innate wisdom for healing with Somatic Experiencing International, and is studying collective trauma integration & facilitation with Thomas Hübl.

Sharing Info: You are welcome to share/teach the song in community settings, and Joanna always welcome financial support when it is available. Please contact her for recording and/or performing permission.
​
Links: 
Listen on Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/joannalawslandis
Email Joanna at [email protected] 
Follow Joanna's Grief Tending offerings on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/o/joanna-laws-landis-amp-will-rogers-30189070512
Donations gratefully received on PayPal or Venmo @joannalawslandis

Thomas Huebl trauma integration: Academy of Inner Science https://thomashuebl.com/courses/training-programs/
Robert Frost - 'Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.' https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/05/24/poem-tennis/
Bliss Is Ordinary podcast – the 4th & 5th episodes are with Laurence Cole: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1939735
Laurence Cole: https://www.laurencecole.com/
Laurence Cole and Ahlay Blakely are also hostingonline grief circles:: https://www.healingattheroots.com/onlinemonthlygriefcircles
The Cranberries Everyone Else is Doing it So Why Can’t We?
Soup: Jook…  A Chinese rice porridge with ginger and garlic & maybe chicken. Here’s a Mark Bittman recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1839-jook
Lianne La Havas artist – Paper Thin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug3Q9RmFywc

Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, harmonic minor, 2-part​

Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Gather - We Are Not Alone
Music by: Joanna Laws Landis

Notes: As we gather, by whom are we held? The trees, the earth, the air, the bugs, the people? And what do we bring? Hunger, courage, fear, hope, laughter? Our voices... our dreams. Joanna Laws Landis has written a song to hold the fullness of all this, and the ways in which we are not alone. Next week, join us for a songwriter conversation that explores how we show up... I'll give you a hint: Joanna says in it, "I am a new person in every moment," and talks about how she has observed “how much singing together can really knit a group together.” I hope you experience the fullness of being held... I am looking to be more aware of that myself!
​
Songwriter Info: Joanna Laws Landis (she/her) is a song-carrier and grief-tender with a deep trust in the transformational healing power of welcome and compassion. Joanna was steeped in song and harmony from her early years: in church, at school and in community choirs. In her late 20s, she discovered the community singing movement and felt a deep alignment with this simple and direct pathway to connection and healing. After collecting a wide library of songs from the midwest to the pacific coast, she has been leading community song circles regularly since 2020. Joanna has recently relocated to the land of her maternal grandmother’s people outside of Asheville, NC where in addition to leading singing & grief-tending, she is deepening her understanding of the body’s innate wisdom for healing with Somatic Experiencing International, and is studying collective trauma integration & facilitation with Thomas Hübl.

Sharing Info: You are welcome to share/teach the song in community settings, and Joanna always welcomes financial support when it is available. Please contact her for recording and/or performing permission.

Links: 
Listen on Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/joannalawslandis
Would love to hear from you via email: [email protected]
Follow my Grief Tending offerings on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/o/joanna-laws-landis-amp-will-rogers-30189070512
Donations gratefully received on PayPal or Venmo @joannalawslandis​

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor with an occasional major 7, 2 part song; 2nd part harmonized

​Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: I Hear
Music by: Aaron Johnson

​Notes: What I love about Aaron's song is how it is quick to learn, and then can be taken in many directions -- it can stay simple, giving a chance to listen deeply to one's own voice or the voices of surrounding people. It can be explored in many ways -- growing, soft, harmonies, rhythmic intense or free -- and for this recording, I had the privilege of listening to five friends learn it for the first time, and then let themselves take risks and explore. When making a studio recording, anything that didn't ring perfectly would be taken out -- but I've left the exploration in, to encourage you to do some of your own. Your voice from your heart to your soul. Listening to what it's saying. What a beautiful practice.

Songwriter Info: Aaron Johnson (he/him) is a facilitator, public speaker, and touch specialist working to identify and interrupt barriers between people. As co-founder of both Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, Aaron takes the time to hold the stories of black people around homophobia, transphobia, internalized racism, and those that are Chronically UnderTouched. Because oppression is a part of historical and present American culture, the long-term impact of those trauma stories should be acknowledged and held as a map for our collective healing. Aaron Johnson practices and invites various methods of moving through these stories, such as the communal listening ear, sound healing, meditation, and closeness to the earth.
​
Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Aaron for permission and rates.
​
Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:09
Start time of reprise: 00:13:20

Links: 
Link tree: https://linktr.ee/HolisticResistance
Grief to Action: https://www.grieftoaction.com/
The Chronically UnderTouched Project:
https://www.cutproject.org/
https://bio.site/cut.project
TEDx on Youtube: https://youtu.be/zi_hm0-zrgk

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison with option of adding harmonies

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(https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar
(https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Meg tells us where she goes "to integrate, to reorient around what matters most to me, and connect with the world around me and that sense of source within myself." We talk about "the good, the beautiful, and the true," and she doesn't shy away from the awkward questions I have about those words in today's world. Meg and her two children, Clancy and Celia, teach us "What Would It Take?" with its intertwining harmonies, and then later we talk about the experience of singing in harmonies and how it connects to boundarys and group awareness. Meg says, “My pathway with the voice…is about repeatedly coming back into connection with myself…and the possibility of joy.”

Songwriter Info: Meg loves helping people access their innate capacity for healing, connection, and joy. She is a somatic coach, supporting individuals and couples in growth, transformation, and healing. Because she's always found the voice, and especially singing in harmony with others, to be a particularly powerful pathway for connection with ourselves and the world around us, she delights in serving as a music teacher, song leader, and vocal mentor. She hosts an annual adult and family singing retreat on the coast of Maine called SongWeavers. In addition, Meg is an Adjunct Professor for Antioch University's Graduate Program for Waldorf Teachers and for the Center for Anthroposophy's Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program. Her sources of inspiration include the small, misty mountain that overlooks her home and singing with her children, Clancy and Celia.

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

Links: People of the Dawnland, Wabanaki confederacy and Penobscot people: https://matlt.org/wabanaki-people-of-the-dawnland/
Spell Songs: The Lost Words: https://www.thelostwords.org/spell-songs/
The Spell Songs: Blessing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUBBF99UNkQ
Blue Hill Mountain: https://bluehillheritagetrust.org/blue-hill-mountain/
SongWeavers of Maine: https://www.singwaldorf.org
Antioch University, Masters for Waldorf Teachers: https://www.antioch.edu/academics/education/waldorf-education-med/
Heidi Wilson: https://heidiannwilson.com/
Sarina Partridge: https://sarinapartridge.com/
Nicholas Williams: https://www.kehlerwilliams.com/about
Bennett Konesni: https://www.duckbackfarm.com/
Bagaduce Music lending Library: https://www.bagaducemusic.org/
Waldorf Education: https://www.waldorfeducation.org/waldorf-education
Meg’s Somatic Coaching: https://www.singwaldorf.org/work-with-meg
Tinder Hearth pizza restaurant: https://www.tinderhearth.com/
Joni Mitchell - Blue: https://jonimitchell.com/music/album.cfm?id=5
Kongero- Swedish Folk'appella group: https://kongero.se/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:45
Start time of song after teaching: 00:34:56
Start time of reprise: 01:16:40

Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, minor, 3-part harmony

Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)
to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html)
(whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Even though I had a runny nose while recording, I practiced showing up with my voice where it is, feeling into the body, noticing the breath... it felt beautiful to be "calling us in," following Meg O'Dell's guidance "home to ourselves." I love the way this melody rocks and rolls through so many comforting words -- I come away with the sense of "true-ing" myself, "whole-ing." I wonder what you will notice as you sing? Make ample use of the rewind button to give yourself a chance to learn some things that I breeze through pretty quickly -- and you can easily find the words at abreathofsong.com if they aren't in front of you here! Enjoy...

Songwriter Info: Meg loves helping people access their innate capacity for healing, connection, and joy. She is a somatic coach, supporting individuals and couples in growth, transformation, and healing. Because she's always found the voice, and especially singing in harmony with others, to be a particularly powerful pathway for connection with ourselves and the world around us, she delights in serving as a music teacher, song leader, and vocal mentor. She hosts an annual adult and family singing retreat on the coast of Maine called SongWeavers. In addition, Meg is an Adjunct Professor for Antioch University's Graduate Program for Waldorf Teachers and for the Center for Anthroposophy's Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program. Her sources of inspiration include the small, misty mountain that overlooks her home and singing with her children, Clancy and Celia.

Links: Meg's Website: www.singwaldorf.com

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:45
Start time of reprise: 00:19:30

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Ionian, 3-part harmony

Join theA Breath of Song Mailing list
(https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar
(https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: We play a little with the harmonies over and under this very singable melody Paulette wrote to set part of a letter written in 1675 by George Fox (it's been a minute!) He was writing during troubled times to a persecuted people. As I was recording, I kept wondering how it could feel to be both "sure and steadfast" and "float above"... the invitation is open to you to explore!

Songwriter Info: Paulette Meier is a Quaker singer/songwriter from Cincinnati, Ohio, where her strong voice has led crowds in song at many a gathering for peace, justice and an earth restored. As a peace educator in schools, she produced an award-winning album, Come Join the Circle: LessonSongs for Peacemaking, now used in classrooms across the country to help children learn the skills of peacemaking. As Artist in Residence for 9 months at Pendle Hill, a Quaker Center for Study and Contemplation, her appreciation for Quaker history and spirituality deepened, leading to a practice of setting inspiring quotations of 17th century Quaker founding leaders to chant-like song. She leads chanting at the Wisdom retreats of Cynthia Bourgeault, author, mystic, and teacher of the contemplative Christian Wisdom tradition. This on-going collaboration led to a second album of Quaker chants composed by Paulette, Wellsprings of Life: Quaker Wisdom in Chant, on which this song can be found.

Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Paulette for recording and/or performing permission. When sharing this song, please credit the source: w: George Fox, 1675; m: Paulette Meier, on the album Wellsprings of Life, Quaker Wisdom in Chant.

Links: Paulette's Website (order downloads or CD here) - www.paulettemeier.com

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:04
Start time of reprise: 00:13:31

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison with harmonies

Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html)
 (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: I've been lucky to have Resa singing with me for the past ten years in various Juneberry Music offerings, and her warm, colorful voice always brings me pleasure to hear. So as I sing this song, it's as though I hear Resa's voice inside mine. There's something wonderful about selecting the voices that are allowed inside your head and the messages you choose to hear. I find myself calmed by Resa's companionship in this song, reminding me to return to the present, make space for what is, return, return.
​
Songwriter Info: Resa is a Certified Music Practitioner (Therapeutic Musician) at Concord Hospital, Concord, NH, who sings at the bedside of patients, including those who are who are physically and mentally ill, dying, recovering from surgery, in a coma, or in the NICU. She firmly believes in the healing power of music, and, like St. Augustine, affirms that "He who sings, prays twice." Resa has been singing in choirs and choral groups in the United States and Europe since she was 5 years old and occasionally accompanies herself on piano or guitar. When not singing, she is a voracious reader, an adventurous cook, an avid cross-stitcher, and devoted pet-parent. This song was born fully formed after struggling with the process of being present in the gift of each moment as it arrives.

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

Links: Resa's profile on Creative Ground: https://www.creativeground.org/profile/resa-cirrincione-cmp#section-about

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:15
Start time of reprise: 00:12:20

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, mantra, unison (optional harmonizing)

Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html)
 (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

​Notes: Even though Kate wanted a resolution, the song insisted on being what it is -- a way to stay in the storm. She talks with me about how that felt, and what happened as she kept listening. We explore further -- how do you become a songleader when that's not how you view yourself? How do you write songs, when that feels scary-impossible? What is it about singing together that offers healing, and why is Kate herself drawn to doing things that help people in difficult moments? Where do songs live? I left this conversation with respect and excitement tumbling over each other... I hope you, too, enjoy hearing Kate's perspective.

Songwriter Info: Kate Valentine is a registered nurse and founder of Singing Mamas - a national non-profit for maternal well-being, bringing singing groups across the UK and the globe to women and mothers. Kate started with one group in 2011 and while struggling as a single mum to 3 sons and working nights shifts, she set about to get singing mamas free and referred to all new and expectant mums across the UK. There are now more than 200 leaders across 8 countries, with Singing Mamas programmes being delivered in over 50 local authorities, either as community groups or on-prescription through the national health service (NHS).

Kate is most passionate about bringing the 'untrained' musician into the work of song sharing, and is driven by a determination to re-normalise a singing culture, where it has been lost.

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

Links:
Ashdown Forest - Winnie the Pooh: https://ashdownforest.org/explore/winnie-the-pooh/
Natural Voice Network: https://www.naturalvoice.net/
Nick Prater: https://www.susiero.com/nick-prater.html
Singing Mamas: www.singingmamas.org
You Are My Sunshine: https://www.wideopencountry.com/you-are-my-sunshine/
DYCP Award Arts Council: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/dycp
Monkey Mind: https://www.pocketmindfulness.com/understanding-monkey-mind-live-harmony-mental-companion/
Episode 129: "Inner Peace" by Kate Valentine: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/129-inner-peace
National Health Service UK: https://www.nhs.uk/
Empowering women and addressing poverty: https://givingcompass.org/article/how-women-empowerment-can-help-address-poverty
​German Melodic Minimal Techno: https://www.chosic.com/genre-chart/minimal-melodic-techno/
Royal college of Music, Dave Camlin: https://www.rcm.ac.uk/research/people/details/?id=94812
Sound waves made visible…
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/2814-sound-visualising-sound-waves
Cymatics: https://journeyofcuriosity.net/pages/what-is-cymatics-how-to-explained
Fire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSQP0D4p8Xo
Sand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvJAgrUBF4w
Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morisette: https://genius.com/albums/Alanis-morissette/Jagged-little-pill
Anohni and the Johnsons (previously known as Antony and the Johnsons): https://www.anohni.com/
Victor Ruiz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVT_81WihTA
Sama’ Abdulhadi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4lH-KzsQi0
Singing Mamas on Instagram: @singing_mamas_org
Singing Mamas on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/singingmamas

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:52
Start time of reprise: 01:23:00

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, 4-layer

Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

​Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: I love the way this song by Kate Valentine has both motion and deep stillness. It carries acceptance and conviction, and I simply love having it in my head. How did she do this??? Next week, in conversation with Kate, she tells how she wrote this specific song, as well as how she managed to convince herself to write music in the first place, which felt like a near-impossible stretch.

Songwriter Info: Kate Valentine is a registered nurse and founder of Singing Mamas - a national non-profit for maternal well-being, bringing singing groups across the UK and the globe to women and mothers. Kate started with one group in 2011 and while struggling as a single mum to 3 sons and working nights shifts, she set about to get singing mamas free and referred to all new and expectant mums across the UK. There are now more than 200 leaders across 8 countries, with Singing Mamas programmes being delivered in over 50 local authorities, either as community groups or on-prescription through the national health service (NHS).

Kate is most passionate about bringing the 'untrained' musician into the work of song sharing, and is driven by a determination to re-normalise a singing culture, where it has been lost.

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

Links:
Singing Mamas Website: www.singingmamas.org
Singing Mamas on Instagram: @singing_mamas_org

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:34
Start time of reprise: 00:14:47

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, harmonized 2 layers

Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

​Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Gérone explores ways we can give ourselves our full hearts… with words and without words. How songs express and touch emotions, how questions can be a form of self care. Her partner is cooking in the background, so the recording is riddled with the crashes and bangs of everyday life, and our conversation is grounded in here and now. Recorded just two days after we moved, I wasn't feeling at my sparkliest(!), yet singing Dahil Mahal Kita was a settling, centering way to start in to a conversation about song in daily life.

Songwriter Info: Gérone is a thirty-something movement and meditation teacher from the Philippines, now living in France. Her work is mostly about helping people get to know and love their bodies so much that they'd want to take care of them through yoga postures, mindful consumption, regulated breathing, and rest. When she's not in the yoga studio or the health center, she's happy singing Filipino folksongs while hiking, belting out karaoke hits in the kitchen while cooking or baking delicious vegan fare, or meditating while sewing or knitting clothes for her friends and family.

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

Links:
Lyon, the gastronomical capital of France: https://www.thetravel.com/what-makes-lyon-the-gastronomical-capital-of-france/
Tagalog- one of the main languages spoken in Manila: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tagalog-language
https://www.omniglot.com/writing/tagalog.htm
History of music in the Philippines: https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/arts/historical-notes-on-why-filipinos-love-music
Understanding Mantras: 
https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/sanskrit/mantras-101-the-science-behind-finding-your-mantra-and-how-to-practice-it/
Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/
Rhiannon: https://rhiannonmusic.com/circlesing
Tonal languages - https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/tonal-languages
Le Cercle Enchanté (The Enchanted Circle) retreat - https://lecercleenchante.com/en/
Gérone’s friend's album on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0xPu4z5Z0lj7cmfGg8YjNG
Kendrick Lamar: https://www.biography.com/musicians/kendrick-lamar
Cynthia Alexander on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0pu1wIlONwzjRxXFMg3u0U
Comfort in your Strangeness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltebib8teeM
Gérone's Website: https://gerone.yoga/fr
Gérone's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gerone.gentlewarrior

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:15
Start time of reprise: 01:04:02

​​​Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison

​Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​

​Notes: It's magic to sing a song of presence in a language unfamiliar to me -- this one from the Phillipines -- it magnifies the focus, the awareness. Also I experience great comfort singing this particular set of sounds. Songwriter Gérone Pascal talks next week about what is special about Tagalog, why song creating feels natural to her, and her #1 self care tactic... all things which play out in this song. I added a few harmonies, but you might choose to play the melody section on repeat and add your own!

Songwriter Info: Gérone is a thirty something movement and meditation teacher from the Philippines, now living in France. Her work is mostly about helping people get to know and love their bodies so much that they'd want to take care of them through yoga postures, mindful consumption, regulated breathing, and rest. When she's not in the yoga studio or the health center, she's happy singing Filipino folksongs while hiking, belting out karaoke hits in the kitchen while cooking or baking delicious vegan fare, or meditating while sewing or knitting clothes for her friends and family.

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

Links:
Gérone's Website: https://gerone.yoga/fr
Gérone's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gerone.gentlewarrior

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching (text): 00:04:00
Start time of teaching (singing): 00:06:10
Start time of reprise: 00:14:30
​​​
Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, major, harmonized melody

​Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​

Notes: Every time I sing one of Alexa Sunshine Rose's songs with a group, people immediately want to sing it again -- they simply feel that good. I give a little extra help picking out the harmonies that are on the recording of this that Alexa Sunshine Rose released (buying it on Bandcamp is a great way to support her artistry)... and then I play around with making up harmonies of my own, as I hope you will if it appeals. There's also something very beautiful about centering in the melody of this song, and letting the harmonies develop around you.

Songwriter Info: Alexa Sunshine Rose is a singer-songwriter, mother and artist who has dedicated herself and her life's work to being a clear channel for peace on earth. Alexa plays in the tuning frequency of A=432 Hz to promote inner peace and deep sound absorption. Listeners worldwide utilize her music during pregnancy and birth, hospice, yoga and massage, community song circles, and inner-transformational journeys.

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

Links:
Website: www.alexasunshinerose.com
Instagram: @Alexasunshinerose
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexasunshinerose
Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/alexasunshinerose

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:25
Start time of reprise: 00:13:35
​​​
Nuts & Bolts: 3:4 minor, 4-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: “I feel inside of myself something expanding when I sing," says Te. They've used song to metabolize experience for as long as they can remember... and as Te shares this song, we get to feel into their experience of trust. Alchemy could be a way of building gold out of fear; something beautiful is uncovered as Te sings and shares about learning to carry the complexity of song sharing loosely, relationship to each other and the earth, liberation... and the magic of a sigh.

Songwriter Info: Te Martin is a song-keeper and ritual artist. They were born on Ramaytush Ohlone land in San Francisco and have been shaped by Ocean, Redwoods, circus arts, and theater games. They facilitate oral tradition singing classes and workshops that focus on song as a tool for collective liberation, somatic regulation, and ancestral connection. Te served as co-organizer of Thrive Street Choir in the San Francisco bay area for six years, is a student of Gaelic song, and released their first professional music video and EP of original songs, "Water & Bones," in 2021.

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

Links from the conversation: 
The Lama Foundation: https://www.lamafoundation.org/
Pueblo Tiwa People Northern New Mexico: https://accessgenealogy.com/new-mexico/tiwa-pueblo-indians.htm
Southern Pomo Coast Miwok: 
https://alamedanativeart.com/post/alameda-native-history-project/coast-miwok-and-southern-pomo-map/
Songs of Mother Europe: https://weavingremembrance.org/songs-of-mother-europe-fall/
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18144590-the-alchemist
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: https://juliacameronlive.com/books-by-julia/
Alchemy process: https://aras.org/concordance/content/alchemical-process-and-its-stages
Village Fire Singing Iowa: http://www.villagefiresinging.org/
Liz Rog: https://realsmalltowns.com/liz-rog-singing-as-breath-and-food/
Singing Alive Oregon: https://singingalive.org/
Melanie DeMore: https://melaniedemore.com/bio/
Lisa G. Littlebird: https://thebirdsings.com/
Finding Our Voice on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/findingourvoiceproject -- while Josh and Te's "Finding Our Voice" project didn't end up with lots of accessible recorded interviews, it built more community among songleaders and nurtured both Josh and Te.
Laurence Cole: https://www.laurencecole.com/
Thrive Street Choir in San Francisco bay area: http://www.thriveeastbay.org/thrivestreetchoir
Lyndsey Scott: https://www.lyndseyscott.earth
Joanna Laws Landis: https://soundcloud.com/nextgenna/healing-through-grief-joanna-laws-landis
Ysaye Barnwell:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-serendipitous-life-ysaye-barnwell-and-the-healing-power-of-music/2015/05/01/718db920-e52e-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.html
"I’m Yours" by Tracy Chapman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LdCazk77D4
"The Long Way Around" by The Chicks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5HKLteH9Mc
Molly Hartwell & Laura Boswell - Wellspring album: https://wellspring.bandcamp.com/album/wellspring
Put Your Roots Down: https://riseupandsing.org/songs/put-your-roots-down
Put Your Roots Down on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/2-put-your-roots-down
​
Te's Links:
​EP, "Water & Bones": https://temartin.bandcamp.com/album/water-bones
"May This Body Be a Bridge" Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Mn_2BSNAg
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/temartin
Mailing List: https://mailchi.mp/1debadd3ebb3/sos 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/te.martin/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:52
Start time of reprise: 01:00:19
​​
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: Te Martin describes this song as an exhale... I experience it like that, too... a relaxation, a release. It's so very welcome to me as I'm coming into a busy time of life, with lots of commitments lined up -- I need ways to let go quickly, in the middle of all the flurry. Having this song in my mind lets me do that... and if I happen to be with someone else who's willing to sing, it's so easy to echo it back to each other. Next week is a songwriter conversation with Te... bicycles, miso, and the natural world all come into play!

Songwriter Info: Te Martin is a song-keeper and ritual artist. They were born on Ramaytush Ohlone land in San Francisco and have been shaped by Ocean, Redwoods, circus arts, and theater games. They facilitate oral tradition singing classes and workshops that focus on song as a tool for collective liberation, somatic regulation, and ancestral connection. Te served as co-organizer of Thrive Street Choir in the San Francisco bay area for six years, is a student of Gaelic song, and released their first professional music video and EP of original songs, "Water & Bones," in 2021.

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

Links: 
EP, "Water & Bones": https://temartin.bandcamp.com/album/water-bones
"May This Body Be a Bridge" Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Mn_2BSNAg
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/temartin
Mailing List: https://mailchi.mp/1debadd3ebb3/sos 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/te.martin/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:53
Start time of reprise: 00:12:10
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, call & response

​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: Hands down favorite moment of this conversation? When I asked Pam a question that made her tense, and she started to sing to help herself through the challenging moment. Pam says she often has to say difficult things to people in power, and this was an example of how she uses improvised song to root and empower herself. We caught Pam at a transitional point, and I deeply appreciate her reflections about how song has stayed consistent across her life and how it has changed, the evolving role of relationships, what singing in community actually does or can do, what self care might look like. Oh, but then there was another favorite moment, when she tells a story about her relationship with her father.... hmmm. Lots to love here, not least of which is the song, Reciprocity -- after singing this song, you'll be ever more keenly aware of trees and our breath exchange with them.

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: 
Indianapolis, Indiana Indigenous Peoples: Miami, Kickapu, Shawnee, Delaware: https://www.ala.org/aboutala/diversity/land-acknowledgement/indgenous-tribes-indiana
Trees as communal creatures: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/05/04/993430007/trees-talk-to-each-other-mother-tree-ecologist-hears-lessons-for-people-too
Laurence Cole, singing as “the oldest technology of belonging” https://www.laurencecole.com/
Indianapolis Women’s Chorus: https://www.indianapoliswomenschorus.org/
Winter Solstice Singing Ritual by Julie Forest Middleton, Stasa Morgan-Appel- published by Emerald Earth: https://www.allbookstores.com/Winter-Solstice-Singing-Ritual-Julie/9780966371550
Indiana Forest Alliance: https://indianaforestalliance.org/
Forests for Indy: Reciprocity (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rdj65H67Ww
Lyndsey Scott: https://linktr.ee/lila.gaia
Rhiannon: https://www.rhiannonmusic.com/
Emergent Strategy- Adrienne Maree Brown: https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/emergent-strategy/
Peter, Paul, and Mary “In The Wind” https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-the-wind-mw0000315197
Hush-a-bye: ​​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM2VN2Hn-Z0
Puff the Magic Dragon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y0ABZ0AJXY
Very Last Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmk6cf32HH4
Episode 69: Sing Upon Joy (Livian's Song) Lyndsey Scott & Livian & helpers
https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/69-sing-upon-joy-livians-song
Episode 70: “As I Relax” Lyndsey Scott
https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/70-as-i-relax-with-guest-lyndsey-scott
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: 00:03:51
Start time of reprise: 00:55:44
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Dorian, 3-layers with a harmonized ending

​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: 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: Ali Burns gives us a beautiful two-part song that can also be a round... it feels like very exposed singing to me, and there's a way in which committing to what feels vulnerable in my voice, both high and low, also feels powerful and affirming. The ancient words resonate with longing for connection beyond death with those whom we love... and to me, are a reminder that can't force anyone into accepting love -- we can only offer.

Songwriter Info: Ali has built her reputation over the past 30 years as one of the UK’s prominent workshop leaders for community choirs. Many of her songs have found their way into the repertoire and hearts of singers across the UK, and increasingly, Canada, the USA and Australia. Her work is published by Faber, Sing Up! and Oxford University Press.
​
Sharing Info: You can hear and buy a copy of the song for £5 from www.aliburns.co.uk 
Please visit her online shop for information about permissions: https://aliburns.co.uk/shop/licensing/song-licence/

Links: 
Ali's Website: www.aliburns.co.uk

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:08
Start time of reprise: 00:14:38
​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4 major, 2-part layer, round optional

​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: What does it mean to hold out a hand to someone, to offer to accompany them? How does it feel to find a way home, through the lost and brokenness? How do five people living in different places manage to write a song together in a pandemic? All important questions for this episode! This is maybe one of the most intricate songs, where you'll be challenged to tease out a part... and it's also a very sweet song, with a superbly satisfying bass line, a lovely, harmonized invitation, a haunting, harmonized question, and a beautiful reassuring affirmation. Next episode is a first for A Breath of Song -- a six-way conversation about collaboration and bringing one's individual voice to a group -- hope you can join us all!

​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 [email protected]. 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: 
VoiceExchange's Email: [email protected]
VoiceExchange's Website: https://voiceexchange.org
VoiceExchange on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/circlesinging-dc/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:08
Start time of reprise: 00:15:50
​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major, 4-layers with 2 layers 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: I could think of no better way to honor the 100th episode of this podcast than to talk with Lisa G. Littlebird, my first mentor in the community songleading movement. We explore how she uses the power of songs for different purposes, including the one she shares during our conversation which helps bridge hearts during difficult situations. We talk about songs as sorcery to shift energy, and how exquisite it is to create a spell-song. How to find right-size in relationship with each other; how we woo each other into community and song, and "accompany each other in our walk toward liberation." The "inescapable confronting tenderness of inner listener" in relation to our own voices, "the power of the voice to unblock channels of energy." How responding to racial injustice grows out of relationship, not as a short-term response... "I'm not looking for your attention for a week, I'm looking for your love for a lifetime." What it means to have an open heart in both yes and no, when to harmonize with normative culture, and when to align with one's own truth even if it steps outside of the "normal." Grab something to drink or nosh on, take us on a walk or a drive, and let's talk about song and community! You'll hear me making up harmonies on the spot as Lisa and I are singing (she couldn't hear me, so it was all good! ?)

​Songwriter Info: Lisa G. Littlebird facilitates group singing as a transformational personal practice, healing art, and to foster healthy communities. She is the creator of Littlebird Flight School, a community song leader training program with more than 400 graduates worldwide. She also founded the 160-member Wholehearted Chorus in Big Sur & Monterey, CA and has been on the faculty at Esalen Institute for 15 years. 

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

Links: 
Chumash people: https://www.sbnature.org/collections-research/anthropology/chumash-life/
Ram Dass quote: “if you feel like you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family”
https://www.gaia.com/article/who-is-ram-dass-the-wonderful-magical-be-here-now-guru
Songleader Flight School: https://thebirdsings.com/songleader-training/
Lisa's Website: https://thebirdsings.com/
Song-a-day project: https://thebirdsings.com/OLD/song-a-day.html
​Oprah Magazine, Jan 2019 “Sing, Sing a Song” Article:
https://www.magzter.com/stories/Lifestyle/The-Oprah-Magazine/Sing-Sing-a-Song
Denver Women’s Chorus: https://denverchoruses.org/dwc/
Esalen Institute: https://www.esalen.org/
Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell: https://www.ymbarnwell.com/bio
Sweet Honey in the Rock: https://sweethoneyintherock.org/
Laurence Cole: http://www.laurencecole.com/
Peter Gabriel: “Passion”  https://petergabriel.com/release/passion/
Nightsong album: https://thebirdsings.com/nightsong/
Lisa's song library: https://thebirdsings.com/song-library/
Lisa's Patreon: patreon.com/thebirdsings

Nuts & Bolts: ​​4:4, Aeolian, unison with a little call and response

​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: Angela Gabriel has given us a brilliant setting based on words by Nisargadatta Maharaj, “Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, Love is knowing I am everything, and between the two my life moves.” The first line twists around on itself disappears into nothingness. The second line starts an octave away and drops into the security of "everything." Then, on a note in the middle of the two starting pitches, and in 6:8 instead of 3:4, the song begins to dance and flow, and ends on a slightly surprised major third. You don't have to know any of that for it to work its magic, though -- simply let it wind into your body as a beautiful melodic invitation to release. I'll be singing this one to myself long after this podcast is wrapped up, reminding me of both-and, flow, fluidity.

​Songwriter Info: Angela is a professional percussionist & pianist and community music/community singing facilitator. She lived in Santa Fe NM for the last 20 years, where she played with the opera, symphony, chamber music festival, as well as in African, Haitian, and samba gatherings, funk and ragtime bands.  She just moved to Bloomington, Indiana in the end of 2022.
Angela's mission in life is to facilitate expressive creative, musical, and vocal experiences and to encourage folks to replace judgement with curiosity and open themselves to their unique, creative flow. Part of how Angela does this is by singing and drumming online weekly with people living with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders.

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

Links: 
Angela's website: www.AngelaGabriel.me
Support Angela's work: find songs, rhythmic activities, and more at patreon.com/AngelaGabriel
Check out Hidden Whale, Angela's old band (she's the drummer): https://youtube.com/channel/UCpxdVqwSxzEBhgUilN3qQLg
Nisargadatta Maharaj: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisargadatta_Maharaj

Nuts & Bolts: ​​3:4, Aeolian with major final third, 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: I often gather richness from the way different art forms play off each other – and I love the combination of the Rilke poem I read at the beginning of this episode, and Marv’s song. Honestly, I end up spending a lot of time looking for that tower of strength inside myself – the ancient heart core that is rooted in the earth and stretches to the sky, that connects to my ancestors, both past and future. When I catch glimpses of it, I sense a way-finding clarity; when I circle around it I feel the enticement of belonging; when I inhabit it, I am at home, whether as falcon, storm, or song. I love the way Marv’s song quests, circles, and settles back at home.

​Songwriter Info: Marv loves community singing, songleading, and bringing people together. At a time when so many of us feel a need to return more resonance and community to our lives, Marv is passionate about the unique power of singing together to connect us more deeply within, to each other, and to something larger than ourselves. He is a graduate of Littlebird Songleader Flight School, a member of The Living Room Choir, a proud alum of the West Marin Choir/Common Voice, and the chief cook and bottle-washer of SingOnline.org and the online SingOnline.org Song Circle, where, unlike on Zoom, through the miracle of free software everyone can see and hear every word from everyone. Later this year he’ll complete the Community Choir Leadership Training, following past graduates (and heroes!) like Maggie Wheeler, Laurence Cole, and MaMuse. In his previous careers he was Founder & CEO of a hunger relief organization; a psychotherapist & executive coach; and a technology executive at such companies as Apple. He has also restarted his psychotherapy and executive coaching practices; you can find details at TherapyWithMarv.com and CoachingWithMarv.com.​

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

Links:
Marv's Website: http://singwithmarv.com
Marv's Instagram: http://instagram.com/singwithmarv
Marv's Facebook: http://facebook.com/singwithmarv
Rilke poem with translations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NYYMoFQ_78C5u4Ql6OyjpZEXD3TGJuuxAX1b8T1C07U/edit?usp=sharing
Hear Marv singing the song himself with Heather Stevenson on piano & harmony: I'm Coming Home on Soundcloud

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:19
Start time of reprise: 00:12:01

​Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major, Call & response or unison or 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: It was amazingly fortuitous -- Louise Blackburn and I had agreed on releasing her song as episode #91, and then it turned out that recording episode #91 live would be just the right time to celebrate 25,000 downloads -- and we had the perfect song in place. In June of 2021, I had searched long and hard for a podcast I could listen to from which I could learn songs for well being and more about the people who shared these songs. I couldn't find it, so I started A Breath of Song together with Patty Piotrowski, constantly reminding myself that who I am, what I bring to the table, is enough. I love the way Louise's song embeds that idea in my brain with gentleness and persistence. The spacious, simple harmonies create an elegant call, while the response feel like it's tugged out of my heart. Recording live in front of a full gallery Zoom audience was a novel way to create an episode, and I believe you can feel the connection I felt with the group and we all felt with you who listens now across the space/time continuum.

​Songwriter Info: Louise feels incredibly lucky to run choirs, workshops, festivals, singing for wellbeing groups and yoga and voice sessions across Birmingham, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Sandwell in the United Kingdom. Her songs are an absolute joy of creation for her and have been sung all over the world including New Zealand and America. It makes her very emotional to think of them being sung and enjoyed by other people.
​
Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Louise always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Links:
Louise's website: www.voicesentwined.co.uk
Louise's Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4oTIDDsibmihC771Wvy1Mh

​Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, 3-part harmonized call with response

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 loved the chance to hear Ahlay share both this song and its origin as a song that "slipped through," almost without effort, in response to hearing someone's deep shame over a Zoom call. Ahlay shares her excitement over her project, WAILS, in which community singing and grief ritual are merged. She talks about "Healing that ripples non-linearly, in a spiral," and says, "I'm channeling the exact medicine that I need for myself." We talk about elders, mentors, wisdom and the tools for remembering that which was meant to be forgotten -- the deep connections that are possible. How "I can't sing" comes from a commodification of voices, while "the inherent birthright of singing is about how it feels in our bodies." Whales, and their wisdom of rising and diving as the nature of things, and the transience of emotions. Brené Brown wrote, "True belonging doesn't require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are." Ahlay has a beautiful way of being who she is, and it was an honor to hold this conversation.

​Songwriter Info: Alexandra "Ahlay" Blakely (she/her) is a song carrier remembering that which was meant to be forgotten in her lineages: song technology as connective tissues of the communal body. She blends song, body percussion, dance, stillness, breath & silence with the deepest intention to support others in remembering their inherent birthright to singing and rhythm. Her ancient ancestors of Old Europe (Ashkenazi, Scandinavian, Finnish, English, Scottish, Irish) sang while building, creating, birthing, working & being in reciprocity and bring with the Land. She understands song to be fundamental in the expansion of ones internal capacity to participate in the collective shift towards life-affirming conditions. An underlying prayer in her song offerings is that they may contribute to the shared effort to transform white culture into being more connected with our bodies, emotions, Land & the animate world around us. ​ These songs are swirls of spells for cracking open, falling humbly to our knees and cultivating more access to the conversations our souls are aching to have with us about their most intimate longings. They are dedicated to the more than human world, the Waters and our Kin in both the seen and unseen realms. We sing to shame, courage, for breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and for the preparation of being ready for these times we are living in, all while sending these song-beings in ripples through to the ancient and future ones. The songs sung have come directly through Ahlay.​ ​ Some of her mentors: Whale, Mycelium, Rue, Lightning, Rain, Oak, Redwood & Rosemary
​
Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but Ahlay always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Links: 
Wails: Songs for Grief Fundraiser:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/community-singing-album
Bandcamp digital album "SPELLS FROM THE UNKNOWN" https://ahlayblakely.bandcamp.com/album/spells-from-the-unknown
Ahlay's Website/Newsletter https://www.healingattheroots.com
Ahlay's Patreon - new music monthly, 1-3 songs per month: https://www.patreon.com/alexandrablakely
Instagram @alexandra_blakely
Ahlay's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJiuxVf4FhGSkYT4K0zpGyA/videos?view=0&sort=p
Joanna Macy &The Work that Reconnects: https://workthatreconnects.org/spiral/about-joanna/
Dory Midnight : https://dorimidnight.com
Kohenet Priestess Institute : https://kohenet.org
Rabbi Jill Hammer: https://rabbijillhammer.com
Taya Ma: http://taya.ma
Rebekah Erev: https://rebekaherevstudio.com
Nahko Bear: https://www.nahkobear.com
Sobonfu Some: http://www.sobonfu.com
Francis Weller 5 Gates of Grief: https://www.francisweller.net/entering-the-healing-ground.html
Laurence Cole: http://www.laurencecole.com
Leticia Nieto: http://www.cuetzpalin.com/Cuetzpalin/welcome.html
Do whales hold their breath?  https://www.whalefacts.org/how-do-whales-breathe/
Earth Practice: https://earthpracticemusic.bandcamp.com/community

​Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:16
Start time of reprise: 01:25:44
​
Nuts & Bolts: 12:8, Major (Ionian), 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!